Project Bruin Biological Resources Assessment
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Biological Resources Assessment Project Bruin at The Sakioka Farms Business Park City of Oxnard, Ventura County, California Prepared for: Seefried Industrial Properties, Inc. 2201 East Camelback Road, Suite 225B Phoenix, AZ 85016 Contact: Jason Quintel, Senior Vice President – Western Region Phone: 602.337.8730, Ext. 28 Prepared by: FirstCarbon Solutions 250 Commerce, Suite 250 Irvine, CA 92602 714.508.4110 Contact: Kerri Tuttle Senior Director, Sales/Operations and Environmental Services Date: March 27, 2020 Updated June 5, 2020 NORTH AMERICA | EUROPE | AFRICA | AUSTRALIA | ASIA WWW.FIRSTCARBONSOLUTIONS.COM THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Seefried Industrial Properties, Inc. Project Bruin at The Sakioka Farms Business Park Biological Resources Assessment Table of Contents Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... 1 Section 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 1.1 ‐ Project Site Location .......................................................................................................... 3 1.2 ‐ Project Description ............................................................................................................ 3 Section 2: Methodology ................................................................................................................. 9 2.1 ‐ Literature Review............................................................................................................... 9 2.2 ‐ Field Survey ..................................................................................................................... 19 Section 3: Existing Conditions ...................................................................................................... 21 3.1 ‐ Environmental Setting ..................................................................................................... 21 3.2 ‐ Soils ................................................................................................................................. 21 3.3 ‐ Vegetation Communities and Land Cover Types ............................................................. 21 3.4 ‐ Wildlife ............................................................................................................................ 22 3.5 ‐ Trees ................................................................................................................................ 22 3.6 ‐ Jurisdictional Waters and Wetlands ................................................................................ 22 Section 4: Sensitive Biological Resources ...................................................................................... 25 4.1 ‐ Special‐status Plant Species ............................................................................................ 25 4.2 ‐ Special‐status Wildlife Species ........................................................................................ 25 4.3 ‐ Nesting Birds .................................................................................................................... 26 4.4 ‐ Wildlife Movement Corridors .......................................................................................... 26 4.5 ‐ Jurisdictional Waters and Wetlands ................................................................................ 26 Section 5: Regulatory Framework ................................................................................................. 27 5.1 ‐ Federal Endangered Species Act ..................................................................................... 27 5.2 ‐ Migratory Bird Treaty Act ................................................................................................ 27 5.3 ‐ Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act ............................................................................. 27 5.4 ‐ Executive Order 13112—Invasive Species ....................................................................... 28 5.5 ‐ Clean Water Act Section 404 ........................................................................................... 28 5.6 ‐ Clean Water Act Section 401 ........................................................................................... 28 5.7 ‐ California Fish and Game Code ....................................................................................... 29 5.8 ‐ California Porter‐Cologne Water Quality Control Act ...................................................... 30 5.9 ‐ Local Ordinances ............................................................................................................. 31 Section 6: Discussion and Recommendations ............................................................................... 33 6.1 ‐ Special‐status Plant Species and Communities ............................................................... 33 6.2 ‐ Special‐status Wildlife Species ........................................................................................ 33 6.3 ‐ Nesting Birds .................................................................................................................... 33 6.4 ‐ Wildlife Movement Corridors .......................................................................................... 33 6.5 ‐ Trees ................................................................................................................................ 33 6.6 ‐ Jurisdictional Waters and Wetlands ................................................................................ 33 Section 7: References ................................................................................................................... 35 Appendix A: Species Compendia Appendix B: Site Photographs FirstCarbon Solutions iii Seefried Industrial Properties, Inc. Project Bruin at The Sakioka Farms Business Park Table of Contents Biological Resources Assessment Appendix C: Sensitive Species Tables C.1 ‐ Special‐status Plant Species Table C.2 ‐ Special‐status Wildlife Species Table Appendix D: Literature Review D.1 ‐ CNDDB Inventory Results D.2 ‐ CNPS Inventory Results List of Exhibits Exhibit 1: Regional Location Map ............................................................................................................ 5 Exhibit 2: Local Vicinity Map ................................................................................................................... 7 Exhibit 3: Soils Map ............................................................................................................................... 11 Exhibit 4: CNDDB Map (5‐mile Radius) ................................................................................................. 13 Exhibit 5: USGS Topographic Map ......................................................................................................... 15 Exhibit 6: Topographic Stream Map ...................................................................................................... 17 Exhibit 7: Drainage Ditch Map .............................................................................................................. 23 iv FirstCarbon Solutions Seefried Industrial Properties, Inc. Project Bruin at The Sakioka Farms Business Park Biological Resources Assessment Executive Summary EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report contains the results of a Biological Resources Assessment (BRA) conducted by FirstCarbon Solutions (FCS) at the request of the applicant, Seefried Industrial Properties, Inc. The intent of the BRA is to research existing biological information for the subject site, to document the existing biological conditions on‐site, and to analyze any potential impacts to biological resources arising from the proposed project. The 64.65‐acre project site consists of actively disked open agricultural fields. Soils found on‐site include Camarillo sandy loam (Cc), with smaller bands of Pacheco silty clay loam (Pd) and Camarillo loam (Cd) at the eastern end of the project site. There are no trees within the project site. As observed during the field surveys on February 19 and 25, 2020, agricultural irrigation ditches are present to the north, east, and south of the project site. These are not considered wetlands or other hydrological features that meet criteria as waters of the United States and are not located within the project site. Due to roads, freeways, and development surrounding the site, the project site has little to no potential to be utilized by regional wildlife as a corridor between open lands. Occurrences of special‐status species and species of special concern (SSC) were found within five miles of the project site, but all special‐status species were determined unlikely to occur on‐site based on the lack of suitable habitat. While the site is actively disked, there is low potential for burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) and moderate potential for California horned lark (Eremophila alpestris actia) to be present within the site. In addition, the open agricultural fields within the project area provide marginal nesting habitat for common nesting birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), and other special‐status birds. Preconstruction surveys would be required to reduce impacts to nesting birds to a less than significant level. Based upon the literature review, field review, and mitigation measures incorporated into the project design, no sensitive species or potentially jurisdictional