BILL NUMBER: AB 1671 CHAPTERED 10/01/01 CHAPTER 398 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 1, 2001 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2001 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 4, 2001 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 30, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 23, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 20, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 19, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 5, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 1, 2001 INTRODUCED BY Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife (Florez (Chair), Aroner, Calderon, Dickerson, Frommer, Goldberg, Kehoe, Kelley, Pavley, Thomson, and Wayne) FEBRUARY 27, 2001 An act to amend Sections 704, 2922, 2923, and 12002.5 of, to add Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 716) to Division 2 of, and to repeal Section 221 of, the Fish and Game Code, to amend Section 10005 of the Public Resources Code, and to amend Section 3 of Chapter 223 of the Statutes of 2000, relating to fish and game, and making an appropriation therefor. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1671, Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife. Fish and game. (1) Existing law, which is to be repealed on January 1, 2003, delineates the general regulatory powers of the Fish and Game Commission, including, among other things, the authority to establish, extend, shorten, or abolish open seasons and closed seasons, establish, change, or abolish bag limits and possession limits, and establish and change areas of territorial limits for the taking of any or all species or subspecies. That law also authorizes any regulation adopted pursuant to those provisions to supersede any section of the Fish and Game Code under specified circumstances. This bill would extend those provisions indefinitely by repealing their repeal date. Since a violation of a regulation adopted by the commission is a misdemeanor under existing law, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by continuing in existence indefinitely crimes that otherwise would be repealed. (2) Existing law imposes various duties on the Fish and Game Commission with respect to the implementation and enforcement of laws regulating the taking of fish and game in the state. This bill would establish the Wildlife Violator Compact, the purposes of which would be to provide a means through which participating states, as defined, may join in a reciprocal program to effectuate specified policies regarding the protection and taking of fish and game in a uniform and orderly manner, and to provide for the fair and impartial treatment of wildlife violators operating within participating states in recognition of the violator's right to due process and the sovereign status of participating states. The bill would prescribe procedures for the administration and enforcement of the compact, as provided. (3) Existing law establishes the Suisun Marsh Wetlands Enhancement and Mosquito Abatement Demonstration Program, until December 31, 2005, for the purpose of devising and evaluating methods by which wetland management techniques in the Suisun Marsh can be better integrated with mosquito abatement programs, and requires the Department of Fish and Game to award grant funds for the program to the Suisun Resource Conservation District until December 31, 2004. This bill would change the repeal date of those provisions to June 30, 2005, and would also extend to June 30, 2005, the date until which those grant funds for the program would be required to be awarded to the district. (4) Existing law requires the Suisun Resource Conservation District to submit a final report to the department on the program by March 1, 2005. This bill would, instead, require that the final report be submitted to the department by June 1, 2005. (5) Existing law requires that the sum of $140,000 be appropriated from the General Fund to the department for allocation to the Suisun Resource Conservation District for the purpose of implementing the program, and requires the department to allocate the sum of $35,000 to the conservation district in each of the 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03, and 2003-04 fiscal years, as prescribed. This bill would additionally require the department to allocate the sum of $35,000 to the conservation district for the 2004-05 fiscal year, thereby making an appropriation. (6) Existing law requires the department to impose and collect a filing fee of $850 to defray the cost of identifying streams and providing studies pursuant to specified provisions governing streamflow protection standards, but provides that the fee shall not be imposed on certain types of permit applications filed with the State Water Resources Control Board. This bill would include within those types of applications exempt from the payment of the fee, water applications or petitions, the primary purpose of which is to benefit fish and wildlife resources, as determined by the department. The bill would require that only one filing fee be required for applications or petitions for the same appropriation transfer, extension, or change, if an applicant or petitioner files multiple applications or petitions for the same appropriation, and the State Water Resources Control Board reviews and considers the applications or petitions together. (7) Existing law continuously appropriates the money in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund to the Department of Fish and Game to carry out the Fish and Game Code and to the commission for the payment of the compensation and expenses of the commissioners and employees of the commission. Because this bill would continue indefinitely existing duties imposed on the commission that otherwise would be repealed, the bill would make an appropriation. (8) The bill also would correct an erroneous cross-reference. (9) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. Appropriation: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 221 of the Fish and Game Code is repealed. SEC. 1.5. Section 704 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read: 704. