Project Updates

Background / Summary

The Los Osos Habitat Conservation Plan identifies activities that are covered by the community-wide programmatic incidental take permit (covered activities), their anticipated impacts to the listed species covered by the permit (covered species), and the steps that the County and other plan participants will take to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of the covered activities on the covered species (the conservation strategy). Covered activities included in the Habitat Conservation Plan are:

• Commercial and residential development and redevelopment on privately-owned parcels;

• Public entity and private utility company facility and infrastructure development projects;

• Public entity and private utility company activities to operate and maintain, including repair and replace, existing facilities; and

• Activities conducted to implement the Habitat Conservation Plan conservation strategy.

The purpose of issuing a programmatic incidental take permit is to allow the County to authorize the covered activities while conserving the covered species and their habitats. Implementation of a programmatic, multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan, rather than a species-by-species or project-by-project approach, will maximize the benefits of conservation measures for covered species and eliminate potentially expensive and time-consuming efforts associated with processing individual incidental take permits for each project within the proposed Habitat Conservation Plan area. The Habitat Conservation Plan and issuance of the incidental take permit(s) will help facilitate a streamlined permitting process and provide a cohesive conservation strategy managed by one entity with a single funding source. The Conservation strategy will focus on expansion, conservation, maintenance, and enhancement of the Los Osos greenbelt.

To mitigate the effects of the covered activities on the covered species, which could otherwise threaten their persistence, the County is responsible for the implementation of the HCP conservation program—a comprehensive program designed to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of the covered activities to the maximum extent practicable. Given the rarity of these narrowly endemic covered species, this regional plan is also designed to contribute to their recovery, by arresting and reversing threats to survival to ensure long-term persistence.

HCP and IAMMP Adoption

The HCP and Interim Adaptive Management Monitoring Program (IAMMP) were adopted by the County Board of Supervisors on December 15, 2020. The IAMMP implements the HCP for three years, while a long term AMMP is prepared for the life of the 25-year permit period.

Programmatic Incidental Take Permit Issuance

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued the community-wide incidental take permit on February 15, 2024, for a period of 25 years. The permit allows the County to issue Certificates of Inclusion to confer incidental take coverage to landowners and other entities if their activities are covered under the incidental take permit and they agree to satisfy all applicable conditions in accordance with the incidental take permit.