Mitigation Opportunities

Do you or someone you know have a project that requires compensatory mitigation for habitat impacts in southern California? Perhaps we can help!

The Puente Hills Habitat Preservation Authority (Habitat Authority) is a local government agency (Joint Powers Authority) that owns and manages the almost 3,900-acre Puente Hills Preserve in southeastern Los Angeles County. Our mission is to acquire, restore and manage open space in perpetuity with the primary purpose to protect biological diversity.

Over the past two decades, the Habitat Authority has facilitated numerous compensatory mitigation projects on the Preserve from impacts to habitat resulting from development in both Orange and Los Angeles counties. We have worked successfully with public and private entities to facilitate more than 194 acres of habitat restoration (completed and ongoing), including coastal sage scrub, riparian, chaparral, oak woodland and walnut woodland, as mitigation for impacts to listed species and habitats. These mitigation efforts were required for regulatory agency permits (e.g. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Section 7 permit, California Department of Fish and Game Streambed Alteration Agreement, 401 Water Quality certificates [RWQCB]) as well as to comply with CEQA mitigation measures.

Click here for more information on habitat restoration and pictures of our successful mitigation/restoration projects.

There are more acres available for habitat mitigation on the Preserve. In 2007, the Habitat Authority completed a Resource Management Plan (RMP) that identified potential restoration areas across a variety of habitats including coastal sage scrub, chaparral, native grassland, and oak and walnut woodland. The RMP also includes a priority ranking (low to high) for each restoration site, restoration guidelines, and recommended plant palettes.

The Habitat Authority offers an In-Lieu Fee Mitigation option for implementing mitigation on the Puente Hills Preserve. This simple approach is for the Project Applicant that wants to pay once and not think about regulatory requirements until sign-off. With this option the Project Applicant pays the standard mitigation fee and funds the Habitat Authority to implement the restoration including the annual monitoring and reporting. If your organization is interested in this option, it would be important for us to look at any regulatory permits, environmental documents, etc., in order to develop an accurate cost estimate. For example, there may be fees associated with a conservation easement, long-term endowment, etc., if those elements are being required by a regulatory agency.