§ 952.9. Cumulative Impacts Assessment Checklist.

STATE OF CALIFORNIA BOARD OF FORESTRY CUMULATIVE IMPACTS ASSESSMENT

(1) Do the assessment area(s) of resources that may be affected by the proposed project contain any past, present, or reasonably foreseeable probable future projects?

Yes____ No____

If the answer is yes, identify the project(s) and affected resource subject(s).

(2) Are there any continuing, significant adverse impacts from past land use activities that may add to the impacts of the proposed project?

Yes____ No____

If the answer is yes, identify the activities, describing their location, impacts and affected resource subject(s).

(3) Will the proposed project, as presented, in combination with past, present, and reasonably foreseeable probable future projects identified in items (1) and (2) above, have a reasonable potential to cause or add to significant cumulative impacts in any of the following resource subjects?

			No reasonably
			potential
	Yes after	No after	significant
	mitigation (a)	mitigation (b)	effects (c)
1. Watershed	______	______	______
2. Soil Productivity	______	______	______
3. Biological	______	______	______
4. Recreation	______	______	______
5. Visual	______	______	______
6. Traffic	______	______	______
7. Other	______	______	______

a) Yes, means that potential significant adverse cumulative impacts are left after application of the forest practice rules and mitigations or alternatives proposed by the plan submitter.

b) No after mitigation means that any potential for the proposed timber operation to cause or add to significant adverse cumulative impacts by itself or in combination with other projects has been reduced to insignificance or avoided by mitigation measures or alternatives proposed in the THP and application of the forest practice rules.

c) No reasonably potential significant cumulative effects means that the operations proposed under the THP do not have a reasonable potential to join with the impacts of any other project to cause, add to, or constitute significant adverse cumulative impacts.

(4) If column (a) is checked in (3) above describe why the expected impacts cannot be feasibly mitigated or avoided and what mitigation measures or alternatives were considered to reach this determination. If column (b) is checked in (3) above describe what mitigation measures have been selected which will substantially reduce or avoid reasonably potential significant cumulative impacts except for those mitigation measures or alternatives mandated by application of the rules of the Board of Forestry.

(5) Provide a brief description of the assessment area used for each resource subject.

(6) List and briefly describe the individuals, organizations, and records consulted in the assessment of cumulative impacts for each resource subject. Records of the information used in the assessment shall be provided to the Director upon request.

BOARD OF FORESTRY TECHNICAL RULE ADDENDUM NO. 2 CUMULATIVE IMPACTS ASSESSMENT

Introduction

The purpose of this addendum is to guide the assessment of cumulative impacts as required in 14 CCR 898 and 1034 that may occur as a result of proposed timber operations. This assessment shall include evaluation of both on-site and off-site interactions of proposed project activities with the impacts of past and reasonably foreseeable future projects.

In conducting an assessment, the RPF must distinguish between on-site impacts that are mitigated by application of the Forest Practice Rules and the interactions of proposed activities (which may not be significant when considered alone) with impacts of past and reasonably foreseeable future projects.

Resource subjects to be considered in the assessment of cumulative impacts are described in the Appendix.

The RPF preparing a THP shall conduct an assessment based on information that is reasonably available before submission of the THP. RPFs are expected to submit sufficient information to support their findings if significant issues are raised during the Department's review of the THP.

Information used in the assessment of cumulative impacts may be supplemented during the THP review period. Agencies participating in plan review may provide input into the cumulative impacts assessment based upon their area of expertise. Agencies should support their recommendations with documentation.

The Department, as lead agency, shall make the final determination regarding assessment sufficiency and the presence or absence of significant cumulative impacts. This determination shall be based on a review of all sources of information provided and developed during review of the Timber Harvesting Plan.

Identification of Resource Areas

The RPF shall establish and briefly describe the geographic assessment area within or surrounding the plan for each resource subject to be assessed and shall briefly explain the rationale for establishing the resource area. This shall be a narrative description and shall be shown on a map where a map adds clarity to the assessment.

