BILL NUMBER: AB 1254 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 419
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2010
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 28, 2010
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 18, 2010
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 16, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 25, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 14, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 4, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Tom Berryhill
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Sections 206, 3051, and 13104 of the Fish and Game
Code, relating to fish and wildlife.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1254, Tom Berryhill. Fish and Game Commission: wildlife.
(1) The California Constitution creates the Fish and Game
Commission. Existing law establishes the commission in the Natural
Resources Agency to perform specified functions. Existing law
requires the commission to hold no fewer than 10 regular meetings per
year, with no more than 2 regular meetings to be held in Sacramento
per year.
This bill would require the commission to hold no fewer than 10
meetings per year, if the commission has adequate funding for related
travel, including funding for department travel. It would also
require no more than 3, rather than 2, regular meetings to be held in
Sacramento per year.
(2) Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Game to
prescribe a minimum level of skill and knowledge to be required of
all hunter education instructors, and authorizes the department to
limit the number of students per instructor in all required classes.
This bill would require the department to offer special hunting
opportunities to qualified hunter education instructors by providing
a limited number of existing tags and other hunting opportunities.
(3) Under existing law,1/2 of all fines and forfeitures imposed or
collected in any court of this state for violations of the Fish and
Game Code are paid to the county in which the offense was committed
and deposited in a county fish and wildlife propagation fund to be
expended for the protection, conservation, propagation, and
preservation of fish and wildlife, in accordance with specified
requirements. Existing law authorizes the department to audit, or to
require the county to audit, expenditures by the county from its fish
and wildlife propagation fund in order to determine compliance with
these requirements.
The bill would authorize the department to require that all
expenditures from the fund be temporarily suspended, or to seek
reimbursement of funds that the department determines, based on the
audit, were expended improperly, or both, if, after reviewing the
audit, the department determines that expenditures are not in
compliance with the requirements.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 206 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to
read:
206. (a) The commission shall hold no fewer than 10 regular
meetings per calendar year, if the commission has adequate funding
for related travel, including funding for department travel. The
commission may also hold special meetings or hearings to receive
additional input from the department and the public.
(b) The commission shall announce the dates and locations of
meetings for the year by January 1 of that year, or 60 days prior to
the first meeting, whichever comes first. Meeting locations shall be
accessible to the public and located throughout the state, with no
more than three regular meetings to be held in Sacramento per year.
To the extent feasible, meetings shall be held in state facilities.
In setting the dates and locations for regular meetings, the
commission shall also consider the following factors:
(1) Recommendations of the department.
(2) Opening and closing dates of fishing and hunting seasons.
(3) The schedules of other state and federal regulatory agencies
whose regulations affect the management of fish and wildlife of this
state.
(c) The commission shall cause the notice of the schedule for
regular meetings, and notice of any change in the date and location
of a meeting, to be disseminated to the public in a manner that will
result in broad dissemination, including, but not limited to,
electronic distribution, mailings to interested parties, and
publication in local newspapers of affected communities.
SEC. 2. Section 3051 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:
3051. (a) The department shall provide for a course of
instruction in hunter education, principles of conservation, and
sportsmanship, and for this purpose may cooperate with any reputable
association or organization having as one of its objectives the
promotion of hunter safety, principles of conservation, and
sportsmanship.
(b) The department may designate as a hunter education instructor
any person found by it to be competent to give instruction in the
courses required in this article. A person so appointed shall give
that course of instruction, and, upon completion thereof, shall issue
to the person instructed a certificate of completion as provided by
the department in hunter safety, principles of conservation, and
sportsmanship.
(c) The department shall prescribe a minimum level of skill and
knowledge to be required of all hunter education instructors, and may
limit the number of students per instructor in all required classes.
(d) The department may revoke the certificate of any instructor
when, in the opinion of the department, it is in the best interest of
the state to do so.
(e) (1) In order to recruit and retain hunter education
instructors, the department shall offer special hunting opportunities
to qualified hunter education instructors by providing a limited
number of existing tags and other hunting opportunities. The
department may provide these tags and hunting opportunities through
any of the following methods:
(A) The private lands management program described in Article 5
(commencing with Section 3400) of Chapter 2.
(B) The Shared Habitat Alliance for Recreational Enhancement
(SHARE) program described in Article 3 (commencing with Section 1570)
of Chapter 5 of Division 2.
(C) Entering into cooperative agreements with federal, state, and
local agencies that hold title to, or administer, lands or waters.
(D) Entering into cooperative agreements with landowners or
tenants seeking depredation permits for game mammals as described in
Section 4188.
(E) Authorizing a maximum of 15 tags from the annual tag quota, as
determined by the department.
(2) The department shall determine eligibility criteria for hunter
education instructors seeking hunting opportunities offered pursuant
to this subdivision. The department shall select hunter education
instructors who meet these criteria for opportunities pursuant to
this subdivision only by random drawing.
(f) The department may adopt regulations to implement this
section.
SEC. 3. Section 13104 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to
read:
13104. The department may audit, or require the county to audit,
expenditures by the county from its fish and wildlife propagation
fund in order to determine compliance with this chapter. If, after
reviewing the audit, the department determines that expenditures are
not in compliance with this chapter, the department may require that
all expenditures from the fund be temporarily suspended, or it may
seek reimbursement of funds that the department determines, based on
the audit, were expended improperly, or both.