Appendix B NOP Comments

SOUTHEAST AREA SPECIFIC PLAN DRAFT EIR CITY OF LONG BEACH Appendices Appendix B NOP Comments July 2016 SOUTHEAST AREA SPECIFIC PLAN DRAFT EIR CITY OF LONG BEACH Appendices This page intentionally left blank. PlaceWorks State of California – Natural Resources Agency EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE CHARLTON H. BONHAM, Director South Coast Region 3883 Ruffin Road San Diego, CA 92123 (858) 467-4201 www.wildlife.ca.gov November 19, 2015 Mr. Craig Chalfant City of Long Beach 333 West Ocean Boulevard Long Beach, CA 92802 Email: [email protected] Subject: Comments on the Notice of Preparation of a Draft Program Environmental Impact Report for Southeast Area Specific Plan, Los Angeles County, (SCH# 2015101075). Dear Mr. Chalfant: The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (Department) has reviewed the above- referenced Notice of Preparation (NOP) and Initial Study (IS) for the Southeast Area Specific Plan (Project) Draft Program Environmental Impact Report (DPEIR). The Project area is located on the southeast edge of the City of Long Beach (City), California, within Los Angeles County and bordering Orange County. The area encompasses 1,475 acres consisting of the area south of 7th Street, east of Bellflower Boulevard, east of the Long Beach Marine Stadium and Alamitos Bay docks, south of Colorado Street, and north and west of Long Beach’s southern boundary. The Los Cerritos Channel and San Gabriel River run through the Project area toward the Alamitos Bay and Pacific Ocean and are included as part of the Project area. The Project, as approved, will replace the existing 1,475-acre City Planned Development District 1(PD-1) with a new Specific Plan and conventional zoning on a select few parcels. The Proposed Project would provide comprehensive direction for future development within a 1,466- acre area in the City and conventional zoning would apply to a 9 acre area. The Project area encompasses the entire 1,475-acre area. Existing land uses on the Project area consists primarily of residential, commercial, office, industrial, open space/wetlands, active oil operations in the wetlands area, and undeveloped uses. Industrial and Coastal habitat/Wetlands/Recreation land make up 20 and 19 percent of the existing land use composition, respectively. The Project is also partially located within the State Coastal Zone. The IS states that the Project area includes sensitive habitat areas including, Sims’ Pond Biological Preserve, the Los Cerritos Wetlands, Jack Dunster Marine Biological Preserve, and the Long Beach Marine Stadium, which are considered prime habitats for various biological species. The following comments have been prepared pursuant to the Department’s authority as a Responsible Agency under CEQA Guidelines section 15381 over those aspects of the proposed Project that come under the purview of the California Endangered Species Act (Fish and Game Code § 2050 et seq.) and Fish and Game Code section 1600 et seq., and pursuant to our authority as Trustee Agency with jurisdiction over natural resources affected by the Project (California Environmental Quality Act, [CEQA] Guidelines § 15386) to assist the Lead Agency in avoiding or minimizing potential Project impacts on biological resources. Conserving California’s Wildlife Since 1870 B-1 Mr. Craig Chalfant City of Long Beach November 19, 2015 Page 2 of 7 Specific Comments California Endangered Species Act (CESA). The IS describes that the proposed Project area may have the potential to effect several special status species including CESA listed wildlife and plant species and their habitat including but are not limited to: Belding’s savannah sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis beldingi); light-footed clapper rail (Rallus longirostris levipes); California least tern (Sternula antillarum browni); least Bell’s vireo (Vireo bellii pusillus); Lyon’s pentachaeta (Pentachaeta lyonii) and; salt marsh bird’s-beak (Cordylanthus maritimus spp. Maritimus). The Department considers adverse impacts to special status species protected by CESA, and the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the purposes of CEQA, to be significant without mitigation. As to CESA, take of any state endangered, threatened, candidate species, or state- listed rare plant species pursuant to the Native Plant Protection Act (NPPA; Fish and Game Code §1900 et seq.) that results from the Project prohibited, except as authorized by state law (Fish and Game Code, §§ 2080, 2085; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, §786.9). Take is defined in Section 86 of the Fish and Game Code as “hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill, or attempt to hunt, pursue, catch, capture, or kill.” Consequently, if the Project, Project construction, or any Project-related activity during the life of the Project will