The field of environmental compliance has its own vernacular and associated acronyms, such as EA, EIS, FONSI, PISA, BA, and BE. This brief summary will take a look at the latter, the Biological Evaluation (BE).

The fundamental purpose of the BE is to evaluate the effects of a proposed project on federally listed species or designated critical habitat. A federally listed species is one whose status has been deemed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as threatened, endangered, proposed, or candidate for (de)listing. The USFWS makes these decisions through established processes that determine the species’ eligibility for such listing and protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) www.fws.gov/Endangered/wildlife.html. Designated critical habitat is a specific geographic area deemed essential for the conservation of a threatened or endangered species and may require special management and protection to achieve successful species conservation www.fs.fed.us/r9/wildlife/tes/docs/esa_references/critical_habitat.pdf.

In its simplest form, a BE must include a detailed description of the proposed project and project area, the identification of potential species and habitats at risk, and a determination of the proposed actions on such species and habitats.

The project description should explain the objectives of the project and what actions are required to complete it. This must adequately describe the critical intricacies of the action in the context of its relationship with the natural environment. Other key details will explain how the project will be executed throughout the spatial and temporal setting of the project area. The characterization of the project area follows, and should describe the geographic area in which the project will physically take place. Maps, photographs, and field survey findings are critical to help describe the area’s topography, vegetation and land use. The next component of the BE is the identification of protected species and critical habitat that may be affected by the proposed project.

In Arizona, the first step in making this determination begins with a request for information from both the USFWS and the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD). Both agencies maintain species lists specific to each county within the state. Depending on the jurisdiction of the project area, other agencies may require coordination to attain a comprehensive species list to be evaluated. The USFWS list of species can be found on-line on the Arizona Ecological Service’s website www.fws.gov/southwest/es/arizona/default.htm, and the AGFD list of species can be found on the Heritage Data Management System website www.azgfd.gov/w_c/edits/species_concern.shtml.

Finally, an evaluation and determination of the proposed project’s effect(s) on protected species and habitat is provided. This section is the crux of the BE. The species evaluation is completed by considering the species listed by the management agencies, and identifying the ones who may actually be affected by the proposed project. This is done by researching all available information including past surveys and documented occurrences. Data regarding species’ habitat, range and environmental limitations must also be considered when making determinations. Detailed information accessed from available Geographic Information System databases can be accessed to located designated critical habitat. After the determination has been made, measures to help mitigate the effects of the proposed actions on species and habitat are provided.