SITE INFORMATION AND CORRESPONDENCE

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5.8:PALEONTOLOGICAL RESOURCES construction of LEC does not have appreciable potential to adversely impact significant paleontological resources,mitigation measures beyond worker education are not necessary. 5.8.5.1 Construction Personnel Education Prior to working on the site for the first time,all personnel involved in earth-moving activities will be provided with Paleontological Resources Awareness Training. This training would ideally be provided as a module in their worker environmental awareness training.They will be informed that,while fossils are unlikely to be encountered,they are nevertheless of scientific importance and should be reported immediately if indeed they are encountered. The training will provide information on the appearance of fossils,their importance in understanding the prehistory of California, and on proper notification procedures. This worker training will be prepared and initially presented by the Paleontological Resource Specialist. Subsequent training may be conducted using recorded and hard copy training materials. 5.8.5.2 Significant Unavoidable Adverse Impacts No significant unavoidable adverse impacts on paleontological resources are anticipated as a result of the construction and/or operation of LEC. 5.8.6 Laws, Ordinances, Regulations, and Standards Paleontological resources (fossils) are the remains or traces of prehistoric plants and animals. They may range from the actual bones and shells of ancient organisms,to mineral replacements of a once-living organism,to simple impressions of plants or animals in soft sediments later transformed to rock. They range in size and abundance from many thousands per cubic centimeter for microfossils such as pollen, diatoms,and radiolaria,to very rare large-mammal bones exceeding a meter in length. Fossils are important scientific and educational resources because of their use in(1) documenting the presence and evolutionary history of particular groups of now-extinct organisms, (2) reconstructing the environments in which these organisms lived, and (3) in determining the relative ages of the strata in which they occur and the geologic events that resulted in the deposition of the sediments that formed these strata. In the project area,the fossils of marine organisms as well as those of terrestrial animals and plants are important in the paleontological record. They have helped define the age and sequences of deposition and uplift along the Great Valley,where fossiliferous marine and terrestrial sedimentary rock provide important data on the development and tectonics of California's complex geology. Paleontological resources are non-renewable scientific resources and are protected by several federal and state statutes (California Office of Historic Preservation 1983; see also Marshall 1976,Fisk and Spencer 1994),most notably by the 1906 Federal Antiquities Act and other subsequent federal legislation and policies, and by State of California's environmental regulations (CEQA,Section 15064.5). Professional standards for assessment and mitigation of adverse impacts to paleontological resources have been established by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (1991, 1995,1996). Design,construction,and operation of LEC will be conducted in accordance with all laws,ordinances,regulations,and standards (LOBS) applicable to paleontological resources. Federal, state, and local LORS applicable to paleontological resources are summarized in Table 5.8-2 and discussed briefly below,along with professional standards for paleontological resources assessment and impact mitigation. SAC13713221082340008(LEC_5.8_PALEORES.DOC) 5.8-9