Appendix F

Proposed Study Plan For Bat Roost Tree Exit Counts

And Acoustical Monitoring

Proposed Study Plan for Bat Roost Tree Exit Counts and Acoustical Monitoring,

Millennium Minisink Compressor Project, Orange County, New York

Gary Alt 2011

Prepared by: Normandeau Associates, Inc.

400 Old Reading Pike Building A, Suite 101

Stowe, PA 19464 (610) 705-5733

www.normandeau.com

Submitted to: Hatch Mott MacDonald

150 Lower Westfield Road Holyoke, MA 01040

April 2011

Proposed Study Plan for Bat Roost Tree Exit Counts and Acoustical Monitoring Millennium Minisink Compressor Project, Orange County, New York

Prepared by Normandeau Associates, Inc. for Hatch Mott MacDonald and Millennium Pipeline Company April 16, 2012

The purpose of this plan is to describe the process in which Normandeau Associates, Inc. (Normandeau) will detect the presence of Indiana bats and/or the trees currently used for their roosts. We request acceptance of this plan by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Cortland Field Office and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany, New York.

Project Background

Millennium Pipeline Company, L.L.C. (Millennium) is proposing to build a gas compressor station in the Town of Minisink in Orange County, New York. Efforts to begin clearing of trees for construction of the Millennium Minisink compressor station could not take place before the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) deadline of March 31st. This deadline is included in the USFWS 2007 Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis) Draft Recovery Plan. The Indiana Bat is federally endangered and in the past has been found in Orange County, New York. These bats emerge from hibernation in April and move into tree roosts for the summer. As a result of 2005 mist-net surveys along the alignment of the Millennium pipeline and subsequent radio telemetry studies, potential Indiana bat maternity roost trees were identified in the vicinity of the proposed Millennium Minisink compressor project area. There is therefore concern that trees in the project area may contain Indiana bat roosts. In order to comply with requests, from the USFWS and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) pertaining to the proposed construction site of the Millennium Minisink compressor station (Figure 1), Normandeau proposes the following study plan to conduct bat roost tree exit counts and acoustical monitoring. The project area contains 28 trees which must be removed to allow the construction of the compressor station. These trees have been labeled “priority trees” (Figure 2). Based on the direction provided on March 14, 2012 during our discussion with Robyn Niver of the USFWS and Lisa Masi of the NYSDEC, we have developed a plan for determining presence or absence of bat roosts in the 28 priority trees and presence or likely absence of Myotis bats flying in the area of the priority trees. Normandeau’s Qualified Indiana Bat Surveyor, Michael O’Mahony, will lead a team of four biologists and biologist technicians to conduct the exit count surveys.

Site and Study Description The site is located in a somewhat rural mixed agricultural field and wooded area in the Allegheny Valley and Ridge Physiographic Province, near the boundary between the states of New York and New Jersey. Areas around the site consist of agricultural fields, residential areas and narrow bands of woods all which drain to the Wallkill River and the Hudson River Watershed. Ten of the priority trees are small (under 8” DBH) and appear to have no cavities or exfoliating bark (Table 1). Therefore, we are assuming that only 18 of the 28 priority trees can be considered potential maternity roost trees. Some of these 18 trees stand very close to each other (trees 2/3 and 15/16), making it very easy for one person to conduct exit counts at two adjacent trees, simultaneously. Therefore, roost exit counts will be required in 16 locations to cover 18 potential roost trees. The four-person crew will conduct the surveys over four nights to accomplish exit counts at 16 locations. Exit counts will take place from one half hour before sunset until the sky becomes completely dark. Acoustical monitoring will be conducted on the same nights and in the same areas as exit counts. Michael O’Mahony and wildlife biologist Jayme Schaeffer will perform the acoustical recording from before sunset until after sunrise. If temperatures fall below 10˚C or there is precipitation or fog that exceeds 30 minutes or continues intermittently during the survey period or if there are sustained wind speeds greater than 4 meters/second, survey data for that night will not be used and the surveys will be repeated on the following night. Acoustical monitors will be placed in locations that are best suited for the recording of high quality Indiana bat calls. During exit counts, biologists and technicians will work as quietly as possible to avoid excessive background noise on acoustical recordings. A detailed description follows. Please refer to Figure 2.

• Night One: Exit counts will be conducted at Area 1. These counts will cover priority

trees 1, 2, 3, 13, and 27. Trees 5, 6, and 28 are not potential roost trees. Acoustical monitoring will take place in or near Area 1.

