able, it is felt that it is realistic to expect large portions of the land areas adjacent to these highways to be unavailable for rectenna sites. Reliability of the Data: The data on interstate highways is quite good, and the major criticism of the mapping of this variable would be the fact that an entire grid square was coded if an interstate highway were present in that grid. This problem can only be remedied by selecting a smaller grid square size, which is beyond the resources of this project. Spatial Coverage: Figure 13 shows Interstate Highways being represented on 2163 grid cells. J. ENDANGERED SPECIES HABITATS - FIGURE 14 Rationale: Known habitats of endangered species are protected by the Endangered Species Act if these areas have been designated as "critical habitats". Federal agencies are prevented from altering such designated habitats as the law is currently written. However, this variable was classified as a potential exclusion variable because of amendments currently pending in Congress. These amendments, if passed, may allow the conversion of such critical habitats. Although this course of action (conversion of these habitat areas) would lead to substantial controversy, the possibility exists that such a conversion could occur under the pending amendments to the Endangered Species legislation. These areas should not be considered if any alternatives exist in the area of concern. Reliability of the Data: The information shown in Figure 14 was taken from maps appearing in the Federal Register which were compiled by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. This information is very specific, and in certain cases covers relatively small areas. However, it is very reliable. It should be noted that designated riverine habitats of endangered fish species were not mapped, due to
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