To: Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Permit Sonoma
Staff Name and Phone Number: Scott Orr, Director (707) 565-1925, Robert Aguero, Senior Environmental Specialist (707) 565-3718
Vote Requirement: 4/5th
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Conservation Sonoma Habitat Conservation Plan - US Fish and Wildlife Service Section 6 Grant
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
A) Adopt a Resolution authorizing the Director of Permit Sonoma to execute an agreement accepting a $1,333,334 subgrant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) titled Non-Traditional Section 6 Sonoma County Regional Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Communities Conservation Plan (HCP/NCCP), in a form approved by County Counsel.
B) Authorize the Director of Permit Sonoma to execute the Second Amendment to the consulting services contract with ICF Environmental, Inc. for Phase 2 of the Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Communities Conservation Plan development process to increase the contract amount by $950,157 for a new not to exceed contract total of $1,705,157, and to extend the term to December 31, 2028, in a form approved by County Counsel.
C) Adopt a Resolution authorizing a budget adjustment to the Permit Sonoma Department FY 2026-27 Final Budget to increase revenue and expenditure appropriations in the amount of $251,600.
(4/5 vote required)
end
Executive Summary:
The Habitat Conservation Plan and Natural Communities Conservation Plan (HCP/NCCP) are part of the Federal and State Endangered Species Act for the purpose of balancing economic development with the conservation of endangered species. Development of the HCP/NCCP has been supported by a prior federal California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Section 6 grant, and on February 25, 2025, the Board of Supervisors authorized the department to submit a second grant application to continue advancing the plan. Staff recommend the board take action to accept the second grant subaward totaling $1,333,334 from the CDFW for a project titled, Non-Traditional Section 6 Sonoma County Regional Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Communities Conservation Plan ($1,000,000 federal funding and $333,334 local in-kind match). With the grant funding, Permit Sonoma will initiate the second phase of the HCP/NCCP, including these tasks: (1) Project Management and Administration, (2) Public Advisory Committee Support and General Outreach; (3) Drafting Chapters 1-4 of the Sonoma County HCP/NCCP; (4) Implementation of the Science Advisory Panel; and (5) Technical Studies to Address Data Gaps.
Permit Sonoma is recommending amendments to the existing contract with ICF Environmental, Inc. to increase the contract amount to $950,157 to complete the next phase of the HCP/NCCP project and to extend the contract term through the award period end date of December 31, 2028.
Permit Sonoma is also recommending the Board adopt a resolution authorizing a budget adjustment to the Permit Sonoma Department FY 2026-27 Final Budget to increase revenue and expenditure appropriations in the amount of $251,600.
Discussion:
The listing of the California tiger salamander and four Santa Rosa Plain vernal pool flowers by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) fundamentally changed the permitting and development landscape in Sonoma County; followed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife also listing these species under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). These listing actions resulted in the development of a Santa Rosa Plains Conservation Strategy (Strategy) in December 2005. The Strategy was intended to lead to the development of an HCP/NCCP but for various reasons was never completed.
Since then, the County and affected cities, as well as private development interests have had to live with a complicated and often insurmountably difficult and expensive regulatory landscape for even routine public maintenance projects let alone large public or private housing project efforts. These high costs are related to costly studies and the purchase of limited and sometimes unavailable mitigation credits to offset impacts to these species and their habitats.
The HCP/NCCP functions as a process where the permittee (the County), rather than the wildlife agencies, assumes local control of review and permitting for the covered species within its jurisdiction (in compliance with the permit and the HCP/NCCP), rather than each public or private project having to spend years negotiating individually with the wildlife agencies for case-by-case approvals. The HCP/NCCP accomplishes this by completing a rigorous and comprehensive planning process to lay out the actions that will provide for the protection and recovery of the covered species. This is an optimal outcome as it untangles species and habitat protection from needed housing and economic development, especially within urban growth boundary areas.
Once USFWS and CDFW begin funding an HCP/NCCP process, funding for subsequent phases typically continues, dependent on the agencies obtaining necessary legislative budget appropriations. Once developed and implemented, an HCP/NCCP provides a streamlined compliance pathway for projects that would otherwise be caught by stringent, complicated, and time-consuming endangered species regulatory approval process. This is achieved by developing upfront mitigation and conservation standards that development projects can comply with, without time-intensive project by project review. The location and costs of mitigation and conservation are known early in the project development process providing economic predictability and regulatory efficiency. The benefits of the HCP/NCCP process only apply within the boundaries of the plan, for the species covered by the plan, and for the permittees included in the plan.
County-scale HCP/NCCPs typically take 5-10 years to complete from formal initiation to actual permit issuance by USFWS and CDFW, and can be broadly broken into five phases:
• Phase 1: Planning, Data Collection, Mapping, Community Engagement and Technical Report Preparation (Species Accounts, Conservation Strategy, Economic Analysis, Science Advisory Review Report, etc.)
