Anzar Road Culvert Emergency Repair Project (Incidental Take Permit, 2081-2025-035-R4)

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has authorized Caltrans to proceed with an emergency repair of a severely degraded 7-foot diameter, approximately 1,000-foot-long corrugated metal culvert beneath US Route 101 in San Benito County under Incidental Take Permit No. 2081-2025-035-04. This authorization permits the incidental take of the threatened California tiger salamander, as mandated by the California Endangered Species Act, due to unavoidable habitat disturbance during critical infrastructure repairs. The project responds to an imminent threat of structural failure marked by advanced invert erosion, a sinkhole at the culvert inlet, and risks to public safety on a key transportation corridor. Work includes stabilizing the culvert, installing rock slope protection, replacing flared end sections, relocating utilities, trimming and removing vegetation, and implementing temporary stream diversion and dewatering. The project will temporarily impact 1.49 acres of upland habitat, with roughly half of that area consisting of oak and riparian woodland, habitats that require five or more years to recover to pre-construction conditions. The repair is justified under Public Contract Code 10122(a) as an emergency force account action, bypassing standard procurement protocols to address urgent infrastructure failure. Full compliance with the incidental take permit is required, including establishing avoidance zones, training field personnel on species protection, permanently protecting compensatory habitat, and submitting monthly compliance reports to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Oversight and acceptance authority rest with CDFW, while Caltrans executes the work under emergency provisions. No federal acquisition regulations apply; the entire legal and operational framework is grounded in state law, environmental permitting, and emergency response protocols. There is no publicly disclosed contract value, pricing structure, or formal bidding process, as the action is noncompetitive and driven by imminent public safety concerns.