BILL NUMBER: AB 789	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 21, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Williams
    (   Coauthor:   Assembly Member  
Maienschein   )
    (   Coauthor:   Senator   Hill
  ) 

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2013

   An act to amend Section 4004 of the Fish and Game Code, relating
to trapping.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 789, as amended, Williams. Trapping.
   Existing law, except as expressly provided, makes any violation of
the Fish and Game Code, or any rule, regulation, or order made or
adopted under that code, a misdemeanor. Existing law makes certain
actions relating to trapping unlawful.
   The bill  also   would revise a prohibition
on using a specific type of trap, and  would make it unlawful to
kill any trapped mammal by listed methods. By specifying these new
Fish and Game Code violations, thereby defining new crimes, this bill
would impose a state-mandated local program.
     The 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:

  SECTION 1.  Section 4004 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to
read:
   4004.  It is unlawful to do any of the following:
   (a) Use a trap with saw-toothed or spiked jaws.
   (b) Use or sell leghold steel-jawed traps with a spread of 51/2
inches or larger without offset jaws.
   (c) Use steel-jawed traps larger than size 11/2 or with a spread
larger than 47/8 inches for taking muskrat.
   (d) Set or maintain traps which do not bear a number or other
identifying mark registered to the department or, in the case of a
federal, state, county, or city agency, bear the name of that agency,
except that traps set pursuant to Section 4152 or 4180 shall bear an
identifying mark in a manner specified by the department. No
registration fee shall be charged pursuant to this subdivision.
   (e) Fail to visit and remove all animals from traps at least once
daily. If the trapping is done pursuant to Section 4152 or 4180, the
inspection and removal shall be done by the person who sets the trap
or the owner of the land where the trap is set or an agent of either.

   (f) (1) Use a steel leghold trap with a spread exceeding 71/2
inches or conibear  killer-type  trap that is larger
than 6 inches by 6 inches, unless partially or wholly submerged in
water. Unless prohibited by the department as a permit condition, a
lawfully set conibear  killer-type  trap that is 10
inches by 10 inches or less may be set in a managed wetland area.
   (2)  Any killer-type   When any conibear
 trap  is  set on publicly owned land or land expressly
open to public use  , there  shall be  a sign 
posted  with a sign  containing the following
language in lettering that is a minimum of three inches high and
visible from a distance of 100 feet: Danger! Keep Dogs Out! Lethal
Traps Set for Wildlife.
   (g) Set or maintain steel leghold traps within 30 feet of bait
placed in a manner or position so that it may be seen by any soaring
bird. As used in this subdivision, "bait" includes any bait composed
of mammal, bird, or fish flesh, fur, hide, entrails, or feathers.
   (h) Set or maintain steel leghold traps with a spread of 51/2
inches or larger without a tension device.
   (i) Kill any trapped mammal in accordance with this section by
intentional drowning, injection with any chemical not sold for the
purpose of euthanizing animals, or thoracic compression, commonly
known as chest crushing. This subdivision shall not be construed to
prohibit the use of lawfully set conibear traps set partially or
wholly submerged in water or set in a managed wetland habitat area
for beaver or muskrat or the use of lawfully set colony traps set in
water for muskrat.
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.