BACKGROUND:
The purpose of presentation is to provide information to the Board and the public about the Public Review Draft Yolo HCP/NCCP and the Public Review Draft EIS/EIR and to solicit related comments regarding those documents, including public comments on the contents of the Draft HCP/NCCP and the adequacy of the Draft EIS/EIS as an informational tool for decisionmaking. All comments will be considered in development of the final Yolo HCP/NCCP and EIS/EIR, which are expected to be released in late-2017.
The Yolo HCP/NCCP will replace the existing project-by-project mitigation obligations under the federal and state Endangered Species Acts in Yolo County with a new regional approach. This approach is expected to offer many benefits to public agencies and private developers, as detailed further below. The Public Review Draft Yolo HCP/NCCP and the Public Review Draft EIS/EIR release is a significant and important milestone in the effort to obtain an approved HCP/NCCP. It represents the culmination of many years of work, is a critical step forward in the efforts of the Yolo Habitat Conservancy (“Conservancy”) and the member agencies--the County of Yolo, the Cities of Woodland, Davis, West Sacramento and Winters, and UC Davis (ex officio)--to obtain Incidental Take Permits (“ITPs”) covering anticipated development and infrastructure over the next 50 years. This presentation and other similar presentations occurring over the next several weeks offer a formal opportunity for interested parties to request changes or modifications to the HCP/NCCP and comment on the analysis and conclusions in the EIS/EIR.
History
From 1993 through 2001, Yolo County undertook an extensive effort to produce a countywide HCP. That effort culminated in 2001 with the rejection of a Draft HCP in favor of a combined HCP/NCCP that would be larger in scope and scale, and result in more comprehensive conservation outcomes.
Yolo County and its four cities formed a Joint Powers Agency (JPA) in August 2002, now called the Yolo Habitat Conservancy, for the purpose of cooperative development of a regional HCP/NCCP. In 2005, the Conservancy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) signed a Planning Agreement directing the preparation of the Yolo HCP/NCCP. An intensive public and stakeholder outreach program was undertaken to provide input into, and critical oversight of, the development of the Yolo HCP/NCCP. Work on the Yolo HCP/NCCP ensued over the next ten years.
In August of 2012, the staff of the Conservancy underwent a significant change. The Board of Directors hired a new contract Executive Director and Project Manager to develop and implement a new path forward for the Conservancy. The Conservancy released the First Administrative Draft of the HCP/NCCP in June 2013. This document represented the work completed over the last decade. The First Administrative Draft covered 32 species and required an investment of almost $500 million to implement. The Board of Directors determined the proposed HCP/NCCP would be too difficult and costly to implement. Conservancy staff have since worked with the Service and the CDFW to make significant modifications to the Yolo HCP/NCCP to achieve a feasible plan. Changes have included decreasing the number of covered species from 32 to 12 and developing the concept of a Conservation Reserve Area to ensure that future habitat conservation efforts are concentrated where they will be most advantageous.
The Conservancy released the Second Administrative Draft of the Yolo HCP/NCCP in March 2015. This draft reduced estimated HCP/NCCP implementation costs from $500 million to $318 million over 50 years, a significant reduction. The Public Review Draft of the Yolo HCP/NCCP that is the subject of this item reflects a refinement of the Second Administrative Draft. A summary of the Public Review Draft HCP/NCCP is provided below.
Public Review Draft HCP/NCCP Overview
The Yolo HCP/NCCP is a comprehensive, multi-species county-wide plan to provide for the conservation of 12 sensitive species (“covered species”) and the natural communities and agricultural land on which they depend. The Yolo HCP/NCCP will provide the basis for issuance of long-term (50-year) ITPs under the Federal Endangered Species Act (FESA) and California Natural Community Conservation Planning Act (NCCPA) for a range of future anticipated public and private activities (“covered activities”) expected to impact these 12 species. The plan area encompasses the entire area of Yolo County, approximately 653,549 acres, and includes conservation activities outside of Yolo County within an additional 1,174 acres along Putah Creek in Solano County.
