Bat Surveys for Oil, Gas & Petrochemical Projects
Energy infrastructure projects — pipelines, well pads, gathering lines, compressor stations, and petrochemical facilities — frequently clear forested land or disturb terrain that protected bats use for roosting and foraging. When that happens within the range of federally listed bats, an Endangered Species Act review can follow, and for projects with a federal nexus, that review runs through Section 7 consultation.
Volant EcoServices provides USFWS-protocol bat surveys for oil and gas operators, midstream and pipeline companies, petrochemical facilities, and the environmental consultants who support them. Our federally permitted biologists deliver the habitat assessments and presence/probable absence surveys these projects need to stay compliant and on schedule — for threatened and endangered bat species across the eastern United States.
Why Oil, Gas & Petrochemical Projects Require Bat Surveys
Energy infrastructure affects bats primarily through habitat disturbance — clearing forested land for a pipeline corridor, a well pad, or a facility expansion can remove suitable summer roosting habitat. A bat survey requirement is commonly triggered when a project involves:
- Tree clearing and land disturbance for pipelines, gathering lines, well pads, compressor stations, or facility construction within suitable bat habitat
- Projects with a federal nexus — including FERC-jurisdictional interstate pipelines, work on federal land, or projects requiring a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit — which can invoke ESA Section 7 consultation
- State-listed species requirements, which can apply regardless of federal involvement
Linear Projects Are Scoped Differently
Pipelines and gathering lines are linear projects, and the survey guidelines treat them differently from a single contiguous site — a distinction that matters for both cost and schedule.
Under the 2026 USFWS Range-wide Survey Guidelines, survey effort for a linear project is scoped by 1-kilometer section, rather than by the area-based unit used for non-linear projects. Because a pipeline can cross multiple jurisdictions, a long corridor may also span more than one USFWS Field Office — and the guidelines note that complex projects requiring coordination across multiple Field Offices can take longer to get a study plan approved, on the order of 45 to 60 days.
The practical implication: long linear corridors benefit most from early survey planning, because both the segment-based level of effort and the multi-jurisdiction coordination take time to scope and approve.
How Volant Supports Oil, Gas & Petrochemical Projects
- Habitat assessments. We evaluate the project corridor or site for suitable summer roosting habitat — the assessment that determines whether, and how much, presence/probable absence survey effort is required. Where no suitable habitat is found, no further surveys are recommended.
- Presence/probable absence surveys. Acoustic and mist-net surveys scoped appropriately for linear and site-based projects, with all acoustic data manually vetted by federally permitted biologists.
- Linear-corridor survey design. Survey programs structured around the segment-based level of effort and the multi–Field Office coordination that long pipeline and gathering-line projects require.
- Section 7 documentation and agency coordination. Survey study plans submitted to and approved by the appropriate USFWS Field Office(s), with defensible reporting to support consultation.
Plan Surveys Early in Project Development
Energy infrastructure projects run on demanding schedules, and bat surveys can only be conducted during a defined active-season window. For linear projects that cross multiple jurisdictions, the coordination and study-plan approval add further lead time. Identifying survey requirements during routing and design — rather than after a construction schedule is set — is the most reliable way to keep a project compliant and avoid the year-long delay that comes from missing a survey season.
Related: Industries We Serve · Bat Surveys · Bat Acoustic Data Vetting · Threatened & Endangered Species
