Loma Chiquita/ Chual Spur Escape Route
Summary
SCH Number
2024110248
Public Agency
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(CAL FIRE)
Document Title
Loma Chiquita/ Chual Spur Escape Route
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
11/7/2024
Document Description
The purpose of this project is to improve ingress and egress safety, reduce wildfire risk, and aid in fire suppression activities through fuel reduction treatments. The Santa Clara County Fire Safe Council, in collaboration with CAL FIRE, is proposing fuel reduction treatments along approximately 3.5 miles of Loma Chiquita Road and 4.5 miles of Mount Chual Spur Road in unincorporated Santa Clara County, California. Vegetation will be thinned and pruned on either side of the road, up to 30 feet from roads edge, totaling up to 53.3 acres. Mechanical treatments will use an excavator with a masticating head to treat the above-ground portion of woody material and small (< 8” DBH) suppressed trees. The excavator will operate from the existing roadway and masticator head will avoid direct contact with the ground to eliminate ground disturbance. Hand crews will employ chainsaws, pole saws, and hand tools to remove ladder fuels and dead and dying trees. Live trees (12” DBH or less) may be removed to improve tree spacing. Larger trees will be pruned to provide for a vertical clearance up to14 feet. Dead/dying or hazard trees of any size that pose a safety hazard to the roadway or people will be removed. Slash and debris created by this project will either be chipped or lop-and-scattered, and logs will be bucked and left on site. Chippers and masticators will not leave the roadway. Broadcast and pile burning are not proposed. This project includes long-term maintenance of fuel loading and hazard tree removal as necessary.
Contact Information
Name
Edgar Orre
Agency Name
CAL FIRE
Job Title
Unit Forester
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Email
Location
Counties
Santa Clara
Regions
Northern California
Cross Streets
Mount Chual Spur Road, Loma Chiquita Road
Total Acres
53.3
Township
9s
Range
1E
Section
26, 34
Other Information
USGS 7.5-minute Quadrangle: Loma Prieta
Loma Chiquita Road: T09S-R01E-Section 34, 35, 36
Mount Chual Spur Road: T09S-R01E-Section 25, 26, 34, 35
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Class 4/15304 Minor Alterations to Land
Reasons for Exemption
This project meets the requirements of Class 4 Categorical Exemption per CCR 15304 Minor Alterations to the Land. Class 4 exemptions consist of minor alterations to land, water, and/or vegetation conditions and does not include the removal of healthy, mature, scenic trees except for forestry or agriculture purposes. The proposed project treatments are primarily intended to reduce the volume of surface vegetation, including woody shrubs and herbaceous plants. Tree removal is limited to the removal of small diameter trees that are 12 inches DBH or less or dead or damaged trees that present a hazard to the roadway. Reducing the volume of surface vegetation can reduce fire severity and improve egress safety for residents. Field review by CAL FIRE staff confirmed that no exceptions apply that would preclude the use of a notice of exemption for this project. The Department has concluded that no significant environmental impact would occur to aesthetics, agriculture and forestland/timberland, air quality, biological resources, cultural resources, energy, geology and soils, greenhouse gas emissions, hazards and hazardous materials, hydrology and water quality, land use planning, mineral resources, noise, populations and housing, public services, recreation, transportation/ traffic, utilities and service systems, or to wildfire. Documentation of the environmental review completed by the Department is kept on file at CAL FIRE’s Santa Clara Unit Headquarters, 15670 Monterey Rd. Morgan Hill, CA, 95037.
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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