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the director is the appointing power of all employees within the department, and all employees in the department are responsible to the director for the proper carrying out of the duties and responsibilities of their respective positions. (b) The changes made to subdivision (a) during the 2001-02 Regular Session of the Legislature are declaratory of existing law. SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Wildlife resources are managed in trust by the different states for the benefit of all residents and visitors. (b) The protection of the wildlife resources of a state is materially affected by the degree of compliance with statutes, ordinances, and administrative rules and regulations relating to the management of those resources. (c) The preservation, protection, management, and restoration of wildlife contributes immeasurably to the aesthetic, recreational, and economic aspects of those natural resources. (d) Wildlife resources are valuable without regard to political boundaries; therefore, every person should comply with wildlife preservation, protection, management, and restoration statutes, ordinances, and administrative rules and regulations of the participating states as a condition precedent to the continuance or issuance of any license to hunt, fish, or trap. (e) Violations of wildlife laws interfere with the management of wildlife resources and may endanger the safety of persons and property. (f) The mobility of wildlife law violators necessitates the maintenance of channels of communication among various states. (g) In most instances, a person who is cited for a wildlife violation in a state other than his or her state of residence is subjected to either of the following: (1) Is required to post collateral or a bond to secure appearance for a trial at a later date, or is taken into custody until the collateral or bond is posted. (2) Is taken directly to court for an immediate appearance. (h) The purpose of the wildlife law enforcement practices is to ensure compliance with the terms of a wildlife citation by the cited person who, if released after receiving a citation, could return to his or her home state and disregard his or her duty under the terms of the citation. (i) In most instances, a person who is issued a wildlife citation in his or her home state is permitted to accept the citation from the officer at the scene of the violation, and is not detained or held in custody if he or she agrees to comply with the terms of the citation. (j) The law enforcement practices described in subdivision (g) cause unnecessary inconvenience and, at times, hardship for a person who is unable at the time to post collateral, furnish a bond, stand trial, or pay a fine, and who is thus compelled to remain in custody until some alternative arrangement is made. Those practices consume an excessive amount of law enforcement agencies' time. SEC. 3. Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 716) is added to Division 2 of the Fish and Game Code, to read: CHAPTER 1.5. WILDLIFE VIOLATOR COMPACT Article 1. General Provisions 716. The Wildlife Violator Compact is hereby enacted into law and entered into with all other participating states. 716.1. It is the policy of this state in entering into the compact to do all of the following: (a) Promote compliance with the statutes, ordinances, and administrative rules and regulations relating to the management of wildlife resources in this state. (b) Recognize the suspension of wildlife license privileges of any person whose license privileges have been suspended by a participating state and treat that suspension as if it had occurred in the licensee's home state if the violation that resulted in the suspension could have been the basis for suspension in the home state. (c) Allow a violator, except as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 716.4, to accept a wildlife citation and, without delay or detention, proceed on his or her way whether or not the violator is a resident of the state in which the citation was issued, if the violator's home state is a party to this compact. (d) Report to the appropriate participating states, as provided in the compact manual, any conviction recorded against any person whose home state was not the issuing state. (e) Allow the home state to recognize and treat convictions recorded against its residents, if those convictions occurred in a participating state, as though they had occurred in the home state. (f) Extend cooperation to its fullest extent among the participating states for enforcing compliance with the terms of a wildlife citation issued in one participating state to a resident of another participating state. (g) Maximize effective use of law enforcement personnel and information. (h) Assist court systems in the efficient disposition of wildlife violations. 716.2. The purposes of this chapter include both of the following: (a) To provide a means by which participating states may join in a reciprocal program to effectuate the policies enumerated in Section 716.1 in a uniform and orderly manner. (b) To provide for the fair and impartial treatment of wildlife violators operating within participating states in recognition of the violator's right to due process and the sovereign status of the participating states. Article 2. Definitions 716.3. For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings: (a) "Board" means the board of compact administrators established pursuant to Section 716.8. (b) "Citation" means any summons, complaint, ticket, penalty assessment, or other official document issued to a person by a wildlife officer or other peace officer for a wildlife violation pertaining to sport fishing, hunting, or trapping, which contains an order requiring the person to