Use of Treated Wood Products in Aquatic Environments: Guidelines to West Coast NOAA Fisheries Staff for Endangered Species and Essential Fish Habitat Consultations in the Alaska, Northwest and Southwest Regions

摘要

The purpose of this guidance is to assist biologists for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS or NOAA Fisheries) to understand the issues relating to aquatic uses of treated wood and to make consistent effect determinations for projects proposing to use these products in Alaska, California, Oregon and Washington State. The use of treated wood products in aquatic environments is a wide-spread practice developed to protect the wood from degradation by aquatic organisms capable of consuming wood. This guidance briefly discusses the contaminants of concern in these products (copper and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)) and their potential to leach into the aquatic environment. This guidance also outlines Best Management Practices (BMPs) to prevent or minimize exposure of NOAA trust resources to these contaminants and describes several potential exposure scenarios that consulting biologists may routinely encounter. Of chief concern in this guidance are the effects of the contaminants on Pacific salmonids, many of which are managed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). This guidance is to be used in conjunction with site-specific evaluations of other potential impacts.