Topaz Solar Farm Project (California Endangered Species Act Incidental Take Permit No. 2081-2011-041-04 Minor Amendment No. 9)

Topaz Solar Farm Project (California Endangered Species Act Incidental Take Permit No. 2081-2011-041-04 Minor Amendment No. 9)

The Project includes installing and operating arrays of photovoltaic modules and associated electrical production and transmission infrastructure. The Project will tie directly into the existing Pacific Gas and Electric Morro Bay/Midway 230 kV transmission line. Project construction will take approximately three years. The Project will result in impacts to 3,510 acres of San Joaquin Kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) habitat. The Project is expected to result in incidental take of San Joaquin kit fox, which is designated as a threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). The incidental take permit (ITP) for this Project, as issued by CDFW, authorizes incidental take of species listed under CESA that may occur as a result of Project implementation. Minor Amendment No. 9 elaborates on the Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Covered Activities and adjusts the monitoring requirements to fit those activities, as well as allowing biologists to discourage and eliminate dens where there may be risk of Covered Species electrocution. In addition, buffers from Covered Species dens for O&M Covered Activities during the non-pupping season are adjusted in response to the observed tolerance of Covered Species to Covered Activities near dens. The activities covered in the ITP, the extent of the Project's impacts, and the extent of habitat compensation lands are unchanged.

San Luis Obispo