Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan balances development and species conservation
Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley, exemplifies California’s status as a global biodiversity hotspot. Its Mediterranean climate nurtures unique ecosystems and species found nowhere else on Earth. In dramatic contrast to the rolling hillsides and chapparal vegetation scattered throughout the county, the city of San José is a bustling metropolis. The seeming incongruous marriage of industry and conservation is supported by the long-term state and federal endangered species permits established by the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan. The Habitat Plan supports government agencies in bolstering the local economy while ensuring conservation of the natural wonders that makes Santa Clara County such a desirable place to live.
Challenge
Accommodating the needs of all the county’s residents—human, plant, and animal alike—can be a difficult balancing act. The County of Santa Clara and cities of San José, Morgan Hill, and Gilroy seek to support economic development while conserving precious upland and aquatic ecosystems in a region historically prone to urban sprawl.
Anyone wishing to develop land in California—everything from building roads to constructing office buildings to installing water supply infrastructure—must do so in accordance with the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) and state species protection laws including the California Endangered Species Act. If a project has the potential to adversely impact a federal or state protected species, its proponent must ensure compliance with federal and state laws protecting such species. Under the federal law, project proponents have two compliance options associated with development projects: they can either work with their federal permitting or funding agency to consult with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and receive an incidental take statement (ITS), or they can voluntarily seek an incidental take permit (ITP) when no federal permitting or funding agency is connected to their project. Under California state law, applicants typically seek an ITP in compliance with the California ESA.
However, these approaches often require long lead times that can lead to project delays. For example, if a developer wanted to build housing in the foothills of San José, they might first need to conduct two seasons of ecological surveys to determine whether the property is home to a threatened or endangered species (such as the California red-legged frog), or a species not yet threatened but identified as a candidate for listing (such as Crotch’s bumble bee). As a result, regulatory compliance for large and small projects might take several years before construction can proceed.
Solution
One approach in California that has been gaining popularity since the early 2000s is a joint Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) and Natural Community Conservation Plan (NCCP). HCPs are developed according to the federal Endangered Species Act while NCCPs are developed based on California’s Natural Community Conservation Planning Act. The NCCP Act provides a voluntary alternative to compliance with the California ESA, requiring a conservation strategy designed and implemented at a regional scale.
This is the approach used in Santa Clara County. ICF worked collaboratively with six applicants—the County of Santa Clara, the cities of San José, Gilroy, and Morgan Hill, plus Valley Water and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority—to create a 50-year plan and permits that allows build out of local general plans to support economic progress while also conserving native vegetation communities and 18 local listed and at-risk species.
ICF has been deeply involved in the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan for two decades. We’ve worked with the applicants and eventual permittees, state and federal regulators, and local invested parties every step of the way—including on policy development, planning, environmental compliance, waters permitting, restoration, and land management—across the three phases of the project:
- Plan preparation: Beginning in 2005, ICF was instrumental in preparing the original HCP/NCCP. This phase involved collaboration with multiple applicants to create a comprehensive program ensuring species take coverage for all types of residential and commercial development, water supply and transportation infrastructure projects, flood protection projects, habitat restoration, and all associated maintenance. We also led a robust public outreach program and supported the active Stakeholder Committee. This phase lasted until the permits were issued in 2013.
- Plan implementation: After the permits were issued, ICF helped establish the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency, a new local entity responsible for implementing the 50-year Habitat Plan. This included providing administrative staff, supporting restoration design and permitting, and leading development of management and monitoring plans for protected lands. ICF also led development of an innovative Regional General Permit (first issued in 2016 and renewed in 2021) to streamline permitting for impacts to waters of the United States, as well as an in-lieu fee program to align compensatory mitigation for aquatic resource impacts with species conservation under the HCP/NCCP. ICF also supported development of a programmatic biological opinion and ITS to streamline Corps-regulated permitting under the Regional General Permit where projects may adversely affect listed salmonids.
- Plan amendment: ICF is currently leading a process to revise the Habitat Plan and apply for an amendment to the HCP/NCCP permits. These amendments are expected to add covered species, expand the permit coverage area, and expand where covered activities may occur. This amendment is anticipated to improve upon the already considerable benefits of the plan to local communities. This amendment exemplifies ICF’s ongoing commitment to help our clients adapt and enhance their conservation plans to meet evolving conservation and economic development needs.
“ICF is the gold standard in preparing and implementing HCP’s and NCCP’s. Through the development and approval of our Habitat Plan and into the first twelve years of our Agency’s incredible conservation success, ICF has provided professional services that the Habitat Agency has come to rely on.”
Where we are now
More than 400 projects have received take coverage under the Habitat Plan since permit issuance, comprising about 2,000 acres of permanent landcover impacts and more than 3,000 feet of stream impacts. In exchange, the Habitat Agency has protected almost 15,000 acres of lands encompassing valuable terrestrial and aquatic habitats for the covered species. Preservation of covered species habitats and natural communities has stayed well ahead of impacts to date, with more than 40% of the target land acquisition already achieved.
The Habitat Agency has achieved additional successes. After western burrowing owl numbers began to decrease, the Habitat Agency built from the ground up—quite literally—a captive-breeding program for the species. The Habitat Agency has begun releasing owls into nearby grassland ecosystems from where they likely disappeared decades earlier.
ICF has remained a steadfast partner first to the permit applicants and now to the Habitat Agency throughout every phase of the Habitat Plan. By adopting a comprehensive approach to conservation planning and regulatory compliance and leveraging ICF’s unparalleled understanding of HCP regulations and client needs, we have contributed to the conservation of species and habitats and provided long-term benefits to local government agencies and the broader Santa Clara County community.
ICF has decades of experience navigating bureaucracy to get things done—not only saving clients valuable time and money, but also ensuring that development is balanced with local conservation.