BILL NUMBER: AB 821	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Nava

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2007

   An act to add Section 3004.5 to the Fish and Game Code, relating
to conservation.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 821, as introduced, Nava. Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act.
   (1) Existing law regulates the taking of birds and mammals, and
prohibits the taking of specified nongame birds. Existing law permits
the Department of Fish and Game to preserve the California condor,
and requires the Fish and Game Commission to establish a list of
endangered species and a list of threatened species. Existing law
generally provides that a violation of the fish and game laws is a
crime.
   This bill would enact the Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act to
require the use of nonlead centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition
when taking big game and coyote within specified areas. The act would
require the commission to establish, by regulation, by January 1,
2008, a public process to certify centerfire rifle and pistol
ammunition as nonlead ammunition, and to define nonlead ammunition by
regulation. The act would also require the commission, to the extent
funding is available, to provide hunters in these areas with nonlead
ammunition at no or reduced charge through a coupon program. Under
the act, a person who violates those requirements would be guilty of
an infraction punishable by a $500 fine for the first offense.
Because the act would create a new crime, this bill would create a
state-mandated local program.
   The act would also declare the Legislature's intent to protect
vulnerable wildlife species, including the California condor, from
the ongoing threat of lead poisoning.
   (2) 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.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act.
  SEC. 2.  It is the intent of the Legislature to protect vulnerable
wildlife species, including the California condor, a federally listed
endangered species and a state listed endangered and fully protected
species, from the ongoing threat of lead poisoning.
  SEC. 3.  Section 3004.5 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to
read:
   3004.5.  (a) Nonlead centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition, as
determined by the commission, shall be required when taking big game,
as defined by Section 350 of the department's mammal hunting
regulations, and when taking coyote, within the department's deer
hunting zone A South, excluding Santa Cruz, Alameda, Contra Costa,
San Mateo, and San Joaquin Counties, areas west of Highway 101 within
Santa Clara County, and areas between Highway 5 and Highway 99
within Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Kern
Counties, and within zones D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, and D13.
   (b) By January 1, 2008, the commission shall establish, by
regulation, a public process to certify centerfire rifle and pistol
ammunition as nonlead ammunition, and shall define, by regulation,
nonlead ammunition as including only centerfire rifle and pistol
ammunition in which there is no lead content. The commission shall
establish and annually update a list of certified centerfire rifle
and pistol ammunition.
   (c) (1) To the extent that funding is available, the commission
shall establish a process that will provide hunters in the department'
s deer hunting zone A South, excluding Santa Cruz, Alameda, Contra
Costa, San Mateo, and San Joaquin Counties, areas west of Highway 101
within Santa Clara County, and areas between Highway 5 and Highway
99 within Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Kern
Counties, and in zones D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, and D13 with nonlead
ammunition at no or reduced charge. The process shall provide that
the offer for nonlead ammunition at no or reduced charge may be
redeemed through a coupon sent to a permitholder with the appropriate
permit tag. If available funding is not sufficient to provide
nonlead ammunition at no charge, the commission shall set the value
of the reduced charge coupon at the maximum value possible through
available funding, up to the average cost within this state for
nonlead ammunition, as determined by the commission.
   (2) The nonlead ammunition coupon program described in paragraph
(1) shall be implemented only to the extent that sufficient funds are
available in the annual Budget Act or other statute, or to the
extent that sufficient funding is obtained from local, state,
federal, public, or private sources in order to implement the
program.
   (3) If the nonlead ammunition coupon program is implemented, the
commission shall issue a report on the usage and redemption rates of
ammunition coupons. The report shall cover calendar years 2008, 2009,
and 2012. Each report shall be issued by June of the following year.

   (d) The commission shall issue a report on the levels of lead
found in California condors. This report shall cover calendar years
2008, 2009, and 2012. Each report shall be issued by June of the
following year.
   (e) The department shall notify those hunters who may be affected
by this section.
   (f) A person who violates any provision of this section is guilty
of an infraction punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars ($500).
A second or subsequent offense shall be punishable by a fine of not
less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more than five thousand
dollars ($5,000).
  SEC. 4.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B 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 XIII B of the California
Constitution.