Amended in Senate September 3, 2013

Amended in Senate June 12, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 17, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 19, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 711


Introduced by Assembly Member Rendon

(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Alejo, Gatto, and Pan)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Blumenfield, Fong, Holden, Stone, and Williams)

(Coauthor: Senator Steinberg)

February 21, 2013


An act to amend Section 3004.5 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to hunting.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 711, as amended, Rendon. Hunting: nonlead ammunition.

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Existing

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begin insert(1)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertExistingend insert law requires the Fish and Game Commission, by July 1, 2008, to establish by regulation a public process to certify centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition as nonlead ammunition, and to define by regulation nonlead ammunition as including only centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition in which there is no lead content. Existing law requires the commission to establish and annually update a list of certified centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition.

Existing law requires that nonleadbegin insert centerfire rifle and pistolend insert ammunition, as determined by the commission, be used when taking big game with a rifle or pistol, as defined by the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s hunting regulations, and when taking coyote, within specified deer hunting zones, but excluding specific counties and areas. A violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law requires the commission to establish a process, to the extent that funding is available, that will provide hunters in these specified deer hunting zones with nonlead ammunition at no or reduced charge.

This bill wouldbegin delete revise and recast these provisions to requireend deletebegin insert instead require, as soon as is practicable, but by no later than Julyend insertbegin insert 1end insertbegin insert, 2019,end insert the use of nonlead ammunition for the taking of all wildlife, including game mammals, game birds, nongame birds, and nongame mammals, with any firearm. The bill would require the commission to certify, by regulation, nonlead ammunition for these purposes. The bill would require that the list of certified ammunition include any federally approved nontoxic shotgun ammunition. The bill would make conforming changes. The bill would provide that these provisions do not apply to government officials or their agents when carrying out abegin delete mandatoryend delete statutory duty required by law.

The bill would require the commission to promulgate regulations by July 1, 2015, that phase in the requirements of these provisions. The bill would require that these requirements be fully implemented statewide by no later than July 1,begin delete 2018.end deletebegin insert 2019.end insert The bill would require the commission to implement any of these requirements that can be implemented practicably, in whole or in part, in advance of July 1,begin delete 2018.end deletebegin insert 2019.end insert The bill would also require that the commission not reduce or eliminate any existing regulatory restrictions on the use of lead ammunition in California condorbegin delete habitatend deletebegin insert range, as described,end insert unless or until the additional requirements for use of nonlead ammunition as required by these provisions are implemented.

By expanding and changing the definition of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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(2) Existing federal law restricts the importing, manufacturing, or sale of armor-piercing ammunition, as specified.

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This bill would temporarily suspend the required use of nonlead ammunition for a specific hunting season upon a finding by the Director of Fish and Wildlife that nonlead ammunition of a specific caliber is not commercially available from any manufacturer because of federal prohibitions relating to armor-piercing ammunition. The bill would require, notwithstanding a suspension, that nonlead ammunition be used when taking big game mammals, nongame birds, or nongame mammals in the California condor range.

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The

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begin insert(3)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertTheend insert California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:

3(a) California’s wildlife species represent the state’s rich natural
4resources and environmental health and beauty.

5(b) California’s wildlife species play an important role in the
6state’s environmental health.

7(c) Fifty years of researchbegin delete haveend deletebegin insert hasend insert shown that the presence of
8lead in the environment poses an ongoing threat to the health of
9the general public and the viability of the state’s wildlife species,
10including federally listed threatened and endangered species.

11(d) The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines
12lead as toxic to both humans and animals, and lead can affect
13almost every organ and system in the human body, including the
14heart, bones, intestines, kidneys, and reproductive and nervous
15systems. It interferes with the development of the nervous system
16and is therefore particularly toxic to children, causing potentially
17permanent learning and behavior disorders.

18(e) Lead is a potent neurotoxin, for which no safe exposure level
19exists for humans. The use of lead has been outlawed in and
20removed from paint, gasoline, children’s toys, and many other
21items to protect human health and wildlife.

22(f) Routes of human and wildlife exposure to lead include
23contaminated air, water, soil, and food. Lead ammunition in felled
24wildlife is often consumed by other animals and passed along the
25food chain. Dairy and beef cattle have developed lead poisoning
26 after feeding in areas where spent lead ammunition has
P4    1accumulated. Spent lead ammunition can also be mingled into
2crops, vegetation, and waterways.

3(g) Efforts to limit wildlife exposure to lead ammunition have
4been successful. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service
5banned the use of lead shot for waterfowl hunting decades ago,
6and both hunting and waterfowl have thrived since. California
7passed a successful law preventing the use of lead ammunition in
8condor habitat. However, because these restrictions only apply in
9certain areas or to the hunting of particular species, many species
10of wildlife remain threatened by the use of lead ammunition and
11more protections are needed. These successes have shown us how
12to extend protection from lead poisoning to other wildlife.

13(h) begin deleteA variety end deletebegin insertVarietiesend insertbegin insert end insertof nonlead ammunitionbegin delete isend deletebegin insert areend insert readily
14available. Studies have shown that nonlead ammunition performs
15as well as, or better than, lead-based ammunition.

