35-A §3452-A. Impact on Bicknell's Thrush habitat; adverse effect

If any portion of the generating facilities or associated facilities of a wind energy development is proposed to be located within a conterminous area of coniferous forest that lies above 2,700 feet in elevation, is at least 25 acres in size and provides suitable habitat for Bicknell's Thrush, Catharsus bicknelli, and in which sightings of Bicknell's Thrush have been documented to occur during the bird's breeding season within the previous 15 years, there is a rebuttable presumption that the development would constitute a significant adverse effect on natural resources for the purposes of Title 38, section 484, subsection 3 . The presumption extends to the entire conterminous area of suitable habitat and is not limited to the parts of the area immediately proximate to where Bicknell's Thrush sightings have been documented. [RR 2013, c. 1, §50 (COR).]