• Night Two: Exit counts will be conducted at Area 2. These counts will cover priority

trees 14, 15, 16, 17, and 25. Trees 4 and 26 are not potential roost trees. Acoustical monitoring will take place in or near Area 2.

• Night Three: Exit counts will be conducted at Area 3. These counts will cover

priority trees 10, 11, 12, and 18. Trees 7, 8, and 9 are not potential roost trees. Acoustical monitoring will take place in or near Area 3.

• Night Four: Exit counts will be conducted at areas 4A and 4B. These counts will cover priority trees 19, 47, 54, and 55. Trees 45 and 46 are not potential roost trees. Acoustical monitoring will take place at two locations in or near areas 4A and 4B.

Acoustics Methods Equipment and Analysis Acoustical monitoring will be performed as recommended by the USFWS and NYDEC. We assume this will require four (4) survey locations as with the roost counts. All locations will be surveyed for one night, concurrent with roost counts. Acoustical monitoring will occur from one hour before sunset until one hour after sunrise. Acoustic data will be analyzed the following morning after each monitoring event. Calls will be analyzed and identified to the genus level and to species where possible. The results can be available the following day. The paragraph below outlines in more detail the technological approach to the acoustic monitoring: ReBAT is Normandeau’s patented technology that allows for near real time, remote detection of bat species. It is built to provide reliable and redundant data to ensure the highest level of confidence in bat acoustic data. Each ReBAT consists of one or two detectors attached to a computer control box and powered by external batteries that transmit bat calls to a central server as the data is collected. The detectors provide a real-time, full spectrum solution using AR 125’s manufactured by Binary Acoustic Technology. The computer control box contains the hardware and software to initiate and conclude data collection, store the data, and transmit the data to the office (via the cell network) for processing and analysis. The system is powered with batteries sufficient to maintain the maximum search volume for each night guaranteeing that data collected by all systems over all nights will be directly comparable without concern for declining search effort due to declining equipment power. The data collected (*.wav files) are stored on the local computer control box as well as transmitted, via the cell network, to a central server where it is ingested into a SQL relational database for future analysis and management. Full spectrum bat acoustic files will be analyzed using two methods: manual and automated. Although each bat species has specific call characteristics, there is overlap among call parameters as bats vary their calls. Because of known overlap in echolocation call characteristics occurring among some sympatric species (Barclay 1999), some portion of the acoustic data can be expected to be classified to species groups rather than to an individual species. Manual call analysis paramaterizes the signal (using Sonobat software) and then compares to known calls of potential species, using best judgment to assign calls to a species or species group. All acoustics analysts are formally and specifically trained as bat biologists and have extensive training in call analysis. Over the last four years we have collected over 200,000 hours of acoustic data on bats containing over 1 million bat calls from 18 states. The automated call analysis utilizes the automated call analysis module of the Sonobat software. This module of Sonobat compares the

signal and its parameters to the known calls and assesses the likelihood that the signal matches the known calls for that species. The morning after the acoustical recording is completed it will be analyzed and all useable bat calls will be identified to at least the genus level. Any bat calls that are identified as Myotis and any positive exit count results will be reported immediately to Hatch Mott MacDonald. If there are no positive exit counts and no Myotis calls are reported, trees in the area affected by the previous night’s surveys will be cut that day. If any bats are seen exiting trees in the affected area or if any Myotis calls are identified, we will contact the USFWS and NYSDEC ask them for their direction/advice before any cutting takes place. All data and tree cutting will be reported to each agency after the four nights of surveys are completed. Please contact Mr. Michael O’Mahony (484) 945-2681 or Ms. Jane Rowan (484) 945-2631 should you have any comments, questions or suggestions on this proposed study plan. Attachments: Figure 1: Location Map Figure 2: Site map and study plan Table 1: List of tree species and size class

Site Location

4Figure 1.Site Location MapMinisink Compressor ProjectDATE:

REVISED:

PROJECT:

NORMANDEAU ASSOCIATESENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS400 Old Reading Pike Bldg. A, Suite 101 Stowe, PA 19464Path: J:\CAD\Stowe_Jobs\HMM_Gas_Pipeline_ClintonCnty_PA\21856.021\Figure1_Minisink_Site_Location.mxd

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Area4B

Areas1, 2 and 3

Area4A

4Figure 2.Study Site Bat Roost Tree Exit Countsand Acoustical MonitoringMinisink Compressor Project

DATE:

REVISED:

PROJECT:

NORMANDEAU ASSOCIATESENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS400 Old Reading Pike Bldg. A, Suite 101 Stowe, PA 19464Path: J:\CAD\Stowe_Jobs\HMM_Gas_Pipeline_ClintonCnty_PA\21856.021\Figure2_Minisink_Study_Site.mxd

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Approximate Construction Limits

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Study limits and tree locations provided by Hatch Mott McDonalddrawing Millennium HMM TreeLocationMap 11x17 Preliminary 021012.

