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SAN LEANDRO SHORELINE DEVELOPMENT DRAFT EIR <br />CITY OF SAN LEANDRO <br />BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES <br />Clean Water Act <br />The federal Clean Water Act (CWA) is administered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency <br />(EPA) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Army Corps). The Army Corps is responsible for <br />regulating the discharge of fill material into waters of the United States, including lakes, rivers, streams, <br />and their tributaries, as well as wetlands. In 2008, Army Corps published the Wetlands Regulatory <br />Assistance Program: Regional Supplements to the Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual: Arid <br />West Region (Version 2.0), which provides detailed information for the Arid West Region. Wetlands are <br />defined for regulatory purposes as areas "inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a <br />frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances support, a prevalence <br />of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions" <br />The discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States is subject to permitting under <br />Section 404 (Discharges of Dredge or Fill Material) of the CWA. Section 401 (Certification) specifies <br />additional requirements for permit review, particularly at the State level. Project proponents must obtain <br />a permit from the Army Corps for all discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, <br />including wetlands, before proceeding with a proposed action. The Army Corps permits must be certified <br />by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) in order to be valid. Thus, certification from the <br />SWRCB should be requested at the same time an application is filed with the Army Corps. <br />Certification from the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) is also required when a <br />proposed activity may result in discharge into navigable waters, pursuant to Section 401 of the CWA and <br />EPA 404(b)(1) Guidelines. <br />National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program <br />The 1972 amendments to the federal Water Pollution Control Act established the National Pollutant <br />Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program to control discharges of pollutants from point <br />sources (Section 402). The NPDES Permit Program is the primary federal program that regulates point <br />source and nonpoint-source discharges to waters of the United States. The SWRCB issues both general <br />and individual NPDES permits for certain activities. <br />Migratory Bird Treaty Act <br />The USFWS is also responsible for implementing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The MBTA <br />implements a series of treaties between the United States, Mexico, and Canada that provide for the <br />international protection of migratory birds. The MBTA prohibits killing, possessing, or trading in migratory <br />birds, except in accordance with regulations prescribed by the USFWS; this prohibition includes whole <br />birds, parts of birds, and bird nests and eggs. Nests of bird species regulated under the MBTA are <br />protected when in active use during the breeding season. Examples of permitted actions that do not <br />violate the law are the possession of a hunting license to pursue specific game birds, legitimate research <br />activities, display in zoological gardens, bird -banding, and similar activities. <br />State Regulations <br />State laws regulating biological resources include the California Endangered Species Act, the California <br />Fish and Game Code, and the California Native Plant Protection Act, each of which is described below. <br />4.3-2 DECEMBER 2014 <br />