Amended in Assembly April 28, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 8, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 498

Introduced by Assembly Member Levine

February 23, 2015

An act to amend Sections begin delete 1930 end delete begin insert 1797.5, 1930, end insert and 1930.5 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to fish and wildlife.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 498, as amended, Levine. Wildlife conservation: wildlife corridors.

Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to administer the Significant Natural Areas Program, and requires the department, among other things, to develop and maintain a spatial data system that identifies those areas in the state that are most essential for maintaining habitat connectivity, including wildlife corridors and habitat linkages. Existing law requires the department, contingent upon the provision of certain funding, to investigate, study, and identify those areas in the state that are most essential as wildlife corridors and habitat linkages and prioritize vegetative data development in those areas. Existing law requires the department to seek input from representatives of other state agencies, local government, federal agencies, nongovernmental conservation organizations, landowners, agriculture, recreation, scientific entities, and industry in determining essential wildlife corridors and habitat linkages.

This bill would declare that it is the policy of the begin delete state and all state agencies, end delete begin insert state, end insert with regard to a project proposed in an area identified as a wildlife corridor, to encourage the project proponent to consult with the department, and, wherever feasible and practicable, take begin insert voluntary end insert steps to promote, protect, or restore the functioning of the wildlife corridor through various means, as applicable.

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Existing law provides for the establishment of conservation banks, defined as publicly or privately owned and operated sites that are to be conserved and managed for habitat protection purposes in accordance with an agreement with the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Existing law provides for the issuance of credits by a conservation bank to, among other things, reduce adverse impacts to fish or wildlife resources from certain activities.

end insert begin insert

This bill would include within the authorized purposes of a conservation bank the maximization of habitat connectivity for fish and wildlife resources.

end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 1797.5 of the end insert begin insert Fish and Game Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

1797.5.  

For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms
shall have the following meanings:

(a) “Bank” means a conservation bank, mitigation bank, or
conservation and mitigation bank.

(b) “Bank enabling instrument” means a written agreement with
the department regarding the establishment, use, operation, and
maintenance of the bank.

(c) “Bank sponsor” means the person or entity responsible for
establishing and operating a bank.

(d) “Conservation bank” means a publicly or privately owned
and operated site that is to be conserved and managed in accordance
with a written agreement with the department that includes
provisions for the issuance of credits, on which important habitat,
including habitat for threatened, endangered, or other special status
species, exists, has been, or will be created to do any of the
following:

(1) Compensate for take or other adverse impacts of activities
authorized pursuant to Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section
2050) of Division 3.

(2) Reduce adverse impacts to fish or wildlife resources from
activities, authorized pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with
Section 1600) of Division 2, to less than substantial.

(3) Mitigate significant effects on the environment pursuant to
the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code)
and Guidelines for Implementation of the California Environmental
Quality Act (Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 15000) of
Division 6 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations).

(4) Establish mitigation in advance of any impacts or effects.

begin insert

(5) To the extent practicable, maximize habitat connectivity for
the affected fish and wildlife resources.

end insert

(e) “Conservation easement” means a perpetual conservation
easement, as defined by Section 815.1 of the Civil Code, covering
the real property that comprises the bank site.

(f) “Mitigation bank” means either of the following:

(1) A bank site or mitigation bank site as defined by Section
1777.2.

(2) Any publicly or privately owned and operated site, other
than those defined by Section 1777.2, on which wetlands exist,
have been, or will be created, and that is to be conserved and
managed in accordance with a written agreement with the
department for any of the purposes described in paragraphs (1) to
(4), inclusive, of subdivision (d).

(g) “Person” has the meaning set forth in subdivision (b) of
Section 711.2.

(h) “Prospectus” means a written summary of the proposed bank
containing a sufficient level of detail to support informed
department review and comment.

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

Section 1930 of the Fish and Game Code is amended
to read:

1930.  

The Legislature finds and declares that:

(a) Areas containing diverse ecological and geological
characteristics are vital to the continual health and well being of
the state’s natural resources and of its citizens.

(b) Many habitats and ecosystems that constitute the state’s
natural diversity are in danger of being lost.

(c) Connectivity between wildlife habitats is important to the
long-term viability of the state’s biodiversity.

(d) Preserving, restoring, and connecting high-quality habitat
for wildlife can create habitat strongholds.

