The essence of RCIP is in the integration of land use, transportation and conservation planning, and implementation, to develop a consensus for the future development of Riverside County. As a first-of-its-kind endeavor, the RCIP is intended to be model for streamlining the environmental process while providing for the long-term development and economic growth of the County. The RCIP offers an innovative model for a comprehensive regional approach to addressing NEPA and the ESA as part of an integrated program. While not without significant challenges and risks, it offers advantages to local, state, and federal agencies in implementing their land use, infrastructure, development and regulatory responsibilities. In 1999, the county launched the Riverside County Integrated Project (RCIP). The RCIP is a stakeholder driven process that unites builders, property owners, farmers and government behind a long-range planning effort that incorporates three distinctive elements - conservation, transportation and land-use. What makes the RCIP environmental streamlining approach unique is the premise that the environment must be addressed the same as any other piece of critical infrastructure. This plan avoids the normal approach to development, to plan the project first, and then attempt to mitigate. The RCIP begins with the development of new General Plan, a multispecies habitat conservation plan (MSHCP) and a watershed special area management plan (SAMP), to integrate land use and transportation elements that minimize the environmental impacts while still addressing housing demands, job creation, and congestion relief.