Conservation Sonoma

The Sonoma County HCP/NCCP will address the regulatory requirements of the federal Endangered Species Act, California Endangered Species Act, and the California state Natural Community Conservation Planning Act. It may also address aquatic resource permitting under state and federal laws.  As a part of this process, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) environmental review requirements will also be satisfied.  The NEPA/CEQA analyses will not begin until a draft HCP/NCCP is prepared. At that point, those documents will be made available here.

Native American Tribe Consultation

Native American representatives include individuals representing federally and non-federally recognized Native American tribes whose traditional territory encompasses or intersects with the Sonoma County HCP/NCCP area.  Native American tribes must be consulted during the environmental review process under both federal and state regulations and may have cultural, natural, and traditional resources or assets that could be impacted by the outcome of the Sonoma County HCP/NCCP. Therefore, support from these representatives is often needed to implement conservation goals and objectives. 

On the federal side, Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act both requires tribal consultation and largely drives the consultation process when a federal agency project may affect historic properties that are either located on Native American tribal lands, or when any Native American tribe attaches religious or cultural significance to the historic property.  In addition, the regulations implementing NEPA require tribal consultation and involvement during the NEPA process.  One requirement is to preserve important historic, cultural, and natural aspects of our national heritage, and federal agencies have a responsibility to engage in meaningful consultation with tribes with respect to cultural resources-related laws and executive orders, such as Executive Order 13175.  It is the goal of the federal agencies to include federally recognized tribes in their decision-making process, as specified in their Tribal Consultation Handbook. Furthermore, tribes are sovereign governments and thus more than just a member of the public, which gives them a unique status that entitles them to a government-to-government relationship with the US government.

Under California law, formal tribal consultation for the Sonoma County HCP/NCCP will be carried out in alignment with California Assembly Bill 52 (AB 52), which ensures that Native American tribes are consulted during the environmental review process.  AB 52 amends CEQA to include tribal cultural resources in the environmental impact assessment process.

CEQA

Guidelines for CEQA can be found at the following link: https://opr.ca.gov/ceqa/guidelines/

NEPA

Guidelines for NEPA can be found at the following link: https://ceq.doe.gov/index.html