Document e7OLR5y3Zy4DZpe5MvXDxVBGp
To:
aurelia_skipwith@ios.doi.gov[aurelia_skipwith@ios.doi.gov]
Cc:
Nirenberg, Darryl[dnirenberg@steptoe.com]
From: Nyholm, Allison
Sent: 2017-12-12T10:20:22-05:00
Importance:
Normal
Subject: Meeting Follow Up - Common Ground Capital
Received:
2017-12-12T10:21:34-05:00
LPCC mapping slides.pptx
Dec1Skipwith.docx
Hi Aurelia,
Below and attached, please find our responses to items we discussed with you during our Dec. 1 meeting concerning the lesser prairie chicken and conservation banking. Additionally, you will find slides attached that discuss the goals of the range wide plan in relation to our client, Common Ground Capital, and their work to create Endangered Species Act private sector solutions. I know the data on lesser prairie chicken projects is not as transparent as it could be, so please let us know if you have follow up questions once you review the enclosed information.
Please know we will be responding to your request for comments on mitigation policies and CCAAs in the coming weeks.
Thank you for giving Darryl and me so much of your time last week.
Best,
Allison
December 1, 2017 Meeting with Deputy Assistant Secretary Aurelia Skipwith Responses to Questions on the Lesser Prairie Chicken Program
Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) and its Dual Role as Administrator and Credit Provider
In 2012, USFWS designated WAFWA to administer a Range Wide Plan to protect and preserve the habitat for the LPC in New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. WAFWA established the Lesser Prairie Chicken Initiative to manage this administrative responsibility, to include recording and ensuring each enrollment is offset by conservation on the ground. WAFWA has also taken for itself the "provider" role going about using the enrollees' entry fees to acquire conservation offsets. In the WAWFA program, the amount spent on conservation offsets is limited by the fee already collected. (Note: in the LPC LLC business, the company negotiates and pays a price to the landowner up front and then seeks to make that money back by selling credits to enrollees.)
How is WAFWA Held Accountable?
Under the Obama program, the only accountability was an occasional exchange of letters describing needs for improvement in the program based what was revealed in WAFWA annual reports. The annual reports imply that WAFWA determines when their conservation work satisfies requirements of the FWS. By comparison, LPC LLC was required to submit field data and other due diligence on its contracts with landowners before offering conservation credits for sale.
WAFWA Collections and Use
Since inception of the RWP, WAFWA has invoiced $64.8 million in enrollment and impact fees and collected $62.3million of which 87.5% or $54.6 million is restricted for conservation efforts. WAFWA has spent $23.4 million on conservation related expenses (landowner contracts, permanent easements, land purchase and associated costs, outstanding account receivables and investment gain/loss) and approximately $7 million on its own administrative
expenses.[1] A net position of approximately $35 million is restricted for future conservation
endeavors.
During 2016, WAFWA reports conservation income resulted in $13 million of enrollment and impact fees, and a total of $15.7 million on conservation related expenses. .During this reporting period, WAFWA added three new 10-year landowner contracts, including purchase of one permanent easement in the Mixed Grass ecoregion consisting of approximately 1,781 acres and acquisition of a 29,718-acre ranch fee simple in the Sand Sagebrush ecoregion.
WAFWA Conservation Agreement (WCA) Industry Participation
WCA enrollments represent oil and gas leases, wind developments, pipelines, gas plants electric lines and telecommunications towers. Oil and gas leases, wind developments and telecom sites are enrolled as parcels.
Company Name American Electric Power Service C orporation Anadarko E&P Onshore LLC Bailey Counts- Electric Cooperative, Association Bloom Wind Bluestem Wind Energy. LLC BP America C entrai Valley Electric Cooperative. Inc. Cimarex Energy Co.
