AWEA hopes eagle permit rule provides clarity for private sector

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said it hopes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s final eagle permit rule will give the private sector clarity when it comes to permitting, while the wind industry continues working to avoid any impact on eagles.

The eagle permitting program is aimed at protecting bald and golden eagles from any unintentional harm by setting conservative limits to impacts on eagles and requiring permit applicants to submit conservation plans that offset any such impacts.

“Though we’re reserving judgment until we fully digest the rule, we strongly support its core purpose — eagle conservation,” said Tom Kiernan, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

“We hope the final rule provides a workable permitting framework that gives the private sector necessary clarity, while further reducing the already minimal impact the wind industry has, and maintaining healthy eagle populations for generations to come.”

The first eagle take permit program was proposed in 2007, but its design did not take the wind industry into consideration. Instead, it was developed as an attempt to remove the bald eagle from being considered an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. The bald eagle was delisted in August 2007 and the first eagle permit rule was established in 2009.

More than 90 percent of wind farms are found to have no negative impact on eagles at all, AWEA said. The limited number of farms that do have an impact are found to account for one eagle death per project over a 30-year period.

Less than 3 percent of all documented human-caused golden eagle deaths are the result of collisions with wind turbines at modern wind farms.