Partners In Restoration Partners
Sustainable Conservation's Partners in Restoration program is truly a partnership. We are accomplishing together what we cannot accomplish alone. Each of our partners brings an in–depth area of expertise and experience to our endeavor, and each have important roles to play in our partnership. These roles are described below, along with the basic roles and responsibilities of the regulators.
Sustainable Conservation
Our role is two–fold. First we work with our partners to expand the PIR model into watersheds and areas throughout the state that have the need and capacity for the program. To this end, we are working with the state office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and senior management at the regulatory agencies to identify important funding, create formal partnerships, and develop relationships that will pave the way for our local partners to develop PIR efficiently and effectively in their areas.
In our second role we serve as project managers for the development of PIR, in demonstration project areas, filling the role of facilitator. We also provide regulatory and permitting expertise. We arrange meetings, facilitate discussions and negotiations, and develop the permit applications and environmental documents required by the regulators. Finally, we keep the project moving forward in a timely manner.
Natural Resources Conservation Service
The NRCS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's primary conservation agency. The NRCS works in partnership with the nation's 3,000 conservation districts to deliver conservation planning that is informed by local priorities and needs, and based on more than 60 years of field experience. The NRCS also relies on state and federal agencies, agricultural groups, and environmental organizations to help set conservation goals, work with people on the land, and provide technical and cost–sharing assistance.
The NRCS sponsors important conservation incentives programs to preserve natural resources including Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). EQIP was established by the 1996 Farm Bill to provide a single, voluntary conservation program for farmers and ranchers to address significant natural resource concerns. Nationally, it provides technical, financial, and educational assistance where there are serious and critical environmental needs and concerns and where agricultural improvements will help meet water quality and other environmental objectives. Priorities are set by local work groups, which are composed of federal, state, and local agencies and the local Resource Conservation Districts (RCDs).
The NRCS Conservation Practices and Conservation Planning Process is central to our permit coordination program.
Resource Conservation Districts
RCDs emerged during the 1930s as a way to prevent the soil erosion crisis of the Dust Bowl era from recurring. They are independent, locally formed and directed liaisons between the federal government and private landowners that work closely with the NRCS. RCDs help landowners and local communities bridge agricultural and environmental perspectives through education and science.
In California, RCDs are "special districts" organized under the state Public Resources Code, Division 9. Each RCD has a locally elected or appointed volunteer board of directors made up of landowners in that district. RCDs address a wide variety of conservation issues such as forest fuel management, water and air quality, wildlife habitat restoration, soil erosion control, conservation education, and much more.
California has 103 RCDs. They are taking on increasingly larger roles in developing watershed planning and conservation efforts and working with farmers and ranchers, nonprofit land trusts, and rural dwellers to improve management practices. In their partnership with the NRCS, RCDs have developed important relationships with private landowners and are in a unique position to assist landowners and their communities in realizing their natural resource protection goals.
Role of Other Non–regulatory Agencies and NGOs
In many areas, there are other strong participating players in the permit coordination program, both public and private. These groups may have a regional focus and frequently provide support to growers and/or community groups around watershed assessments, watershed planning, and programs to assist in improving land management activities. They frequently can make funds available or have relationships or agreements with regulatory agencies or agricultural groups that can help bring the parties to the table or provide support and credibility to the permit coordination proponents.
In the Salinas River permit coordination program, for example, the Water Quality Protection Program of the Monterey National Marine Sanctuary helped provide funding for the project, provided introductions to local agency staff, and was very involved with the agricultural community in improving water quality through improved management practices. In Morro Bay, our partners at the Morro Bay National Estuary Program hope to use PIR to encourage projects identified in the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for the estuary. The support of these organizations, both financially and organizationally, helped ensure our success.
Role of Regulatory Agency Partners
Local, state and federal regulatory agencies play a critical role in protecting our environment and natural resources for the benefit of both human and non–human communities. Many of these agencies' laws and mandates were created in response to horrific events that demonstrated the degradation of our resources. Though the complex regulatory review process can be a significant barrier to voluntary conservation efforts in local watersheds, the regulators' participation in permit coordination programs is absolutely essential. They, too, are partners in our restoration efforts.