Agreement Status Active Actne Active Active Active Actne Active Active
Cima non Electric Cooperative Coral Coast Petroleum. LC Deaf Smith Electric Cooperative lue. E R Operating Company Eagle Exploration Edison Operating Company, LLC Enterprise Products Operating Gore Oil Company. Inc. Grand Mesa Pipehue, LLC Greenbelt Electric Cooperative, Inc. Hess Oil Company Indian Exploration Company, LLC ITC Great Plains LLC John O. Farmer. Inc. Kaiser-Francis Oil Company Kiwash Electric C ooperative. Inc. Lyntegar Electric C ooperative. Inc. Magellan Midstream Partners. LP MarkWest OK Gas Company. LLC North Plains Electric Cooperative Northfork Electric Cooperative Northwestern Electric Cooperative OGE Energy Corp. Opal Resources P.O. & G. Operating LLC' Peregrine Petroleum Partners. Ltd. Pioneer Resources, Inc.
Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active
Prairie Wind Transmission Ramsey Property Management Raydou Exploration Raymond Oil Company. Inc. Red Oak Energy Inc. Regency Energy Partners LP Roosevelt C ounty Electric Cooperative Slawson Exploration Company Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline. Inc. Sunflower Electric Power Corporation Superior Pipeline Co. Texakoma Exploration & Production. LLC Toto Energy, LLC Tower Assets Newco IX. LLC Tri-County Electric Cooperative VAL Energy Western Farmers Electric Cooperative Western Gas Partners. LP Williams LLC Xcel Energy Inc. Tapstone Energy. LLC .Alfalfa Electric Cooperative, Inc. Eagle Oil & Gas Nadel and Gussmau Operating LLC Stratakan Exploration. LLC Access Midstream Partners Eagle Rock Energy Services, LP
Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Partial Suspension Self Terminated Self Terminated Self Terminated Self Terminated Sold Tra nsferred Sold Transferred
Eagle Rock Field Services. LP Chaparral Energy LLP Dolomite Resources Corporation Forestar Petroleum Corporation Monarch Oil Pipeline T.H. McEhain Oil & Gas LLLP Apache Corporation Centurion Pipeline L.P. COG Operating. LLC Conoco Phillips Continental Resources. Inc. DC P Midstream LP Devon Energy Corporation - Kansas Devon Energy Corporation - Oklahoma Devon Energy Corporation - Panhandle Devon Energy Corporation - Permian Basin Devon Energy Corporation - Rockies Enable Midstream Partners Energy Transfer Partners Enervest Operating LLC Jayhawk Pipeline LLC Jones Energy LLC Kirkpatrick Oil Company Inc. Landmark Resources. Inc. Linn Operating. Inc. Mewbourne Oil Company Midcoast Operating
Sold. Transferred Suspended Suspended Suspended Suspended Suspended Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive Transferred Inactive
ONEOK Partners. LP
Transferred Inactive
Plains All American Pipeline
Transferred Inactive
Samson Resources
Transferred Inactive
Samuel L. Gary Jr. & Associates. Inc.
Transferred Inactive
SemGroup C orporation
Transferred Inactive
Unit Petroleum Company
Transferred Inactive
Versado Gas Processors
Transferred Inactive
Contract status is as follows: active contracts have a current balance and no outstanding compliance notice suspended or partially suspended contracts have a past-due enrollment fee balance, self-terminated contracts mdicai a voluntary termination by the participant company, sold transferred indicates that the enrollment was sold, transferee to another enrolled company and remains in the program, and transferred inactive mdicates that the compan transferred the acreage to the CCAA program and retains the WCA contract without any enrolled acres.
Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) Industry Participation
The CCAA covers oil and gas and related activities such as wells, roads, pipelines, storage tank facilities, compressor and pumping stations, and electric service for oil and gas facilities. Several companies transferred enrollments from the WCA into the CCAA for its stronger legal assurances.
