To: Board of Supervisors of Sonoma County
Department or Agency Name(s): County Administrator’s Office, Permit and Resource Management Department
Staff Name and Phone Number: Robert Aguero 565-3718
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Fifth
Title:
Title
Grant Awards for Southside Russian River Vegetation Treatment Program (VTP) Project And Pepperwood Vegetation Management Project
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Adopt a Resolution authorizing the County Administrator or designee to execute one grant agreement for the Southside Russian River Vegetation Treatment Program Project and Odd Fellows Prescribed Burn in the amount of $55,000, in a form approved by County Counsel, making findings for the project pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), adopting the Project Specific Analysis under the CalVTP PEIR for the Project, adopting a Mitigation Monitoring Reporting Program for the Project, and adopting a Statement of Overriding Considerations.
B) Adopt a Resolution authorizing the County Administrator or designee to execute a grant agreement for the Pepperwood Vegetation Management Project in the amount of $147,708, in a form approved by County Counsel, making findings for the project pursuant to CEQA, and adopting a Statement of Overriding Considerations.
(Fifth District)
end
Executive Summary:
The Permit and Resource Management Department (Permit Sonoma), supported by the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District (Ag + Open Space), recommends the award of two vegetation management grants: the Southside Russian River Vegetation Treatment Program Project and the Pepperwood Vegetation Management Project, which will implement strategic vegetation management activities to reduce wildfire hazard in Sonoma County.
The recommended action is the adoption of two resolutions authorizing the County Administrator or designee to execute grant agreement for these projects, and making the required CEQA findings for these grant awards based on the environmental review that has been conducted.
Discussion:
On July 13, 2021, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors directed Permit Sonoma to work with Ag + Open Space and top-ranked community organizations to address CEQA issues for potential vegetation management grant projects. On January 10, 2023, the Board approved an additional $3 Million of the PG&E Settlement Fund to Ag + Open Space support fuel reduction efforts, improve evacuation routes, offer education and capacity building to community organizations, fire service agencies, non-profit organizations, and resource managers. A request for proposals was issued on March 23, 2023, with a deadline of April 20, 2023. Ag + Open Space, CALFIRE, and Permit Sonoma staff hosted two virtual workshops. Thirty-six applications were received, ranked and evaluated by a six-person, multi-agency Evaluation Committee. The Southside Russian River Vegetation Treatment project, Odd Fellows Prescribed Burn (a sub-component of the Southside Russian River Vegetation Treatment Project), and the Pepperwood Vegetation Management Project were among the projects carried forward for environmental review and recommended for funding by the Evaluation Committee. Permit Sonoma and Ag + Open Space staff recommend the award of grants for the Southside Russian River Vegetation Treatment Program Project, Odd Fellows Prescribed Burn, and the Pepperwood Vegetation Management project. The projects in the two resolutions are analyzed separately for purposes of CEQA, as neither depends upon the other. The Southside Russian River Vegetation Treatment Program Project and the Pepperwood Vegetation Management Project were among the projects carried forward for environmental review. Permit Sonoma and Ag + Open Space staff recommend the award of grants for the Southside Russian River Vegetation Treatment Program Project and the Pepperwood Vegetation Management Project. The two projects are analyzed separately for purposes of CEQA, as neither depends upon the other.
Southside Russian River VTP
The work proposed to be funded would be in portions of the communities of Odd Fellows Recreation Club, Summerhome Park, and Canyon Road. A strategic ridgeline that intersected these communities was identified by CALFIRE for targeted fuel reduction. The County, in coordination with these communities and CALFIRE worked together to develop a proposed 165 acre shaded fuel break along the Pocket Canyon Ridgeline that will serve as a strategic fuel break and calming zone for wildland firefighters.
The proposed grants would fund the treatment of up to 165 acres of landscape along 2.6 cumulative length miles of ridgeline that separates Pocket Canyon from the communities of Odd Fellows Park, Summer Home Park, Russian River Terrace, and Hollydale. The project includes 100 acres of Wildland Urban Interface Fuel Reduction treatments and 65 acres of Shaded Fuel Break using a combination of mechanical, manual, prescribed fire (both pile burn and broadcast burn), prescribed herbivory, and herbicide use. The VTP project area includes three management units, due to land ownership boundaries and adjacency.
The proposed resolution for this project adopts a Project Specific Analysis for this project pursuant to the State’s California Vegetation Treatment Program (CalVTP) Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (PEIR), and concurs with the findings of the State as a CEQA responsible agency. The PEIR is located online at the following link:
https://bof.fire.ca.gov/projects-and-programs/calvtp/calvtp-programmatic-eir/
Pepperwood Vegetation Management Project
The work proposed to be funded is to manage vegetation for ecological restoration and reduction of wildfire intensity using prescribed burning (broadcast and pile) and hand crew treatment methods (chainsaws, handtools, etc.).
The proposed resolution for this project concurs in the findings of the checklist prepared by CalFire, finding that the project is within the scope of the Chaparral Plan Environmental Impact Report, as updated by a 2010 CalFire addendum, and that the grant award will not result in any significant impacts.
Strategic Plan:
The project’s planning and implementation comes directly from the PG&E Settlement Fund allocated for vegetation management and has been overseen and administered by the County’s Vegetation Management Grant Program, administered by Ag + Open Space. The project will result in the creation of a strategic shaded fuel break that will improve wildfire preparedness of communities in the Russian River area.
This item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Climate Action and Resiliency
Goal: Goal 1: Continue to invest in wildfire preparedness and resiliency strategies
Objective: Objective 3: Leverage grant funding to support sustainable vegetation management program.
Prior Board Actions:
1/10/2023 - Board approved up to $3 million for community grants for vegetation management projects.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 22-23 Adopted |
FY23-24 Projected |
FY 24-25 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
$202,708 |
|
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
|
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
|
|
|
|
Funding Sources |
|
$202,708 |
|
|
General Fund/WA GF - PGE Settlement Fund |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
|
|
|
|
Fees/Other |
|
$202,708 |
|
|
Use of Fund Balance: State Funds |
|
|
|
|
Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
|
$202,708 |
|
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
The proposed grants will be paid out of the 2017 PG&E Settlement fund, in accordance with allocations approved by the Board of Supervisors during the January 10, 2023 meeting. There are sufficient appropriations in the FY 2023-24 budget to cover the costs of these grants.
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
N/A
Attachments:
Att 1 Proposed Southside Russian River VTP Resolution
Att 2 Exhibit A. Southside Russian River VTP Project Specific Analysis
Att 3 Exhibit B. Southside Russian River VTP Mitigation and Monitoring Reporting Program
Att 4 Exhibit C. Southside Russian River VTP Findings
Att 5 Proposed Pepperwood Vegetation Management Project Resolution
Att 6 CalFire Pepperwood Checklist for Chaparral Plan EIR
Att 7 CalFire Chaparral Plan EIR
Att 8 CalFire Chaparral Plan EIR addendum
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
N/A