respond. (c) "Collateral" means any cash or other security deposited to secure an appearance for trial in connection with the issuance by a wildlife officer or other peace officer of a citation for a wildlife violation. (d) "Compact manual" is a manual used and adopted by the participating states that prescribes the procedures to be followed in administering the wildlife violator compact in participating states. (e) "Compliance," with respect to a citation, means the act of answering a citation through an appearance in a court or tribunal, or through the payment of fines, penalties, costs, and surcharges, if any. (f) "Conviction" means a conviction, including, but not limited to, any court conviction for an offense related to sport fishing, hunting, or trapping, that is prohibited by statute, ordinance, or administrative rule or regulation, that involves the forfeiture of any bail, bond, or other security deposited to secure appearance by a person charged with having committed any such offense, the payment of a penalty assessment, a plea of nolo contendere, and the imposition of a deferred or suspended sentence by the court. (g) "Court" means a court of law, including magistrate's court and the justice of the peace court. (h) "Home state" means the state of primary residence of a person. (i) "Issuing state" means the participating state that issues a wildlife citation to the violator. (j) "License" means any license, permit, entitlement to use, or other public document that conveys to the person to whom it is issued the privilege of sport fishing, hunting, or trapping, that is regulated by statute, ordinance, or administrative rule or regulation of a participating state. (k) "Licensing authority," with reference to this state, means the Department of Fish and Game, which is the state agency authorized by law to issue or approve licenses or permits to sport fish, hunt, or trap. (l) "Participating state" means any state that enacts legislation to become a member of the wildlife compact. (m) "Personal recognizance" means an agreement by a person made at the time of issuance of the wildlife citation that the person will comply with the terms of the citation. (n) "State" means any state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Provinces of Canada, and other countries. (o) "Suspension" means any revocation, denial, or withdrawal of any or all license privileges, including the privilege to apply for, purchase, or exercise the benefits conferred by any license for sport fishing, hunting, or trapping. (p) "Terms of the citation" means those conditions and options expressly stated upon a citation. (q) "Wildlife" means all species of animals including, but not limited to, mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, mollusks, and crustaceans, which are defined as "wildlife" and are protected or otherwise regulated by statute, ordinance, or administrative rule or regulation in a participating state. The species included in the definition of "wildlife" vary from state to state and the determination of whether a species is "wildlife" for the purposes of this compact shall be based on the law of the participating state. (r) "Wildlife law" means any statute, regulation, ordinance, or administrative rule or regulation developed and enacted for the management of wildlife resources and the uses thereof. (s) "Wildlife officer" means any individual authorized in this state to issue a citation for a wildlife violation. (t) "Wildlife violation" means the violation of a statute, ordinance, or administrative rule or regulation developed and enacted for the management of wildlife resources and the uses thereof pertaining to sport fishing, hunting, and trapping and for which a prosecution is initiated. Article 3. Issuing State Violation Procedures 716.4. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when issuing a citation for a wildlife violation for purposes of this chapter, a wildlife officer of the issuing state may issue a citation to any person whose primary residence is in a participating state in the same manner as though the person were a resident of the issuing state, and shall not require that person to post collateral to secure appearance, except as provided in subdivision (b), if the officer receives the personal recognizance of the person that he or she will comply with the terms of the citation. (b) Personal recognizance is acceptable unless prohibited by ordinance of a city or county, the policy of the issuing agency, a procedure or regulation, or by the compact manual, and only if the violator provides adequate proof of identification to the wildlife officer. (c) Upon conviction or failure of a person to comply with the terms of a wildlife citation, the appropriate wildlife officer shall report the conviction or failure to comply to the licensing authority of the participating state in which the wildlife citation was issued. The report shall be made in accordance with procedures specified by the issuing state, and shall contain information as prescribed in the compact manual. (d) Upon receipt of the report of conviction or noncompliance pursuant to subdivision (c), the licensing authority of the issuing state shall transmit to the licensing authority of the home state of the violator the information in the form and content prescribed in the compact manual. Article 4. Home State Procedures 716.5. (a) Upon receipt of a report from the licensing authority of the issuing state reporting the failure of a violator to comply with the terms of a citation, the licensing authority shall notify the violator and shall initiate a suspension action. The licensing authority shall suspend the violator's license privileges, in accordance with the requirements of due process, until satisfactory evidence of compliance with the terms of the wildlife citation has been furnished to the licensing authority. (b) Upon receipt of a report of conviction from the licensing authority of the issuing state, the licensing authority of the home state may enter