1. Environmental Considerations in Various Plays Within the U. S
Environmental Considerations in Various Plays Within the U.S. Oil and Gas Industry
by Peter D. McKone, CWB Weaver Consultants Group
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2. Outline Nationwide Issues Regional Issues Industry Examples
General Wildlife Impacts
Best Practices
Cultural Resources

3. Nationwide Issues Federal Regulation –
The Endangered Species Act (ESA)
Threatened, endangered and candidate species
Section 7 consultation
Interagency consultation
May affect (informal consultation) or likely to adversely affect (formal consultation)
Section 10 consultation
non-federal applicants
Biological assessments and biological opinions
Incidental take permits

4. IPaC Information, Planning and Conservation System
Assist in determining whether threatened and endangered species, designated critical habitat, proposed critical habitat, migratory birds and other natural resources may be affected by project
Summarizes distribution of important biological resources such as wetlands, refuges, critical habitat, etc.
Get a preliminary or official USFWS species list

5. Nationwide Issues The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA)
Protects all migratory birds
Exceptions include non-native birds such as house sparrows and European starlings
Illegal for anyone to take, possess, import, export, transport, sell, purchase, barter, or offer for sale, purchase, or barter, any migratory bird, or the parts, nests, or eggs of such a bird except under the terms of a valid permit issued pursuant to federal regulations
Incidental take permits
Recent interpretation by President – only intentional take covered
The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA)
Provides long-term species management and protection in addition to the ESA and MBTA

6. Regional Issues State and Local Regulation
State-level threatened and endangered species regulation
States often provide varying degrees of species regulation and/or have few resources for regulatory enforcement
Many state-listed species may also be federally listed or federal candidate species

7. Regional Issues (cont.)
The Barnett Shale – Golden-cheeked warbler, migratory birds
The Eagle Ford Shale – Texas tortoise, Texas horned lizard, spot-tailed earless lizard
The Permian Basin – Dunes sagebrush lizard, migratory birds, playa floodplains, public property in the western Permian, lesser prairie-chicken
The Bakken Shale – Piping plovers, migratory birds, wintering elk, public lands, grassland birds
The Haynesville Shale – Red-cockaded woodpecker, Louisiana black bear, Louisiana pine snake
Oklahoma – American burying beetle, public lands, lesser prairie chicken, Arkansas River shiner
The Marcellus Shale – Mussels, bats

8. Example Dunes sagebrush lizard Permian Basin = 39.6 million acres
Dunes sagebrush lizard occupies less than 2% of the basin
Effective Conservation Efforts
Candidate Conservation Agreements
2012 Texas Conservation Plan
Implement construction BMPs
Trench length/duration
Limit vegetation removal
Temporal construction limits
HDD
Proposal for listing was withdrawn by USFWS in 2012
Frac sand operations have heated up the issue

9. General Wildlife Impacts
Habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation
Occurs with any development (energy, residential, commercial, industrial, etc.)
Cumulative effects of development can lead to reduction in populations
Monarch butterflies, mussels
Behavioral modifications to populations as a result of more wells, lease roads, etc.
Can diminish breeding success
Potential significant threats to population viability include avoidance due to increased vehicle traffic, construction of new roads or modification of existing ones, well pads and pipelines
Stressors during critical life cycle periods
Pronghorn antelope, lesser prairie chickens

10. General Wildlife Impacts (cont.)
Impacts to watersheds
Mussels, fish
Loss of wintering ranges for ungulates in colder climates
Deer, elk
Loss of specialized habitat for specialists

11. Best Practices
Minimize habitat fragmentation by using existing roads and corridors whenever possible.
Avoid or protect sensitive areas, seek qualified help identifying these areas, and limit development and disturbance to agreed-upon development corridors.
Monitor surface and subsurface water quality.
Prevent erosion and contamination of topsoil.
Prevent the introduction or spread of invasive and exotic plants.
Use only locally adapted native seed when possible to reclaim and re-vegetate sites.
Plan operations to minimize impacts to traditional land uses during development.

12. Best Practices (cont.) Open pits Birds and wildlife attracted to pits
Close containment systems
Deterrents (netting, eliminate pits, keep oil off open pits or ponds)
Ineffective
Flagging
Reflectors
Strobe lights
Zon guns

13. National Historic Preservation Act of 1966
National Register of Historic Places
State Historic Preservation Officers
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

14. NHPA (cont.) Federal Undertaking Any project that involves
Federal funds
Federal permits
Federal licenses
Federal approval

15. NHPA Consultation Identify Area of Potential Effect (APE)
Identify historic properties (survey and testing)
Assess the project’s effects on historic properties
Consult to resolve adverse effects
Allow Advisory Council on Historic Preservation an opportunity to comment

16. Area of Potential Effect
The geographic area or areas within which an undertaking may cause changes in the character or use of historic properties

17. Questions Peter D. McKone, CWB Weaver Consultants Group