Monterey County Regional Conservation Investment Strategy

1. APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Executive Director to execute contract with AECOM, subject to approval by Agency Counsel, in an amount not to exceed $370,620, to prepare the Monterey County Regional Conservation Investment Strategy, for the period ending December 31, 2021;
2. APPROVE the use of Caltrans Adaptation Planning Grant funds and Measure X Habitat Planning / Advance Mitigation funds budgeted to this project; and
3. AUTHORIZE the Executive Director to take such other further actions as may be necessary to fulfill the intent of the contract, including approvals of future modifications or amendments that do not significantly alter the scope of work, or change the approved contract term or amount, subject to approval by Agency Counsel.

In September, 2016 the State created a pilot program for the development of Regional Conservation Investment Strategies.  This program was modified in 2017 to expand its reach to transportation infrastructure agencies.  The Transportation Agency recently received a $375,810 grant from the Caltrans Adaptation Planning grant program to develop the Monterey County Regional Conservation Investment Strategy.  The Transportation Agency is matching this grant with Measure X funds from the Habitat Management / Advance Mitigation program.  The receipt of these grant funds leverages the Measure X funds over seven times.

The Monterey County Regional Conservation Investment Strategy (RCIS) will assess the vulnerability of species and habitat to climate change related stressors and pressures (drought, wildfire, and landslides, among others); develop conservation strategies to improve resiliency from the identified stressors; and define a framework to finance the implementation of these conservation strategies as compensatory mitigation from new transportation improvements. The RCIS will further consider the conservation benefit of preserving working land for agricultural uses.  The types of conservation strategies that are eligible to be included in an RCIS, which can then be turned into mitigation credits, will both directly and indirectly contribute to the climate resiliency of Monterey County’s transportation infrastructure.  Some examples of potential conservation strategies that could be identified through the RCIS process include:

• Wildlife crossings under or over State highways and highly travelled regional corridors, such as the Scenic State Route 68 between Monterey and Salinas, to preserve and improve habitat connectivity while reducing animal-vehicle conflict points;
• Wetlands protection and restoration that protects transportation infrastructure from the effects of flooding and storm water impacts, such as State Route 156 in north Monterey County; and
• Land acquisition for species and habitat restoration and conservation (including preservation of agricultural lands) that results in more drought-tolerant and healthy habitat that in turn protects nearby infrastructure from climate-related events such as wildfires and landslides.

With the passage of Senate Bill 1 and Measure X, Monterey County’s self-help transportation sales tax measure, the Transportation Agency for Monterey County has habitat mitigation needs for numerous regional transportation improvements in corridors that are highly constrained by environmental factors, with some projects lying within the coastal zone.  This presents an opportunity to develop the Monterey County Regional Conservation Investment Strategy to identify conservation strategies with co-benefits to transportation infrastructure climate resiliency and public safety, and then implement those strategies as advance mitigation for the transportation improvements.

On October 24, 2018, the Transportation Agency Board of Directors authorized staff to release a Request for Proposals for the Monterey County Regional Conservation Investment Strategy, and TAMC received five submittals by the required due date and time of 12:00 noon on December 6, 2018 from:

• AECOM
• ICF Jones and Stokes
• EMC Planning Group
• Sand County Studios
• Conservation Biology Group

The review panel unanimously agreed to recommend AECOM for the contract.  The rationale for this ranking is that AECOM has worked on several Regional Conservation Investment Strategy documents already, they are proposing an experienced team of planners and biologists, they demonstrated an understanding of the process and approach for working with the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, and their cost proposal is within the project budget.  TAMC staff also checked the references for this firm and found that AECOM has been tremendously responsive to needs, larger goals, and highly skilled with strategic direction and conservation expertise. Respondents said that they have found them to be innovative, collaborative and highly responsive to the goals and requirements of a project and contract.