Opinion ID: 2585012
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Challenges to the Streambed Alteration Agreement

Text: EPIC claims that DFG and Pacific Lumber did not enter into a proper Streambed Alteration Agreement pursuant to Fish and Game Code former section 1603, [22] and that agreement is therefore invalid. We disagree. Fish and Game Code former section 1603, subdivision (a) provided during the relevant period that [i]t is unlawful for any person to substantially divert or obstruct the natural flow or substantially change the bed, channel, or bank of any river, stream, or lake designated by the department, or use any material from the streambeds, without first notifying the department of that activity, except when the department has been notified pursuant to Section 1601. The department, within 30 days from the date of receipt of that notice, or within the time determined by mutual written agreement, shall, when an existing fish or wildlife resource may be substantially adversely affected by that activity, notify the person of the existence of that fish or wildlife resource together with a description of the fish or wildlife, and shall submit to the person its proposals as to measures necessary to protect fish and wildlife.... The department's description of an existing fish or wildlife resource shall be specific and detailed and the department shall make available upon request the information upon which its conclusion is based that the resource may be substantially adversely affected. (Stats. 1996, ch. 825, ง 3.5, p. 4327.) Subdivision (b) dictated that the parties are to enter into an agreement about the appropriate measures to adopt and provides a framework for resolving disagreements. (19) The evident purpose of Fish and Game Code former section 1603 was to protect existing fish and wildlife resources, and it accomplished that purpose by imposing on DFG and private persons a set of interlocking obligations. A private person is obliged to notify DFG before it diverts or obstructs streams or other watercourses. This notice triggers DFG's duty to determine if the obstruction or diversion may substantially adversely affect fish and wildlife. If that determination is made, then DFG has the duty to submit proposals as to measures necessary to protect fish and wildlife, and to conduct an appropriate investigation. DFG's description of existing fish and wildlife resources must be specific and detailed. The person may then either accept the proposal or negotiate with DFG, and if agreement is not reached, both parties are obliged to follow the dispute resolution mechanism set forth in subdivision (b). Each of these obligations is to be performed pursuant to prescribed statutory deadlines. With these rules in mind, we review the factual background behind the Streambed Alteration Agreement in this case. Despite earlier announcements of an intention to seek a Streambed Alteration Agreement, Pacific Lumber did not officially notify the department of an intention to engage in streambed-altering activity until very late in the regulatory approval process, on February 24, 1999. Rather than discuss specific streams that would be impacted by Pacific Lumber's activities, the resulting agreement was instead a master document that encompasses the entire 211,000 acres without identifying the location of specific streams or activities. The notice referred to the final SYP/HCP for the location of all streams and watercourses affected and the measures taken to protect fish and wildlife. This notice was filed with a Final Streambed Alteration Agreement, dated February 25, 1999, that had already been negotiated with DFG. The agreement was structured as follows. Exhibits A and B list certain covered activities that are expected to occur on the property in question. Exhibit A consists of activities that DFG has determined may substantially divert or obstruct the natural flow of streams or other enumerated bodies of water, depending on the location and/or impacts of the covered activities. These covered activities would be addressed under separate notifications and agreements pursuant to section 1603. These activities include timber harvesting, site preparation, thinning, fire suppression, and road construction. A second set of covered activities, listed under exhibit B, is the subset of activities in exhibit A that are the subject of the present Streambed Alteration Agreement, and the agreement adopts in exhibit C specific measures necessary to protect fish and wildlife resources from these activities. Activities listed under exhibit B include construction of road crossings within class I and class II watercourses, water drafting, and operating conservation programs. Exhibit C lists various measures to protect against the detrimental effects of activities listed in exhibit B, including that any structure or culvert placed within any class I watercourse is to be designed and constructed so as not to constitute a barrier to the upstream or downstream movement of fish, and various prescriptions for constructing bridges across watercourses. Thus, the Streambed Alteration Agreement at issue here responds to the statutory mandate to protect fish and wildlife that may be adversely affected by streambed