The regulators play a critical role in permit coordination programs. All of the following agencies are involved in administration, design input, quality control, monitoring and reporting regarding the PIR permit coordination program. It is their permits and agreements we are seeking. It is their regulations and mandates we must satisfy. The regulators review the program descriptions, help create the conditions and protection measures covering the conservation practices, and frequently expeditereview of individual projects. Through the permit coordination program, we bring the regulators in very early in the process, actively seeking and taking advantage of their regulatory and biological knowledge, facilitating cross training with the NRCS and RCD, and helping to foster positive working relationships with the NRCS and RCD. A brief description of the primary regulatory agencies follows—to visit their websites, please see the Partner Contact Information page.
Local County Government
The County is the local agency usually responsible for land use decisions, zoning, and similar activities. They attempt to make decisions that are in the best interests of the local residents. Many counties have grading, erosion control and/or riparian protection statutes. The County is also frequently the lead agency for the California Environmental Quality Act.
Regional Water Quality Control Board
There are nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards in California. Regional Boards engage in a number of functions to improve water quality in their respective regions. One of the most important is preparing and periodically updating Basin Plans, which are water quality control plans. Regional Boards regulate all pollutant or nuisance discharges that may affect either surface water or groundwater. Individual projects may need to obtain the following permits from the Regional Water Quality Control Board: 401 Water Quality Certification, National Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit, compliance with local Total Maximum Daily Load program.
California Department of Fish and Game
The mission of the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is to protect and conserve California's plants, fish, wildlife and their habitat. They oversee a variety of educational programs, hunting and fishing licenses, and permitting activities associated with riparian areas and plant and animal species listed under California's Endangered Species Act.
The primary permitting intersection with this program and most landowners is the Streambed Alteration Agreement (1603 Permit). This permit is required for any work that occurs in, on, over, or under a waterway, from the bed of a stream to the top of the bank, including work that diverts or obstructs the natural flow of water, changes the streambank or channel bottom, removes or uses material from the stream, or removes native or exotic vegetation from the riparian areas. DFG also oversees California's Endangered Species Act (ESA)—which is separate from the federal ESA.
The Department's permitting staff is usually located in the regional offices (there are five DFG regions in the state) and the wardens and biologists are usually located in local offices and/or operate out of their homes.
California Coastal Commission
The California Coastal Commission was established by voter initiative in 1972 (Proposition 20) and made permanent by the Legislature in 1976 (the Coastal Act). The primary mission of the Commission, as the lead agency responsible for carrying out California's federally approved coastal management program, is to plan for and regulate land and water uses in the coastal zone consistent with the policies of the Coastal Act. The Commission is one of California's two designated coastal management agencies for the purpose of administering the federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) in California. The Coastal Commission provides regulatory oversight through the County's Coastal Development Permits issued under their Local Coastal Plan (LCP), and by issuing Coastal Development Permits in areas that are not governed by a LCP.
The National Marine Fisheries Service
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is the federal agency responsible for the conservation and management of the nation's living marine resources. Activities that may affect marine fish and related habitat within NMFS jurisdiction are reviewed for any potentially harmful effects. These evaluations are conducted under the authorities of the ESA, Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. Most landowners typically intersect with NMFS through the ESA and its Section 7 or Section 10 processes.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The U.S. Army Corps is charged with protecting waters of the United States under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. This covers dredging and filling activities in streams, rivers and wetlands, or more generally speaking, riparian areas. Fill includes putting something in a watercourse—rock, timber, dirt, etc. Fill results from most typical riparian projects that involve stream channel modification, streambank protection, and fish stream improvements, and includes sedimentation as a result of erosion from a work site. Corps jurisdiction extends up to the ordinary high water line for non–tidal waters and up to the line of high tide (for dredge and fill) or mean high water line (for work or structures) for tidal waters. The Corps has several permitting mechanisms: Individual Permits, the Nationwide Permit Program, and Regional General Permits.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is the principal Federal agency for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fresh water fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats—primarily through the ESA. The Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act requires that all Federal agencies consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state wildlife agencies (i.e. DFG) for activities that affect, control, or modify waters of any stream or bodies of water. In addition, FWS (and NMFS) function in an advisory capacity to the Corps of Engineers and their permitting process. As with NMFS, the NRCS consults with FWS under the Endangered Species Act.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EPA's mission is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment—air, water, and land—upon which life depends. EPA works closely with other federal agencies, state and local governments, and Indian tribes to develop and enforce regulations under existing environmental laws. EPA is responsible for researching and setting national standards for a variety of environmental programs and delegates responsibility to states and tribes for issuing permits, and monitoring and enforcing compliance. The EPA also works with industries and all levels of government in a wide variety of voluntary pollution prevention programs and energy conservation efforts.
