all those in favor? opposed? public comment? the motion carries. >> the next item is the presentation and discussion of beneficial environmental planning and management. a couple of topics will be addressed. and i believe that miss torrey is making the presentation. it is item 13, sorry. >> president vietor,

commissioners, general manager. it is a pleasure to be with you this afternoon to show you some of the things we have been doing to get some many projects approved on the wsip, the water system improvement program. we are not asking for any action today from the commission, it is simply informational and for discussion purposes. we would be glad to answer any questions you might have. we wanted to ensure that the capital projects comply with all environmental laws such as ceqa and including the resources agencies. they are the u.s. army corps of engineers, the u.s. fish and wildlife service, the national

marine fisheries service, the california department of fish and game, and the quality control board. the way that we accomplish this mission is by following the environmental and narrative of the resources agency. -- imperative of the resource agency. avoid environmental impact to the extent possible. menem bias, and if you can't -- if you can't avoid, that buys, and if you can't minimize, mitigate. do it to the maximum extent possible in the planning process. the other way that we avoid impact is through the environmental construction

compliance project. if we can't avoid, we minimize impact through the ceqa process so that mitigation measures recommended through ceq aa and the permits, it mitigates impact. for wsip, we have come up with an innovative idea to add benefits and accomplish beneficial environmental planning. we are adding benefits to the habitat restoration. it is a way of consolidating so that instead of being scattered, they are in combined ecological areas that really provide greater benefits.

today, we would like to concentrate on the construction compliance program and by regional -- sorry. regional habitat restoration. we will come back to you another time to present the impact avoidance measures and how we accomplished that process. the environmental construction management program -- ok. the environmental construction management program was prepared and is managed by our

environmental construction management manager. she has been doing this for 20 years, many utilities programs for both water, electrical, and natural gas programs. we brought her in in june of 2008. we're very proud of it as it is unique for the city and for public utilities in california. she works closely with the manager of the construction management bureau. without further ado, i will call on carrie.

>> i'm carrie o'neal. all successful environmental compliance programs include features that combine to ensure a proactive approach of the environmental complaints during construction. the structure is necessary to define the roles and responsibilities of variants -- various positions. at the program regional and project levels. strong procedures are important to ensure that there is a consistent approach on various projects during construction. effective training is necessary to insure that all project personnel are aware of the

environment a commitment. and lastly, timely review project modifications is key to minimizing schedule delays. the construction management plan defines the overall approach to managing the water system improvement programs. the plan defines the organizational structure and the role of the responsibility of the various environmental compliance positions. clear definition of the positions is key. as you are well aware, and there is a blend of construction management consultant and city staff on the environmental and construction compliance team. the san francisco public

utilities commission environmental construction compliance team is located at the bureau of environmental management. the environmental construction compliance manager is assisted by four environmental construction compliance coordinator. there is one coordinator for each of the four regions. currently, they are working on approximately 18 project. the team is responsible for coordinating with the planning department, the various resource agencies, and an environmental compliance team. the compliance team in the field consists of three primary positions. the environmental compliance managers, there are eight of them. there is 1 per region, one for

each special the project. the specialty projects include the title projects as well as projects such as the ban replacement project -- dam replacement project. they are responsible for tracking compliance during construction, and they're responsible for monitoring environmental matters. the environmental inspectors worked with the construction inspectors, and they are responsible for focusing on the permit commitments we have made and the ceqa mitigation measures. they are primarily archaeologists and

paleontologists. an example of what is special to monitor would be responsible for his constructing surveys or monitoring activities during construction. for example, biologists are responsible for performing surveys during construction to ensure that they are not investing with the right of way. if they do find them, they implement measures to relocate the animals outside of the right of way so that construction can continue. the construction management procedures manual includes 52 different procedures that are implemented during construction. those procedures to focus exclusively on environmental compliance and address procedures related to

inspection, monitoring, and project modification. procedures have been developed that emphasize pro-active inspection and monitoring. these procedures help to ensure that the environmental construction teams are integrated. an integrated team is key to promoting joint problem-solving during construction. compliance staff also works with the construction team to solve problems before they become an issue and prevent a recurrence of problems. if necessary, both environmental inspectors and specialty monitors are authorized to temporarily have to redirect of construction activities. for example, if a salamander is

shown on the slide, they would hold the piece of equipment temporarily while they captured and relocated the animal outside of the work limits. environmental inspectors use the database for logging. the logs have different compliance levels. acceptable, incident, a minor problem, and noncompliance. an acceptable activity will work in compliance with the project requirements. an incident is logged when we have a unique activity that needs to be documented such as a protected species within the construction work limits. we have a couple of levels of

compliance for activities that are out of compliance. the minor problem is issued when there is an activity that is out of compliance but has little or no impact. an example would be what you see here. fences are installed decontrol sediment during construction. the example of the noncompliance activity would be what you see here, where we have sensitive resource impact during construction and we see sedimentation that went off site. noncompliance activities often require notification to resource agencies. in this instance, we notified regional water quality control board and the san francisco planning department. we developed several different

types of customized environmental training programs that we have implemented during construction. all construction management and supervisory levels are required to attend project specific training. we also require that all of our environmental inspectors received several days of training and orientation before working on a project. the length of that training depends on the project. we also require that all construction crew personnel go through an environmental briefing before working out a project. this is to ensure that they know the requirements that they have to abide by. we find that environmental training helped to promote construction and environmental timor. -- teamwork.

