
	Southbound I-405 to the westbound US-101 Connector Improvement Project EA199610

	Environmental Assessment Draft click here to view 12.41mb .pdf file Environmental Assessment / Initial Study leading to a Negative Declaration and Finding of No Significant Impact, Final Section 4(f) Evalutaion click here to view 54.5mb .pdf file

	A few years ago representatives from CalTrans met with the Committee to discuss possible plans for modernizing the 101-405 interchange, especially in regards to the connector from the southbound 405 to the northbound 101. One plan required removing houses, and that proposal was dropped. Two other proposals require moving the on- and off-ramps on Burbank Blvd. from their existing location (at the top of the dam) to a location about 1/8 mile west, with looping connectors that would run into the Wildlife Reserve, creating dead zones under the ramps, huge disturbances during construction, and create an isolated fragment in the center of the loop. Another proposal is the no action alternative. Below are links to comment letters submitted by various environmental organizations and government agencies. In late July 2008, CalTrans selected Alternative 1, that impacts the Wildlife Reserve the least. Thanks to everyone who sent letters in support of protecting the Wildlife Reserve.

	San Fernando Valley Audubon Society Letter (June 18, 2006) click here to view 53kb .pdf file San Fernando Valley Audubon Society Letter (May 26, 2008) click here to view 74kb .pdf file California Native Plant Society Letter (May 16, 2008) click here to view 70kb .pdf file California Native Plant Society Letter (May 28, 2008) click here to view 927kb .pdf file Sierra Club Letter (May 23, 2008) click here to view 74kb .pdf file Community Support Saves the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve PowerPoint Presentation click here to view 8.61mb file California Dept. of Fish and Game Letter (May 28, 2008) click here to view 1.99mb .pdf file CalTrans Letter (August 20, 2008) click here to view 1mb .pdf file

Fire Road in the South Reserve

South Fire Break Environmental Assessment
click here to view 166kb .pdf file

Project Description: This project will create a new, dirt road/firebreak, approximately 10 feet wide, through the portion of Sepulveda Basin between the Los Angeles River, Burbank Blvd., and the dam north from the spillway. The road would allow emergency vehicle access through the interior of this naturally-vegetated area, which is now ringed by a dirt access road.

Comment: This project would fragment one of the least disturbed areas in the Wildlife Reserve.

California Native Plant Society Letters (Sept. 12, 2005 & Jan. 10, 2006)
click here to view 1.58mb .pdf file

60 firefighters attack brush fire next to Sepulveda Basin
By Margot Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 6, 2008

More than 60 firefighters are making fast work on a slow-moving brush fire on the west side of Sepulveda Basin this afternoon. The fire was reported 1:10 p.m near the 15000 block of Burbank Boulevard where it crosses Woodley Avenue. Four helicopters dropped water on the fire, and crews with hand tools cut back the brush. Fire officials said up to three acres burned. By 2 p.m. the fire was all but contained, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman d'Lisa Davies. "We are fortunate in that there is not much wind," Davies said. Woodley and Burbank Boulevard near the blaze were closed during the firefighting effort.

Sports Complex

NEPA Notice
click here to view 15kb .pdf file

Notice of Intent
click here to view 610kb .pdf file

Draft Concept Plan
click here to view 2.01mb .pdf file

Project Description: The Department of Public Works proposes to construct a sports complex facility on an approximately 65 acre parcel of open space land at Balboa Boulevard and Victory Boulevard in the Sepulveda Flood Control Basin in the Encino-Tarzana Community Plan area The proposed project would include four youth/teen softball fields, one synthetic soccer field, open multi-purpose fields, picnic areas, a planted riparian buffer along the Los Angeles River, and a walking trail throughout the site. There would be a small support building (approximately 2,000 square feet) to house park staff and public restrooms. In addition, the proposed project would include a parking lot to accommodate approximately 400 parking spaces. The project would serve three main purposes: (1) to provide public active recreational amenities in an area that contains congested, intensively over-used facilities; (2) to provide public passive recreational amenities that would add open space to a region lacking these resources; and (3) to serve as a vital linkage in promoting restoration of the Los Angeles River corridor through riparian habitat provision, runoff filtration, enhanced public access to the River and protection of its ecology.

Comment: The main issue is that in the City’s draft proposal the Los Angeles River is not integrated into the Sports Complex,
meaning the River would be fenced off from the park.

California Native Plant Society Letter (August 7, 2006)
click here to view 316kb .pdf file

The River Project’s Sports Complex Proposal
click here to view 1.91mb .pdf file

L.A. River Navigability

Dean Wallraff, of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Conservation Legal Committee, wrote an article in the August 2009 Southern Sierran entitled
California Clean Water Law: Restoring Protections for Wetlands and Impermanent Streams.
The article also featured a map of Permanent and Impermanent Streams near Los Angeles.

Congressman Henry Waxman on Why L.A. River Navigability is Important Now
In a letter to EPA Administrator Johnson dated April 10, 2008, Chairman Henry Waxman wrote:

A March 20, 2008, Army Corps of Engineers memorandum determines that only four miles of the Los Angeles River (the Sepulveda Basin and downstream from the Pacific Coast Highway) is a "traditional navigable water". Because of the Supreme Court's Rapanos decision, this finding could have major impacts on the protections for the Los Angeles River, its tributaries, and the adjacent wetlands.

If this determination is allowed to go into effect, it would potentially exempt much of the Los Angeles River basin from the water pollution controls of the federal Clean Water Act. For example, the Clean Water Act requirements for permits to discharge waste, requirements for permits for dredging and filling, requirements to establish state water quality standards, anti-degradation requirements, and the federal oil spill prevention control and countermeasure program may no longer apply in much of the Los Angeles River basin. There may be other serious ramifications as well depending on the gaps and interactions between state and federal law.

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60 firefighters attack brush fire next to Sepulveda Basin By Margot Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer October 6, 2008

60 firefighters attack brush fire next to Sepulveda Basin
By Margot Roosevelt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 6, 2008