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City of Pleasanton—Additional Housing Sites Rezonings Project
<br />CEQA Guidelines Section 15164 Addendum Addendum
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<br /> 49
<br />a) Special-status Species
<br />Would the project: Have a substantial adverse effect, either directly or through habitat
<br />modifications, on any species identified as a candidate, sensitive,
<br />or special-status species in local or regional plans, policies, or
<br />regulations, or by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife or
<br />United States Fish and Wildlife Service?
<br />Summary of Prior FEIR
<br />The Prior FEIR found that implementation of the General Plan could affect
<br />special-status biological resources because the Planning Area contains
<br />numerous natural habitats and documented or potentially occurring special-
<br />status plant and wildlife species. The Prior FEIR identifies special-status plants
<br />with moderate or known potential in the Planning Area, including species
<br />associated with grasslands, riparian woodland, marshes, swamps, and vernal
<br />pools. It also identified special-status wildlife across multiple taxa, including
<br />invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, such as vernal pool
<br />fairy shrimp, California tiger salamander, California red-legged frog, western
<br />pond turtle, Alameda whipsnake, tricolored blackbird, and San Joaquin kit
<br />fox. The impact framework in the Prior FEIR treated substantial degradation of
<br />the environment or reductions in habitat or populations below self-sustaining
<br />levels as the relevant biological concern.
<br />At the program level, the Prior FEIR explained that biological impacts are
<br />moderated by the General Plan’s conservation structure and regulatory
<br />setting. The Planning Area contains extensive open space and Wildlands
<br />Overlay areas intended to retain habitat and biological diversity, including
<br />grasslands, woodlands, brushlands, riparian corridors, wetlands, arroyos, and
<br />streams. The Prior FEIR also identified a federal, State, and local regulatory
<br />framework that applies to biological resource protection, including the
<br />federal and State endangered species acts, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
<br />(MBTA), the Lake or Streambed Alteration Program, the California Native
<br />Plant Protection Act, and local tree protection regulations. In Table S-2 of the
<br />Prior FEIR, the Prior FEIR separately concluded that impacts to special-status
<br />plants, invertebrates, birds, amphibians and reptiles, and mammals would be
<br />less than significant, while impacts to special-status fish would be no impact.
<br />Overall, the Prior FEIR concluded that impacts would be less than significant.
<br />Proposed Project Analysis and Conclusion
<br />The proposed sites are located within the same urban/developed areas
<br />evaluated in the Prior FEIR. As discussed in the Prior FEIR, the removal of trees
<br />or other vegetation associated with future development could result in the
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