304 



leaving this responsibility to action agencies, but reserves 

 the right to request additional information and data on any 

 aspect of the biological assessment it believes necessary to 

 produce a complete biological opinion. 



(b) . As discussed above, the circumstances and purposes for 

 giving even the action agency an opportunity to comment on a 

 draft biological opinion are very limited. Specifically, 

 action agencies are entitled to request and review jeopardy 

 opinions to: (1) Ensure the technical accuracy of the 

 opinion that may save time and resources by resolving any 

 issues early; (2) exchange information for the development 

 of reasonable and prudent alternatives; and (3) provide an 

 opportunity for the submission of new information that may 

 result in meeting the requirements of a no jeopardy opinion. 



While NMFS concludes that public participation is not 

 contemplated by the statute and regulations and could prove 

 unwieldy in practice, it has continually sought means of 

 providing opportunities for a more open process. 



In preparing biological assessments, action agencies may rely on 

 internal staff or seek the assistance of outside expertise. 

 Section 7 consultations for harvest and hatcheries involve 

 federal, state and tribal entities through the cooperative 

 programs and federal funding. In these instances, the Federal 

 action agencies, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian 

 Affairs, and NMFS, have used existing Federal, state, and tribal 

 expertise on recognized technical committees and working groups 

 of the Pacific Salmon Commission, Pacific Fisheries Management 

 Council and the Columbia River Fishery Management Plan to prepare 

 biological assessments. These groups also have been called upon 

 to prepare additional assessments during the consultations. 



On July 30, 1993, Northwest Regional Director Rolland Schmitten 

 sent a letter to the Bonneville Power Administration, the Corps 

 of Engineers, and the Bureau of Reclamation, requesting that they 

 consider opening their consultation to provide greater 

 involvement by state agencies and tribal governments. Presently, 

 these agencies provide extensive participation through the 

 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) , but actions described 

 under NEPA do not necessarily discuss specific details considered 

 in the section 7 process. We are aware from subsequent 

 discussions with the Federal action agencies that they are 

 presently reviewing ways to provide greater participation for 

 outside agencies. It is our understanding that the agencies will 

 discuss alternatives for public awareness and participation at 

 the November meeting of the Northwest Power Planning Council's 

 Fisheries Oversight Executive Committee. 



