chapter hi 
Key Findings Published in the 
EPA ESA Shortnose Sturgeon 
Biological Evaluation 
In November of 2000, EPA initiated a voluntary informal consultation with NOAA 
National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) under Section 7(a)(2) of the 
Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the issuance of guidance for Chesapeake Bay 
specific water quality criteria for dissolved oxygen, water quality and chlorophyll a. 
Upon publication of Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Dissolved Oxygen, Water 
Clarity- and Chlorophyll a for the Chesapeake Bay and Its Tidal Tributaries 
(Regional Criteria Guidance) (U.S. EPA 2003a), EPA initiated formal consultation 
with NOAA Fisheries. At the same time, EPA submitted its final Biological Evalua¬ 
tion for the Issuance of Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Dissolved Oxygen, Water 
Clarity / and Chlorophyll a for the Chesapeake Bay and its Tidal Tributaries (U.S. 
EPA 2003b) to NOAA Fisheries. This chapter provides a concise summary of key 
findings published in EPA’s biological evaluation. 1 
CONSULTATION HISTORY 
EPA sent a letter to NOAA Fisheries on November 24, 2000, requesting comments 
on the list of federally listed threatened or endangered species and/or designated crit¬ 
ical habitat for listed species under the jurisdiction of NOAA Fisheries. NOAA 
Fisheries responded in a letter dated January 8, 2001. In this letter, NOAA Fisheries 
indicated that the endangered and threatened species under its jurisdiction in the 
vicinity of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries were: federally threatened 
loggerhead ( Caretta caretta), and endangered Kemp’s ridley ( Lepidochelys kempii ), 
green ( Chelonia my das), hawksbill ( Eretmochelys imbricata) and leatherback 
(Dermochelys coriacea) sea turtles; federally endangered North Atlantic right 
‘The entire biological evaluation document can be viewed and downloaded at: 
http://www.chesapeakebay.net/pubs/subcommittee/wqsc/BE_final.pdf 
chapter iii 
Key Findings Published in the EPA ESA Shortnose Sturgeon Biological Evaluation 
