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4.Environmental Analysis — Special-Status Species — Special-status species are those plants and animals that, because of their rarity or vulnerability to various causes of habitat loss or population decline, are recognized in some fashion by federal, state, or other agencies. Some of these species receive specific protection that is defined by federal or state endangered species legislation. Others have been designated as "sensitive"on the basis of adopted policies and expertise of state resource agencies or organizations with — acknowledged expertise,or policies adopted by local governmental agencies such as counties, cities, and special districts to meet local conservation objectives.These species are referred to collectively as "special status species"in this report. The various categories encompassed by the — term,and the legal status of each,are discussed later in this report under the Regulatory Setting heading. For the purposes of this assessment, the term special-status includes those species that are: • Federally listed or proposed under the Federal Endangered Species Act(FESA, 50 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] 17.11-17.12); — • Candidates for listing under the FESA(61 FR 7596-7613); • State listed or proposed under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA, 14 — CCR 670.5); • Species listed by the USFWS or the CDFG as a species of concern (USFWS),rare — (CDFG),or of special concern (CDFG); • Fully protected animals, as defined by the State of California(California Fish and — Game Code Section 3511,4700, and 5050); • Species that meet the definition of threatened,endangered, or rare under CEQA, Guidelines Section 15380),i.e., plants listed by the CNPS as rare,threatened,or endangered (List IA, List 1B, and List 2 status plants; CNPS, 2003); and Plants listed as rare or endangered under the California Native Plant Protection Act(California Fish and Game Code Section 1900 et seq.). — An ESA biologist conducted a search of the CNDDB for the project and a five-mile buffer surrounding the project site.The CNPS Online Inventory and USFWS special-status species lists _ were searched for the USGS quadrangles containing the project and adjacent quadrangles. A list of special-status species with potential to occur in the area was compiled from the results of these searches(see Appendix E). In addition to the above data queries, information for the project is — based on a field reconnaissance survey conducted on September 4, 2003,a burrowing owl habitat assessment and winter burrow survey conducted from January 27 to February 1,2005, a site assessment for California red-legged frog and San Joaquin kit fox, rare plant survey, and formal — wetland delineation conducted on May 4, 2005, and a burrowing owl breeding season survey conducted on June 5, 2005. Table 4.9.1 lists special-status plant and animal species with a medium or high potential for being affected by the project, their regulatory status, and habitat association(s). The"Potential for Project to Impact'category is defined as follows: — RMC Pacific Vernalis Quarry Mining and Redamation Project 4.9-4 ESA 1203015 Draft Environmental Impact Report May 2006