IPAA and others submitted an extension request to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week to extend the comment deadline for the public review period for the Service’s Endangered Species Act Compensatory Mitigation Policy. IPAA asks that the Services extend the public comment period for this proposal for at least an additional 30 days, or until November 16, 2016. The existing public comment period provides only a limited window for review and comment on a new policy that is the first comprehensive treatment of the role of compensatory mitigation in the process of the Service’s review of potential remedies for effects on species and habitats of concern from projects proposed by entities in the private or public sectors. IPAA and the other signers believe that such a limited review period does not provide an adequate opportunity for the public to study the information and the rationale for the proposed policy that the Service presents in the captioned Federal Register notice, to carefully consider and provide information on the potential effects on permitting and other administrative decision-making that may result from implementation of the policy as proposed, nor to draft meaningful comments on the proposal. Read the full comments HERE.