that conviction in its records and may treat the conviction as though it occurred in the home state for the purposes of the suspension of license privileges, if the violation that resulted in the conviction would constitute a wildlife violation in the home state. (c) The licensing authority of the home state shall maintain a record of actions taken and shall make reports to issuing states as provided in the compact manual. Article 5. Reciprocal Recognition of Suspension 716.6. (a) As a participating member of the wildlife violator compact, the licensing authority of this state may recognize the suspension of license privileges of any person by any participating state if both of the following occur: (1) The violation that resulted in the conviction would constitute a wildlife violation in this state. (2) The conviction that resulted in the suspension could have been the basis for suspension under the statutes, ordinances, or administrative rules or regulations of this state. (b) The licensing authority shall communicate suspension information to other participating states in the form and content prescribed by the compact manual. Article 6. Applicability of Other Laws 716.7. Except as expressly required by this chapter, this chapter shall not be construed to affect the right of any participating state to apply any of its statutes, ordinances, or administrative rules or regulations relating to license privileges to any person or circumstance, or to invalidate or prevent any agreement or other cooperative arrangement between a participating state and a nonparticipating state, concerning wildlife law enforcement. Article 7. Compact Administrator Procedures 716.8. (a) (1) A board of compact administrators is hereby established to serve as a governing body for the resolution of all matters relating to the operation of this compact. The board shall be composed of one member from each of the participating states to be known as the compact administrator. (2) A compact administrator of any participating state may provide for the discharge of his or her duties and the performance of his or her functions as a board member by an alternate, designated by that member. An alternate is not entitled to serve unless written notification of his or her identity is provided to the board. (3) The compact administrator for this state shall be appointed by the director and shall serve, and be subject to removal, in accordance with the laws of this state. (b) Each member of the board is entitled to one vote. No action of the board shall be binding unless taken at a meeting at which a majority of the membership of the board vote in favor thereof. Action by the board may only be taken at a meeting at which a majority of the membership of the board is present. (c) The board shall elect annually from its membership a chairperson and vice chairperson. (d) The board shall adopt bylaws, not inconsistent with this compact, and may amend and rescind the bylaws. (e) The board may accept for any of its purposes and functions under this compact any donation and grant of money, equipment, supplies, materials, and services, conditional or otherwise, from any state, the United States, or any governmental agency, and may receive, utilize, and dispose thereof. (f) The board may contract with, or accept services or personnel from, any governmental or intergovernmental agency, individual, firm, or corporation, including any private nonprofit organization or institution. (g) The board shall formulate all necessary procedures and develop uniform forms and documents for administering this compact. All procedures and forms adopted pursuant to board action shall be contained in a compact manual. Article 8. Entry Into Compact and Withdrawal 716.9. (a) This chapter shall become effective at such time as it is adopted in substantially similar form by this state and one or more other states, subject to the following conditions: (1) The entry into the compact shall be made by resolution executed and ratified by authorized officials of the applying state and submitted to the chairperson of the board of contract administrators. (2) The resolution shall substantially be in the form and content as provided in the compact manual, and shall include all of the following: (A) A citation of the authority authorizing the state to become a party to this compact. (B) An agreement to comply with the terms and provisions of this compact. (C) An agreement that the state entering into the compact agrees to participate with all participating states in the compact. (b) The effective date of entry into the compact shall be specified by the applying state but shall not be less than 60 days after notice has been given by either the chairperson or secretary of the board to each participating state that the resolution from the applying state has been received. (c) A participating state may withdraw from participation in this compact by giving written notice to the compact administrator of each participating state. The withdrawal shall not become effective until 90 days from the date on which the written notice of withdrawal is sent to each participating state. The withdrawal of any state shall not affect the validity of this compact as to the remaining participating states. Article 9. Amendments to the Compact 717. (a) This compact may be amended periodically. Amendments shall be presented in resolution form to the chairperson of the board, and shall be initiated by one or more participating states. (b) The adoption of an amendment requires endorsement by all participating states and becomes effective 30 days after the date of the last endorsement. (c) The failure of any participating state to respond to the appropriate authority within 60 days after receipt of a proposed amendment constitutes endorsement thereof. Article 10. Construction and Severability 717.1. This compact shall be liberally construed to effectuate its purposes. 