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APPLICANT:
Syar Industries
Jennifer Gomez
2301 Napa-Vallejo Highway
Napa, CA 94588-6242 |
OWNER:
Syar Industries
2301 Napa-Vallejo Highway
Napa, CA 94558-6242
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LOCATION:
Mining on +/- 586 acres located south of Cache Creek, between County Roads 87 and 89, comprised of all or portions of APNs: 049-060-013; 049-060-014; 049-120-026; and 049-130-048
GENERAL PLAN: Agriculture (AG); Open Space (OS); Mineral Resource Overlay (MRO)
ZONING: Agricultural Intensive (A-N); Public Open Space (POS); Sand and gravel Overlay (SG-O)
SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT: District 5 (Barajas) |
SOILS:
Yolo silty loam (Ya) (Class I); Riverwash (Ra) (Class I); Loam alluvial land (Lm) (Class IV); Marvin silty clay loam (Mf) (Class II); and Capay silty clay (Ca) (Class II)
FLOOD ZONE:
X (area outside 100-yr floodplain), AE (area within 100-yr floodplain w/known base flood elevation)
FIRE SEVERITY ZONE:
Non-wildland/non-urban, Moderate |
| ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: CCAP Update Final EIR certified December 17, 2019 (SCH #2017052069) |
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The CCAP requires a mandatory “interim” review of all aspects of the gravel program every ten years including the plans, regulations, and permits. The interim review concept has been integral to the CCAP since its inception. It integrates the “adaptive management” of the program and ensures that the approved mining and reclamation permits have regular re-openers to apply subsequent environmental regulations and statutory provisions.
At the Planning Commission public hearing on February 11, 2021, the Commission approved the Second Ten-Year Permit Review for the CEMEX, Teichert, and Syar operations, with the exception of Syar Condition #52 (mitigating for the loss of Swainson’s hawk habitat). The staff report for the item from February 11, 2021 is included as Attachment B.
PURPOSE OF THE ITEM
Section 10-4.605 of the Mining Ordinance and 10-5.814 of the Reclamation Ordinance specify that a public hearing must be held before the Planning Commission (in accordance with the Ordinances) for the purpose of amending the permits to bring them into conformance with applicable future environmental regulations and statutory changes. Should the Commission decide permit modification is appropriate or necessary, the permits may be amended in accordance with Article 6 of Chapter 4, Title 10 of the Yolo County Code, relating to gravel mining permits.
ANALYSIS
Syar Condition #52 was not addressed on February 11, 2021 because research was still underway regarding Syar’s status of compliance with the condition. Staff has completed review of this condition and concludes as follows:
The Syar Supplemental EIR (SEIR) (SCH #98042053), certified February 16, 1999, identified impacts to 283 acres of Swainson's hawk foraging habitat as a result of the project (SEIR Draft volume, page 4.6-7). At conclusion of mining and reclamation the SEIR identified that approximately 100 acres would be reclaimed to agriculture (SEIR Draft volume, page 4.6-4), leaving a permanent impact of 183 acres (SEIR Draft volume, page 4.6-7).
As was customary at that time, and in full compliance with all applicable regulations, Mitigation Measure 4.6-4 relied on Condition of Approval (COA) #52 to mitigate permanent impacts. COA #52 (see excerpt below) required coordination with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to ensure mitigation of an appropriate area of land. In correspondence to the applicant at that time, CDFW indicated their agreement with the conclusions of the SEIR, specifically that CFG Code Section 2081 endangered species take authorization was not required and dedication of agricultural land at a ratio of 0.5 to 1 (dedication to loss) would mitigate for impacts to the Swainson's Hawk foraging habitat. (In reviewing the CDFW correspondence staff noted that the acreages contained in the CDFW letter to describe the project and project impacts were inconsistent with acreages in the certified EIR. Staff has relied on the EIR for the acreages used in this staff report and included appropriate page references.) This CDFW letter was mistakenly interpreted by the applicant and the County staff at that time as evidence of compliance with the measure. COA #52 was subsequently identified as "complete" by all parties.
In undergoing research for this Second Ten-Year Permit Review, both the County and the applicant were unable to locate the dedication records (i.e. easement or deed restriction) demonstrating compliance. That lead to the determination that such an easement or deed restriction, though intended, had inadvertently not been completed. The operator has proposed, and staff and County Counsel have agreed, that an appropriate solution, given the circumstances, is for Syar to place a permanent deed restriction on 92 acres of prime agricultural land restricting it to hawk-friendly crops and practices, thereby satisfying the mitigation requirement. Attachment C shows the location of the deed restriction in red.
For the purposes of the Second Ten-Year Permit Review, amendment of Syar COA #52 is not required. The Condition would be annotated as follows:
52. A CDFG Code Section 2081 authorization, or the posting of a reclamation bond or letter of credit naming CDFG as the beneficiary, or other alternative mechanism acceptable to CDFG, shall be executed prior to commencement of mining for the estimated permanent loss of potential Swainson's Hawk habitat (1996 EIR MM 4.6-4a).
In correspondence to the applicant in 1999, CDFG indicated their agreement with the conclusions of the SEIR, which was subsequently mistakenly interpreted by the applicant and County staff at the time as evidence of compliance with the measure. This measure was subsequently identified as "complete" by all parties; however, during the course of the 2020 Ten-Year Permit Review, it was determined that the required protection for mitigation land had never been recorded. In order to resolve this situation, the operator has agreed to execute a deed restriction, satisfactory to the County's Natural Resources Division, that will permanently protect 92 acres (183 acres at a 0.5:1 mitigation ratio) of prime agricultural land, restricting it to crops and practices compatible with the foraging requirements of the Swainson's Hawk. This will be completed not later than September 30, 2021. Upon completion, this condition will be identified as implemented and fully discharged.
Because no revision of Syar’s conditions is required, there is no need to have a noticed public hearing to finalize the review (i.e. no notice published in the newspaper, no neighbor notices, nor the formal opening and closing of a public hearing).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The Second Ten-Year Permit Review is the final component of the 2019 CCAP Update for which the 2019 CCAP Update Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) provides required clearance under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The CCAP Update Final EIR was certified by the Board of Supervisors on December 17, 2019. No further environmental impact analysis is required.
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