Environmental Impact Statement - Sonoma Land Trust

California Department of Fish and Game
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Section 3.1. Geology, Soils, and Paleontology
of existing or reasonably foreseeable geologic, seismic, and soil conditions and
processes in the project area.
Paleontological Resources
Analysis of impacts on paleontological resources followed the methodology
recommended by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) (Society of
Vertebrate Paleontology Conformable Impact Mitigation Guidelines Committee
1995). These guidelines were developed in response to a recognized need for
standardized methods to assess and mitigate impacts on paleontological
resources, and are now widely accepted as an industry standard.
Because many fossil materials are buried in subsurface geologic units rather than
exposed at the ground surface, it is often uncertain until project earthwork has
made substantial progress whether any such resources will actually be
encountered. Thus, impact analysis for paleontological resources operates based
on probabilities of impact, with the goal of developing flexible strategies to
support adaptive management based on information that may literally “come to
light” during project construction. Consistent with these uncertainties, the SVP
guidelines delineate a two-phase process, as follows.
• Assess the likelihood that the project’s area of potential effect contains
significant nonrenewable paleontological resources that could be directly or
indirectly impacted, damaged, or destroyed as a result of the project. This is
referred to as an area’s paleontological sensitivity or sensitivity for
paleontological resources. Note that the paleontological sensitivity of an area
depends on the sensitivity of the individual geologic units present.
• Based on the identified degree of sensitivity, formulate and implement
measures to mitigate potential adverse impacts.
Table 3.1-2 defines the SVP’s sensitivity categories for paleontological resources
and summarizes its recommended treatments to avoid adverse impacts in each
sensitivity category.
Sears Point Wetland and Watershed Restoration
Project Final Environmental Impact
Report/Environmental Impact Statement
3.1-11
April 2012