Solano Multispecies Habitat Conservation Plan

Background

The Solano HCP has been developed to support the issuance of a Section 10(a)1(B) incidental take permit under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (as amended). This permit is required by the March 19, 1999 Solano Project Contract Renewal Biological Opinion between the USFWS and Bureau of Reclamation. The Solano HCP has expanded the scope of the Biological Opinion and includes additional voluntary applicants and additional species for incidental take coverage. These additional species include federally-listed fish species under the jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) and species listed as threatened or endangered under the State’s Endangered Species Act. The HCP further addresses other species of concern (i.e., species recognized by groups such as the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) and California Native Plant Society (CNPS) as having declining or vulnerable populations, but not officially listed as threatened or endangered species). Thirty-seven (37) species are proposed to be covered under the Solano HCP.

The development of the Solano HCP has been guided by input from the applicable regulatory agencies, the Member Agencies/Plan Participants, and general public/stakeholders group. In September 2001, a Steering Committee composed of representatives of various stakeholder’s interests was established to:

• Facilitate discussions of the varied interests and serve as a consensus building group;
• Gather and disseminate information;
• Facilitate and maintain open lines of communication; and
• Make recommendations on major actions to decision makers representing the Plan Participants.

A requirement of the NCCP is to have independent science input into the NCCP process. We are not doing an NCCP, however, Independent science input is also strongly recommended for any HCP. The science input is to occur early in the planning process before an HCP is drafted in order to help guide development of the HCP.

For Further Information Regarding the HCP, Please Contact:

Chris Lee
General Manager
(707) 455-1105
clee@scwa2.com

Final Administrative Draft Downloads