BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 392|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 392
Author: Berryhill (R)
Amended: 8/5/13
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/23/13
AYES: Pavley, Cannella, Evans, Fuller, Hueso, Lara, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Jackson, Monning
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR : 39-0, 5/28/13
AYES: Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Calderon, Cannella,
Corbett, Correa, De León, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Evans, Fuller,
Gaines, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff,
Jackson, Knight, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Nielsen,
Padilla, Pavley, Price, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Walters,
Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 8/30/13 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Fish and Game Code: game birds and waterfowl
SOURCE : California Waterfowl Association
DIGEST : This bill requires the Fish and Game Commission (FGC)
to recommend legislation or adopt regulations clarifying when a
possession limit is not violated by processing lawfully taken
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game birds or mammals into food, and makes a violation of the
possession limits subject to punishment as either a misdemeanor
or an infraction.
Assembly Amendments clarify when a possession limit is not
violated by processing into food lawfully taken game birds or
mammals, and make other clarifying and technical changes.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Makes it unlawful to take animals outside of established
seasons or to exceed bag limits or possession limits
established in the Fish and Game Code or through regulations
adopted by the FGC. Bag limits are defined as the maximum
limit, in number and amount, of an animal that can be lawfully
taken by any one person during a specified period of time.
Possession limits are defined as the maximum, in number and
amount, of an animal that may lawfully be possessed by one
person.
2.Allows up to the possession limit of any game bird or mammal
to be possessed outside the open hunting or fishing season if
the person possessing the animals has a valid hunting license
and required tags, or if the person received the game bird or
mammal as a donation from another licensed hunter and has a
copy of the donor's hunting license and required tags.
Similarly, allows a donor intermediary to receive game birds
or mammals from a donor to give to a charitable entity,
provided that the donor intermediary possessing the animals
outside the open season has documentation of the
hunter/donor's license and tag information. Any charitable
organization receiving the donated game meat must maintain the
documentation provided for one year.
3.Makes violation of regulatory requirements prohibiting the
possession of any birds taken in this state in excess of the
daily bag and possession limits subject to punishment as a
misdemeanor. Provides exceptions from the prohibition for the
purpose of transporting, cleaning and storage, in which case
an individual may possess game birds taken by another hunter
provided that they are tagged by the hunter who has lawfully
taken them. Requires the tag to contain specified information
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including the hunter's name, address, hunting license number,
kinds and numbers of birds taken, the date and location of the
kill, and signature.
This bill:
1.Requires the FGC, on or before January 1, 2015, to recommend
legislation or adopt regulations to clarify when a possession
limit is not violated by processing into food lawfully taken
game birds or mammals.
2.Makes a violation of regulatory requirements prohibiting the
possession of birds taken in excess of daily bag and
possession limits subject to punishment as either a
misdemeanor or an infraction.
Background
For game birds and ducks, a bag limit is a daily maximum of
birds that a hunter may take in one day. A possession limit
exceeds the bag limit and refers to the number of birds that may
be possessed. Bag limits and possession limits for migratory
bird and duck species are recommended to the FGC by federal
wildlife agencies. Although based on geographic zones
throughout the state, it is common for daily duck limits to be
seven birds and for the limit on geese to be six or eight. As a
general rule, the possession limit is double the bag limit, as
established by regulations of the FGC.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/30/13)
California Waterfowl Association (source)
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/30/13)
Public Interest Coalition
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Supporters of this bill believe it will
help provide needed clarity to hunters regarding application of
possession limits to processed game meat. The ability to cite a
violation of the possession limit as either a misdemeanor or an
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infraction will allow for flexibility in enforcing tag labeling
violations that can be confusing for apprentice hunters.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Public Interest Coalition
expresses concern that this bill would allow hunters to
disregard possession limits and maintain freezers full of game
meat, making it difficult for game wardens to determine if the
animals were lawfully taken. They also assert that rather than
making violations of rules regarding possession limits subject
to prosecution as either a misdemeanor or an infraction, the
penalties should be more severe and subject instead to
prosecution as an automatic misdemeanor, elevated to a potential
felony for repeat offenders. The opponent also raises additional
objections to prior provisions of this bill that have been
deleted, and to provisions of existing law.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 08/30/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson,
Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski,
Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy, Vacancy
RM:nl 8/30/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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