Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 353

Introduced by Assembly Member Lackey

February 17, 2015

An act to amend Section 5515 of begin insert , and to add Section 2081.6 to, end insert the Fish and Game Code, relating to fish.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 353, as amended, Lackey. begin delete Fish: fully protected species: taking or possession. end delete begin insert Protected species: take: Bouquet Canyon: habitat restoration project. end insert

Existing law prohibits the taking or possession of any fully protected fish, except as begin delete provided. Under existing law, the Department of Fish and Wildlife is authorized to permit the taking of those species for necessary scientific research, including efforts to recover fully protected, threatened, or endangered species. end delete begin insert provided, and designates the unarmored threespine stickleback as a fully protected fish. The California Endangered Species Act prohibits the taking of an endangered or threatened species, except as specified. The Department of Fish and Wildlife may authorize the take of listed species if the take is incidental to an otherwise lawful activity and the impacts are minimized and fully mitigated. end insert

This bill would begin delete make a nonsubstantive change to those provisions. end delete begin insert require the department to authorize, under the California Endangered Species Act, the take of the unarmored threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus williamsoni) resulting from impacts attributable to the habitat restoration project to restore and improve riparian habitat on public lands in the Bouquet Canyon area, and projects to restore the flow capacity to Bouquet Creek in Bouquet Canyon on public lands, as specified, if certain conditions are satisfied. end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

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

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 2081.6 is added to the end insert begin insert Fish and Game
Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 2081.6. end insert   

The department shall authorize, under this chapter,
the take of the unarmored threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus
aculeatus williamsoni) resulting from impacts attributable to the
habitat restoration project to restore and improve riparian habitat
on public lands in the Bouquet Canyon area, and projects to restore
the flow capacity to Bouquet Creek in Bouquet Canyon on public
lands, undertaken by the Los Angeles County Department of Public
Works, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and the
United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, if all of
the following conditions are satisfied:

(a) The department has determined that the appropriate
agreements have been executed to address environmental impacts
at the Bouquet Canyon area, including, but not limited to, Bouquet
Creek.

(b) The requirements of subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 2081
are satisfied for the take of the unarmored threespine stickleback.

(c) The take authorization provides for the development and
implementation, in cooperation with federal and state agencies,
of an adaptive management process for monitoring the effectiveness
of, and adjusting, as necessary, the measures to minimize and fully
mitigate the impacts of the authorized take. The adjusted measures
are subject to Section 2052.1.

(d) The take authorization provides for the development and
implementation, in cooperation with state and federal agencies,
of an adaptive management process that substantially contributes
to the long-term conservation of the unarmored threespine
stickleback.

end insert

begin delete SECTION 1. end delete
begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

Section 5515 of the Fish and Game Code is amended
to read:

5515.  

(a) (1) Except as provided in Section begin insert 2081.6, end insert 2081.7 begin insert , end insert
or 2835, fully protected fish or parts thereof may not be taken or
possessed at any time. No provision of this code or any other law
shall be construed to authorize the issuance of permits or licenses
to take any fully protected fish, and no permits or licenses
heretofore issued shall have any force or effect for that purpose.
However, the department may authorize the taking of those species
for necessary scientific research, including efforts to recover fully
protected, threatened, or endangered species. Before authorizing
the take of any of those species, the department shall make an
effort to notify all affected and interested parties to solicit
information and comments on the proposed authorization. The
notification shall be published in the California Regulatory Notice
Register and be made available to each person who has notified
the department, in writing, of his or her interest in fully protected
species and who has provided an e-mail address, if available, or
postal address to the department. Affected and interested parties
shall have 30 days after notification is published in the California
Regulatory Notice Register to provide any relevant information
and comments on the proposed authorization.

(2) As used in this subdivision, “scientific research” does not
include any actions taken as part of specified mitigation for a
project, as defined in Section 21065 of the Public Resources Code.

(3) Legally imported fully protected fish or parts thereof may
be possessed under a permit issued by the department.

(b) The following are fully protected fish:

(1) Colorado River squawfish (Ptychocheilus lucius).

(2) Thicktail chub (Gila crassicauda).

(3) Mohave chub (Gila mohavensis).

(4) Lost River sucker (Catostomus luxatus).

(5) Modoc sucker (Catostomus microps).

(6) Shortnose sucker (Chasmistes brevirostris).

(7) Humpback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus).

(8) Owens River pupfish (Cyprinoden radiosus).

(9) Unarmored threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus
williamsoni).

(10) Rough sculpin (Cottus asperrimus).