OBJECT ID TREE DESCRIPTION OBJECT ID TREE DESCRIPTION1 pignut hickory 16'' (Carya ovalis) 17 pignut hickory 21'' (Carya ovalis)2 shagbark hickory 11'' (Carya ovata) 18 pignut hickory 17'' (Carya ovalis)3 sugar maple 9.5'' (Acer saccharum) 19 black walnut 11'' (Juglans nigra)4 white ash 6'' (Fraxinus americana) 25 sugar maple 7.5'' (Acer saccharum)5 pignut hickory 5'' (Carya ovalis) 26 white ash 6.5'' (Fraxinus americana)6 pignut hickory 7'' (Carya ovalis) 27 red maple 14'' (Acer rubrum)7 pignut hickory 5'' (Carya ovalis) 28 red maple 5'' (Acer rubrum)8 pignut hickory 5'' (Carya ovalis) 45 gray birch 5.5'' (Betula populifolia)9 pignut hickory 7.5'' (Carya ovalis) 46 black cherry 7'' (Prunus serotina)10 pignut hickory 11'' (Carya ovalis) 47 black walnut 16'' (Juglans nigra)11 pignut hickory 16'' (Carya ovalis) 54 red maple 38'' (Acer rubrum)12 white ash 5'' (Fraxinus americana) 55 red maple 38'' (Acer rubrum)13 red maple 23'' (Acer rubrum)14 black cherry 21'' (Prunus serotina)15 red maple 5'' (Acer rubrum) missing tree numbers represent trees that are16 pignut hickory 10'' (Carya ovalis) not priority trees and will not be cut at this time

Table 1. Priority Tree Survey, Minisink Compressor ProjectAdapted from Hatch Mott MacDonald: Millennium_MCP_Surveyed_Trees_2-10-2012.xls

Additional Considerations From

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

400 Old Reading Pike Building A, Suite 101 Stowe, PA 19464 Tel (610) 705-5733 Fax (610) 705-5739 www.normandeau.com

Bedford, NH (Corporate) North Haven, CT Falmouth, MA Haverstraw, NY Stowe, PA Stevenson, WA

Lewes, DE Hampton, NH Oswego, NY Aiken, SC Vancouver, WA Falmouth, ME Westmoreland, NH Drumore, PA Moncks Corner, SC Wenatchee, WA

An Employee-Owned Company An Equal Opportunity Employer

Mr. Matthew A. Nowak May 9, 2012 Hatch Mott MacDonald 150 Lower Westfield Road Holyoke, MA 01040 Subject: 21856.009 Clarifications to the Millennium Minisink Bat Survey

Study Plan, Orange County New York: Dear Mr. Nowak: Below we provide an outline of additional considerations for the bat survey at the proposed Millennium Minisink compressor station as discussed with Carl Herzog and Lisa Masi of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) via conference call on May 9, 2012. These considerations slightly revise the study plan that was submitted to the NYSDEC and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on April 16, 2012. Mr. Herzog and Ms. Masi requested the following:

• Advance notice will be given when survey dates are scheduled so the NYSDEC can observe the survey set-up.

• Survey data will be submitted to the NYSDEC.

• If bats are observed exiting from a tree but no confirmed calls of Myotis species are detected, it is reasonable to assume no protected bats inhabit that tree. The tree may be cut on the following day but the NYSDEC encourages avoidance of such cutting if possible.

• If no bats are observed exiting from a group of trees but calls of Myotis species are detected in

that area, the survey results will be discussed with the NYSDEC and the exit count and acoustical survey will be continued a second night.

• If during a second night of surveying, no calls of Myotis species are detected, that group of trees

may be cut.

• If during a second night of surveying, calls of Myotis species are detected, that group of trees may not be cut.

Please let us know if you are in agreement that the above reflects the conversation and decisions made during the conference call.