717.2. The provisions of this chapter are severable. If any provision of this chapter or its application is held invalid or contrary to the constitution of any participating state or of the United States, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application. SEC. 4. Section 2922 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read: 2922. The program is hereby established for the purpose of devising and evaluating methods by which wetland management techniques in the Suisun Marsh can be better integrated with mosquito abatement programs. The department shall award grant funds for the program to the conservation district until June 30, 2005. The program shall be implemented and administered in accordance with the following procedures: (a) Not later than July 31, 2001, July 31, 2002, July 31, 2003, and July 31, 2004, the conservation district, the mosquito district, and the department shall confer for the purpose of selecting those lands on which the early flooding program may be conducted with the voluntary consent of the landowners, shall immediately notify the owners of those selected properties, and shall give the owners of those selected properties the option to participate in the program. Priority shall be given to those properties that have demonstrated, or for which it can be reasonably assumed, are the least likely to produce mosquitos at levels requiring extensive abatement efforts. (b) The mosquito district shall keep detailed records of each mosquito outbreak requiring the application of control measures, including the date of the outbreak and any posttreatment inspections, the species of mosquitos involved, approximate acreage sustaining the outbreak, the kind of control measure or measures employed, the type of chemical controls applied, if any, the application rate, and the total cost of the abatement procedure. (c) The mosquito district shall immediately notify the conservation district of any mosquito outbreaks requiring control measures, and provide the conservation district with the written record of those outbreaks together with any recommendations the mosquito district may have regarding wetland habitat management practices that could be employed to avert or minimize future outbreaks on the subject property in a timely fashion. (d) The conservation district shall conduct a weekly bird census of all waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds for the properties participating in the early flooding program, and shall maintain complete records of the census for each property. Prior to the initiation of the census effort, the conservation district and the department shall develop an appropriate census protocol. The census period shall extend from the time of initial flooding of any property until October 1 of each year. (e) The conservation district shall submit to the department an annual report by March 1 of each year that summarizes the program-related events of the previous season's early flooding program. The report shall contain, at a minimum, for each property participating in the program all of the following: (1) The name, identification number, date of initial flooding, and acreage flooded prior to October 1 of the year covered in the annual report. (2) A summary of the results of the bird census, and any pertinent aerial waterfowl census data that may have been collected by the department. (3) A detailed summary of all mosquito abatement events and the costs thereof. The annual report prepared pursuant to this subdivision shall also include recommendations regarding how current marsh management practices or mosquito abatement operations can be improved to better integrate the two interests with the intent of enhancing wetland habitat, thereby reducing the cost of vector control measures and limiting the need for the application of chemical control agents. (f) The conservation district shall submit a final report to the department by June 1, 2005, which summarizes the results of the entire demonstration program and shall include a summary of those matters described in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (e). In addition, the final report shall emphasize and describe the benefits of the early flooding program, marsh management practices demonstrated to be effective at reducing the frequency or duration of major mosquito outbreaks, improved or modified mosquito control measures, and how any or all of the foregoing may be applied elsewhere in the state. SEC. 5. Section 2923 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read: 2923. This chapter shall remain in effect only until June 30, 2005, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before June 30, 2005, deletes or extends that date. SEC. 6. Section 12002.5 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read: 12002.5. (a) Notwithstanding Section 12002, a violation of Section 1764 is an infraction, not a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) and not more than five hundred dollars ($500). If a person convicted of a violation of Section 1764 is granted probation, the court shall impose as a condition of probation that the person pay at least the minimum fine prescribed in this subdivision. (b) If a person is convicted of a violation of Section 1764 and produces in court a valid wildlife area pass, the court may reduce the fine imposed for the violation of Section 1764 to fifty dollars ($50). SEC. 7. Section 10005 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 10005. (a) The Department of Fish and Game shall impose and collect a filing fee of eight hundred fifty dollars ($850) to defray the costs of identifying streams and providing studies pursuant to Division 10 (commencing with Section 10000) of the Public Resources Code. (b) The filing fee shall be proportional to the cost incurred by the Department of Fish and Game and shall be annually reviewed and adjustments recommended to the Legislature in an amount necessary to pay the costs of the Department of Fish and Game as specified in subdivision (a). (c) Any user of water, including a person or entity holding