Amador County - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, in cooperation with the California Department of Fish and Game, is preparing a major joint Environmental Impact Report and Habitat Conservation Plan for the PG & E multi-region area of the North Coast, Central Coast, Sacramento Valley and Sierra. The Plan covers approximately 550,000 acres and includes the right-of-way surrounding gas and electric transmission and distribution facilities. It covers the network of PG&E facilities in 36 counties, 18 of which are in the Sacramento Region, which includes Amador, Calaveras, Sacramento and Tuolumne Counties. The Habitat Conservation Plan, or HCP, is being prepared under the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973. PG&E intends to request a permit to cover 75 species federally listed as threatened or endangered and 34 unlisted species that may become listed during the term of the permit. PG & E needs the permit to authorize “incidental harm” to endangered species that could occur as a result of implementing activities covered under the HCP.

At least nine of the endangered species, ranging from the California Tiger Salamander to the American Peregrine Falcon and the Bald Eagle are included in the agencies' “Proposed Covered Species” list for the Sacramento region. Section 9 of the Act and Federal regulations prohibit the harm or harassment to any of the listed species. However, permits may be issued to authorize the “incidental take” of these species. “Incidental take” is defined by the Act as take that is incidental to, and not the purpose of, carrying out an otherwise lawful activity. The EIR will also identify potentially significant impacts on land use and planning, agricultural resources, water resources, transportation, noise, air quality, environmental justice, socioeconomics, and other environmental issues that could occur directly or indirectly with implementation of the proposed action and alternatives. PG & E said in a release that the EIR will identify mitigation measures, where feasible, to reduce these impacts to a level below significance. A public meeting will be held on Thursday, December 4, from 2 pm to 4 pm, at the Evelyn Moore Community Center, 1402 Dickson Street in Sacramento. PG & E is encouraging the public to attend and give suggestions on the scope of issues and alternatives to be included in the EIR. Story by Alex Lane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).