Opinion ID: 4017919
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Environmental activities hearing and order

Text: In December 2010, and January and February 2011, the trial court held a hearing on the proposed environmental activities. It considered the declarations filed on behalf of the Department and the landowners, and the in-person testimony of a number of Department employees, as well as suggestions, concerns and objections raised by the landowners and the Department to a series of tentative orders drafted by the court. On February 22, 2011, the trial court issued a detailed 33-page order granting the Department limited authority to enter each of the parcels at issue to conduct the various types of environmental testing sought by the Department. The order stated that ―[t]he court has determined the nature and scope of the activities reasonably necessary to accomplish the purposes identified, taking due consideration of constitutional limitations and statutory procedures 7 required for a taking of property. The court has provided suitable limitations to strike the best possible balance between the needs of [the Department] and the interests of the property owners.‖ In brief summary, the order authorized Department employees to enter each property4 for a maximum of 25 to 66 days (depending on property size) over a one-year period in order to conduct the designated environmental survey, sampling, and testing activities (recreational, botanical, hydrolic, general, habitat, vernal pool, archeological and utility surveys, and mapping activities) under specific conditions and limitations set forth in the order with regard to each type of activity.5 The authorized environmental activities generally would be conducted by walking, visual observation, minor soil and plant sampling and testing, 4 The order defined ―a property‖ for purposes of the order as ―an enterprise unit such as a single ranch, even though comprised of several [assessed parcels].‖ 5 As an example of the detailed nature of the order, the portion of the order relating to botanical surveys states: ―1. Activities will consist of identifying existing plants and characterizing the vegetation community; evaluating existing vegetation for its suitability as habitat for special status species; visually characterizing the soil and the existing substrate; and identifying wildlife for signs of certain special status species. Activities will include walking the subject property to assess the habitat and determine the presence or absence of sensitive plant species; collecting samples of vegetation; recording locations using handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment; photographing landscape and vegetation; digging holes with a trowel or shovel approximately two feet wide and two feet deep to examine soil. After examination, soil will be used to refill the hole from which it came so that it is placed as close as possible to its original condition. Soil samples will not be taken from the subject properties. Watersides of larger sloughs and rivers and in-stream islands may require surveys by small boat. [¶] 2. All surveys and delineations will be conducted during daylight hours during the months of February through October. Between 2 and 6 personnel identified by DWR will require 1 to 12 days to survey each parcel concurrently with hydrologic and general survey activities, and an additional 1 to 4 days if wetlands are found.‖ 8 photography, and trapping and releasing small animals. The entries would be on foot where practicable, and any vehicle use would be restricted to existing roads. The order required the Department to give a landowner 72-hour advance notice before each entry, prohibited any entry on agricultural land during harvest season or on hunting land during hunting season, limited the number of persons per entry (two-to-eight persons) by property size, specified the time of day the activities could be conducted (generally between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.), and provided that most of the authorized activities were to be conducted concurrently in order to reduce the total number of days Department employees would be on the property. No equipment could be left on the property between entries with the exception of small traps that could be left for 14 days and small cloth targets for aerial mapping that could remain on the property for between 30 and 38 days (depending on property size).6 The order prohibited any inspection of or entry within 100 feet of an inhabited dwelling, as well as any entry into any other structures that are not open to the public. The order also contained a schedule of general conditions, relating to indemnification, confidentiality, disclosure of gathered information to landowner, and other matters. Finally, the order set forth a schedule designating by property size the amount of probable compensation that the Department was required to deposit prior to entering any property to conduct the authorized environmental activities. Under the order, the amount of probable compensation to be deposited ranged from $1,000 per property for properties of 100 acres or fewer to $6,000 per property for properties of 3,501 to 8,500 acres. 6 The order specified that the presence of traps or targets on the ground was not to be considered a day of entry for purposes of the maximum days of entry per property. 9