Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/661453
AGGREGATES MANAGER / April 2016 3 April 2016 Vol. 21, No. 4 aggman.com /AggregatesManager @AggMan_editor Editorial Editor-in-Chief: Therese Dunphy Editorial Director: Marcia Gruver Doyle Online Editor: Wayne Grayson Online Managing Editor: Bobby Atkinson editorial@aggman.com Design & Production Art Director: Sandy Turner, Jr. Production Designer: Timothy Smith Advertising Production Manager: Linda Hapner production@aggman.com Construction Media Vice President, Construction Media: Joe Donald sales@randallreillyconstruction.com 3200 Rice Mine Rd NE Tuscaloosa, AL 35406 800-633-5953 randallreilly.com Corporate Chairman: Mike Reilly President and CEO: Brent Reilly Chief Operations Officer: Shane Elmore Chief Financial Officer: Russell McEwen Senior Vice President, Sales: Scott Miller Senior Vice President, Editorial and Research: Linda Longton Vice President of Events: Stacy McCants Vice President, Audience Development: Prescott Shibles Vice President, Digital Services: Nick Reid Vice President, Marketing: Julie Arsenault For change of address and other subscription inquiries, please contact: aggregatesmanager@halldata.com. Aggregates Manager TM magazine (ISSN 1552-3071) is published monthly by Randall-Reilly, LLC copyright 2016. Executive and Administrative offices, 3200 Rice Mine Rd. N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. Subscription rates: $24 annually, Non-domestic $125 annually. Single copies: $7. We assume no responsibility for the validity of claims of manufacturers in any advertisement or editorial product information or literature offered by them. Publisher reserves the right to refuse non-qualified subscriptions. Periodical circulation postage paid at Tuscaloosa, Alabama and additional entries. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 507.1.5.2); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Aggregates Manager, 3200 Rice Mine Road N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. A New Definition for 'Critical Habitat' by Therese Dunphy, Editor-in-Chief tdunphy@randallreilly.com EDITORIAL E arlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Na- tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisher- ies Service made a policy change and developed two new rules regard- ing designation of critical habitats that could have a significant impact on operators. "The Endangered Species Act is the last safety net between our most at-risk species and extinction, and as such, we want to do everything we can to make sure it functions efficiently and effectively," said Gary Frazer, the Fish and Wildlife Service's assistant director for ecological services, in a press release announcing the new rules. The final policy change describes the general position of the two agencies when considering situations such as voluntary conservation agreements, national security concerns, or economic impact that would cause the agencies to voluntarily exclude a site from designation as a critical habitat. They are allowed to do so if the "benefits of doing so are greater than the benefits of designation, so long as the exclusion will not result in the extinction of the species." Of the two rules, one "clarifies the procedures and standards used for designat- ing critical habitat." It makes what USFWS describes as "minor changes" to the regulations to clarify the scope and purpose of critical habitat and to clarify the criteria for designating critical habitat. The second rule revises the definition of "destruction or adverse modification" to reflect the approach used by the two agen- cies since 2004 when the previous definition was invalidated by the courts. Regardless of the jargon USFWS uses in its announcements, these changes are not minor. For example, according to the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Associa- tion (NSSGA), the definition of critical habitat will expand from "an area occupied by species at the time it is listed" to areas that a species may occupy in the future due to climate change or other factors. Emily Coyner, NSSGA's environmental services director, notes that operators "should be aware that these changes could cause an increase in a habitat's areal extent, necessitating stringent mitigation measures, should a habitat designation include their property." If your operation is located near sea turtles, salmon, salamanders, or any other of the 1,585 plants or animals listed among USFWS' endangered or threatened species, pay careful attention to the implementation of these changes.