Company Name Anadarko Minerals. Inc. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Apache C orporation Apache C orporation - Permian Region Beren Corporation BP America Castelli Exploration. Inc. Centurion Pipeline L.P. Chisholm Partners II. LLC Cimarex Energy Co. Cimarex Energy Co. - West Texas CMX. Inc. Coats Energy. Inc. COG Operating. LLC Conoco Phillips Continental Resources. Inc. Corlena Oil Company Crawley Petroleum Corporation Culbreath Oil & Gas Co.. Inc. Cynosure Energy LLC DaMar Resources. Inc. Daystar Petroleum Inc. DCP Midstream LP Devon Energy Corporation - Kansas
Agreement Status Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active
Devon Energy Corporation - Oklahoma Devon Energy Corporation - Panhandle Devon Energy Corporation - Permian Basin Devon Energy Corporation - Rockies Diehl Oil. Inc. Dorchester Minerals Operating LP Oklahoma Duncan Oil Properties. Inc. Edison Operating Company, LLC Edmiston Oil Company, Inc. Elevation Resources LLC Empire Energy E&P LLC Enable Midstream Partners Encino Operating. LLC Energy Alliance Company, Inc. Energy Transfer Partners Enervest Operating LLC EOG Resources. Inc. Fasken Oil and Rauch Griffin Management LLC LA. Operating. Inc. Jayhawk Pipeline LLC JMA Energy C ompany, LLC Jolen Operating C ompany Jones Energy LLC Kenneth W. Cory, Ltd. Kinder Morgan Inc. Kirkpatrick Oil C ompany Inc.
Active Active Active Active Active Active
Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active
Landmark Resources, Inc. Legacy Reserves Operating LP Lighthouse Oil & Gas LP Linn Operating. Inc. M&M Exploration. Inc. Magellan Midstream Partners. LP Marathon Oil Company MarkWest OK Gas Company. LLC Maverick Brothers Resources. LLC McGinness Oil Co. of Kansas, Inc. Merit Energy Company, LLC Mewbourne Oil Company MIDCO Exploration. Inc. Midcoast Operating MidCon Energy Operating LLC Midnight Hour. LLC Murfin Drilling Co., Inc. Nadel and Gussmau Permian LLC O'Benco IV LP ONE Gas Inc. ONEOK Partners. LP Oolite Energy Corporation Osage Investors I. LLC Oxy USA. Inc. Paladin Energy Corp. Panhandle Topeka. LLC Picki ell Drilling Company, Inc.
Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active
Habitat Acquisition
During this reporting period for the 2016 annual report, WAFWA secured two permanent conservation sites. The first site consists of 1,781 acres of privately owned native rangeland in the Mixed Grass ecoregion of which 1,670 acres are in CHAT 1. WAFWA also acquired the title to a 29,718-acre ranch in the Sand Sagebrush ecoregion. This ranch was acquired by WAFWA from a willing seller in June 2016.
In addition to these two new acquisitions, WAFWA had previously secured an additional 1,554-acre permanently conserved site in the Shinnery Oak Ecoregion. WAFWA states they are also conserving 100,650 additional acres across thirteen active 10-year term contracts.
Project Logs and Ledgers
According to the last annual report, tracking of information about a project and its implementation status within the RWP workflow is available internally, accessible by companies for their specific projects and by USFWS.
WAFWA states that during the first year of the RWP, a tracking log was created in a shared online spreadsheet, such that each new project was entered as a new record row and attribute columns regarding the project stage, date it was evaluated, impact costs, impact units, and dates the project was approved and sent to accounting for completion were manually entered every time new information was collected.
The tracking log and ledgers are accessible via a secure website along with a summary of projects status and important project details (region, CHAT score, habitat impact units, mitigation cost). In 2015, great effort was expended getting all the tracking information into a comprehensive GIS geodatabase and a relational geodatabase was created that had automatic daily updates of project information pulled from the GIS data. This new tracking log and ledgers were not available via a web interface, but were part of the geodatabase shared with the USFWS.
A web interface is said to be now available and provides role based access to authorized data sets. Users from WAFWA and USFWS can access information for all companies, conservation enrollments, as well as access the summary logs, and the impact balance ledgers. Figure 13 shows an example of a page that lists and maps projects that are under review, but not yet finalized.
