AB 353, as amended, Lackey. Protected species: take: Bouquet Canyon: habitat restoration project.
Existing law prohibits the taking or possession of any fully protected fish, except as 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.
This bill wouldbegin delete requireend deletebegin insert permitend insert 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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
begin insertThe Legislature finds and declares that the
2environmental degradation of Bouquet Creek in Bouquet Canyon
3caused by a devastating wildfire in 2002 and the historic floods
4in the winter of 2004end insertbegin insert-05 has severely impacted the habitat of the
5unarmored threespine stickleback. In order to restore the
6environment for this fully protected species, the Los Angeles County
7Department of Public Works, the Los Angeles Department of Water
8and Power, and the United States Department of Agriculture,
9Forest Service, must
be authorized to take the unarmored
10threespine stickleback to complete their environmental restoration
11project on Bouquet Creek in Bouquet Canyon. end insert
Section 2081.6 is added to the Fish and Game Code,
14to read:
The departmentbegin delete shallend deletebegin insert mayend insert authorize, under this chapter,
16the take of the unarmored threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus
17aculeatus williamsoni) resulting from impacts attributable to the
18habitat restoration project to restore and improve riparian habitat
19on public lands in the Bouquet Canyon area, and projects to restore
20the flow capacity to Bouquet Creek in Bouquet Canyon on public
21lands, undertaken by the Los Angeles County Department of Public
22Works, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and the
23United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, if all of
24the
following conditions are satisfied:
25(a) The department has determined that the appropriate
26agreements have been executed to address environmental impacts
27at the Bouquet Canyon area, including, but not limited to, Bouquet
28Creek.
29(b) The requirements of subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 2081
30are satisfied for the take of the unarmored threespine stickleback.
31(c) The take authorization provides for the development and
32implementation, in cooperation with federal and state agencies, of
33an adaptive management process for monitoring the effectiveness
34of, and adjusting, as necessary, the measures to minimize and fully
35mitigate the impacts of the authorized take. The adjusted measures
36are subject to Section 2052.1.
37(d) The take authorization provides for the development and
38implementation, in cooperation with state and federal agencies, of
P3 1an adaptive management process that substantially contributes to
2the long-term conservation of the unarmored threespine stickleback.
Section 5515 of the Fish and Game Code is amended
5to read:
(a) (1) Except as provided in Section 2081.6, 2081.7,
7or 2835, fully protected fish or parts thereof may not be taken or
8possessed at any time. No provision of this code or any other law
9shall be construed to authorize the issuance of permits or licenses
10to take any fully protected fish, and no permits or licenses
11heretofore issued shall have any force or effect for that purpose.
12However, the department may authorize the taking of those species
13for necessary scientific research, including efforts to recover fully
14protected, threatened, or endangered species. Before authorizing
15the take of any of those species, the department shall make an
16effort to notify all affected and interested parties to solicit
17information and comments
on the proposed authorization. The
18notification shall be published in the California Regulatory Notice
19Register and be made available to each person who has notified
20the department, in writing, of his or her interest in fully protected
21species and who has provided an e-mail address, if available, or
22postal address to the department. Affected and interested parties
23shall have 30 days after notification is published in the California
24Regulatory Notice Register to provide any relevant information
25and comments on the proposed authorization.
26(2) As used in this subdivision, “scientific research” does not
27include any actions taken as part of specified mitigation for a
28project, as defined in Section 21065 of the Public Resources Code.
29(3) Legally imported fully protected fish or parts thereof
may
30be possessed under a permit issued by the department.
31(b) The following are fully protected fish:
32(1) Colorado River squawfish (Ptychocheilus lucius).
33(2) Thicktail chub (Gila crassicauda).
34(3) Mohave chub (Gila mohavensis).
35(4) Lost River sucker (Catostomus luxatus).
36(5) Modoc sucker (Catostomus microps).
37(6) Shortnose sucker (Chasmistes brevirostris).
38(7) Humpback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus).
39(8) Owens River pupfish (Cyprinoden radiosus).
P4 1(9) Unarmored threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus
2williamsoni).
3(10) Rough sculpin (Cottus asperrimus).
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