NOTICE OF PREPARATION OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT

NOTICE OF PREPARATION OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR THE NORTH COUNTY MULTIPLE SPECIES CONSERVATION PROGRAM PLAN

LOG NO. 04-00-001

Public Review Period: March 10 through April 23

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the County of San Diego, Department of Planning and Land Use will be the Lead Agency and will prepare an Environmental Impact Report in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act for the North County Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP) Plan. The County is seeking public agency, interest group and citizen input on the scope and content of the environmental information to be contained in the Environmental Impact Report. Because the North County MSCP Plan is a cooperative effort between the County and the Wildlife Agencies, the North County MSCP Plan will require the preparation of a joint National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)/California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

The North County MSCP Plan is intended to protect key sensitive plant and animal populations and habitats within the County. It will allow currently threatened and endangered species to maintain or improve their status in the wild and eliminate the need to list more species as endangered in the future under Federal and State Endangered Species Acts. The North County MSCP Plan will also provide an economic benefit by reducing constraints on future development and decreasing the costs of compliance with federal and state laws protecting biological resources.

A Notice of Preparation document, which contains a more thorough project description and a preliminary North County MSCP Plan map along with a description of the probable environmental effects of the project, can be reviewed at: The Department of Planning and Land Use (DPLU), Project Processing Counter, 5201 Ruffin Road, Suite B, San Diego, CA; all libraries in the unincorporated area of San Diego County; and online at http://www.mscp-sandiego.org (click on North County Plan). Comments on the Notice of Preparation document must be in writing and must be sent to the DPLU address listed above. Comments must reference the project number and name. Comments on this Notice of Preparation document must be received no later than April 23 at 4:00 p.m. (a 45-day public review period). For additional information or specific addresses of libraries where the Notice of Preparation document is available for review, please contact the North County MSCP Plan Hotline at (866) 231-3437.

A public scoping meeting will also be held at the US Fish and Wildlife Service Office, located at 6010 Hidden Valley Road, Carlsbad, CA 92009, on March 30 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The meeting will provide a public forum for information dissemination, identification of issues, scope of review, and questions on the North County MSCP Plan project, EIS/EIR, and the overall process. While staff will summarize the issues raised in this meeting and decisions made, anyone wishing to make formal comments on the Notice of Preparation must do so in writing. This scoping meeting is intended to satisfy the requirements of the Public Resources Code, Section 21083.9, which requires the Lead Agency to call at least one scoping meeting for the project. Additional scoping meetings will be considered upon receipt of requests in writing.

LEGAL: 0646

PUBLISHING : March 10, 2005