(a) Purpose. General permits authorize the take of bald eagles or golden eagles for other interests that meet the eligibility requirements for general permits set forth in § 22.250, § 22.260, § 22.280, or § 22.300.

(b) Eligibility. To qualify for a general permit, you must be conducting an activity identified in § 22.250, § 22.260, § 22.280, or § 22.300 and meet any additional eligibility requirements identified in the relevant section.

(1) Permits are issued to the individual or entity conducting the activity, such as the owner or manager of the entity conducting the activity. The applicant is responsible for compliance with the permit and must have the authority to implement the required permit conditions.

(2) Contractors or consultants may assist in completing applications or conducting work as a subpermittee but may not be a permit holder.

(3) Applicants may not break a project into parts to meet general permit eligibility criteria when the entire project would not be eligible.

(4) Applicants may not combine projects if the activities are not readily identifiable as being part of the same project. If you want to obtain a consolidated permit for multiple activities, you must apply for a specific permit.

(5) General permits are issued to a single permit holder. If multiple entities operate a joint project and want to obtain joint authorization, the application must designate one entity as the permit holder and that entity must accept the legal liability for the other entities. The other entities must grant sufficient authority to the permit holder to carry out any activities required under the permit.

(6) The Service may notify you in writing that you must apply for a specific permit if the Service finds that the project does not comply with the requirements for a general permit.

(c) How to apply. (1) Register with the Service by submitting the appropriate application form specified in § 22.250(a), § 22.260(a), § 22.280(a), or § 22.300(a) to Headquarters. You can find the current contact information for Migratory Birds in § 2.1 of subchapter A of this chapter.

(2) Your application must include:

(i) A description of the activity that will cause the take of bald eagles or golden eagles, including the location, and seasonality.

(A) If applying under § 22.250 for wind energy projects, include the number of turbines, rotor diameter, hub height, location coordinates of each turbine, and the datum of these coordinates.

(B) If applying under § 22.260 for power lines, include the State and county(ies) of coverage and total miles of transmission and distribution lines. To the extent known, include the number of miles or number of poles in eagle-risk areas that are not avian-safe.

(C) If applying under § 22.280 or § 22.300, include the location of known nests and nest status (i.e., in-use or alternate).

(ii) Justification of why there is no practicable alternative to take that would protect the interest to be served.

(iii) Description of eagle activity and eagle use in the project area.

(iv) Certification that the activity involving the take of eagles authorized by the general permit complies with all other applicable Federal, State, Tribal, and local laws. This includes certifying that the activity for which take is to be authorized by the general permit either does not affect a property that is listed, or is eligible for listing, in the National Register of Historic Places as maintained by the Secretary of the Interior; or that the applicant has obtained, and is in compliance with, a written agreement with the relevant State Historic Preservation Officer or Tribal Historic Preservation Officer that outlines all measures the applicant will undertake to mitigate or prevent adverse effects to the historic property.

(v) Payment of required application and administration fees (see § 13.11(d)(4) of this subchapter).

(vi) A certification that the applicant agrees to acquire eagle credits, if required, from a Service-approved conservation bank or in-lieu fee program within 90 days of the effective date of the permit.

(d) Issuance criteria. Upon an applicant registering by submitting an application under paragraph (c) of this section, the Service will automatically issue a general permit to authorize the take requested in the application. In registering, you must certify that you meet the general criteria of § 13.21 of this subchapter and the following issuance criteria:

(1) You are conducting an activity that qualifies for a general permit.

(2) The take:

(i) Is necessary to protect a legitimate interest in a particular locality;

(ii) Results from, but is not the purpose of, the activity; and

(iii) Cannot practicably be avoided.

(3) The activity is consistent with the requirements applicable to that activity as specified in § 22.250, § 22.260, § 22.280, or § 22.300.

(4) You will implement the general permit conditions applicable to your activity, including required avoidance, minimization, monitoring, and reporting requirements.

(5) You will obtain any required eagle credits from a Service-approved conservation bank or in-lieu fee program within 90 days of the effective date of your permit.

(e) Program continuation. The Service will regularly evaluate whether the take of bald eagles and golden eagles under general permits remains compatible with the preservation of eagles. If the Service finds, through analysis of the best available information, that the general permit program is not compatible with the preservation of bald eagles or golden eagles, the Service may suspend issuing general permits in all or in part after publishing notification in the Federal Register. The Service may reinstate issuance of general permits after publishing another notification in the Federal Register or by promulgating additional rulemaking. If the Service suspends general permitting, take currently authorized under a general permit remains authorized until expiration of that general permit, unless you are notified otherwise.

(f) Tenure. The tenure of each permit will be designated on the face of the permit. General permits have a maximum tenure of 5 years. Permit tenure may be less, as restricted by the applicable provisions in § 22.250, § 22.260, § 22.280, or § 22.300.