BILL ANALYSIS
AB 821
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Date of Hearing: April 25, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mark Leno, Chair
AB 821 (Nava) - As Amended: April 19, 2007
Policy Committee: Water, Parks &
Wildlife Vote: 8-5
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires hunters of big game and coyote, when hunting
in specific areas in and around the habitat of the California
condor, to use nonlead ammunition in an effort to protect the
condor from lead poisoning. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the Fish and Game Commission (FGC), by January 1,
2008, to establish a regulatory process to certify, and
annually update, nonlead centerfire rifle and pistol
ammunition.
2)Requires the FGC, to the extent funding is available, to
provide these hunters with nonlead ammunition at no cost or a
reduced cost through a redeemable coupon program.
3)Requires the FGC to issue a report on the coupon program, if
implemented, by June 2009, 2010, and 2013 covers the prior
calendar year, and to issue a report, on the same schedule, on
the levels of lead found in California condors.
4)Subjects hunters who fail to use nonlead ammunition in the
specified hunting areas to a $500 fine for the first violation
and a fine of $1,000 to $5,000 for a second or subsequent
violation.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minor costs, probably less than $25,000 in 2007-08, to the
Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to develop regulations on
nonlead ammunition certification and to develop the nonlead
ammunition coupon program. (Fish and Game Preservation Fund
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(FGPF).)
2)Minor costs, probably less than $25,000 in 2008-09, 2009-10,
and 2012-13, to the DFG to report on the coupon program and on
lead levels in California condors. (FGPF)
3)Moderate potential costs, up to $1.2 million primarily in
2008-09, to the DFG to pay the redemption value on nonlead
ammunition coupons used by hunters. Costs are based on how
many of the 33,000 hunters eligible for coupons will redeem
them, whether the coupons pay for an entire box of ammunition
or just the price difference between lead and nonlead
ammunition and how many boxes can be bought using coupons.
This bill specifies the coupon program is implemented only
when sufficient funds are obtained from local, federal ,
public, or other nonstate sources. (FGPF)
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author contends that big game hunters use of
lead ammunition in areas in and around the habitat of the
California condor has resulted in increasing increased condor
mortality due to lead poisoning. By requiring these hunters
to use nonlead ammunition, the author hopes to reduce the
level of lead ingested by condors and to gradually reduce lead
levels in condor blood, while not affecting the quality of the
hunting experience.
2)Background . The California condor is a federally-listed
endangered species and a state-listed endangered species and
fully-protected species. As scavengers, condors feed
primarily on carrion, some of which is big game (deer, elk,
pronghorn antelope, wild pig, black bear, and bighorn sheep)
killed by hunters using rifles loaded with lead ammunition.
Lead is ingested by condors from the flesh of this carrion.
The resulting lead poisoning jeopardizes the long-term
survival of the California condor species, the population of
which in the state is 244, of which 114 exist in the wild.
3)Cause and Effect Evidence . Environmentalists and conservation
groups have long been at odds with big game hunters over
whether there is conclusive evidence that lead poisoning of
the California condor is connected to the use of lead
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ammunition by hunters in and around condor habitat. In 2006,
a study published in the journal Environmental Science and
Technology linked the lead isotope compositions in condors to
the lead isotopes in ammunition samples. The study concluded
that ingestion of ammunition in carcasses of big game killed
by hunters is the principal source of elevated lead exposures
threatening the recovery of wild condors.
4)Recent Regulatory Activities . In December 2004, the Natural
Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other environmental and
conservation groups petitioned the FGC to ban the use of lead
ammunition. The FGC denied the petition but directed the DFG
to research the issue and make recommendations for the
commission's 2007 mammal regulations update. In September
2006, the NRDC and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against
the FGC and the DFG alleging state regulations permitting the
use of lead ammunition within the California condor range and
the issuance of hunting licenses, violate the Endangered
Species Act. While the lawsuit is pending, the DFG released a
recommendation that hunting with lead bullets be banned
everywhere in the California condor range. The FGC recently
heard public testimony on these recommendations and is
scheduled to vote on them in May or June.
5)Coupon Program . A DFG nonlead ammunition coupon program is
likely to be structured in a similar manner to an existing
program in Arizona. The Arizona Game and Fish Department
(AGFD) administered a free nonlead ammunition program for the
fall 2005 hunting season. The AGFD, using money from the
state's Heritage Fund (state lottery revenue), offered two
free boxes of nonlead ammunition to 2,393 deer and bighorn
sheep rifle hunters for hunts taking place in the California
condor range. Coupons to obtain the free ammunition
accompanied a letter outlining condor lead poisoning issues
and asking for hunters' help in reducing the amount of lead
available to condors. About 65% of eligible hunters
participated in the program by redeeming their coupons for
nonlead ammunition.
Analysis Prepared by : Steve Archibald / APPR. / (916)
319-2081