South Sacramento County HCP Economic Analysis

Location: Sacramento County, CA

Summary: Sacramento County is in the process of developing the South Sacramento Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), which represents a regional approach to habitat and species preservation. The HCP covers 345,000 acres in the southern part of Sacramento County and is a multi-species plan addressing 46 different species of plants and wildlife, including 11 that are state or federally listed as threatened or endangered; however, the focus of the SSHCP is on vernal pool habitat. The biological and ecological benefits of the HCP are founded on the creation of large-scale land preserves integrated with conservation management strategies and reliable funding for long-term management. In addition to the biological and ecological objectives of the plan, the HCP is intended to minimize regulatory and permitting constraints to development based on a streamlined permitting process that is facilitated by locally-held regional permits and pre-approved mitigation requirements.

In order to realize these biological and permitting-related benefits, the ESA requires that a HCP provide assurances that it is adequately funded; such funding assurances are also mandated by the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) for the issuance of Incidental Take Permits. Because the goals and objectives of the HCP cannot be met without adequate funding, the economic analysis and related funding program play a vital role in successful development and implementation of the HCP.

Cardno ENTRIX has been retained to conduct the economic analysis for the HCP. The purpose of the economic analysis is to estimate the range of costs associated with the actions and activities outlined in the HCP and to establish the financial framework (or funding program) that will be used to offset these costs. The analysis is based on planning-level cost estimates of land acquisition; restoration and enhancement; monitoring and management, including adaptive management; and plan administration. Based on plan implementation costs, the economic analysis estimates total funding requirements, establishes a development fee and related land dedication program, identifies potential alternative funding sources, and outlines an adaptive fee mechanism to account for fluctuating HCP implementation costs over time.

Cardno ENTRIX is using a wide range of analytical tools and data sources to conduct the economic analysis. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is playing a vital role in understanding the spatial relationship between land acquisition and resource values. The analysis also relies heavily on historic and current property values reflecting both market and non-market characteristics, and uses regression analysis to predict land acquisition costs. Finally, extensive research and cost estimation techniques are being used to extrapolate regional cost data to the HCP project area.