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State Clearinghouse Review The California Department of Fish and Game and the Regional Water Quality Control Board as well as the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service are Responsible Agencies for this proposal. Where California State agencies are responsible agencies, CEQA mandates a 30 -day review period by the State Clearinghouse of the Office of Planning and Research and for any organization that may have previously commented on the IS /MND: the California Audubon Society, California Native Plant Society, and the California Oaks Foundation. The IS /MND and Notice of Completion was sent to the State Clearinghouse on March 24, 2010 and ended on April 21, 2010. Staff received one comment via email from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and one verbal comment from the Regional Water Quality Control Board. There were no other comments. 1. United States Fish and Wildlife Service The Fish and Wildlife Service does "not entirely agree with the response to our comments and are still concerned the development may result in take of federally listed species. Species are not confined to critical habitat and can move throughout the landscape. Effects to critical habitat and effects to listed species are two separate issues and it is inappropriate to conclude species absence due to a lack of one or all of the primary constituent elements that comprise critical habitat. Additionally, the California Natural Diversity Database is a useful but limited tool and species absence cannot be confirmed by lack of records reported or distance from a known record." Primary constituent elements are the criteria published by Federal and State Responsible Agencies to determine the likelihood of the presence of species and /or their habitat areas. The applicant's consultants followed the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish and Game guidelines for evaluating the habitat on the project site and within the proposed grading areas and concluded that the likelihood of species was very low. The IS /MND references the locations of protected species in the vicinity of the Yee property and the likelihood that species may migrate to the Yee property according to established criteria. To address the potential that some species may pass through the site on a very rare occasion, site specific analyses will be completed before construction and, for whipsnake, a silt fence will be installed prior to and during construction. 2. Regional Water Quality Control Board As stated to staff, the Board's previous concerns have been addressed by not filling the channel adjoining Foothill Road and placing the driveway to Lot 3 and 4 above the top -of -bank level of the ephemeral stream, and that the four lots can efficiently address stormwater runoff treatment within the lots themselves. Staff notes that the percentage of area to building envelopes to the site is very low and that the open space area will remain open and covered by deed restrictions. While it can never be categorically determined that a protected species will never enter the Yee property, staff considers the likelihood to be very low. As conditioned, the applicant must Page 13 of 16