WAFWA
WOIC
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DASHBOARD
Companies WAFWA TEST
III wafwa test
Company IO WAI90A Industy Other / Mixed Industry Address 123 Street
Lwence. KS 66046 Assigned TSP: Mike Houts Primary working contact Mike Houts Contact Phone:
Enrotlments Enrollments
S Contacts
CREATE NEW ENROLLMENT
-i Proposals
CONSERVATION SUMMARIES LEDGERS ADMIN LOGOUT
Welcome Mike
nr edit
Under Review Jr Completed Project; Cancelled Ledger F> Incident Reports
Figure 12. View of the WCT web interface showing enrollment parcels for a hypothetical WAFWA Test" company. Tabs within the view provide access to unique sets of data and tools.
CT Enrollment Map
Proposals
Proposals under Review
= GRID F
<*> Under Review
Completed Projects
9 Cancelled
$ Finances
Figure 13. View of projects listed ui "Under Review" tab for the hypothetical WAFWA Test company. Projects are listed and mapped, with the list functioning as a link to specific project de
The line-by-line ecoregion ledgers that track credit and debit, show which projects are associated with which conservation sites, and provide a running balance of that conservation sites available credit are available by ecoregion in the WCT app through the Ledger tab. A subset of this ledger is shown in the figure below.
Entry Dato 12/27/7016 12/22'2016 12/22/2016 12/22/2016 12/22/2016 12/22/2016 12/22/2016 12/12/201$ 12/7/2(16 12/7/2(1$ 12/7/2(16 12/7/2(16
11/23/2016 11/23/2016 11/K/20I6 11/5/2(16
11/5/2(16
WAFWA 10 OX131A_70I41715_04406 DX131A 20141215 0SU05 I131A^M12U^0M4O< X131A 20141215 054403 0X131A 20141215 054402 OX131A.20141215-0M401 DX131A_20141215_0i4400 9O1S/A20K1212 1237-4 0X131A 20161'25 0(1112 DX131A 20161-25 041)18 X131Ajoi6V25_0(03
0X131A 20161'25 0(0)02 OX 111C1 ^071107 TE175A 20'51(14 1(0(33 TEP5A_20'51(14 100013 ItV5A_20'4110S_1(0$03 OXD1ACO001 '76JK 1176 OX B1ACO0O1175 0C1175 DX13tA_(O(Or74_O(1174
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EC 1 EC 1 EC 17 CC 16 etui xr Menan 3 Menan 2 Men* 1 WODC (06 WODC SOT WODC (04
Eeo/ogton Snnrwry Oik Pram 3iinery Oak Ptr Snnrwry Oak Frasne bnnrwfy oak Frame Shnnery Oik Frane Snnnery Oak Prane Shimmy Oak Prrw Shnneey Oik Prana Snnnery Oik Prane Snnnery Oik Trane Snnnery Olk Prane
Oik Ptne Shnnery Oak Fran Snnnery Oik Prane Shinnery Oak Trame Snnnery Oik Prane Shnrwry Oak Preu* Shnnary Oak Pram* Snnnery Oik Prane
CHAT' ChargoTypc 4 20'4 2)16 Impart 4 20-4 2)16 IrapiU 4 20'4-2)16 Impact 4 2014-2016 HOM 4 20'4 2)16 Impact
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4 20'4-2)16 Impact 2 Final Impact 4 Final Impact 4 Final Impact 4 Final Impact 4 f inai h t 4 Final Impact
3 20 S2316 Impact 3 20'5 2)16 Impact 3 20'4-2)16 Impact 4 20*4-2)16 Impact 4 20'4 2)16 Impart 4 20'4 2)16 Impact
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Figure 14. Subset of the line-item ledger for the Shinnery Oak ecoregion where the habitat unit credit debits for each project and conservation site are tracked. For each impact, the region. CHAT cate impact units, and offset site associated with it are shown.
[1] As of December 31, 2016, and not included in the $62.3 million, $1,477,418 are in account receivables and $902,676 has been written off to bad debt
