Amended in Assembly May 22, 2015

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 1797.5, 1930, 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, 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, end delete begin insert state to encourage, end insert wherever feasible and practicable, begin delete take end delete voluntary steps to begin delete promote, protect, or restore end delete begin insert protect end insert the functioning of begin delete the wildlife corridor end delete begin insert wildlife corridors end insert through various means, as applicable.

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. begin insert Existing law also provides for the establishment of mitigation banks, as defined. end insert

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

begin insert

This bill would provide that a project applicant may receive advance mitigation credits for investing in a mitigation bank that protects habitat connectivity for affected fish and wildlife resources, and would further provide that the fact that a project applicant does not take voluntary steps to protect the functioning of a wildlife corridor prior to initiating the application process for the project shall not be grounds for denying a permit or requiring additional mitigation beyond what is otherwise required by law to mitigate project impacts.

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:

SECTION 1.  

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

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.

(5) To the extent begin insert feasible and end insert practicable, begin delete maximize end delete begin insert protect end insert
habitat connectivity for the affected fish and wildlife resources.

(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.

SEC. 2.  

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)  begin delete Preserving, restoring, end delete begin insert Preserving end insert and connecting high-quality
habitat for wildlife can create habitat strongholds.

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

(f) There is an opportunity to provide 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
begin delete Governor’s end delete begin insert Governors’ end insert 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
begin delete restoring end delete 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
begin delete and restore end delete important wildlife corridors and habitat linkages where
begin delete feasible. end delete begin insert feasible and practicable. end insert

SEC. 3.  

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)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert It is the policy of the state to promote the voluntary
protection of wildlife corridors and habitat strongholds 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,
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, end delete begin insert state to encourage, end insert wherever feasible and
practicable, begin delete take end delete voluntary steps to begin delete promote, protect, or restore end delete
begin insert protect end insert the functioning of begin delete the end delete wildlife begin delete corridor end delete begin insert corridors end insert through
various means, as applicable. begin delete Those end delete

begin insert As applicable and to the extent feasible and practicable, those end insert
means may include, but are not necessarily limited begin delete to, acquisition end delete
begin insert to: end insert

begin insert (A) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Acquisition end insert or protection of wildlife corridors as open space
through conservation begin delete easements, installing end delete begin insert easements. end insert

begin insert (B) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Installing end insert of wildlife-friendly begin delete fencing, and provision end delete begin insert fencing. end insert

begin insert (C) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Creation of mitigation and conservation banks that protect
habitat connectivity for affected fish and wildlife resources. end insert

begin insert (D) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Provision end insert of roadway begin delete undercrossings and end delete begin insert undercrossings, end insert
oversized begin delete culverts and end delete begin insert culverts, or end insert bridges to allow for movement
of wildlife between habitat begin delete areas, as applicable. end delete begin insert areas. end insert

begin insert

(2) Consistent with Chapter 7.9 (commencing with Section 1797)
of Division 2, a project applicant may receive advance mitigation
credits for investing in a mitigation bank that, to the extent feasible
and practicable, protects habitat connectivity for affected fish and
wildlife resources. The fact that a project applicant does not take
voluntary steps to protect the functioning of a wildlife corridor
prior to initiating the application process for a project shall not
be grounds for denying a permit or requiring additional mitigation
beyond what would be required to mitigate project impacts under
other applicable laws, including, but not limited to, the California
Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section
2050) of Division 3) and the California Environmental Quality
Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public
Resources Code).

end insert begin delete

(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.

end delete begin delete

(e)

end delete

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

begin delete

(f)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  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).

begin delete

(g)

end delete

begin insert (f) 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.