Identification of Information Sources

The RPF shall list and briefly describe the individuals, organizations, and records used as sources of information in the assessment of cumulative impacts, including references for listed records and the names, affiliations, addresses, and phone numbers of specific individuals contacted. Records of information used in the assessment shall be provided to the Director upon request.

Common sources of information for cumulative effects assessment are identified below. Sources to be used will depend upon the complexity of individual situations and the amount of information available from other plans. Sources not listed below may have to be consulted based on individual circumstances. Not all sources of information need to be consulted for every THP.

1. Consultation with Experts and Organizations:

(a) County Planning Department;	(b) Biologists;
(c) Geologists;	(d) Soil Scientists;
(e) Hydrologists;	(f) Federal Agencies;
(g) State Agencies;	(h) Public and private utilities.

2. Records Examined:

(a) Soil Maps;	(b) Geology Maps;
(c) Aerial Photographs;	(d) Natural Diversity Data Base;
(e) THP Records;	(f) Special Environmental Reports;
(g) Basin Plans;	(h) Fire History Maps;
(i) Relevant Federal
	Agency Documents
	or Plans

As provided in Section 898 of the rules, the RPF or supervised designee and the plan submitter must consult information sources that are reasonably available.

Past and Future Activities

Past and future projects included in the cumulative impacts assessment shall be described as follows:

A. Identify and briefly describe the location of past and reasonably foreseeable probable future projects as defined in 14 CCR § 895.1 within described resource assessment areas. Include a map or maps and associated legend(s) clearly depicting the following information:

1. Township and Range numbers and Section lines.

2. Boundary of the planning watershed(s) within which the plan area is located along with the CALWATER 2.2 identification number.

3. Location and boundaries of past, present and reasonably foreseeable probable future timber harvesting projects on land owned or controlled by the timberland owner of the proposed timber harvest within the planning watershed(s) depicted in section (2) above. For purposes of this section, past projects shall be limited to those projects submitted within ten years prior to submission of the THP.

4. Silvicultural methods for each of the timber harvesting projects depicted in section (3) above. Each specific silvicultural method must be clearly delineated on the map(s), and associated THP number referenced in the legend or an annotated list. In addition, shading, hatching, or labeling shall be used which clearly differentiates silvicultural methods into one of the four categories outlined in Table 1.

5. A north arrow and scale bar (or scale text).

6. Source(s) of geographical information.

The map scale shall be large enough to clearly represent one planning watershed per page or of a scale not less than 1:63,360. Planning watersheds with densely situated or overlapping harvest units, or those which are large or irregular in size, may require multiple maps to achieve clarity. Map(s) shall be reproducible on black & white copiers, and submitted on an 8 1/2 x 11 page(s).

Table 1

Silvicultural
Category	Silvicultural Method
Evenaged	Clearcutting, Seed Tree Seed Step, Seed Tree
Management	Removal Step, Shelterwood Preparatory Step,
14 CCR § 953.1	Shelterwood Seed Step, Shelterwood Removal
	Step
Unevenaged	Selection, Group Selection, Transition
Management
14 CCR § 953.2
Intermediate	Commercial Thinning, Sanitation-Salvage
Treatments
14 CCR § 953.3
Special	Special Treatment Area Prescriptions,
Prescriptions and	Rehabilitation of Understocked Area
Other Management	Prescription, Fuelbreak/Defensible Space,
14 CCR § 953.4	Southern Subdistrict Special Harvesting
	Method (14 CCR § 913.8), Variable Retention,
	Conversion

Alternative Prescriptions shall be put into the category within which the most nearly appropriate or feasible silvicultural method in the Forest Practice Rules is found pursuant to 14 CCR § 953.6(b)(3).

B. Identify and give the location and description of any known, continuing significant environmental problems caused by past projects as defined in 14 CCR § 895.1. The RPF who prepares the plan or supervised designee shall obtain information from plan submitters (timberland or timber owner), and from appropriate agencies, landowners, and individuals about past, and future land management activities and shall consider past experience, if any, in the assessment area related to past impacts and the impacts of the proposed operations, rates of recovery, and land uses. A poll of adjacent land owners is encouraged and may be required by the Director to determine such activities and significant adverse environmental problems on adjacent ownerships.