Very truly yours,

Jane O. Rowan, PWS

Senior Principal Scientist Stowe Group Manager

Email Correspondence From Ms. Robyn Niver of FWS

Concurring With Millennium’s Plan

From: Robyn_Niver@fws.gov [mailto:Robyn_Niver@fws.gov]Sent: Monday, May 21, 2012 2:29 PMTo: Nowak, Matthew ACc: 'cjherzog@gw.dec.state.ny.us'; 'lmmasi@gw.dec.state.ny.us'Subject: Re: FW: Millennium Pipeline Company, L.L.C. - Indiana Bat Study Plan for Minisink Compressor Project

Matt,The study proposal looks fine.Robyn********************************************************************Robyn A. NiverEndangered Species BiologistU.S. Fish & Wildlife ServiceNew York Field Office3817 Luker Rd.Cortland, NY 13045(607) 753-9334 (voice)(607) 753-9699 (fax)

"Nowak, Matthew A"

05/17/2012 08:49 AM

To

"'lmmasi@gw.dec.state.ny.us'" , Robyn Niver , "'cjherzog@gw.dec.state.ny.us'"

cc

Subject

FW: Millennium Pipeline Company, L.L.C. - Indiana Bat Study Plan for Minisink Compressor Project

Robyn/Carl/Lisa,

I’m just following-up to see if you have any questions and/or agree with the clarifications made in the attached letter.

Please contact me with any questions or to authorize Millennium to proceed with the Indiana Bat Study Plan.

Best Regards,

Matt

Matthew A. Nowak, PWSSenior Project ScientistHatch Mott MacDonald

150 Lower Westfield RoadHolyoke, MA 01040Phone: 413-315-2148Cell: 413-519-1002Fax: 413-535-0136E-Mail: matthew.nowak@hatchmott.comWebpage: www.hatchmott.com

From: Nowak, Matthew ASent: Thursday, May 10, 2012 8:35 AMTo: 'lmmasi@gw.dec.state.ny.us'; Robyn Niver (Robyn_Niver@fws.gov); 'cjherzog@gw.dec.state.ny.us'Cc: 'Jane Rowan'; 'Michael OMahony'; 'James D. Ransom'; Gary KruseSubject: RE: Millennium Pipeline Company, L.L.C. - Indiana Bat Study Plan for Minisink Compressor Project

Robyn/Lisa/Carl,

Per our conference call yesterday, the attached letter confirms/summarizes the key discussion points. Please contact me with any questions and/or to provide final plan approval.

Best Regards,

Matt

Matthew A. Nowak, PWSSenior Project ScientistHatch Mott MacDonald150 Lower Westfield RoadHolyoke, MA 01040Phone: 413-315-2148Cell: 413-519-1002Fax: 413-535-0136E-Mail: matthew.nowak@hatchmott.comWebpage: www.hatchmott.com

From: Nowak, Matthew ASent: Monday, April 16, 2012 12:42 PMTo: 'lmmasi@gw.dec.state.ny.us'; Robyn Niver (Robyn_Niver@fws.gov)Cc: 'Jane Rowan'; 'Michael OMahony'; 'Gary Kruse'Subject: Millennium Pipeline Company, L.L.C. - Indiana Bat Study Plan for Minisink Compressor Project

Robyn/Lisa,

Attached for your review and approval is Millennium’s proposed Indiana bat study plan for the Minisink Compressor Project.

Please contact me with any questions. We would be happy to set up a review session.

Best Regards,

Matt

Matthew A. Nowak, PWSSenior Project ScientistHatch Mott MacDonald150 Lower Westfield RoadHolyoke, MA 01040

Phone: 413-315-2148Cell: 413-519-1002Fax: 413-535-0136E-Mail: matthew.nowak@hatchmott.comWebpage: www.hatchmott.com

______________________________________________________________________Attention:This e-mail and any files transmitted with it from Hatch Mott MacDonald are confidential and intended solely for use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify the sender.______________________________________________________________________[attachment "Millennium_MCP_Indiana-Bat-Study-Plan-Addition_ 5-9-12.pdf" deleted by Robyn Niver/R5/FWS/DOI]

______________________________________________________________________This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________Attention:This e-mail and any files transmitted with it from Hatch Mott MacDonald are confidential and intended solely for use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify the sender.______________________________________________________________________

Millennium_Minisink_Indiana-Bat-Study-Plan_4-16-12Study Plan CoverHMM-Minisink Study Plan 4-13-2012mgo-JOR-REVProposed Study Plan for Bat Roost Tree Exit Counts and Acoustical Monitoring

Figure1_Minisink_Site_LocationFigure2_Minisink_Study_SiteTable 1 Priority_Tree_Survey_2-10-2012Surveyed_Trees_2_10_2012

Millennium_MCP_Indiana-Bat-Study-Plan-Addition_ 5-9-12FW FW Millennium Pipeline Company, L.L.C. - Indiana Bat StudyPlan for Minisink Compressor Project