In order to determine whether an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement needs to be prepared for three rare seabird species on Kaua‘i, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will seek public comment at a meeting on Jan. 23
In order to determine whether an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement needs to be prepared for three rare seabird species on Kaua‘i, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will seek public comment at a meeting on Jan. 23 in Lihu‘e.
The meeting will be another step in creating the Habitat Conservation Plan being prepared by Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative as part of their application for an incidental take permit. Following a March 2007 Department of Justice investigation, KIUC was required to obtain the permit last year because its power lines, facilities and unshielded lights unintentionally harmed the endangered and threatened seabirds.
“The purpose of this meeting is to allow interested parties the opportunity to identify potentially significant issues and ensure that a reasonable range of alternatives is addressed,” Jeff Newman, assistant field supervisor for the service’s Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office, said in a statement.
KIUC has been working with the service and the state since 2002 on the plan.
“(We will) obtain suggestions and information on the scope of issues that should be addressed and the alternatives that should be considered in the environmental document that the Service is preparing,” Carey Koide, engineering manager for KIUC, said via e-mail.
The endangered Hawaiian petrel, the threatened Newell’s shearwater and the band-rumped storm-petrel are the three seabirds to be covered under the plan.
The seabirds spend most of the year at sea but breed on Kaua‘i. The birds, especially fledglings, are unaccustomed to the artificial light from unshielded lights and become blinded or disoriented, causing them to crash into buildings and other obstacles.
One of the main goals of the plan is to avoid and minimize the incidental take of the birds by shielding lights and installing powerline marker balls. Lowering powerlines and placing powerlines underground are other design measures to be applied.
“This meeting is important because it is part of the process whose outcome will lead to an incidental take permit as required by the Endangered Species Act,” Koide said.
The meeting will be held in the Planning Commission Conference Room in the Moikeha Building from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The service is requesting written comments from interested individuals regarding the proposed action. Comments must be postmarked by Feb. 8 and should be addressed to Jeff Newman, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Ala Moana Boulevard, Room 3-1222, Honolulu, HI 96850, or faxed to (808) 792-9580, or e-mailed to jeff_newman@fws.gov
• Rachel Gehrlein, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or rgehrlein@kauaipubco.com
