Recent Regulatory Alerts

December 2003

Regulatory Alert: Non-Compliance Enforcement by Resource Agencies

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) have informed Michael Brandman Associates (MBA) that they are stepping up enforcement for non-compliance with Habitat Mitigation requirements as conditioned under project-specific 404 permits, and CDFG Streambed Alteration Agreements. Non-compliance can be interpreted by USACE or CDFG as a failure to provide required annual monitoring reports, failure to meet success criteria, failure to record a required conservation easement, etc.

• The USACE has advised that non-compliance fines up to $25,000 could be levied for each Special Condition violation.

• The CDFG has advised they are currently assessing mitigation non-compliance on projects older than five years.

MBA Recommends

Habitat Mitigation compliance often involves numerous tasks spread over many years (i.e. 5-years). Compliance monitoring for developers or public agencies can be cumbersome and lengthy. However, in light of this enforcement, MBA recommends you take time now to review your projects' compliance before the Resource Agencies do.

See an example of a recent MBA project: before and after.

All MBA-managed projects are actively tracked through our internal database to ensure Habitat Mitigation compliance. For more information about our regulatory services, please call Alissa Cope at 714.508.4100 x108.  For information regarding all other services, please contact Erika Bennett, Marketing Manager at 714.508.4100 x105 or email ebennett@brandman.com.