BILL NUMBER: AB 395	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gallagher

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2015

   An act to amend Section 3004.5 of the Fish and Game Code, relating
to hunting.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 395, as introduced, Gallagher. Hunting: nonlead ammunition.
   Existing law requires the use of nonlead centerfire rifle and
pistol ammunition, as determined by the Fish and Game Commission, to
be required when taking big game with a rifle or pistol, and when
taking coyote, within the California condor range. Existing law
further requires, as soon as is practicable, but by no later than
July 1, 2019, the use of nonlead ammunition for the taking of all
wildlife, including game mammals, game birds, nongame birds, and
nongame mammals, with any firearm, and requires the commission to
promulgate regulations by July 1, 2015, that phase in the
requirements of these provisions.
   This bill would repeal the latter restriction against the use of
nonlead ammunition for the taking of all wildlife and related
provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 3004.5 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to
read:
   3004.5.  (a) (1) Nonlead centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition,
as determined by the commission, shall be required when taking big
game, as defined in the department's mammal hunting regulations (14
Cal. Code Regs. 350), with  a  rifle or pistol, and when
taking coyote, within the California condor range.
   (2) For purposes of this section, "California condor range" means:

   (A) The department's deer hunting zone A South, but excluding
Santa Cruz, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and San Joaquin
Counties, areas west of Highway 101 within Santa Clara County, and
areas between Highway 5 and Highway 99 within Stanislaus, Merced,
Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern Counties.
   (B) Areas within deer hunting zones D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, and D13.

   (3) The requirements of this subdivision shall remain in effect in
the California condor range unless and until the more restrictive
nonlead prohibitions required pursuant to subdivision (b) are
implemented.  
   (b) Except as provided in subdivision (j), and as soon as is
practicable as implemented by the commission pursuant to subdivision
(i), but by no later than July 1, 2019, nonlead ammunition, as
determined by the commission, shall be required when taking all
wildlife, including game mammals, game birds, nongame birds, and
nongame mammals, with any firearm.  
   (c) 
    (b)  (1) The commission shall maintain, by regulation, a
public process to certify ammunition as nonlead ammunition, and
shall define, by regulation, nonlead ammunition as including only
ammunition in which there is no lead content, excluding the presence
of trace amounts of lead. The commission shall establish and annually
update a list of certified ammunition.
   (2) The list of certified ammunition shall include, but not be
limited to, any federally approved nontoxic shotgun ammunition.

   (d) 
    (c)  (1) To the extent that funding is available, the
commission shall establish a process that will provide hunters with
nonlead ammunition at no or reduced charge. The process shall provide
that the offer for nonlead ammunition at no or reduced charge may be
redeemed through a coupon sent to a permitholder with the
appropriate permit tag. If available funding is not sufficient to
provide nonlead ammunition at no charge, the commission shall set the
value of the reduced charge coupon at the maximum value possible
through available funding, up to the average cost within this state
for nonlead ammunition, as determined by the commission.
   (2) The nonlead ammunition coupon program described in paragraph
(1) shall be implemented only to the extent that sufficient funding,
as determined by the Department of Finance, is obtained from local,
federal, public, or other nonstate sources in order to implement the
program.
   (3) If the nonlead ammunition coupon program is implemented, the
commission shall issue a report on the usage and redemption rates of
ammunition coupons. The report shall cover calendar years 2008, 2009,
and 2012. Each report shall be issued by June of the following year.

   (e) 
    (d)  The commission shall issue a report on the levels
of lead found in California condors. This report shall cover calendar
years 2008, 2009, and 2012. Each report shall be issued by June of
the following year. 
   (f) 
    (e)  The department shall notify those hunters who may
be affected by this section. 
   (g) 
    (f)  A person who violates any provision of this section
is guilty of an infraction punishable by a fine of five hundred
dollars ($500). A second or subsequent offense shall be punishable by
a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more than
five thousand dollars ($5,000). 
   (h) 
    (g)  This section does not apply to government officials
or their agents when carrying out a statutory duty required by law.

   (i) The commission shall promulgate regulations by July 1, 2015,
that phase in the requirements of this section. The requirements of
this section shall be fully implemented statewide by no later than
July 1, 2019. If any of the requirements of this section can be
implemented practicably, in whole or in part, in advance of July 1,
2019, the commission shall implement those requirements. The
commission shall not reduce or eliminate any existing regulatory
restrictions on the use of lead ammunition in California condor range
unless or until the additional requirements for use of nonlead
ammunition as required by this section are implemented. 

   (j) (1) The prohibition in subdivision (b) shall be temporarily
suspended for a specific hunting season and caliber upon a finding by
the director that nonlead ammunition of a specific caliber is not
commercially available from any manufacturer because of federal
prohibitions relating to armor-piercing ammunition pursuant to
Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the United
States Code.  
   (2) Notwithstanding a suspension pursuant to paragraph (1),
nonlead ammunition shall be used when taking big game mammals,
nongame birds, or nongame mammals in the California condor range, as
defined in subdivision (a).