The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires Ventura County to conduct an environmental review that identifies the potentially significant impacts of a project on the environment. When this is required, the environmental review must follow the Initial Study Assessment Guidelines (ISAGS)that was adopted by the Board of Supervisors. The biological resources section of the ISAGS instructs when an approved Qualified Biological Consultant must conduct the field surveys and reports. The Planning Division requires that Qualified Biological Consultants who conduct field surveys, reports, restoration work, and restoration plans in fulfillment of County requirements have the appropriate training, experience and, skills. This webpage provides information for biological consultants regarding the Qualified Biologist Program.
The webpage is organized as follows:
LIST OF APPROVED VENTURA COUNTY QUALIFIED BIOLOGICAL CONSULTANTS
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS AND ADVISORY NOTICES FOR APPROVED BIOLOGICAL CONSULTANTS
APPLICATION SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS FOR QUALIFIED BIOLOGIST PROGRAM
UPDATES TO QUALIFIED BIOLOGICAL CONSULTANT CONTACT INFORMATION
LIST OF APPROVED VENTURA COUNTY QUALIFIED BIOLOGICAL CONSULTANTS
The lists provided through the links below include all biologists who have executed memorandums of understanding with the County of Ventura’s Planning Division. The lists also detail what types of projects these biological consultants are qualified to work on. Note, only these names listed below are qualified to work on projects in the unincorporated County of Ventura. Biologists that complete work and are not included on this qualified list may have the work product rejected by the Planning Division and that work will have to be redone with a qualified biological consultant approved by the Planning Division.
The following links provide the Qualified Biological Consultants and Restoration Specialist lists. The lists are also shown on the Applicant webpage. If you would like to be included on the list as a Qualified Biologist, please refer to the section “Updates to Biologist Contact Information” below:
- Ventura County List of Qualified Biological Consultants
- Ventura County List of Qualified Biological Restoration Specialists
Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus)
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS AND ADVISORY NOTICES FOR APPROVED BIOLOGICAL CONSULTANTS
COASTAL ZONE: APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS HAVE CHANGED FOR INITIAL PROJECT SITING AND BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENTS FOR ALL PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT IN THE COASTAL ZONE OF THE SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS, NORTH COUNTY LANDWARD OF THE 101 FREEWAY, AND OTHER AREAS OUTSIDE ESTABLISHED COASTAL COMMUNITIES.
For other areas of the Coastal Zone, please refer to Coastal Zoning Ordinance (CZO) Section 8178-2.2 for the applicability of these regulations to your project.
Biological assessments prepared by County-approved biologists must meet all new Coastal Initial Study Biological Assessment (CISBA) standards (Sec. AE-1.3) in Coastal Zoning Ordinance Appendix E1- Site-Specific Environmental Assessments for Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas (ESHA). In addition, a least damaging alternatives analysis (CZO Sections 8178-2.3 (b) and 8178-2.6.1) must be conducted for siting the building site (based upon the results of the CISBA).
NON-COASTAL ZONE: If you are a County-approved biologist preparing an Initial Study Biological Assessment (ISBA), you must use the Planning Division’s report template below.
APPLICATION SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS FOR QUALIFIED BIOLOGIST PROGRAM
Step One. To be on the Planning Division’s List of Qualified Biological Consultants, you must meet the following requirements:
Step Two. Fill out one of the following Statement of Qualifications forms.
If you are an existing Qualified Biologist who was approved by the County within the last five years:
- Update Form for Existing Qualified Biologists: https://forms.office.com/g/Q83KBFi4i7you
If you have not been a previously approved Qualified Biologist within the last five years:
- Form for New Biologists: https://forms.office.com/g/tJK1027UkE
Step Three. Once you have completed the Statement of Qualifications form, please email the Program Manager This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. the following materials:
- An updated resume
- A signed Memorandum of Understanding Agreement (MOU)
- Receipt of current CNDDB subscription for your company (Not needed if previously submitted for year– confirm with your firm’s point of contact)
- Copy of any CNDDB Field Form Submitted to CDFW (Receipt of submission can be queried from biologist account with CNDBB at https://wildlife.ca.gov/Data/CNDDB/Submitting-Data)
- Other certifications, collection permits, etc. obtained since last list update. Please provide any documentation associated with current certifications, collection permits, etc. referenced in response to the questions
IMPORTANT ADVISORY for CNDDB Field Form Submitted to CDFW (#3 above)- If you do not have any field submission forms on record with the CNDDB, please talk to the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. about meeting this requirement through alternative means. Providing new records with submissions to the CNDDB list that begin within 1-2 months of your application, where no submissions have previously been filed will not be accepted. The purpose of this CNDDB criteria is to ensure that County Sensitive Species are being tracked.
For CNDDB Receipt, please reference the following:
1) A PDF receipt of the submitted CNDDB online field survey form application. This can be accessed from the users Previous Submissions tab. It allows the user to generate an on demand a mini-PDF report with a map of their submitted occurrence.
OR
2) Provide the following information submitted with the CNDDB form: name (if different than your application), consulting firm or affiliation (if different than application), species, county, and, if it’s for a specific site, what 24k topographical quad it is on (name, affiliation, species, county, quad).
Step Four. Subscribe below to the Qualified Biologist Update list and you will periodically receive notifications and updates.
UPDATES TO QUALIFIED BIOLOGICAL CONSULTANT CONTACT INFORMATION
If you are an approved Qualified Biologist and have any updates for contact information or employer changes, please contact the email or phone number below and send the updated information. The list of Qualified Biological Consultants will be updated within one week of the date the notification and adequate information is received by the Planning Division.
For questions regarding the County’s Qualified Biologist Program, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Qualified Biologist Program lead at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 805-654-2489.
For questions regarding a specific ISBA for a permit application, please contact the permit case planner assigned to the project.