Economic Analysis of Critical Habitat Designation of Cook Inlet Beluga Whales

Client: National Marine Fisheries Service

Location: Anchorage, AK

Summary: Cardno ENTRIX is conducting an economic analysis to assess the costs and benefits associated with the proposed designation of critical habitat for the Cook Inlet beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas). The analysis measures effects on a wide variety of commercial and governmental activities, including regional port and airport development and expansion projects, Knik Arm Bridge and other transportation projects, municipal sewage discharge, tidal power, coal field, petroleum and other mine development, commercial fishing and fisheries infrastructure, recreation and tourism, military activities, educational, scientific, and non-consumptive use of Cook Inlet beluga whales and their habitat, indigenous peoples? use (economic and cultural), and other large-scale development adjacent to upper Cook Inlet.

The study requires identifying, compiling, characterizing, and synthesizing economic data, capital investment, regional impacts and associated information related to development activities in and around Cook Inlet, Alaska, that have or may reasonably be assumed to have a federal nexus, and utilizing this information to prepare a separate economic impact analysis of National Marine Fisheries Service?s (NMFS) proposed critical habitat designation and any alternative critical habitat designation that NFMS identifies. A benefit-cost analysis is being used to analyze the impacts of the proposed critical habitat designation and alternatives. The analysis will aid NMFS-Alaska Region in understanding whether the benefits of excluding any particular proposed critical habitat area outweigh the benefits of including that area, provided that the exclusion of that particular area will not result in the extinction of the species. In addition, this information will allow NMFS to address the requirements of Executive Order 12866, Executive Order 13211, ESA Section 4(b)(2), Regulatory Impact Review (RIR), and the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Act (IRFA), as amended by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA). As such, this analysis will also consider how small entities, including small businesses, organizations, and governments, as defined by the IRFA, might be affected by the critical habitat designation, and assess the impact of the proposed critical habitat designation and/or the alternatives on the supply, distribution, and use of energy.