8.0Relationship of HCP to
ESA Requirements and Recovery Plan 8.1Relationship to ESA Permit Issuance Criteria
Section 10(a)(2)(B) of the ESA requires the following criteria to be met before the Service or NMFS may issue an ITP. If these criteria are met and this HCP and supporting information are statutorily complete, the permit must be issued.
1. The taking will be incidental. All taking of Federally listed fish and wildlife species as detailed in the HCP must be incidental to otherwise lawful activities and not the purpose of such activities.
This HCP covers the incidental take of the flycatcher and cuckoo that may result from otherwise lawful covered activities (e.g., routine agriculture, community infrastructure, and riparian conservation and restoration activities) that commonly occur in the Valley. None of the covered activities are conducted with the intended purpose of directly or indirectly harming the covered species. While some of the covered activities will require the short-term removal or disturbance of riparian habitat, such impacts would be a consequence of, not the purpose of, the activity.
Furthermore, this HCP does not propose any mitigation or monitoring programs that require actions that could result in the deliberate take of covered species. While ongoing surveys for the flycatcher and cuckoo have the potential to result in the inadvertent disturbance of individual birds, such take would not be deliberate and is highly unlikely.
2. The Applicant will, to the maximum extent practicable, minimize and mitigate the impacts of such taking. This finding typically requires consideration of two factors: adequacy of the minimization and mitigation program, and whether it is the maximum that can be practically implemented by the applicant.
The San Luis Valley Regional HCP outlines a mitigation and implementation strategy that includes the following elements:
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mitigating the temporary and permanent impacts of the covered activities through habitat conservation and enhancement on private lands;
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managing and protecting riparian habitat on Federal and State lands to maintain a foundation of core habitat for the covered species;
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monitoring mitigation lands and core habitat areas to ensure that suitable habitat quality is maintained, and
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conducting community outreach efforts to further reduce the impacts on habitat and to promote voluntary conservation.
This mitigation and implementation strategy satisfies the criteria by providing a straightforward mechanism to mitigate habitat impacts with the conservation and enhancement of similar or higher quality habitat, as well as other measures to reduce impacts and improve habitat conservation over the long term. This strategy will not only mitigate the impacts of the covered activities, but is also expected to result in a net benefit to the covered species by buffering and improving the conservation and management of core habitat areas. Additional impact minimization efforts will also be pursued, including education and outreach, conservation support, and a stronger local government role as land use staff interact with landowners and developers conducting non-covered activities. Minimization measures are not credited for offsetting impacts, since they are voluntary and are difficult to quantify. The Applicants believe this approach is both effective and efficient, leveraging existing community resources and partnerships to benefit the habitat, the covered species, and citizens without undue financial burden on the local governments and individual landowners.
3. The applicant will ensure that adequate funding for the HCP and procedures to deal with unforeseen circumstances will be provided. The Services must ensure that funding sources and levels proposed by the applicant are reliable and will meet the purposes of the HCP, and that measures to deal with unforeseen circumstances are adequately addressed.
As described in Section 7.1, the District and Applicants are committed to providing the necessary funding to fully implement the commitments outlined in this HCP. In addition, the Applicants are committed to working with the Service to address unforeseen circumstances, as described in Section 7.4.
4. The taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of survival and recovery of the species in the wild. This critically important criterion establishes a fundamental “threshold” standard for any listed species affected by an HCP.
This HCP covers a set of ongoing and routine activities that generally result in minimal impacts to marginal habitat, most of which recovers over time. In order to compensate for the potential incidental take of the covered species, the mitigation measures proposed in this HCP will offset the impacts on an acre-for-acre basis with the conservation, management, and enhancement of high quality habitat. This approach is expected to increase the likelihood of species recovery in the Valley.
5. The applicant will ensure that other measures that the Services may require as being necessary or appropriate will be provided. The principal additional measure that the Services may require at this time is the Implementing Agreement. Other measures the Services might recommend during HCP negotiations could include those necessary to guarantee funding for the mitigation program and monitoring and reporting requirements to ensure permit compliance.
Additional measures that will be provided as part of this HCP include an Implementing Agreement (Appendix I), as well as other Memoranda of Understanding and/or Intergovernmental Agreements, as needed, and voluntary measures described in Section 5.0 that will facilitate successful implementation and riparian habitat conservation.
6. The Services have received such other assurances as may be required that the HCP will be implemented. The applicant(s) must ensure that the HCP will be carried out as specified. The authority of the permit is a primary instrument for ensuring that the HCP will be implemented. When developed, Implementing Agreements also provide assurances that the HCP will be properly implemented. Where a local government agency is the applicant, the Agreement should detail the manner in which local agencies will exercise their existing authorities to effect land or water use as set forth in the HCP.
Following the approval of this HCP and prior to the issuance of an ITP, the Applicants will finalize and sign an Implementing Agreement that outlines the commitments and responsibilities of each Applicant, and the terms and conditions of the agreement. The Applicants and other appropriate agencies also will complete and sign Memoranda of Understanding, as appropriate, prior to the issuance of an ITP and the implementation of this HCP.
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