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Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Report Page IV.F-19
<br /> Forward Inc. Landfill 2014 Expansion Project
<br /> potentially significant impacts to non-covered species. Covered versus non-covered species
<br /> potentially affected by project implementation are summarized in Table IV.H.1.
<br /> In most cases,projects participating in the SJMSCP experience can streamline the process of
<br /> complying with endangered species laws and reduce the cost of mitigating compared with the
<br /> undertaking of separate negotiations with each regulatory agency. Participation in the SJMSCP
<br /> does not, however, satisfy the requirements of the USACE, RWQCB or CDFW pertaining to
<br /> impacts to stream courses or wetlands;permits for these impacts must be obtained separately,
<br /> as discussed below.
<br /> Forward applied for the consolidated landfill to be included under the provisions of the
<br /> SJMSCP. Forward's application was approved by the Technical Advisory Committee of the San --
<br /> Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG) on April 10, 2002, and by the SJCOG's Board on April
<br /> 25, 2002. Therefore,provisions of the SJMSCP apply to future landfill development at the site.
<br /> California Department of Fish and Wildlife
<br /> Habitats potentially falling under the regulatory jurisdiction of CDFW are described in the
<br /> CFGC32. Absent a "Lake and Streambed Alteration agreement," as amended in 2003, CFGC
<br /> Section 1602 provides that"[a]n entity may not substantially divert or obstruct the natural flow
<br /> of, or substantially change or use any material from the bed, channel, or bank of, any river,
<br /> stream, or lake,or deposit or dispose of debris, waste, or other material containing crumbled, =
<br /> flaked, or ground pavement where it may pass into any river, stream, or lake[.]" The CDFW
<br /> has traditionally taken a broad view of its jurisdiction under this statute and its predecessors,
<br /> asserting that the definition of"stream," as used in this context, includes "intermittent and
<br /> ephemeral streams, rivers, creeks, dry washes, sloughs, blue-line streams, and watercourses
<br /> with subsurface flows. Canals, aqueducts, irrigation ditches, and other means of water
<br /> conveyance can also be considered streams if they support aquatic life, riparian vegetation, or
<br /> stream-dependent terrestrial wildlife". The proposed relocation of 3000 feet of the South -'
<br /> Branch of the South Fork of Littlejohn's Creek to a new 3200 foot channel would require
<br /> issuance of a Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreement from the CDFW.
<br /> Other sections of the CFGC protect various groups of wildlife species, including fish,
<br /> crustaceans, mollusks,birds,mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.
<br /> The CESA 33 includes provisions for the protection and management of species listed by the State
<br /> as endangered or threatened or designated as candidates for such listing. The CESA states that
<br /> "it is the policy of the state that state agencies should not approve projects as proposed which
<br /> would jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species or
<br /> result in the destruction or adverse modification of habitat essential to the continued existence
<br /> of those speciesi34. The CESA also contains a general prohibition, applicable generally and not
<br /> just to state agencies, against the "take" of listed species absent approval of an Incidental Take -
<br /> Permit or, in the case of plants,except in conformity with the California Native Plant Protection
<br /> Act(CNPPA31) and the California Desert Native Plants Act(CDNPA31). The California Fish and
<br /> Game Commission has formally listed plant and animal species as endangered, threatened, or
<br /> rare37.
<br /> 32 Division 2, Chapter 6,Sections 1600-1607
<br /> 33 CFGC Sections 2050-2068
<br /> 'CFGC Section 2053
<br /> 35 CFGC Sections 1900-1913
<br /> 36 CFGC Sections 2080,2081
<br /> 3714 CCR 670.2 and 14 CCR 670.5, respectively
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