Abstract
Alliant Energy’s (Alliant) Interstate Power and Light Company and Wisconsin Power and Light Company currently own and operate nine wind energy facilities (individually Project, and collectively Projects or Alliant Projects) that include 765 turbines and total more than 1,651 megawatts of wind generation capacity in Iowa and Minnesota.
Alliant has prepared this Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) in support of an application for an Incidental Take Permit (ITP or Permit) for the Alliant Projects under Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the Endangered Species Act (ESA; 1973; 16 US Code [USC] Sections [§§] 1531-1544 [1973]). This HCP was developed in accordance with the ESA (Section 10(a)(2)(A)) and Federal Regulations (50 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] §§ 17.22(b)(1)[1985], 17.32(b)(1) [1985]). This HCP focuses on four bat species of concern (see Section 1.6, below)1.
Alliant began coordinating with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in May 2019 regarding the company’s wind energy fleet in Iowa and Minnesota. In these initial meetings, Alliant shared biological information regarding the Projects, site-specific studies conducted to-date, opportunities for mitigation, and publicly available data to incorporate into Alliant’s HCP. This coordination continued through a series of meetings, conference calls, and written exchanges that have occurred through development of the current HCP.
This HCP incorporates the foundation of research, conservation strategies, and partnerships developed for the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Proposed Habitat Conservation Plan and Incidental Take Permit for the MidAmerican Energy Company Wind Energy Portfolio (MidAmerican EIS; USFWS 2019d) and the Final Habitat Conservation Plan for the MidAmerican Energy Company Iowa Wind Energy Portfolio (MidAmerican HCP; MidAmerican 2019), which was developed collaboratively between MidAmerican, the USFWS, and the State of Iowa. The MidAmerican HCP was the first multi-site HCP developed and permitted in the region, and entailed collection of substantial site-specific data prior to ITP issuance, including postconstruction monitoring (PCM) and research studies (MidAmerican 2019). Following the general approach from the MidAmerican HCP, Alliant has also collected pre-ITP data and conducted research at the Alliant Projects to develop this HCP. Additionally, publicly available pre-ITP data from the MidAmerican HCP was also incorporated where appropriate.