The Yolo HCP/NCCP will provide the Permittees (Yolo County, the four incorporated cities, and the Conservancy) with ITPs from both the Service and CDFW for the 12 covered species. This action is allowed under Section 10(a)(1)(B) of the FESA and Section 2835 of the NCCPA chapter of the California Fish and Game Code. The Yolo HCP/NCCP ensures compliance with the FESA, NCCPA, and the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) for covered activities that may affect the covered species. In addition to the Permittees, the Yolo HCP/NCCP permits may be used by other entities through certificates of inclusion, as described further in the plan.
The Yolo HCP/NCCP will streamline and coordinate the process for approval and mitigation of impacts to covered species and their habitats. It will also add certainty in that no further commitments of funds, land, or other resources may be required by the Service and CDFW for impacts to the covered species, unless changed circumstances occur, so-called “no surprises” assurances.
For the purposes of the Yolo HCP/NCCP, the County is divided into 22 geographically based planning units. These include four urban planning units centered around each of the incorporated cities, where most of the covered activities are planned to occur. The conservation strategy focuses most of the conservation in the 13 planning units in the eastern portion of the County where most of the covered species habitat is found. Yolo County and its cities have already conserved 90,967 acres throughout the County, of which 34,282 acres are in permanent conservation easements. The Yolo HCP/NCCP conservation strategy builds on these efforts.
Covered activities include actions and land uses contemplated in the local General Plans for Yolo County, Davis, West Sacramento, Winters, and Woodland. The covered activities have been organized into five broad categories: urban projects and activities, rural projects and activities, operations and maintenance, conservation strategy implementation, and neighboring landowner protection program. The first two categories comprise the “spatially defined” activities. This refers to activities where the location is currently known. These two categories total 17,551 acres, within which 11,510 acres of impact are modeled to occur over the life of the permit. The remaining three categories comprise the “spatially undefined” categories (activities where a specific location is not yet known) consisting of 506 acres for operation and maintenance, 956 acres for restoration and enhancement, and 2,347 acres for the neighboring landowner protection program (applicable only to four of the 12 covered species). Within the three spatially undefined categories, an additional 1,139 acres of impact are assumed to occur for a total of 12,649 acres of impact (11,510 acres + 1,139 acres).
As mitigation for impacts to 12,649 acres, the Yolo HCP/NCCP will require 17,131 acres of mitigation and 16,231 acres of conservation beyond mitigation (including 8,000 acres of pre-permit reserve lands) for total conservation of 33,362 acres. In general, this obligation will be satisfied by the payment of per-acre fees by project proponents, the most common of which will be the base fee of $11,231 per acre. In addition, project proponents must implement a series of Avoidance and Minimization Measures (AMMs) as conditions on approved covered activities.
To help guide other efforts to protect and conserve both species and habitat that are not the focus of the Yolo HCP/NCCP, the Conservancy is also preparing a Regional Conservation Investment Strategy (RCIS)/Local Conservation Plan (LCP). This is a voluntary, non-regulatory plan to fill in conservation gaps not covered by the Yolo HCP/NCCP. The RCIS/LCP is not before the Board as part of this item, but it will be the subject of periodic updates by County staff throughout 2017.
Overall, implementation of the Yolo HCP/NCCP is estimated to cost $371,399,000 million over 50 years, of which 64 percent will be paid by project fees, 12 percent will be paid by local funding sources, 21 percent is estimated to be paid by state and federal grants, and 3 percent will be paid from investment interest. A summary of key components of the Yolo HCP/NCCP, including a comparison to the two previous administrative drafts, is provided in Attachment 1, Plan Comparison Table.
EIS/EIR Overview
The Draft EIS component of the Draft EIS/EIR was prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) under the oversight of the Service serving as the NEPA Lead Agency. As required under NEPA, a Notice of Availability (NOA) was published in the Federal Register.