project modifications often occur on large-scale projects. the majority of these modifications were for extra work space. we work together with the san francisco planning department and the resource agencies to develop procedures to manage these project modifications. key features of managing included conducting an environmental review in coordination with the sentences the planning department, screening the request for necessity. not everything the request is granted. we also make sure that we prepare the documentation that is performing a cultural resource survey to run -- to support the request. and we coordinate with a resource agency.

finally, timely processing of modification is essential. it avoids contractor claims, missing or shut down windows, and rescheduling of activities. the primary environmental challenges include cultural resources discoveries, and paleontological discoveries. here you see an egg that was working in the by pass tunnel. -- bypass tunnel. we established a 100 foot buffer zone until the eggs hatched. we did this in coordination with u.s. fish and wildlife.

we also have cultural resources discoveries, and they pose a significant challenge. an effective environmental compliance program results with them in compliance and agreement. and minimization with a proactive approach. commissioner vietor: are there any questions? >> maybe those are just to the main challenges, but what about endangered species? water overflow issues? are those the main three categories. >> the primary challenges are ahead anticipated. we can't encounter where a bird will last and we can't account

for where we might find very fossils -- buried fossils. many others we can schedule for and account for a head of construction. -- ahead of construction. >> i might add that when you talk about endangered species, we tend to identify those, we avoided those, and we have permits that tell us what we can and cannot do. we have excluded all of those areas, so we have a protocol in place so that when we discover something, we take the appropriate response. commissioner vietor: commissioners?

public comment? >> we have one more presentation, do you want to do that first? commissioner vietor: yes, thank you. >> i have a request, can we just do highlights? >> to make it shorter? we will try. i just wanted to mention that the habitat restoration that it was put together -- the habitat restoration was put together in 2006. he has 20 years of experience in dealing with species and

wetlands. he spent two years with the first mitigation bank in california. greg? >> good afternoon, president vietor. commissioners. i would like to introduce you to the water system improvement program habitat restoration approach. its purpose, scope, and current status. we adopted an approach that provides high-quality habitats for endangered species such as the one featured in this slide.

it includes over 1,600 acres of property. the core purpose is to satisfy legal obligations arising from ceqa which specify the components of the restoration including where and how much habitat. the program restoratiion approach benefit the environment by reducing construction impact , and adopting larger solutions. it is supported by the resource agencies, and the team works closely with the wsip teams to craft proposals for the wsip

projects. approximately 16 projects have natural and packs, -- impacts, so including all of the region's, including the california tiger salamander here. peninsula projects here. and the blue butterfly. this diagram illustrates how projects are combined to create a beneficial changes and a mosaic of habitats over a larger ecosystem level area. pictured in this slide, for example, represented by boxes

[unintelligible] restoration for project b in blue, it includes habitats, grasslands, and species improvements combined into a single location so that they can create an ecosystem that benefits the species, the habitat, and satisfy the project requirements. this provides a consistent approach and complies with the

requirements for the promotion. the simple restoration side can satisfy multiple agencies. for example, -- this demonstrates the power restoration sides to satisfy the needs of all agencies. these sites have different needs and species. goldfish pond which includes wetlands and species while the second column is about species restoration and does not include the second row and the fourth row. the important thing is that we were able to combine this restoration for a synergistic environmental benefit. in alameda, we have nine sites

including 1,500 acres of wetland improvements. in this location, this has restricted the use of the nearby bank and requires the pc to develop proposals to a significant level of detail before they will issue a permit we have explored voluntary sales in the region and have determined that this will provide benefits to the habitat and species close to where the impact is occurring and develop a plan to a level of detail that the resources agencies will except and issue a permit and we need to have the defined areas within our own property.

the bureau of management located opportunities within our watershed. the agency's use to those and found them suitable restoration projects. the nine locations support 6 progress including the damn replacement project. this illustrates how a site provides compensation for more than one project. goldfish pond provides compensation for four projects. we will include fencing to exclude cattle from certain areas including this pond. we would remove non native

vegetation and allow this to restore around the edge to benefit the frog and salamander. also here is a solar panel and a water trough which would provide watering to the cattle. this cold fish pond will be heading a share and it requires rebuilding the embankment. shawn your this is the eroding word that water disappears. also at this location we are estimating up to 5 acres of seasonal wetlands and that is demonstrated by the dark green area in the graphic and tel.

the habitat restoration team is working to identify other habitats. we are pursuing projects and identified by the fish and wildlife service another project will benefit the pressure of it which is in the lower right and we have participated in regional habitat plans in san joaquin county and have existing credits both in alameda as well as the central valley. collectively, the nine projects highlighted in the lme region and in the peninsula a watershed along with the projects on this site will exceed 2,200 acres of habitat. i would like to describe how we

deliver the restoration. this includes the standard project component and the permiting design and construction. this also includes the opposition of credits, property interests, regulatory requirements, property encumbrances, and monitoring. all of these things would be required for each individual if we did not use the consultative approach. this has potential benefits because we dedicate staff and consultants that are aware of the attack on regulatory issues unique to habitat development. you are familiar with a lot of the standard project components and the limitation. i will focus on some of these that are unique to the habitat