result in take of a species designated as rare, endangered or threatened, or a candidate for listing under CESA, the Department recommends that the Project proponent seek appropriate take authorization under CESA prior to implementing the Project. Appropriate authorization from the Department may include an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) or a consistency determination in certain circumstances, among other options (Fish and Game Code §§ 2080.1, 2081, subds. (b),(c)). Early consultation is encouraged, as significant modification to a Project and mitigation measures may be required in order to obtain a CESA Permit. Revisions to the Fish and Game Code, effective January 1998, may require that the Department issue a separate CEQA document for the issuance of an ITP unless the Project CEQA document addresses all Project impacts to CESA-listed species and specifies a mitigation monitoring and reporting program that will meet the fully mitigated requirements of an ITP. For these reasons, biological mitigation monitoring and reporting proposals should be of sufficient detail and resolution to satisfy the requirements for a CESA ITP. The DPEIR should provide a discussion on the presence or absence of special status species within the Project implementation area, Project impacts, and adequate avoidance and mitigation measures that may include, for example, off site acquisition and protection of occupied habitat. To fully mitigate take of species listed under CESA, or State- listed rare plants under NPPA, further consultation with the Department under CESA and NPPA is recommended. Other Special Status Species. CEQA provides protection not only for CESA listed and candidate species, but for any species including: California Species of Special Concern (SSC) which can be shown to meet the criteria for State-listing; and plants designated as 1A, 1B and 2 of the California Native Plant Society Inventory of Rare and Endangered Vascular Plants of California, which consist of plants that, in a majority of cases, would qualify for listing (CEQA Guidelines Sections 15380 (d), 15065 (a)). B-2 Mr. Craig Chalfant City of Long Beach November 19, 2015 Page 3 of 7 General Comments 1. Project Description and Alternatives. To enable the Department to adequately review and comment on the proposed Project from the standpoint of the protection of plants, fish, and wildlife, we recommend the following information be included in the DPEIR: a) A complete discussion of the purpose and need for, and description of, the proposed Project, including all staging areas and access routes to the construction and staging areas; and, b) A range of feasible alternatives to Project component location and design features to ensure that alternatives to the proposed Project are fully considered and evaluated. The alternatives should avoid or otherwise minimize direct and indirect impacts to sensitive biological resources and wildlife movement areas. 2. Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreements (LSA). As a Responsible Agency under CEQA Guidelines section 15381, the Department has authority over activities in streams and/or lakes that will divert or obstruct the natural flow, or change the bed, channel, or bank (including vegetation associated with the stream or lake) of a river or stream, or use material from a streambed. For any such activities, the Project applicant (or “entity”) must provide written notification to the Department pursuant to section 1600 et seq. of the Fish and Game Code. Based on this notification and other information, the Department determines whether a Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreement (LSA) with the applicant is required prior to conducting the proposed activities. The Department’s issuance of a LSA for a Project that is subject to CEQA will require CEQA compliance actions by the Department as a Responsible Agency. As a Responsible Agency, the Department may consider the Negative Declaration or Environmental Impact Report of the local jurisdiction (Lead Agency) for the Project. To minimize additional requirements by the Department pursuant to section 1600 et seq. and/or under CEQA, the document should fully identify the potential impacts to the stream or riparian resources and provide adequate avoidance, mitigation, monitoring and reporting commitments for issuance of the LSA. A notification package for a LSA may be obtained by accessing the Department’s web site at www.wildlife.ca.gov/habcon/1600. 3. Biological Baseline Assessment. To provide a complete assessment of the flora and fauna within and adjacent to the Project area, with particular emphasis upon identifying endangered, threatened, sensitive, regionally and locally unique species, and sensitive habitats, the DPEIR should include the following information: a) Information

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