The Draft EIR component of the Draft EIS/EIR was prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under the oversight of the Conservancy serving as the CEQA Lead Agency, and CDFW and the member agencies serving as CEQA Responsible Agencies. In accordance with CEQA, a Notice of Availability (NOA) was filed with the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research State Clearinghouse. The NOA also serves to notify the public of meetings and hearings on the Draft Plan and Draft EIS/EIR.
Both NEPA and CEQA contemplate different levels of analysis for different types of decisions. The level of analysis typically used for planning documents like a regional conservation plan is described as “programmatic,” which reflects that the site-specific and project-specific details for the entire plan area are not known, but sufficient information is available so that the general potential for impact in various topical areas can be sufficiently assessed. The Draft EIS/EIR prepared for the Yolo HCP/NCCP is a programmatic document.
The Draft EIS/EIR analyzes and discloses the potential for significant adverse environmental impacts associated with the Yolo HCP/NCCP as proposed, and three project alternatives. The Draft EIS/EIR identifies the potential for significant effects under CEQA in the impact areas of Land Use and Agricultural Resources. Under Land Use, the potential for conflict with another HCP is identified, as related to conservation area overlap with the Solano Multi-Species HCP. A coordination agreement between the two agencies is identified as the mitigation. Under Agricultural Resources, loss of farmland through the conversion of several hundred acres of farmland to habitat was found to be significant and unavoidable. Other areas of potential impact under CEQA are identified as less-than-significant.
Plan Review and Comment
The Conservancy and the Service are accepting comments on the Public Review Draft HCP/NCCP and Draft EIS/EIR during a 90-day period extending from June 1, 2017 to August 30, 2017. Copies of the Public Review Draft Yolo HCP/NCCP and Public Review Draft EIS/EIR may be viewed and downloaded at:
http://www.yolohabitatconservancy.org/documents
Comments may be submitted in several ways:
- Orally or in writing at any of the scheduled hearings and meetings
- In writing via postal service delivery, fax, or email
Comments should be directed to:
Shawna Stevens, Assistant to the Director
Yolo Habitat Conservancy
611 North Street, Woodland, CA 95695
shawna@yolohabitatconservancy.org
Please note that oral comments will be recorded verbatim, via court reporter, only at the meetings occurring on June 19th, 27th, and 29th. During all other meetings listed below Conservancy staff will take summary notes, which will be entered into the record for the EIR, but there will be no verbatim record of oral comments made at these meetings.
Scheduled hearings and meetings:
June 6, 6:00pm Woodland City Council Meeting, Woodland City Council Chambers (300 First Street, Woodland)
June 8, 8:30am Yolo County Planning Commission, Board of Supervisors Chambers (Room 206, 625 Court Street, Woodland).
June 12, 6:00pm West Sacramento Environmental and Utilities Commission, West Sacramento City Council Chambers (1110 West Capitol Avenue, West Sacramento)
June 15, 6:00pm West Sacramento Planning Commission, West Sacramento City Council Chambers (1110 West Capitol Avenue, West Sacramento)
June 19, 5:30pm Yolo Habitat Conservancy, Board of Supervisors Chambers (Room 206, 625 Court Street, Woodland. At this meeting oral comments will be recorded by a court reporter.
June 27, 1:00pm Yolo County Board of Supervisors, Board of Supervisors Chambers (Room 206, 625 Court Street, Woodland). The USFWS will attend this meeting. At this meeting oral comments will be recorded by a court reporter.
June 28, 7:00 pm West Sacramento City Council, West Sacramento City Council Chambers (1110 West Capitol Avenue, West Sacramento)
June 29, 6:30pm Davis Public Meeting, Davis Senior Center (646 A Street, Davis). The USFWS will attend this meeting. At this meeting oral comments will be recorded by a court reporter.
August 1, 6:30pm Winters City Council, Winters City Council Chambers (318 1st St. Winters)
Next Steps
After the close of the review period, the Conservancy (and the Service, with respect to NEPA compliance and the EIS) will consider all comments received and prepare the Final Plan and Final EIS/EIR. Adoption of the Final HCP/NCCP and Final EIS/EIR, and issuance of ITPs is targeted for mid to late 2018. |