16(i) Given the deleterious impacts of lead ammunition, regulations
17for the use of nonlead ammunition should be implemented as soon
18as practicable in California. The Fish and Game Commission
19should implement the requirement for the use of nonlead
20ammunition incrementally, if practicable, to provide for increasing
21protection from lead exposure until full compliance with the
22nonlead ammunition requirement is achieved.

23

SEC. 2.  

Section 3004.5 of the Fish and Game Code is amended
24to read:

25

3004.5.  

(a) begin insert(1)end insertbegin insertend insertNonleadbegin delete ammunition,end deletebegin insert centerfire rifle and pistol
26ammunition, as determined by the commission, shall be required
27when taking big game, as defined in the department’s mammal
28hunting regulations (14 Cal. Code Regs. 350), with rifle or pistol,
29and when taking coyote, within the California condor range.end insert

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30(2) For purposes of this section, “California condor range”
31means:

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32(A) The department’s deer hunting zone A South, but excluding
33Santa Cruz, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and San Joaquin
34Counties, areas west of Highway 101 within Santa Clara County,
35and areas between Highway 5 and Highway 99 within Stanislaus,
36Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern Counties.

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37(B) Areas within deer hunting zones D7, D8, D9, D10, D11,
38and D13.

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39(3) The requirements of this subdivision shall remain in effect
40in the California condor range unless and until the more restrictive
P5    1nonlead prohibitions required pursuant to subdivision (b) are
2implemented.

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3begin insert (b)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertExcept as provided in subdivision (j), and as soon as is
4practicable as implemented by the commission pursuant to
5subdivision (i), but by no later than July 1, 2019, nonlead
6ammunition,end insert
as determined by the commission, shall be required
7when taking all wildlife, including game mammals, game birds,
8nongame birds, and nongame mammals, with any firearm.

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9(b)

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10begin insert(c)end insert (1) The commission shall maintain, by regulation, a public
11process to certify ammunition as nonlead ammunition, and shall
12define, by regulation, nonlead ammunition as including only
13ammunition in which there is no leadbegin delete content.end deletebegin insert content, excluding
14the presence of trace amounts of lead.end insert
The commission shall
15establish and annually update a list of certified ammunition.

16(2) The list of certified ammunition shall include, but not be
17limited to, any federally approved nontoxic shotgun ammunition.

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18(c)

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19begin insert(d)end insert (1) To the extent that funding is available, the commission
20shall establish a process that will provide hunters with nonlead
21ammunition at no or reduced charge. The process shall provide
22that the offer for nonlead ammunition at no or reduced charge may
23be redeemed through a coupon sent to a permitholder with the
24appropriate permit tag. If available funding is not sufficient to
25provide nonlead ammunition at no charge, the commission shall
26set the value of the reduced charge coupon at the maximum value
27possible through available funding, up to the average cost within
28this state for nonlead ammunition, as determined by the
29commission.

30(2) The nonlead ammunition coupon program described in
31paragraph (1) shall be implemented only to the extent that sufficient
32funding, as determined by the Department of Finance, is obtained
33from local, federal, public, or other nonstate sources in order to
34implement the program.

35(3) If the nonlead ammunition coupon program is implemented,
36the commission shall issue a report on the usage and redemption
37rates of ammunition coupons. The report shall cover calendar years
382008, 2009, and 2012. Each report shall be issued by June of the
39following year.

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40(d)

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P6    1begin insert(e)end insert The commission shall issue a report on the levels of lead
2found in California condors. This report shall cover calendar years
32008, 2009, and 2012. Each report shall be issued by June of the
4following year.

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5(e)

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6begin insert(f)end insert The department shall notify those hunters who may be
7affected by this section.

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8(f)

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9begin insert(g)end insert A person who violates any provision of this section is guilty
10of an infraction punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars ($500).
11 A second or subsequent offense shall be punishable by a fine of
12not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more than five
13thousand dollars ($5,000).

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14(g)

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15begin insert(h)end insert This section does not apply to government officials or their
16agents when carrying out abegin delete mandatoryend delete statutory duty required by
17law.

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18(h)

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19begin insert(i)end insert The commission shall promulgate regulations by July 1,
202015, that phase in the requirements of this section. The
21requirements of this section shall be fully implemented statewide
22by no later than July 1,begin delete 2018.end deletebegin insert 2019.end insert If any of the requirements of
23this section can be implemented practicably, in whole or in part,
24in advance of July 1,begin delete 2018,end deletebegin insert 2019,end insert the commission shall implement
25those requirements. The commission shall not reduce or eliminate
26any existing regulatory restrictions on the use of lead ammunition
27in California condorbegin delete habitatend deletebegin insert rangeend insert unless or until the additional
28requirements for use of nonlead ammunition as required by this
29section are implemented.

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30(j) (1) The prohibition in subdivision (b) shall be temporarily
31suspended for a specific hunting season upon a finding by the
32director that nonlead ammunition of a specific caliber is not
33commercially available from any manufacturer because of federal
34prohibitions relating to armor-piercing ammunition pursuant to
35Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the United
36States Code.

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37(2) Notwithstanding a suspension pursuant to paragraph (1),
38nonlead ammunition shall be used when taking big game mammals,
39nongame birds, or nongame mammals in the California condor
40range, as defined in subdivision (a).

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P7    1

SEC. 3.  

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
2Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
3the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
4district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
5infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
6for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
7the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
8the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
9Constitution.



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