(e) Increasingly fragmented habitats threaten the state’s wildlife
species.

(f) There is begin delete insufficient end delete begin insert an opportunity to provide end insert incentive for
private landowners to maintain and perpetuate significant local
natural areas in their natural state.

(g) Efforts to preserve natural areas have been fragmented
between federal, state, local, and private sectors.

(h) Analysis of the state’s habitat connectivity benefits from the
consideration of all relevant data, including information from
private and public landowners.

(i) The department’s existing mapping activities and products
should be developed and sustained.

(j) The importance of wildlife corridors to assist in adapting to
climate change has been recognized by such groups as the Western
Governor’s Association, which unanimously approved a policy to
protect wildlife migration corridors and crucial wildlife habitat in
2007. Individual local, state, and federal agencies have also adopted
policies aimed at protecting wildlife corridors and restoring habitat
connectivity, in order to protect ecosystem health and biodiversity
and to improve the resiliency of wildlife and their habitats to
climate change. However, these efforts could be enhanced through
establishment of a statewide policy to protect and restore important
wildlife corridors and habitat linkages where feasible.

begin delete SEC. 2. end delete
begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

Section 1930.5 of the Fish and Game Code is amended
to read:

1930.5.  

(a) Contingent upon funding being provided by the
Wildlife Conservation Board from moneys available pursuant to
Section 75055 of the Public Resources Code, or from other
appropriate bond funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the
department shall investigate, study, and identify those areas in the
state that are most essential as wildlife corridors and habitat
linkages, as well as the impacts to those wildlife corridors from
climate change, and shall prioritize vegetative data development
in these areas.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Wildlife
Conservation Board use various funds to work with the department
to complete a statewide analysis of wildlife corridors and
connectivity to support conservation planning and climate change
adaptation activities.

(c) It is the policy of the state to promote the begin insert voluntary end insert
protection of wildlife begin delete corridors, end delete begin insert corridors and end insert habitat begin delete strongholds,
and habitat linkages end delete begin insert strongholds end insert in order to enhance the resiliency
of wildlife and their habitats to climate change, protect biodiversity,
and allow for the migration and movement of species by providing
connectivity between habitat lands. In order to further these goals,
it is the policy of the begin delete state and all state agencies, end delete begin insert state, end insert with regard
to a project proposed in an area identified as a wildlife corridor,
to encourage the project proponent to consult with the department,
and, wherever feasible and practicable, take begin insert voluntary end insert steps to
promote, protect, or restore the functioning of the wildlife corridor
through various means, as applicable. Those means may include,
but are not necessarily limited to, acquisition or protection of
wildlife corridors as open space through conservation easements,
installing of wildlife-friendly fencing, and provision of roadway
undercrossings and oversized culverts and bridges to allow for
movement of wildlife between habitat areas, as applicable.

begin delete

(d) In adopting the policy described in subdivision (c), it is not
the intent of the Legislature to create new regulatory requirements.
The

end delete begin insert

(d) It is further the intent of the Legislature that state agencies
and other conservation planners be encouraged to access publicly
available database tools developed by the department and other
conservation partners to support and assist conservation planning
and facilitate identification, mapping, and prioritization of wildlife
corridors and other habitat connectivity linkages. Those tools shall
include, but need not be limited to, the statewide California
Essential Habitat Connectivity Project and other more fine-scale
regional wildlife connectivity analyses, as those guidance tools
are developed and refined and made publicly available through
the department’s Internet Web site.

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begin insert (e) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The end insert Legislature finds and declares that there are a number
of existing programs, including, but not necessarily limited to,
programs involving working landscapes, such as begin delete timberlands end delete
begin insert timberlands, agricultural lands, end insert and rangelands, that are already
working to achieve the policy described in subdivision (c).

begin insert

(f) Subdivision (c) shall not be construed to create new
regulatory requirements or modify the requirements of the
California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing
with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).

end insert begin delete

(e)

end delete

begin insert (g) end insert  For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:

(1) “Habitat stronghold” means high-quality habitat that supports
wildlife in being more resilient to increasing pressures on species
due to climate change and land development.

(2) “Wildlife corridor” means a habitat linkage that joins two
or more areas of wildlife habitat, allowing for the movement of
wildlife from one area to another.