West Mojave Plan FEIR/S - Desert Managers Group

(i) The taking will be incidental;(ii) The applicant will, to the maximum extent practicable, minimize and mitigate the impacts of suchtaking;(iii) The applicant will ensure that adequate funding for the plan will be provided;(iv) The taking will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the survival and recovery of the speciesin the wild; and,(v) The measures, if any, required under [1539(a)(2)(A), “such other measures that the Secretary mayrequire as being necessary or appropriate”] will be met, and [the Secretary] has received such otherassurances as he may require that the plan will be implemented.... [Id. At Section 10(a)(2)(B).]These criteria do not explicitly require that a conservation plan (also known as a habitatconservation plan, or HCP) contribute to the recovery of a listed animal species. Rather, an HCPneed only ensure that the “likelihood of the survival and recovery of the species in the wild” will notbe appreciably reduced.Listed plants on private lands are treated somewhat differently. Section 10(a) permits and“no surprises” assurances cannot be issued for listed plants. Permit issuance procedures do,however, provide indirect protection for plants. This is because an HCP’s conservation programmay not jeopardize the continued existence of any listed species, including plants. If this couldoccur, the permit would not be issued.The Section 10(a) permit applies to the federal Endangered Species Act only. Acomparable permit (the “Section 2081 permit”) applies to the California Endangered Species Act,and is issued by CDFG for species listed as threatened or endangered by the State of California(see discussion below, at Section 3.1.5.3 of this document).The Section 10(a)(1)(B) incidental take permit should not be confused with the separateSection 10(a)(1)(A) permit, which is issued to scientists working with threatened or endangeredspecies on federally-authorized research projects where take of the species is intentional.Nine habitat conservation plans have been approved for lands within the planning area.These include the following:• Cushenbury Sand and Gravel• Hi Desert Power Project• Miller Church Site• Sunland Communities• Wildwash Sand and Gravel Site• Sunwest Homes• Kern County Waste Management (Boron, Ridgecrest, and Mojave/Rosamond SanitaryLandfills)• Department of Corrections Electrified Fence Project (California City State Prison)• U. S. Borax 1940 Acre ExpansionSection 7 Consultations: A different procedure governs projects and activities that areChapter 3 3-33