Description: If your project has the potential to impact a riparian streamzone or waters of the United States, navigating the hurdles of the permitting process can be time consuming. Just when you’ve completed a challenging CEQA/NEPA document process, you can be in a lengthy and multifaceted permitting process. This lunchtime seminar will touch upon some of the most common permits – CA Department of Fish and Wildlife’s 1600 Streambed and Lake Alteration Agreements and the US Army Corps of Engineers Clean Water Act Sections 404 and the Rivers and Harbors Act Section 10. Hear directly from these agencies’ San Joaquin Valley regulatory staff about the common hurdles and mistakes made by applicants, and some beneficial streamlining solutions. Also, to provide perspective from the applicant’s point of view, we’ll have Ken Schwarz, a principal environmental consultant from Horizon Water and Environment, to bring us an overview of his past experiences working on complex programmatic permitting with these regulations. Hope you can join us.
Cost: $20 for non-members, $5 for student members, and free for members
About the speakers:
Zach Simmons, Biologist/Senior Regulatory Project Manager, US Army Corps of Engineers
Mr. Simmons is a Senior Regulatory Project Manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, California South Branch, for Clean Water Act, Section 404 permitting. Mr. Simmons has eight years of experience permitting major residential subdivisions as well as transportation and infrastructure projects. His experience includes conducting and managing NEPA compliance and Federal consultation for the Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation Act. He has seven years of experience reviewing and verifying wetlands delineations within the Central Valley. He has also worked on special-status species surveys, biological assessments, and storm water monitoring. He holds a B.S. from Brigham Young University-Hawaii and an M.S. from California State University, Sacramento.
Sarah Paulson, Environmental Scientist, CA Department of Fish and Wildlife, Region 4
Ms. Paulson is an Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Central Region, for the Lake and Streambed Alteration Program. Ms. Paulson has ten years of experience in conducting biological surveys for both listed and non-listed species and environmental compliance. Ms. Paulson’s experience includes working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Abnormal Amphibian Project, conducting field studies in Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, performing field studies and compliance reporting for the California Department of Water Resources and spent over six years as an Associate Biologist for the California Department of Transportation conducting biological studies, wetland studies, permitting, and mitigation development. She holds a B.S. in Molecular Biology from the University of California at Berkeley.
Ken Schwarz, Ph.D., Principal, Horizon Water and Environment
Ken Schwarz, Ph.D. is a founding Principal at Horizon Water and Environment. His technical expertise is in the fields of geomorphology, hydrology, and watershed management. For over 18 years, he has directed complex projects throughout California involving flood and stormwater management, erosion and sedimentation, maintenance and capital programs, land use planning, water rights, habitat conservation, and ecosystem restoration. Ken conducts hydrologic and geomorphic analyses and produces watershed and stream management plans, hydrologic reports, stream assessments, sediment and erosion control evaluations, water rights petitions, restoration designs, conservation plans, and CEQA documents. Ken has provided expert witness testimony to the State Water Resources Control Board and the California Energy Commission on hydrology, river, and environmental impact issues. Ken is also a highly regarded instructor and writer. He has lectured and taught courses in hydrology, geomorphology, watershed planning, riparian processes, physical geography, and ecosystem restoration for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.C. Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis Extension, Lorman Educational Services, and the University of San Francisco.
