Coordination and Consultation under the PA. The PA discusses general protocols for consultation and coordination with Tribes (Stipulation V) and agencies (Stipulation VI), and details when formal consultation is required (e.g., VIII.F.2b, No Adverse Effect) and when informal coordination and quarterly reporting (Stipulation XVII.B) is appropriate. Some specific guidance on consultation and coordination is below. If a project occurs on easement across another agency’s land, and the agency is a signatory to the PA, the HPT Staff informally coordinates (agencies) or consults (Tribes) with the landowner regarding decisions that would lead to documentation to the Quarterly Report rather than formal consultation. This can be accomplished either solely via email or by a combination of phone conversation(s) with email follow ups for all agencies and for Tribes that agree to the informal process. General consultation protocols are in Stipulation V (Tribes) and VI (agencies) of the PA, including guidance for following up with non-responsive consulting parties. Specific consultation protocols and contact information for each individual agency and Tribe are maintained on the Contacts page of the HPT Portal. When an HPT Staff is aware of a change to any contact information or consulting protocol, that information is transmitted to the entire HPT team by email, with a request that the Portal Administrator update the Contacts page. The Portal Administrator updates the information and notifies the Team by email that the update has been completed. Some agencies, such as the Tonto National Forest and Fort Huachuca, may have their own lists of Tribes that they consult for their undertakings, and may request that we include all the Tribes they would consult if their list is different from ADOTs. When that is the case, the consultation list should be inclusive of all the Tribes on both the agency and ADOT’s list. Agencies that have requested we incorporate their consultation list with ADOT’s list are so identified in the protocols maintained in the HPT Portal. Decisions that are not documented to the quarterly report require formal consultation letters. The PA identifies when individual consultation is required and what the consultation timeframes are in individual stipulations under Stipulations VIII and IX.
