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<br />Bulletin 160-98 Public Review Draft <br /> <br />003llS3 <br /> <br />Appendix 2A. Institutional Framework for Allocating <br />and Managing Water Resources in California <br /> <br />Environmental Regulatory Statutes and Programs <br />Endangered Species Act <br />Under the federal ESA, an endangered species is one that is in danger of extinction in all <br />or a significant part of its range, and a threatened species is one that is likely to become <br />endangered in the near future, The ESA is designed to preserve endangered and threatened <br />species by protecting individuals of the species and their habitat and by implementing measures <br />that promote their recovery. The ESA sets forth a procedure for listing species as threatened or <br />endangered. Final listing decisions are made by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service or <br />the National Marine Fisheries Service, <br /> <br />i <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />Once a species is listed, Section 7 of the act requires that federal agencies, in consultation <br />with the USFWS or NMFS, ensure that their actions do not jeopardize the continued existence of <br />the species or habitat critical for the survival of that species, The federal wildlife agencies are <br />required to provide an opinion as to whether the federal action would jeopardize the species, The <br />opinion must include reasonable and prudent alternatives to the action that would avoid <br />jeopardizing the species' existence. Federal actions subject to Section 7 include issuance of <br />federal permits such as the dredge and fill permit required under Section 404 of the federal Clean <br />Water Act, which requires that the project proponent demonstrate that there is no feasible <br />alternative consistent with the project goals that would not affect listed species, Mitigation of the <br />proposed project is not considered until this hurdle is passed. <br />State agencies and private parties also are subject to the ESA. Section 9 of the ESA <br />prohibits the "take" of endangered species and threatened species for which protective regulations <br />have been adopted, Take has been broadly defined to include actions that harm or harass listed <br />species or that cause a significant loss of their habitat. State agencies and private parties are <br />generally required to obtain a permit from the USFWS or NMFS under Section 1O(a) of the ESA <br />before carrying out activities that may incidentally result in taking listed species. The permit <br />normally contains conditions to avoid taking listed species and to compensate for habitat <br />adversely impacted by the activities. <br />California Endangered Species Act <br />The California Endangered Species Act is similar to the federal ESA and must be <br />complied with in addition to the federal ESA. Listing decisions are made by the California Fish <br /> <br />I <br /> <br />~ <br /> <br />2A-7 <br />