riparian or appropriative rights, shall pay the filing fee to the Department of Fish and Game upon application to the State Water Resources Control Board for any permit, transfer, extension, or change of point of diversion, place of use, or purpose of use, if there is a diversion of water from any waterway where fish reside. No permit, or other entitlement identified in this section is effective until the filing fee is paid. The State Water Resources Control Board shall, every six months, forward all fees collected to the department and provide the location for each entitlement for which a filing fee has been collected. (d) The fee imposed by this section shall not be imposed on the following applications filed with the State Water Resources Control Board: (1) Small domestic use registrations and livestock stockpond certificates submitted pursuant to Article 2.7 (commencing with Section 1228) of Chapter 2 of Division 2 of the Water Code. (2) The first application for an extension of time for an individual permit if no change in point of diversion, place of use, or purpose of use is included in the application. (3) Water applications which, in the opinion of the Department of Fish and Game, are filed for administrative and technical clarification purposes only. (4) Water applications or petitions, the primary purpose of which is to benefit fish and wildlife resources. The determination of the benefit to fish and wildlife shall be made, in writing, by the Department of Fish and Game in order to be exempt from the fee. (e) If an applicant or petitioner files multiple applications or petitions for the same appropriation, transfer, extension, or change, and the State Water Resources Control Board reviews and considers the applications or petitions together, only one filing fee is required for those applications or petitions. SEC. 8. Section 3 of Chapter 223 of the Statutes of 2000 is amended to read: Sec. 3. (a) The sum of one hundred forty thousand dollars ($140,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Fish and Game for allocation to the Suisun Resource Conservation District for the purpose of implementing the Suisun Marsh Wetlands Enhancement and Mosquito Abatement Demonstration Program established pursuant to Chapter 12 (commencing with Section 2920) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code. (b) The department shall allocate the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000) to the conservation district in each of the 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2004-05 fiscal years, as follows: (1) Up to twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) shall be expended by the conservation district each year for the following purposes: (A) From July 1 until September 30 of each year, the conservation district shall pay 75 percent of the cost incurred by the mosquito district for any necessary mosquito abatement activities undertaken by the mosquito district on lands previously authorized to participate in the current year's early flooding program. The remaining 25 percent of those costs shall be borne by the owner or owners of the affected property, and they shall pay that amount to the conservation district within 30 days after receipt of an invoice for those costs from the conservation district. If the owner or owners do not pay the full 25 percent copayment amount within that 30-day period, the owner or owners shall pay the mosquito district the full 100 percent of the costs incurred by the mosquito district for mosquito abatement activities on the affected property, and the conservation district shall be relieved of the obligation to pay any portion of the cost of those activities on that property. (B) After October 1 of each year, all private wetlands in the Suisun Marsh are eligible to receive program funds, to the extent available, to defray the costs of mosquito abatement incurred during the late flooding program. The mosquito district shall continue its policy in effect on January 1, 1999, of only charging one-half of the abatement costs it incurs during the late flooding program in the Suisun Marsh. The conservation district shall pay 75 percent of those costs and the owner or owners of the affected property shall pay the remaining 25 percent of those costs to the conservation district within 30 days after receipt of an invoice for those costs from the conservation district. If the owner or owners do not pay the full 25 percent copayment amount within that 30-day period, the owner or owners shall pay the mosquito district the full 100 percent of the costs incurred by the mosquito district for mosquito abatement activities on the affected property, and the conservation district shall be relieved of the obligation to pay any portion of the cost of those activities on that property. (C) Any funds not expended by December 31 of each year pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B) may be used by the conservation district for the purposes specified in paragraph (2). (2) Not less than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) of the amount allocated each year shall be used for the purpose of reimbursing the conservation district for expenses it incurs implementing the program. (c) The department may not allocate any funds from the General Fund for purposes of the program after June 30, 2005. (d) All payments made to the conservation district shall be in arrears. The conservation district shall submit invoices to the Department of Fish and Game for reimbursement of its program related costs quarterly. Each invoice shall be accompanied by an itemized accounting of its costs, and shall include any invoices the conservation district has received from the mosquito district. (e) As used in this section, the terms "conservation district," "early flooding programs," "late flooding program," "mosquito district," and "program" have the same meaning as defined by Section 2921 of the Fish and Game Code. SEC. 9. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.