2.
Response
to
Comments
2.9
Individual
Responses
to
Comments
from
Organizations
Control
Board
as
part
of
their
mandate
to
implement
the
Clean
Water
Act
in
California.
Studies
prepared
to
support
submittal
of
a
request
for
an
NPDES
permit
will
be
conducted
on
a
project-by-project
basis
as
the
Baylands
site
is
developed.
It
is
appropriate
that
these
studies
are
conducted
in
the
future
as
they
will
reflect
existing
conditions
at
the
site
concurrent
with
actual
construction
ad
reflect
actual
site-specific
development
projects
at
such
time
as
they
are
proposed.
The
NPDES
permit
requires
avoidance
of
wetlands
and
special
status
species
habitats
and
natural
water
bodies
and
avoids
impacts
to
sensitive
habitats
by
preventing
introduction
of
debris
and
stormwater.
Compliance
with
the
permitting
requirements
results
in
avoidance
of
impacts
to
water
bodies
and
sensitive
habitats
at
the
site
and
is
therefore
included
in
Section
4.C,
Biological
Resources,
of
the
Draft
EIR.
The
Draft
EIR
discusses
natural
communities
and
their
distribution
and
analyses
the
potential
for
such
communities
to
be
impacted
by
the
four
concept
scenario
scenarios
in
the
Project
Description,
and
analyzes
impacts
at
a
level
of
detail
commensurate
with
the
detail
of
proposed
development
design.
Comment
mischaracterizes
the
Draft
EIR,
since
the
Draft
EIR
is
not
based
on
any
assumption
that
“impacts
to
natural
communities
cannot
be
foreseen
or
managed.”
The
Draft
EIR
was,
in
fact,
developed
based
on
reasoned
analysis
and
the
judgment
that
all
biological
resources
would
be
removed
from
areas
planned
for
future
development
under
each
of
the
four
concept
plan
scenarios,
and
that
the
concept
plan
scenarios
would
preserve
habitats
only
within
those
areas
specifically
designated
for
such
preservation.
Analysis
in
the
Draft
EIR
also
reasonably
assumes
that
any
development
activities
that
would
impact
wetlands,
waters
of
the
US,
or
waters
of
the
state
would
be
subject
to
regulatory
agency
review
and
permit
requirements,
including
compliance
with
the
state
and
federal
policy
mandate
of
“no
net
loss”
of
wetlands.
As
stated
8,
Level
of
Detail
in
the
Biological
Resources
Analysis,
a
key
finding
of
the
Draft
EIR
was
that
each
of
the
four
development
scenarios
would
result
in
significant
impacts
to
biological
resources,
and
that
a
reconfiguration
of
development
and
conservation
areas
was
needed
to
mitigate
impacts
of
future
development.
In
addition,
the
performance
standards
included
in
the
mitigation
measures
set
forth
in
Section
4.C,
Biological
Resources
,
including
the
performance
and
success
criteria
contained
in
Mitigation
Measure
4.C-2c,
establish
conditions
and
requirements
that
will
be
applied
to
all
future
projects
implemented
on
the
Baylands.
The
Draft
EIR
identifies
impacts
associated
with
the
future
development
of
the
Baylands
including
site
remediation,
which
would
be
the
precursor
to
any
development
projects.
The
analysis
is
based
on
habitats
mapped
in
Figure
4.C-1
and
the
potential
for
special
status
species
to
occur
given
the
Brisbane
Baylands
Final
EIR
2.9.9-5
May
2015