BILL NUMBER: SB 1303 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 290
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 24, 2010
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 23, 2010
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 11, 2010
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 5, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 2, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 19, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wolk
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Sections 2086 and 2087 of the Fish and Game Code,
relating to protected species.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1303, Wolk. Protected species: accidental take: agricultural
activities.
The California Endangered Species Act, until January 1, 2011,
exempts from its provisions the accidental take of candidate,
threatened, or endangered species resulting from acts that occur on a
farm or a ranch in the course of otherwise lawful routine and
ongoing agricultural activities. The act requires the department, in
cooperation with the Department of Food and Agriculture and other
specified entities, to adopt regulations that authorize locally
designed voluntary programs for routine and ongoing agricultural
activities on farms or ranches that encourage habitat for candidate,
threatened, and endangered species, and wildlife generally. The act
authorizes specified entities to propose those programs to the
department.
This bill would extend that repeal date to January 1, 2014. The
bill would authorize the department to approve applications submitted
by nonprofit organizations to initiate and undertake public
education and outreach activities that promote the achievement of the
objectives of the act. The bill would require a participating
organization to file an annual report with the department with
specified information.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The California Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing
with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code) is a
statute of general applicability and all Californians should be aware
of the importance of protecting rare wildlife species and their
habitat in this state.
(b) Policies to implement the California Endangered Species Act
should recognize the importance of providing incentives to private
landowners to conduct voluntary conservation activities on their
lands for the benefit of California's candidate, threatened, and
endangered species. Because voluntary conservation projects are
undertaken by landowners to promote wildlife and habitat conservation
above and beyond what is required by law, it is important to ensure
that the permitting processes for these projects are efficient and
timely in order to maximize landowner participation and minimize
obstacles to completing these projects.
(c) The Legislature has created both a voluntary habitat
management and a voluntary safe harbor agreement program to encourage
landowners to manage their lands to benefit endangered, threatened,
or candidate species, while ensuring that landowners are not subject
to additional regulatory restrictions as a result of these
conservation efforts.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature to authorize nonprofit
organizations, especially nonprofit agricultural organizations, to
develop educational materials for the public and to conduct public
outreach to California's farming and ranching communities that will
inform those stakeholders of the following: the importance of the
California Endangered Species Act; the existing voluntary habitat
conservation programs; the economic incentives available to
landowners who undertake voluntary habitat conservation activities;
and the existence within the California Endangered Species Act of
statutory protections that, among other things, provide landowners
whose property is adjacent to those who are participating in
voluntary conservation projects with specified relief from additional
regulatory restrictions.
SEC. 2. Section 2086 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:
2086. (a) The department, in cooperation with the Department of
Food and Agriculture, agricultural commissioners, extension agents,
farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural experts, shall adopt
regulations that authorize locally designed voluntary programs for
routine and ongoing agricultural activities on farms or ranches that
encourage habitat for candidate, threatened, and endangered species,
and wildlife generally. Agricultural commissioners, extension agents,
farmers, ranchers, or other agricultural experts, in cooperation
with conservation groups, may propose those programs to the
department. The department shall propose regulations for those
programs not later than July 1, 1998.
(b) Programs authorized under subdivision (a) shall do all of the
following:
(1) Include management practices that will, to the maximum extent
practicable, avoid and minimize take of candidate, endangered, and
threatened species, while encouraging the enhancement of habitat.
(2) Be supported by the best available scientific information for
both agricultural and conservation practices.
(3) Be consistent with the policies and goals of this chapter.
(4) Be designed to provide sufficient flexibility to maximize
participation and to gain the maximum wildlife benefits without
compromising the economics of agricultural operations.
(5) Include terms and conditions to allow farmers or ranchers to
cease participation in a program without penalty. The terms and
conditions shall include reasonable measures to minimize take during
withdrawal from the program.
(c) Any taking of candidate, threatened, or endangered species
incidental to routine and ongoing agricultural activities that occurs
while the management practices specified by paragraph (1) of
subdivision (b) are followed, is not prohibited by this chapter.
(d) (1) The department shall automatically renew the authorization
for these voluntary programs every five years, unless the
Legislature amends or repeals this section in which case the program
shall be revised to conform to this section.
(2) Commencing in 2000, and every five years thereafter, the
department shall report to the appropriate policy committees of the
Legislature regarding the effect of the programs. The department
shall consult with the Department of Food and Agriculture in
evaluating the programs and preparing the report. The report shall
address factors such as the temporary and permanent acreage
benefiting from the programs, include an estimate of the amount of
land upon which routine and ongoing agricultural activities are
conducted, provide examples of farmer and rancher cooperation, and
include recommendations to improve the voluntary participation by
farmers and ranchers.
(e) If the authorization for these programs is not renewed or is
modified under subdivision (d), persons participating in the program
shall be allowed to cease participating in the program in accordance
with the terms and conditions specified in paragraph (5) of
subdivision (b), without penalty.
(f) (1) The department may approve an application submitted by an
agricultural-based nonprofit organization or other entity registered
as a California nonprofit organization to initiate and undertake
public education and outreach activities that promote the achievement
of the objectives of this chapter. An application submitted pursuant
to this subdivision shall include the following:
(A) The name and contact information of the participating
organization.
(B) A brief description of the planned outreach activities.
(C) An end date for the outreach activities.
(2) The department may require a participating organization to
submit, for approval by the department, educational materials and
outreach materials that are disseminated to the public in furtherance
of this subdivision.
(3) A participating organization shall file an annual report with
the department before the end of each calendar year during the time
period specified in the application. The report shall include, but is
not limited to, the following:
(A) Complete information on the activities conducted by the
participating organization in the prior year, including a description
of all means of communicating to the public and agricultural
community, including personal visits, electronic communications,
organized meetings, or other means.
(B) A compilation of responses from the public and members of the
agricultural community that will assist the participating
organization and the department to modify or improve public education
and outreach activities on an ongoing basis.
(C) An assessment of the existing knowledge within the
agricultural community of programs and prohibitions under this
chapter and a review of outreach activities that could be used to
adapt and improve future outreach efforts.
(D) Information on a farm or ranch that has expressed interest in
participating in a voluntary program pursuant to this section or the
safe harbor agreement program contained in Article 3.7 (commencing
with Section 2089.2). This provision does not require the annual
report to include the identification to the department of an
individual, farm, or ranch.
SEC. 3. Section 2087 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:
2087. (a) Accidental take of candidate, threatened, or endangered
species resulting from acts that occur on a farm or a ranch in the
course of otherwise lawful routine and ongoing agricultural
activities is not prohibited by this chapter.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2014, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2014, deletes or extends
that date.