Wavecrest’s developers have applied with the US Army Corps of Engineers for a permit to build on their property, which has been found to include wetlands and habitat for the endangered California Red-Legged Frog.
The application for a permit under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act proposes the construction of a couple of California Red-legged Frog breeding ponds within the delineated wetlands on the Wavecrest site. A recreational trail is also proposed.
The Corps has not yet reviewed the application, according to Holly Costa, Regulatory Project Manager with the Corps.
The first step in the process would be a new delineation of wetlands on the property. The last delineation was approved in 1999 and expired after five years. According to Costa, the earliest this could begin would be April.
The process would also require the Corps to consult with the US Fish and Wildlife Service under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act for potential effects on Red-Legged Frogs and San Francisco Garter Snakes.
A section 404 permit also requires a 401 Water Quality Certification, which is issued by the State Water Quality Control Board, via a Regional Water Quality Control Board; and, for projects such as Wavecrest that fall within the Coastal Zone, California Coastal Commission approval. Without either of these, the Section 404 authorization is invalid.
CORRECTION: The original version of this story said that Wavecrest’s developers were seeking the Corps’ OK for the mitigation of the development. That’s not correct. They’re seeking the Corps’ OK to build the ponds. A correction with more detail is now online.
I don't know how they intend to get around the Bolsa Chica court ruling in Bolsa Chica Land Trust v. Superior Court (1999) 71 Cal. App. 4th 493
from http://www.procopio.com/publications/pdfs/HIaugust2000.pdf
"The court in Bolsa Chica held that development-related impacts on ESHAs cannot be mitigated through off-site restoration � even when the restoration project promises to create �better� habitat than that in the affected ESHA. Instead, the ESHA itself must be protected and preserved."
ESHA = Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area