SWAP Revision Guidance

The State Wildlife Action Plans (SWAPs) were developed by all U.S. States and Territories to be dynamic, adaptive documents that guide State fish and wildlife agency and partner conservation actions for years to come. Congress required that all States commit to reviewing and revising their SWAPs within 10 years (Required Element #6). The 2007 Interior Appropriations bill required the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to develop guidance to be utilized by all States and Territories to revise their SWAPs. A State and federal team, led by the USFWS and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA), identified the process and requirements that all States must use for the future review and revision of their SWAPs. The guidance provides a flexible framework for States to incorporate new information and changing circumstances into their SWAPs without undue burden while providing national consistency.

Every State made the commitment to review and revise by September 2015. However, some committed to do so more frequently than required. Some have already completed their comprehensive review, some have started the process, while the remainder will complete their revision on the September 2015 deadline. Whenever a State completes its comprehensive review, the revision clock is reset for another 10 years. Therefore, States are now on staggered review and revision schedules. A spreadsheet with each State’s revision schedule will be available on this website soon and will be updated periodically.

States have the flexibility to complete minor or major revisions to adapt to changing conditions and new information before completing their comprehensive review. An example of a minor revision is the incorporation of a chapter or addendum on climate change adaptation. Many States included such a chapter when it appeared likely that federal climate change legislation would pass that included funding for natural resource adaptation. The legislation failed to pass but now climate change has been incorporated to varying degrees into many SWAPs.

Guidance for Wildlife Action Plan Review and Revisions

Purpose

The purpose of this guidance is to identify the process and requirements that all States and territories must utilize for the future review and revision of their State Wildlife Action Plans (Action Plans).

Introduction

The Action Plans were developed by the States to be dynamic, adaptive documents that would guide agency and partner conservation planning for years to come. Each State committed to reviewing or, if necessary, revising (review/revise) their Action Plan within 10 years as per Element 6 of the original legislation. Many States committed to do so at much shorter intervals.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) encourages States to review and revise their plans as often as is useful to them and their partners. Recent congressional report language indicates that Congress expects the USFWS to develop guidance/standards that will be utilized by all States/territories to revise their Action Plans. Congress also expects that USFWS will apply the standards consistently in all Regions. (cf. Senate Report 109-275: Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2007. House Report 109-465: Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 2007). This guidance document will ensure national consistency while allowing States and their partners flexibility to update their Action Plans without undue burden.

Review Process
Original plan review, with approval recommendations to the Director of the USFWS, was provided by a National Advisory Acceptance Team (NAAT) — the Assistant Director of Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration, each of the seven USFWS Assistant Regional Directors for Migratory Birds and State Programs (ARD), Assistant Manager (AM) of the California/Nevada Office, a representative State Director from each regional Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA), and a representative of the national AFWA organization.

Although a NAAT may be reconvened in the future to consider general policy matters or particularly complex review/revision issues, it is not anticipated that a NAAT will evaluate Action Plan review/revisions. Instead, that task will be accomplished by Regional Review Teams (RRTs). The RRTs were an integral part of the original Action Plan evaluation process and we feel that future evaluations of Action Plan review/revisions will be carried out more effectively using this regional approach. There will be eight RRTs, one within each USFWS region. The RRTs are comprised of one ARD, AM or equivalent; and one State Director appointed by each of the four regional associations (i.e., Southeastern, Midwestern, Northeastern, and Western). State Directors serving on RRTs will not evaluate the Action Plan from their own agency. In such cases, the Action Plan would be sent to another RRT for review. Federal Assistance Program and State staff may assist the RRTs as necessary. RRTs will assist States with guidance on Action Plan revisions and be available for any Action Plan related issues that may arise.

General Requirements

All States must review/revise their Action Plans by October 1, 2015, or the date specified in their original, approved Action Plan, and send the updated version and summary documentation to the USFWS. This summary documentation must demonstrate that the entire Action Plan was examined and that all of the original Eight Required Elements were met, including an up-to-date public review process specified in Elements 7 and 8. If no changes were made, the State must document and explain why no changes were necessary and what process was used to make that determination. For more details, see Section A. Once Action Plan review/revisions are approved, States are not obligated to review/revise their Action Plans for another 10 years or until a date specified in the Action Plan. A State may also revise only a part of its Action Plan without reviewing/revising its entire Action Plan. Some Action Plan revisions, including but not limited to the addition of a species, are defined as “major” (see definition below). As such, States must provide documentation that demonstrates all of the original Eight Required Elements are adequately addressed, including an up-to-date public review process, as specified in Elements 7 and 8. “Major” revisions must follow the requirements outlined in Section B. All other revisions are considered “minor” and must follow the requirements outlined in Section C.

