On July 25, the state Endangered Species Recovery Committee ap- proved an amended Habitat Conservation Plan for Auwahi Wind Energy, LLC\u2019s 24-megawatt wind farm at Ulupalakua Ranch on Maui. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the plan also receives approval from the Board of Land and Natural Resources, the facility will be authorized to kill or injure 140 endangered Hawaiian hoary bats over the course of its incidental take license, which expires in 2037. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company\u2019s original plan and take\nlicense, approved in 2012, allowed the\nfacility to take only 21 bats. By the end\nof 2016, however, the wind farm was\nestimated to have directly and indirectly\nkilled as many as 38. By June 30, 2018,\nthat number had grown to 46.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To minimize its bat take, Auwahi ex-\npanded its practice of slowing its turbines\nduring low wind (known as low wind\nspeed curtailment or LWSC). It had\nalready instituted a practice of starting\nturbines at night only when wind speeds\nexceeded 5 meters\/second. Starting in\n2018, for the months of August through\nOctober, that minimum wind speed, or\ncut-in speed, was increased to 6.9 m\/s.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Historically, 78 percent of observed fatalities at the site occurred during those months. Based on reductions in bat take seen on the mainland with a 6.9 m\/s cut-in speed, Auwahi\u2019s regime would result in an estimated 59 percent reduction in its take rate, the plan states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, because it\u2019s unclear how\nmuch the 6.9 m\/s cut-in speed will\nreduce take of Hawaiian hoary bats, the\nHCP assumes the LWSC regime will\nonly reduce take by 30 percent.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An earlier draft of the plan estimated that there were 7,200 bats on the island, but after receiving some criticism from the ESRC about the method used to arrive at that number, Auwahi switched to an approach similar to the one used for the Kawailoa wind farm HCP amendment (see cover<\/a>). The resulting estimated population range is now 1,400 to 5,200 bats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Assuming that Auwahi and the two Kaheawa wind farms on the island take as many as 11.4 bats per year, their combined impact would not endanger the island\u2019s population, the plan suggests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere is no published or reported\ninformation which suggests that either\nthe Maui or statewide population is\ndecreasing,\u201d it adds.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even so, Auwahi plans to implement mitigation measures as soon as the plan is approved. It\u2019s already selected a 1,752-acre area that \u201cconsists primarily (more than 95 percent) of sloping open grasslands, interspersed with gulches, and a few forested patches and hedgerows,\u201d the plan states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To enhance foraging and roosting\nhabitat, the company will plant more\nhedgerows, using native vegetation,\non the pasture lands, and add water\nfeatures.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hedgerows and water sources will be located near day roosting habitat so the bats don\u2019t have to expend as much energy traveling between foraging and drinking areas and day roosting habitat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If and when Auwahi\u2019s take exceeds 66 bats, the company will initiate Tier 5 mitigation measures (i.e., planting native trees, adding water features, removing invasive species) at Kamehamenui Forest, which is proposed for acquisition by the Department of Land and Natural Resources. If the take exceeds 106 bats, Auwahi will be required to conduct Tier 6 mitigation in the forest, which is located on the north slope of Haleakala. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Assuming it takes 20.3 acres to mitigate for each bat taken, \u201cAuwahi Wind would improve 690 acres of habitat in Tier 5 and 508 acres in Tier 6,\u201d the plan states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At the ESRC\u2019s meeting on July 25, Auwahi\u2019s Marie VanZandt reported on all of the tweaks the company made to its draft in response to comments from the ESRC and others. The changes include a commitment to adaptive management of its LWSC scheme and to acoustic deterrents if its LWSC strategy fails, an expanded section on the net benefit of mitigation, an acknowledgement of ESRC bat guidance recommendations, and the incorporation of a new research project: a one-year, landscape-scale bat occupancy study on leeward Haleakala. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She said that Auwahi has found that more than 90 percent of bat activity occurs at the site during the first six hours of night, that 84 percent of bat fatalities occur between May and October, and that more bats are killed at turbines 1-4 compared to turbines 5-8. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If Auwahi determines that the current LWSC approach needs improving, it may expand the months during which cut-in speed is 6.9 m\/s and\/or extend the LWSC curtailment nights for turbines 1-4. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With regard to the acoustic deterrents,\nVanZandt said she was interested in\nseeing the results from those that were\nimplemented at the Kawailoa wind farm\non O\u2018ahu earlier this year. She said she\nwas optimistic, but hoped they won\u2019t\nnegatively impact other wildlife.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Committee member Loyal Mehrhoff\nsaid those were nice additions to the plan,\nbut added that he was still concerned\nabout Tiers 5 and 6 and the use of 20\nacres\/bat as the basis for mitigation\nefforts. Forty acres \u2014 which is what is\ncalled for in the committee\u2019s bat guid-\nance document \u2014 is more appropriate,\nhe said.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n He pointed out that a recent study\nby H.T. Harvey & Associates of bats on\nMaui found that they spend 50 percent of\ntheir time foraging in areas that have an\naverage area of 3,000 acres (see article on\nPage 5 of this issue). And the plan didn\u2019t\neven mention this, he noted.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Member Kawika Winter wanted more\nthan just a mention, but a \u201cjustification\nof why you don\u2019t want to use it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n While H.T. Harvey representatives\ndid give the ESRC a presentation on its\nwork in January, VanZandt said there is\nno formal report on the results.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom the standpoint of the ESRC, we\u2019re supposed to be using the best available science. This is the best available science. We\u2019ve known about for eight months. [We] need to know why applicants chose to ignore it,\u201d Winter said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust how, if at all, it changed their\nmitigation strategy,\u201d member Michelle\nBogardus added.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI see pathways forward. I just don\u2019t\nwant to pretend it doesn\u2019t exist,\u201d Winter\nsaid.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n By incorporating some kind of reference to the work, \u201cit makes it appear you looked at the research. … It should be on peoples\u2019 minds and should help inform the adaptive management process,\u201d Mehrhoff said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n VanZandt committed to incorporating a reference to the H.T. Harvey study and to describe \u201chow it fits into this broader picture.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to objecting to the 20 acres\/bat standard being used for mitigation, Mehrhoff also said he thought the plan\u2019s schedule for evaluating take minimization measures was insufficient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of once every five years, he preferred once every three years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As written, \u201cyou won\u2019t get to deterrents until 2030,\u201d he complained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n VanZandt explained that the plan\nincluded regular check-ins that occurred\nat sooner intervals, and those 5-year\nevaluations would only hold if data in\nthe interim suggested that everything\nwas fine.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The committee went round and round\non the plan\u2019s timeline for a while.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n At one point, Bogardus said, \u201cWe\u2019re\ngoing down a crazy rabbit hole.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Mehrhoff, former head of the\nFWS Pacific field station, was adamant\nthat the plan be clear on what\u2019s required\nand when.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s happened more than once:\npeople leave and it goes back to the\nwords in the HCP. … I\u2019ve been on this\ntrain before. Not with you guys. It comes\ndown to what\u2019s written in there and\nwhat\u2019s required. … I think [five years]\nis too long to wait when you\u2019re talking\nabout 130 bats,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Division of Forestry and Wildlife administrator Dave Smith, who chairs the committee, favored the five-year interval. If evaluations occurred every three years, there would be less confidence in whatever data was collected in that time because it\u2019s so short, Smith argued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end, the committee approved the plan with the inclusion of a reference to the H.T. Harvey study and a \u201ccontextual clarification around the adaptive management dates.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mehrhoff was the only dissenter.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Teresa Dawson <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On July 25, the state Endangered Species Recovery Committee ap- proved an amended Habitat Conservation Plan for Auwahi Wind Energy, LLC’s 24-megawatt wind farm at Ulupalakua Ranch on Maui. If the plan also receives approval from the Board of Land … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[457],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-11655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-august-2019","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}20 vs. 3,000?\n<\/h4>\n\n\n\n