Amended in Senate September 3, 2015

Amended in Senate August 18, 2015

Amended in Senate July 16, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 22, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 353

Introduced by Assembly Member Lackey

(Principal coauthor: Senator Runner)

February 17, 2015

An act to amend Section 5515 of, and to add Section 2081.6 to, the Fish and Game Code, relating to fish, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

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 would permit 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, maintain, and improve riparian habitat on public lands in begin delete the Bouquet Canyon area, end delete begin insert a prescribed portion of Bouquet Creek end insert and projects to restore the flow capacity to Bouquet Creek in Bouquet Canyon on public lands, as specified, if certain conditions are satisfied.

This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 5515 of the Fish and Game Code, proposed by AB 1527, to be operative only if AB 1527 and this bill are chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2016, and this bill is chaptered last.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Vote: ²⁄₃. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares that the
environmental degradation of Bouquet Creek in Bouquet Canyon
caused by a devastating wildfire in 2002 and the historic floods in
the winter of 2004-05 has severely impacted the habitat of the
unarmored threespine stickleback. In order to restore the
environment for this fully protected species, 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, must be authorized to take the
unarmored threespine stickleback to complete their environmental
restoration project on Bouquet Creek in Bouquet Canyon.

SEC. 2.  

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

2081.6.  

(a) The department may 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, maintain, and improve riparian
habitat on public lands in the begin delete Bouquet Canyon area, end delete begin insert geographic
area defined in paragraph (1) end insert 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:

(1) The take authorization is limited to the portion of Bouquet
Creek located from begin delete the outlet of Bouquet Reservoir to the boundary
of the Los Angeles National Forest. end delete begin insert a position normal to mile
marker 8.3 on Bouquet Canyon Road to a position normal to mile
marker 16.3 on Bouquet Canyon Road, inclusive. end insert

(2) 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.

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

(4) The department ensures that all further measures necessary
to satisfy the conservation standard of subdivision (d) of Section
2805 are incorporated into the projects.

(5) A biologist will be on duty whenever an activity is conducted
that may affect the unarmored threespine stickleback.

(6) The take authorization provides for begin delete a monitoring program
and for end delete the development and implementation, in cooperation with
federal and state agencies, of begin insert a monitoring program and end insert an
adaptive management process begin insert that satisfy the conservation
standard of subdivision (d) of Section 2805 end insert for monitoring the
effectiveness of, and adjusting, as necessary, the measures to
minimize and fully mitigate the impacts of the authorized take.

(7) 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.

(b) This section shall not be construed to exempt the projects
described in subdivision (a) from any other law.

(c) This section shall not be construed to affect the contractual
obligations of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
to provide water from Bouquet Reservoir.

SEC. 3.  

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

5515.  

(a) (1) Except as provided in Section 2081.6, 2081.7,
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 email 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).

SEC. 3.5.  

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

5515.  

(a) (1) Except as provided in this section, Section
2081.6, Section 2081.7, or Section 2835, a fully protected fish 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 a
permit or license to take a fully protected fish, and no permit or
license previously issued shall have force or effect for that purpose.
However, the department may authorize the taking of a fully
protected fish for necessary scientific research, including efforts
to recover fully protected, threatened, or endangered species.
Before authorizing the take of a fully protected fish, 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 email 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 relevant
information and comments on the proposed authorization.

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

(3) A legally imported fully protected fish 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).

SEC. 4.  

Section 3.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to
Section 5515 of the Fish and Game Code proposed by both this
bill and Assembly Bill 1527. It shall only become operative if (1)
both bills are enacted and become effective on or before January
1, 2016, but this bill becomes operative first, (2) each bill amends
Section 5515 of the Fish and Game Code, and (3) this bill is
enacted after Assembly Bill 1527, in which case Section 5515 of
the Fish and Game Code, as amended by Section 3 of this bill,
shall remain operative only until the operative date of Assembly
Bill 1527, at which time Section 3.5 of this bill shall become
operative.

SEC. 5.  

This act is an urgency statute necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within
the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into
immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

In order for the unarmored threespine stickleback habitat
restoration project begin delete in end delete begin insert on end insert Bouquet begin delete Canyon end delete Creek begin insert in Bouquet Canyon end insert
proposed by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works
to receive a take permit from the Department of Fish and Wildlife
so that this project may begin as soon as possible, it is necessary
for this act to take effect immediately.