BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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Date of Hearing: April 25, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 1961 (Huffman) - As Amended: April 9, 2012
Policy Committee: Water, Parks and
Wildlife Vote: 12-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the Coho Salmon Habitat Enhancement
Leading to Preservation (HELP) Program of expedited permitting
for Coho salmon restoration projects. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the director of the Department of Fish and Game (DFG)
to approve a Coho salmon habitat enhancement project, within
60 days of receiving a written request, if the project will
maintain existing levels of human health and safety protection
and meet all specified criteria, including that the project
(a) is consistent with federal or state fish passage
guidelines and Coho salmon recovery plans; (b) is voluntary;
(c) is no larger than five acres or 500 linear feet; (d) is to
be completed within five years; and (e), will not result in
cumulative environmental harm that is significant.
2)Provides that the director's approval of a Coho salmon habitat
project displaces any other permit, license or other approval
issued by the department, including approval under the
California Endangered Species Act (CESA).
3)Requires a written request to approve a project to contain
specific, detailed project information.
4)Requires the director to notify a project proponent that a
project is to be suspended and approval revoked if the project
is not consistent with determinations made when granting
approval, and provides such proponents an opportunity to file
objections with the director.
5)Authorizes DFG to adopt emergency regulations to implement the
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HELP Program.
6)Authorizes DFG to enter into agreement to accept funds from
any public agency, person, business or organization for Coho
salmon restoration, to be deposited in the Coho Salmon
Recovery Account, created within the Fish and Game
Preservation Fund by this bill.
FISCAL EFFECT
1) One-time costs of approximately $50,000 to $75,000 to
DFG in 2012-13 to develop emergency regulations. (Fish and
Game Preservation Fund (FGPF)).
2) Potential annual costs of an unknown amount, but ranging
from approximately $250,000 (equivalent to two positions)
to $1 million (equivalent to five positions), to DFG to
review written requests, approve projects and monitor
implementations. (FGPF.)
(DFG indicates it cannot anticipate the number of project
requests it will receive each year, but the department
provided cost estimates associated with a range of annual
project applications.)
3) Potential revenue of an unknown amount to DFG resulting
from voluntary contributions, to be used to fund Coho
salmon recovery. (Coho Salmon Recovery Account with the
FGPF.)
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. The author and sponsors intend this bill to allow
for speedy implementation of Coho salmon habitat recovery
projects in order to help restore populations of the state's
Coho salmon populations, which are about one percent of their
historic population and at immediate risk of local extinction.
2)Background. According to testimony provided by DFG at a
recent informational hearing, California's Coho salmon
populations have dropped from a high of hundreds of thousands
in the 1940s to only a few thousand fish today and that the
state's various Coho populations are at risk of local
extinction. In response, DFG has developed its Recovery
Strategy for California Coho Salmon, which details
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comprehensive and specific measures to protect and restore
Coho habitat in order to return populations to sustainable
levels and to protect the genetic diversity of the state's
distinct Coho populations so they will no longer be listed,
and protected, under CESA.
Typically, a project such as those described in DFG's recovery
strategy would require DFG permitting for activities such as
streambed alteration and take of endangered species.
3)Support. This bill is supported by many conservation
organizations and some local governments representing
jurisdictions in which Coho habitat restoration projects would
likely occur.
4)There is no opposition formally registered to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081