alteration in three ways: (1) by referencing mitigation measures put in place by the HCP/SYP filed in conjunction with the agreement; (2) by adopting certain conservation measures in addition to those required under the HCP/SYP with regard to some of Pacific Lumber's anticipated activity; and (3) by expressly providing that most activities in which Pacific Lumber plans to engage, including timber harvesting and road construction, will require Pacific Lumber to enter into additional Streambed Alteration Agreements. EPIC argues that Pacific Lumber and DFG failed to follow the mandatory procedures set forth in Fish and Game Code former section 1603โthat Pacific Lumber failed to give timely notice and DFG failed to identify for Pacific Lumber the wildlife to be affected by the proposed stream altering activity. We disagree. Although Pacific Lumber and DFG may not have followed the precise procedures contemplated by section 1603, they appear to have substantially complied with that statute. Because the Streambed Alteration Agreement was undertaken in conjunction with a massive regulatory approval process that included an integrated HCP/SYP and an EIS/EIR, both Pacific Lumber and DFG had ample notice through this processโDFG that Pacific Lumber would engage in streambed-altering activity, and Pacific Lumber of the wildlife that would be affected and the mitigation measures that DFG and other government agencies would require to mitigate adverse impacts on fish and wildlife. EPIC also contends that the agreement here is not sufficiently specific with respect to particular streams, and that there is nothing in the statutes or regulations that authorizes DFG or Pacific Lumber to enter into a master Streambed Alteration Agreement, as they did here. We disagree. Statute and regulation neither specifically authorize nor forbid this type of master agreement. Of course, were such agreements used to circumvent the substantive requirements of Fish and Game Code section 1603 to identify with specificity the stream-altering activities and negotiate particular mitigating measures, they would obviously not pass muster. But there is no indication that the present agreement would do so. This master agreement is extremely limited in scope, adopting standard mitigating or protective measures for some of Pacific Lumber's activities ancillary to timber harvesting, while deferring most of the measures to be adopted to future agreements, when Pacific Lumber's plans for particular streambeds will be more concretely formulated. In light of DFG's expertise and its statutory authority to formulate Streambed Alteration Agreements, we cannot say that this manner of proceeding violated the statutory duties to which either it or Pacific Lumber are subject.
EPIC also contends that the lack of any findings related to the Streambed Alteration Agreement makes that agreement invalid. DFG and Pacific Lumber respond that no findings are required. We agree. Findings are required in support of administrative decisions when such decisions are reviewable under Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5 (see Topanga, supra, 11 Cal.3d at pp. 514-515) or are otherwise required by statute or regulation. Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5, subdivision (a), provides administrative mandamus is available to review a decision made by an agency as a result of a proceeding in which by law (1) a hearing is required to be given, (2) evidence is required to be taken, and (3) discretion in determining the facts is vested in the agency. The hearing and evidence requirements are met when a statute or regulation provides an opportunity for public input and requires a public agency to respond to that input, such as is the case with an EIR or THP. ( Friends of the Old Trees v. Department of Forestry & Fire Protection (1997) 52 Cal.App.4th 1383, 1391-1392 [61 Cal.Rptr.2d 297].) On the other hand, an administrative decision that does not require a hearing or a response to public input is generally not reviewable under Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5 but by traditional mandamus pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1085, under an abuse of discretion standard, and no findings are required. (See Association for Protection etc. Values v. City of Ukiah (1991) 2 Cal.App.4th 720, 730-732 [3 Cal.Rptr.2d 488].) (20) We conclude that a Streambed Alteration Agreement under section 1603 did not require findings, because the statute did not require that a hearing be held or public input be taken. Nor did any implementing regulation impose a findings requirement. On the other hand, an activity or project that necessitates a Streambed Alteration Agreement may require environmental review under CEQA. (See DFG, Lake and Streambed Alteration Program, Questions and Answers, No. 4, [as of July 17, 2008] [The Department must comply with ... CEQA ... before it may issue a final Lake or Streambed Alteration Agreement. (Italics added.)].) CEQA requires findings under certain circumstances. (Pub. Resources Code, ง 21081.) EPIC's challenge to the final EIS/EIR's CEQA findings are discussed below. We therefore conclude that the lack of separate findings supporting the present Streambed Alteration Agreement was not error.