Specific Requirements

Section A. Requirements for Planned Review/Revision of Entire Plan

1. State agency Director notifies its Regional USFWS Federal Assistance office by letter of intent to review or revise the Action Plan.
2. State and USFWS meet to discuss guidance to ensure all elements will be addressed prior to submission of documentation and reviewed/revised Action Plan.
3. State submits reviewed/revised Action Plan package by October 1, 2015, or the date specified in its original, approved Action Plan to the Regional Federal Assistance office. This package will include:
   • summary of any significant changes and documentation describing how the current version of Action Plan adequately addresses the Required Eight Elements, including an up-to-date public review process specified
     in Elements 7 and 8;
   • “Road map” (summary of location of elements in document) to locate revisions in Action Plan.

4. States are encouraged to post an electronic version of their most recent Action Plan on the web along with the summary of significant changes and “road map.”
5. RRT reviews Action Plan with input from Federal Assistance staff and determines whether it is approvable or not approvable. The ARD or AM will send a letter to the State Director with documentation of the decision and description of any required action if the Action Plan is not approvable. State Directors can appeal to the Regional Director.
6. ARDs and AM are responsible for communicating significant issues with members of all the RRTs to ensure consistency among RRTs.
7. States that specified a review/revision within 10 years (prior to the October 1, 2015, deadline) in their Action Plan and wish to change that date must submit a “minor” revision letter (see Section C below) to their Regional Federal Assistance office.
8. Federal Assistance must track revisions and due dates and maintain an administrative record of Action Plan revisions.


Section B. Requirements for “Major” Revisions Prior to the Planned Review/Revision Date


1. State agency Director notifies its Regional FWS Federal Assistance office by letter of intent to make “major” revisions to the Action Plan (See definition below).
2. State submits modified Action Plan and includes:
   • summary of all significant revisions;
   • documentation describing how the revision meets the Required Eight Elements, including an up-to-date public review process specified in Elements 7 and 8;
   • “road map” to locate revisions in Action Plan.

3. States are encouraged to post an electronic version of their most recent Action Plan on the Web with the summary of significant changes and “road map.”
4. RRT reviews Action Plan with input from Federal Assistance staff and determines whether it is approvable or not approvable. The ARD or AM will send a letter to the State Director with documentation of the decision and description of any required action if the Action Plan is not approvable. State Directors can appeal to the Regional Director.
5. ARDs and AM are responsible for communicating significant issues with members of all the RRTs to ensure consistency among RRTs.
6. Federal Assistance must track these revisions and maintain an administrative record of Action Plan revisions.

Section C. Requirements for “Minor” Revisions Prior to the Planned Review/Revision Date

1. State Director notifies the Regional FWS Federal Assistance office by letter of intent to make minor revisions with a description of the change and why the change is considered a minor revision.
2. State submits letter that includes:
   • summary of all revisions;
   • “road map” to locate revisions in Action Plan.

3. States are encouraged to post an electronic version of their most recent Action Plan on the web along with the summary of significant changes and “road map” (summary of location of elements in document).
4. Federal Assistance must track these revisions and maintain an administrative record of Action Plan revisions.

Definitions

“Major”: A significant change or changes that requires revision of two or more elements in the Action Plan. Any addition of a species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) would be a major revision. This is considered a major revision because it would require the State to substantially address subsequent elements (i.e., habitats, threats, actions). Similarly, a revision of its threat assessments for SGCN species and/or habitats that are essential to conservation of SGCN would be a major change because it would likely result in changes to conservation actions and prioritization of those conservation actions.

“Minor”: All revisions not considered “major.” The RRT will determine if a change is minor or major when it is unclear. This decision may be requested by either the State or staff of Federal Assistance. State Directors can appeal decisions to the Regional Director. Note that States and other eligible jurisdictions that wish to use State Wildlife Grant (SWG) funds to address critical priority issues not identified within an Action Plan should refer to the USFWS 2007 Administrative Guidelines for State Wildlife Grants (SWG Guidelines), Section X.H.