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PERMIT NO. 6-94 (Issued on July 24, 1996, As Amended Through March 4, 2010) AMENDMENT NO. SIX (Exclusive of Amendment No. Four) City of Redwood City and Keech Properties, LLC Page 16 During informal and later formal consultations with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, the USFWS recommended eliminating access on most of the levee at the northern end of the peninsula, approximately 2.2 miles of existing levee trail, to protect populations of the endangered California Clapper Rail and the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse living in the adjoining wetlands. The public access required by this amended authorization i5 was the result of discussions between BCDC staff, the USFWS, Redwood City, and Redwood Shores Properties (the original co-permittee) to provide an alternative to access on approximately 2.2 miles of Bay levee that would be continuous, would minimize disturbance to sensitive wildlife species and their habitat, and would provide a Bay experience. B. Fill 1. Orioinal Authorization. The Bay fill authorized herein is for the construction of portions (approximately SO square feet total) of two elevated, pile-supported, public access observation decks built on the bayside of the levee to provide seating areas and views of the Bay and adjacent marshlands. Section 66605 of the McAteer-Petris Act states that "further filling of San Francisco Bay...should be authorized only when the public benefits from fill clearly exceed public detriment from the loss of water area... and should be limited to Bay-related purposes [such as] improving public access...." As the levee road must be kept open for maintenance and service vehicles, and as the observation decks will be raised to enhance views of the Bay and adjoining marshes, the alternative to constructing the observation decks on the outboard levee slope is to construct them on the inboard slope, which contains wetland vegetation as well and would not provide as attractive views of the Bay. The Commission finds that the public benefits of the fill will outweigh the detriments of the fill, the fill is for an allowable use, that the fill is minor in nature and the minimum amount necessary, and no feasible upland alternative exists. 2. Amendment No. Six. Amendment No. Six authorizes placing approximately SO cubic yards of fill covering approximately 1;742 square feet of Bay surface area to stabilize an eroding levee. The fill is the minimum amount necessary to repair the existing levee which protects inland development from flooding and allow public access on the top of the levee. Because the levee borders the Bay and it is the Bay toe that has eroded, repairs to the levee's integrity must by necessity involve fill. The permittees have minimized the amount of fill to be placed to repair the levee and plan to plant marsh vegetation at appropriate elevations on the levee slope to minimize the project's adverse Bay impacts. Special Condition II-C-l requires the permittees to salvage existing wetland vegetation prior to placing filL and to restore the marsh habitat once construction is completed by both planting and reusing the reserved plant material. Special Condition II-C-2 requires the implementation of construction best management practices to protect existing wetlands, including installing a fiber roll and silt fence and confining all heavy mechanical equipment in upland areas in order to reduce further impacts to the Bay. Further, Special Conditions II-C-3 requires the permittees to annually monitor the progress of plant establishment at the restoration site until at least 75% of the restored site is revegetated with native wetland vegetation and to take corrective action if problems develop, in order to