BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 2402 (Huffman) - Department of Fish and Game.
Amended: August 6, 2012 Policy Vote: NR&W 5-3
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 16, 2012
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: AB 2402 makes a number of changes to the
operations of the Department of Fish and Game and the Fish and
Game Commission.
Fiscal Impact: Many of the bill's provisions will have a fiscal
impact, as described below. Unless otherwise specified, the
costs would be paid from the Fish and Game Preservation Fund.
Renaming it the "Department of Fish and Wildlife" - the
Department is likely to incur costs to update information
technology systems to accommodate the change. The costs will
likely range from $150,000 to $300,000. While the bill
directs the Department not to change or destroy existing
supplies, information technology systems (such as Department
web sites and email systems) will likely have to be upgraded
all at once, rather than over time as system maintenance
occurs.
Development of a system for tracking citations by Game
Wardens in the field and integrating citation data into
existing information technology systems - the cost to
develop a system for Game Wardens in the field to issue
citations and track previous citations is unknown, but is
likely to be significant. For example, the California
Highway Patrol has an ongoing project to allow officers to
issue and track citations. The total cost to develop and
implement that system is about $23 million.
Establishing an independent science panel - the Department
will likely incur costs to provide staff support and pay
administrative costs. Those costs are likely to be between
$100,000 and $200,000 per year.
AB 2402 (Huffman)
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Adjusting licensing fees - the Department will incur costs
of about $100,000 per year to adjust fees and update
regulations. Potential fee increases in revenues are
unknown, and will depend upon the Department's actual costs
to issue licenses. There is general consensus that the
Department's programs to support wildlife and enforce the
law are underfunded. However, any fee increases that would
occur under this bill would only be available to offset the
Department's costs to issue licenses and would not be
available to more broadly support the Department's mission.
Development of a Strategic Plan - one-time staff costs up
to $200,000.
Partnering with nonprofit organizations - the bill
authorizes the Department to partner with nonprofit
organizations to raise revenues for Department activities.
The extent to which this will increase revenues is unknown.
Charging entrance fees to Department lands - the bill
requires members of the public to purchase an entry pass to
use Department lands. The Department will incur costs of
about $200,000 to update the Automated License Data System
to allow visitors to purchase entry permits. Once the system
has been upgraded, the Department will receive new fee
revenues. The amount of revenue generated is unknown, since
Department lands have always been freely open to the public
and it would be difficult and expensive to attempt to
broadly enforce the requirement to purchase an entry permit.
Most likely, compliance rates will be low and revenues will
be in the hundreds of thousands per year.
Additional responsibility under the Endangered Species Act
- the bill shifts some oversight responsibilities (such as
reviewing proposals to list species as endangered) from the
Fish and Game Commission to the Department. Administrative
costs to the Department due to greater authority over the
Endangered Species Act are likely to be minor. the
Department may incur some additional costs due to the need
for public meetings and notices. However, most of the staff
work associated with the Endangered Species Act would be
incurred whether decisions are made by the Commission or the
Department.
AB 2402 (Huffman)
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Creation of an environmental crimes taskforce - ongoing
costs up to $100,000 per year to provide staff support.
Management of endowment funds - unknown administrative
costs to the Department to actively manage funds held to
manage mitigation lands. By allowing the Department to
actively invest those funds, the bill may increase the
Department's ability to generate additional investment
returns; however the potential for increased investment
gains is offset by increased investment risk to a Department
that does not have investment expertise. The bill also
continuously appropriates those endowment funds to the
Department.
Disability payments to game wardens - unknown costs to pay
annual salary rather than disability payments to injured
game wardens. Under current law, most state employees on
short term disability leave receive 2/3 of their monthly
salary. This bill requires game wardens to receive their
full salary. The number of game wardens impacted is unknown.
In general, the bill will increase disability payments by
1/3 over current law.
Delayed loan repayment - one-time cost of $10 million from
the delay in a required repayment of a loan from the
Renewable Resources Trust Fund (General Fund) to the
Renewable Energy Resources Development Fee Trust Fund.
Background: The Department of Fish and Game is responsible for
managing the state's fish and wildlife resources. The Department
licenses hunters and anglers, enforces hunting and fishing
regulations, and manages wildlife refuges. The Department also
has enforcement authority over other environmental protection
laws, such as the Endangered Species Act.
In addition, the Fish and Game Commission has responsibilities
for adopting hunting and fishing regulations and determining
whether species should be listed as threatened or endangered
under the Endangered Species Act.
Proposed Law: AB 2402 makes a number of changes to the operation
of the Department of Fish and Game and the Fish and Game
Commission. Most of the changes made are discussed above.
AB 2402 (Huffman)
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Related Legislation: AB 2376 (Huffman, Chapter 424, Statutes of
2010) required the creation of a committee to develop a
strategic plan for the Department of Fish and Game and the Fish
and Game Commission. This bill addresses issues considered by
the committee and includes some of the recommendations included
in the final Strategic Vision Report.
Staff Comments: Under the California Endangered Species Act,
project applicants are required to mitigate any negative impacts
of their project on threatened or endangered species. Wildlife
mitigation typically entails acquiring land to replace any lost
wildlife habitat and ensuring that new habitat lands are managed
to ensure habitat values are protected. In some cases, project
applicants elect to purchase land and deed it to the Department
for permanent protection. In such cases, the project applicant
is required to also provide funding sufficient to permanently
ensure the management of the mitigation lands. The Department
holds those funds in trust, for the protection of mitigation
lands.
The bill continuously appropriates those funds and authorizes
the Department to actively invest those funds in order to
generate additional investment returns.
Given that the Department has a history of poor financial
management, it may be imprudent to give it the authority to
actively manage funds that are supposed to be held in trust.