• Phase 2: Preparation of Administrative and Public Review Drafts of the HCP/NCCP
• Phase 3: Formal California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Tribal Partners (AB 52), and National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) Review
• Phase 4: Formal Submission of Permit Applications and Review and Approval by USFWS and CDFW
• Phase 5: Plan Implementation
In July 2022, the Board of Supervisors accepted a grant award from CDFW/USFWS in the amount of $755,000 to begin work on developing an HCP/NCCP and in June 2023, authorized Permit Sonoma to enter a contract with ICF Environmental, Inc. (formerly ICF Jones & Stokes, Inc.) to support this work. Throughout the first award period, the County engaged in multiple meetings with staff from CDFW, USFWS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Fisheries and plan participants. At these meetings the principal topics included development of the Draft Planning Agreement which is now finalized and includes the County of Sonoma, the City of Cotati, the City of Petaluma, the City of Santa Rosa, and the Town of Windsor. A Planning Agreement is a legally binding contract that initiates and guides the collaborative development of an HCP and/or NCCP. It defines the roles, objectives, procedures, and commitments of the participating jurisdictions and wildlife agencies. The final Planning Agreement was signed by USFWS on September 11, 2025 and by CDFW on September 30, 2025.
In November 2025, staff completed the first phase of planning for the HCP/NCCP project that was funded under the Non-Traditional Section 6 award from CDFW and USFWS. With the completion of the first award, staff submitted an application for a second award to continue the work of developing the HCP/NCCP which was subsequently awarded on July 30, 2026. The primary work that will occur under this second award includes (1) Project Management and Administration, (2) Public Advisory Committee Support and General Outreach; (3) Drafting a minimum of four chapters of the Sonoma County HCP/NCCP; (4) Implementation of the Science Advisory Panel; and (5) Technical Studies to Address Data Gaps. This work will support moving the HCP/NCCP project through the second phase of the process, which will complete most planning and development work. Additional funding will be sought through future USFWS grant cycles to advance the process into and through the next phases.
This second grant award totals $1,333,334 consisting of $1,000,000 in federal funds via CDFW and an in-kind (staff) match in the amount of $333,334 provided by the County and partner municipalities (Cities of Cotati, Petaluma, and Santa Rosa, and Town of Windsor). CDFW will retain $49,843 for administration of and indirect costs incurred due to the grant. The total amount reimbursable to the County will be $950,157.
Staff is recommending that the Board accept and enter into the grant agreement with CDFW, approved as to form by County Counsel; authorize the Director of Permit Sonoma to amend the existing contract with ICF Environmental, Inc. to complete Phase 2 of the Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Communities Conservation Plan; and approve a FY 2026-27 budget adjustment for current year contract expenses.
Strategic Plan:
NA
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
June 14, 2019 - FY2019-20 Budget Hearings, Adopted Resolution 19-0268 Permit Sonoma was allocated $300,000 for the first phase of this project.
July 12, 2022: Adopted Resolution 2022-0440 authorizing the Director of Permit Sonoma to execute a grant agreement in the amount of $755,000.00 with CDFW and allocating $188,750.00 from the remaining $250,503.75 of the original $300,000.00 set aside to meet the local cost share of this grant.
June 12, 2023 - Adopted Resolution 23-0306 authorizing the Director of Permit Sonoma to execute an agreement for consulting services between Sonoma County and ICF Jones & Stokes, Inc. in the amount of $816,753.75.
February 25, 2025 - The Board approved filing a grant application under the USFWS Non-Traditional Section 6 Grant program for the development of the Sonoma County Habitat Conservation Plan and Natural Communities Conservation Plan for an amount up to $1 million.
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY26-27 Adopted |
FY27-28 Projected |
FY28-29 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
$416,957 |
$281,600 |
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
$251,600 |
|
|
|
Total Expenditures |
$251,600 |
$416,957 |
$281,600 |
|
Funding Sources |
|
|
|
|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal - Federal Section 6 Award |
$251,600 |
$416,957 |
$281,600 |
|
Fees/Other |
|
|
|
|
Use of Fund Balance |
|
|
|
|
General Fund Contingencies |
|
|
|
|
Total Sources |
$251,600 |
$416,957 |
$281,600 |
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
The increased consultant contract cost of $950,157 is funded by the CDFW subgrant and Climate Resilience Funds. Permit Sonoma is requesting additional expenditure appropriations for the current fiscal year totaling $251,600. Appropriations for FY 2027-28 and FY 2028-29 will be requested through the annual budget development process.
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
Existing County staff will support the consultant’s work through project management, technical expertise, and coordination. Staff time will be contributed as in-kind match toward the grant-funded project.
Attachments:
1. Resolution to authorize the Director of Permit Sonoma to execute an agreement accepting a $1,333,334 subgrant from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) titled Non-Traditional Section 6 Sonoma County Regional Habitat Conservation Plan/Natural Communities Conservation Plan (HCP/NCCP)
2. Budget Resolution
3. Proposed Second Amendment to contract with ICF
4. First Amendment to contract with ICF
5. Original Contract with ICF
6. Notice of Award
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
N/A