BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1845
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1845 (Dahle) - As Introduced February 9, 2016
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|Policy |Water, Parks and Wildlife |Vote:|15 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill allows the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to
authorize the take of rough sculpin, a fully protected fish,
resulting from the repair of Spring Creek Bridge in Shasta
County. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires conditions of the California Endangered Species Act
(CESA) to be met including the following:
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a) The take is incidental to an otherwise lawful
activity.
b) Impacts of the take are minimized and fully
mitigated.
c) The lead agency provides adequate funding for
monitoring.
d) The take permit will not jeopardize the continuing
existence of the species.
e) The project includes all further measures necessary
to meet the conservation standard established by law.
2)Provides the authorization for take of rough sculpin is not to
be construed to exempt the project from any other law.
FISCAL EFFECT:
The costs to DFW are absorbable within existing resources.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. The author intends the incidental take authorization
provided by this bill to allow the repair of the Spring Creek
Bridge over the Fall River in Shasta County. Without these
repairs, the bridge will close indefinitely cutting off access
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to private homes as well as public forest lands forcing the
use of unmaintained, narrow roads for access. If there were
to be a fire or major emergency, access would be questionable
as some emergency vehicles would not be able to gain access
which becomes an issue of public safety.
2)Background. The rough sculpin occurs only in Shasta County in
the Pit River, in the Burney Falls area, including Hat Creek,
Fall River and its tributaries, in the upper reaches of Lake
Britton near Hat Creek, and in Crystal Lake. According to
DFW, due to the limited range of the rough sculpin, any impact
to their habitat is significant and prohibited by current law.
3)Fully Protected Species. Legislative and regulatory efforts
to protect fish and wildlife began long before the enactment
of CESA in 1970. Initial efforts date back to 1909, including
laws to protect nongame birds (1909) and sea otters (1913).
In 1957, efforts to identify and provide additional protection
for rare animals or animals facing possible extinction
resulted in lists identifying fish, mammals, amphibians, birds
and reptiles. Statutes were enacted to prohibit any take of
the identified species.
Unlike species that are listed as threatened or endangered
under CESA, the fully protected species law does not allow for
incidental or accidental take nor does it provide for
mitigation. Fully Protected species may not be taken or
possessed at any time, and no licenses or permits may be issued
for their take except for scientific research or the relocation
of bird species for the protection of livestock.
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Although most fully protected species have also been listed as
threatened or endangered
species under the more recent, science-based endangered species
laws, lawful take and
mitigation provisions do not apply.
4)Prior and related legislation: AB 353 (Lackey), Chapter 620,
Statutes of 2015, authorized DFW to allow the take of a fully
protected fish species known as the unarmored threespine
stickleback for a habitat restoration project on Bouquet
Creek.
AB 1973 (Olsen), Chapter 121, Statutes of 2012, authorized DFW
to allow incidental take of the limestone salamander, a fully
protected amphibian species for a highway restoration project
in Mariposa County.
This year, both AB 2001 (Mathis) and AB 2488 (Dababneh),
authorize the take of a fully protected species. AB 2001
authorizes the take of a fully protected fish for scientific
research or for recovery efforts. AB 2488 authorizes DFW to
allow incidental take of the unarmored threespine stickleback
to continue operations of the Foothill Feeder water supply
facility in southern California. Both bills are pending in
the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.
In order to allow essential projects to move forward, as well
as provide for species protection and recovery, the
Legislature may wish to consider adopting a comprehensive,
science-based approach for fully protected species within the
provisions of CESA.
AB 1845
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Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081