Print this page Protecting Birds from Power-Line Hazards
Mark P. Rossow, PhD, PE Retired
Course Outline
This five-hour online course discusses voluntary guidelines intended to allow utilities to tailor an avian protection plan (APP) that will best fit their needs while furthering the conservation of avian species and improving reliability and customer service. A utility that implements the principles contained in these APP guidelines will greatly reduce avian risk as well its own risk of enforcement under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Endangered Species Act. The course shows how a utility that creates an APP following these guidelines and that addresses their specific avian issues can benefit through regulatory compliance, reliability improvements, cost savings and positive recognition from regulators and customers.
This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.
Learning Objective
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Learning about permit compliance;
- Understanding construction design standards;
- Managing nests built on utility equipment;
- Applying measures for reducing bird mortality;
- Instituting an avian reporting system;
- Leaning about avian enhancement options;
- Instituting quality control measures;
- Learning about appropriate corporate policy through examples;
- Using proper forms for reporting bird mortality and nests;
- Learning standards for conductor separation; and
- Understanding appropriate use of perches, guards, and insulator covers.
Intended Audience
This course is intended for electrical and civil engineers concerned with the design and maintenance of electric power lines.
Benefit to Attendees
A person completing this course will be familiar with and able to apply procedures for formulating and implementing an avian protection plan for an electric utility.
Course Introduction
Since the formation of the Avian Power Line Interaction Committee (APLIC) in 1989, the electric utility industry and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) have worked together to reduce avian electrocution and collision mortality. This has resulted in the cooperative development of guidelines for Avian Protection Plans (APP) by APLIC and USFWS, representing another milestone in avian conservation.
Course Content
This course is based on the document, “Avian Protection Plan (APP) Guidelines,” prepared jointly by the Edison Electric Institute’s Avian Power Line Interaction Committee and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, April, 2005.
Avian Protection Plan (APP) Guidelines
Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.
Course Summary
Utilities that implement the principles of an Avian protection plan specific to their needs will decrease bird electrocutions and collisions, improve reliability of the electrical distribution system, and increase compliance with federal and state laws.
Related Links
For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites or web pages:
Quiz
Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.
DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.
