For purposes of this chapter:
(a) “Areas of Conservation Emphasis” means the biodiversity analysis completed by the department in 2010, or the latest update of that analysis.
(b) “Compensatory mitigation” means actions taken to fulfill, in whole or in part, mitigation requirements under state or federal law or a court mandate.
(c) “Conservation action” means an action to preserve or to restore ecological resources, including habitat, natural communities, ecological processes, and wildlife corridors, to protect those resources permanently, and to provide for their perpetual management, so as to help to achieve one or more biological goals and objectives for one or more focal species. Conservation actions may include, but are not limited to, actions to offset impacts to focal species.
(d) “Conservation easement” means a perpetual conservation easement that complies with Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 815) of Title 2 of Part 2 of Division 2 of the Civil Code.
(e) “Draft natural community conservation plan” means a substantially complete draft of a natural community conservation plan that is released after January 1, 2016, to the general public, plan participants, and the department.
(f) “Focal species” means sensitive species within a regional conservation investment strategy area that are analyzed in the strategy and will benefit from conservation actions and habitat enhancement actions set forth in the strategy.
(g) “Habitat enhancement action” means an action to improve the quality of wildlife habitat, or to address risks or stressors to wildlife, that has long-term durability but does not involve land acquisition or the permanent protection of habitat, such as improving in-stream flows to benefit fish species, enhancing habitat connectivity, or invasive species control or eradication.
(h) “Performance-based milestones” means specifically identified steps in the implementation of a conservation action or habitat enhancement action, such as site protection, initiating implementation, completing implementation, or achieving performance standards.
(i) “Performance standards” means observable or measurable physical or biological attributes that are used to determine if a conservation action or habitat enhancement action has met its objectives.
(j) “Permanently protect” means doing both of the following:
(1) Recording a conservation easement, in a form approved in advance in writing by the department, or establishing perpetual protection of land in a manner consistent with draft or approved natural community conservation plans within the area of the applicable regional conservation investment strategy and approved in advance in writing by the department, that prevents development, prohibits inconsistent uses, and ensures that habitat for focal species is maintained.
(2) Providing secure, perpetual funding for management of the land, monitoring, and legal enforcement and defense.
(k) “Regional conservation assessment” means information and analyses that document the important species, ecosystems, ecosystem processes, protected areas, and linkages within an ecoregion to provide the appropriate context for nonbinding, voluntary conservation strategies and actions. Those assessments include information for the identification of areas with greatest probability for long-term ecosystem conservation success incorporating cobenefits of ecosystem services, such as carbon, water, and agricultural lands. A regional conservation assessment may be used to provide context at an ecoregional or subecoregional scale to assist with the development of a regional conservation investment strategy. A regional conservation assessment is nonbinding, voluntary, and does not create, modify, or impose regulatory requirements or standards, regulate the use of land, establish land use designations, or affect the land use authority of, or the exercise of discretion by, any public agency. The preparation and use of a regional conservation assessment is voluntary.
(l) “Regional conservation investment strategy” means information and analyses prepared pursuant to this chapter to inform nonbinding and voluntary conservation actions and habitat enhancement actions that would advance the conservation of focal species, habitat, and other natural resources and to provide nonbinding voluntary guidance for the identification of wildlife and habitat conservation priorities, investments in ecological resource conservation, or identification of locations for compensatory mitigation for impacts to species and natural resources. Regional conservation investment strategies are intended to provide scientific information for the consideration of public agencies, are voluntary, and do not create, modify, or impose regulatory requirements or standards, regulate the use of land, establish land use designations, or affect the land use authority of or exercise of discretion by, any public agency. The preparation and use of regional conservation investment strategies for this guidance is voluntary.
(m) “Regional level” means the geographic scale of relevant ecologically defined units such as ecoregions.
(n) “Sensitive species” means any special status species identified by a state or federal agency.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 463, Sec. 1. (AB 2805) Effective January 1, 2023.)