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Home My WebLink AboutMINUTES - 02062001 - C.108 f pt rr' 8, AL' Contra 4;av- BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Costa FROM: FISH AND WILDLIFE COMMITTEE �,Tq�a;r{; County DATE: February 6, 2001 SUBJECT: FISH AND WILDLIFE COMMITTEE LETTER ON THE PROPOSED DELTA WETLANDS PROJECT SPECIFIC REQUESTS OR RECOMMENDATIONS & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS AUTHORIZE the Fish and Wildlife Committee to send a'letter to state and federal natural resource agencies regarding the management of the environmental enhancement trust accounts that would be created as'a part of the proposed !Delta Wetlands Project. FISCAL IMPACT None. BACKGROUND/REASONS;FOR RECOMMENDATIONS The Fish and Wildlife Committee has received several presentations on the Delta Wetlands project over the last year. The Delta Wetlands Project is a proposal to flood 2 islands in the Delta (Webb [which is iWContra Costa County] and Bacon) and to convert two islands into habitat islands (Holland [which is in Contra Costal County] and Bouldin). The committee determined that it should not attempt to advise the Board on the overall fish and wildlife benefits/impacts of the proposal because the Board of Supervisors will not decide the fate of the proposal and because the environmental analysis is so complicated that reviewing it would' be a major effort for that committee of volunteers. Instead, the committee focused its review on the various environmental enhancement trust funds that would be created and funded through the project. They were primarily concerned that the proposed management of these funds was not well-defined in the materials they reviewed. Attached is the letter they seek authorization to send. The fetter seeks clarification on how the funds would be managed. 4�1 CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: _YES SIGNATURE: 2rtt Morris, Chair h and Wildlife Committee RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE X OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON February 6,1r2001 APPROVED As'iRECOMMENDED x OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE xx UNANIMOUS (ABSENT - - - - ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE ABSENT: ABSTAIN: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact: John Kopchik (925/335-1227) ATTESTED Febr1ary:-6, 2001 cc: Community Development Department (CDD) PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF Clerk of the Board, Attn: Maddy Book THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR B DEPUTY L S:\Conservation\Andrea\fwcbodeltawetiands.doc II a February xx, 2001 Banky Curtis, Regional Manager Mike Spear, Regional Manager California Department of Fish& Game U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sacramento Valley-Central Sierra Region 1701 Nimbus Road, Suite A, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670 Rob Floerke, Regional Manager Mr./Ms. Xxx, Regional Manager California Department of Fish& Game National Marine Fisheries Service Central Coast Region P.O. Box 47 Yountville, CA 94599 Re: Resource enhancement trust accounts proposed for the Delta Wetlands Project Dear Sirs/Madame: The purpose of this letter is to convey comments of the Contra Costa County Fish and Wildlife Committee ("FWC") on the various resource enhancement trust accounts proposed to accompany potential implementation of the Delta Wetlands Project. The Fish and Wildlife Committee is an advisory committee to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors. The Board authorized the Fish Wildlife Committee to transmit this letter on February xx, 2001. The Fish and Wildlife Committee has been monitoring the planning and environmental work associated with the Delta Wetlands proposal for approximately the last 10 years. During this period, the Committee has received numerous presentations on the matter and members have attended field trips to the site. While a key interest of the Committee has been—and continues to be—evaluating the overall advantages and disadvantages of the Delta Wetlands proposal as a whole, the Committee decided to focus its more recent investigations on the more narrow question of the environmental,enhancement trust accounts. This decision reflects a recognition that the complexity of the project, and the sheer size of the environmental documents, prevented this committee of volunteers from adequately addressing 'more comprehensive questions. Likewise, the topic of mitigation funds is very familiar to the Committee as it oversees the disbursement of funds collected from violators of fish and game regulations in Contra Costa County. Our primary concern is that it,is not clear to us how the various funds would be managed and spent. We have reviewed the appropriate excerpts from the revised Draft EIR/S document, including California Department of Fish Game's August 6, 1'998 Biological Opinion, and the May 6, 1997 Biological Opinion written by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, but do not find adequate description of the three mitigation funds proposed for the project, the Environmental Water Fund, the Aquatic Habitat Restoration Fund, and the Incidental Entrainment Compensation Fund. We would request your help in clarifying J" the following areas: • the purpose of each fund, • the types of projects to which collected funds would be allocated, • the guidelines and limitations for selecting projects for funding • the specific decision-making process for spending funds (i.e., which person(s) at which agency(s) will make the decision). • information about plans to create advisory committees to provide guidance and coordination on how funds are spent. Thank for considering these comments from the Fish and Wildlife Committee. Should you have any questions,please contact our staff person, John Kopchik, at (925) 335-1227. Sincerely, Brett Morris, Chair CCC Fish and Wildlife Committee cc: SWRCB U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Delta Wetlands Project (and project-level staff at each agency)