No net loss means the maintenance of the aggregate total of the County’s shoreline ecological functions over time. The no net loss standard requires that the impacts of shoreline use and/or development, whether permitted or exempt from permit requirements, be identified and mitigated on a project-by-project basis, so that as development occurs shoreline functions stay the same. No net loss also requires that the County and other entities implement restoration projects to improve ecological functions and processes since there may be some development impacts that cannot be fully mitigated.

Mitigation means measures taken to avoid, minimize, lessen, and/or compensate for adverse impacts of a development project. Mitigation, as defined in Chapter 35.55 CCC, includes the following steps in order of preference: (1) avoiding an impact altogether by not developing a project or parts of a project; (2) minimizing impacts by limiting the extent or magnitude of a project; (3) rectifying impacts by repairing, rehabilitating, or restoring the affected environment; (4) reducing or eliminating an impact over time by preservation and maintenance operations during the life of the project; (5) compensating for an impact by replacing or providing substitute resources or habitats; and (6) monitoring the mitigation and taking remedial action when necessary.