Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), BPA consults with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to protect ESA-listed species affected by the operation and maintenance of the power system through the ESA Section 7 interagency process.

In BPA's service territory, the USFWS holds jurisdiction over terrestrial and freshwater species, while NMFS holds jurisdiction over marine mammals and anadromous salmon and steelhead. BPA works with NMFS and USFWS to make collaboration as efficient as possible through the identification and tracking of programmatic biological opinions (BiOps) for BPA's Fish and Wildlife Program. The Habitat Improvement Program Biological Opinion, or HIP4, is a BiOp that provides ESA compliance for most of the habitat improvement activities that BPA funds, and has created a streamlined process, saving time and money for federal agencies while accelerating habitat improvement project implementation. Several iterations of this BiOp have been published, and efforts have been tracked in accordance with each iteration.