BILL NUMBER: SB 132	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 24, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 24, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 10, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hill
   (Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Gordon and Mullin)

                        JANUARY 25, 2013

   An act to add Section 4801.5 to the Fish and Game Code, relating
to mountain lions.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 132, as amended, Hill. Mountain lions.
   Proposition 117, an initiative measure approved by the voters at
the June 5, 1990, statewide direct primary election, enacted the
California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990. The act establishes that
the mountain lion is a specially protected mammal under the laws of
this state, and makes it unlawful to take, injure, possess,
transport, import, or sell any mountain lion or any part or product
thereof. The act authorizes the Department of Fish and Wildlife, or a
specified appropriate local agency authorized by the department, to
remove or take any mountain lion that is perceived to be an imminent
threat to public health or safety or that is perceived by the
department to be an imminent threat to the survival of certain sheep
species. Under the act, mountain lions that are authorized to be
taken are required to be taken by the most effective means available,
except a taking by certain designated means is prohibited.
    This bill would require nonlethal procedures, as defined, to be
used when removing or taking any mountain lion that has not been
designated as an imminent threat to public health or safety, as
defined. The bill would authorize the department  or an
appropriate local agency to partner with   , as the
department determines is necessary to protect mountain lions or the
public, to authorize  qualified individuals, educational
institutions, governmental agencies, or nongovernmental organizations
to implement nonlethal procedures.
    The California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990 prohibits the
Legislature from changing the act, with specified exceptions, except
by a 4/5 vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature and
then only if consistent with, and in furtherance of, the purposes of
the act.
   This bill would declare that it is consistent with, and furthers
the purposes of, that act.
   Vote: 4/5. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 4801.5 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to
read:
   4801.5.  (a) Unless authorized in this  section 
 chapter  , nonlethal procedures shall be used when removing
or taking any mountain lion that has not been designated as an
imminent threat to public health or safety.
   (b) For purposes of this  section   chapter
 , "imminent threat to public health or safety" means a
situation where a mountain lion exhibits one or more aggressive
behaviors directed toward a person that is not reasonably believed to
be due to the presence of responders.
   (c) For purposes of this  section   chapter
 , "nonlethal procedures" means procedures that may include, but
are not limited to, capturing, pursuing, anesthetizing, temporarily
possessing, temporarily injuring, marking, attaching to or surgically
implanting monitoring or recognition devices, providing veterinary
care, transporting, hazing, rehabilitating, releasing, or taking no
action.
   (d) The  department, or an appropriate local agency with
public safety responsibility authorized by the department, may
partner with   department may, as the department
determines is necessary to protect mountain lions or the public,
authorize  qualified individuals, educational institutions,
governmental agencies, or nongovernmental organizations to implement
nonlethal procedures on a mountain lion in accordance with
subdivision (a).
  SEC. 2.  The Legislature finds and declares that the provisions of
this act are consistent with, and further the purposes of, the
California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990.