Wood Turtle - NH Species of Special Concern
The Forest Society and our partners at the Nature Conservancy, Appalachian Mountain Club, NH Lakes, NH Rivers Council and the NH Association of Conservation Commissions sent a follow-up letter to the Department of Environmental Services in opposition to the Department’s proposed rule regarding the criteria for issuance of Alteration of Terrain permits which we continue to believe undermines protections for threatened and endangered species.
The Endangered and Threatened Species Conservation Act (NH RSA 212-A) requires the State of New Hampshire to protect state and federally listed threatened and endangered (T&E) species and their habitats. Specifically, RSA 212-A:9, III, states that all state agencies and departments “shall take such action as is reasonable and prudent to insure that actions authorized, funded, or carried out by them do not jeopardize the continued existence of such species or result in the destruction or modification of habitat of such species which is determined by the executive director (of the NH Fish and Game Department) to be critical.”
The pressing concern for many in the environmental community is that the Department of Environmental Services (DES) has proposed changing one of the standards it uses to issue Alternation of Terrain (AOT) permits. Under the law, a developer is required to get an AOT permit from DES whenever a project proposes to disturb more than 100,000 square feet of terrain, or if the project disturbs any area having a 25% or steeper land slope and is within 50 feet of any surface water.
As you recall, the New Hampshire environmental community opposed the DES’ initial proposal. On March 2, the Department issued a revised proposal regarding the AOT criteria. While the March revision makes some improvements over the original proposal, the latest proposal continues to be too ambiguous and will result in a significant weakening of protections for threatened and endangered species.
Given the flaws, we believe the Department should suspend the current rulemaking. Instead, it should convene a stakeholder process that will result in the Department bringing forward a comprehensive rule that is clear, consistent, and provides meaningful protections for the state’s for threatened and endangered species and the critical habitats which support them.
The deadline for submitting comments closed on March 31. However, the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (JLCAR), a 10-member joint House and Senate committee which provides legislative oversight of the rulemaking process, will eventually review and then vote whether to approve or object to the proposal. JLCAR’s rules do offer the opportunity for the public to make comments. We will provide an update on this issue when JLCAR finalizes its schedule.