BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1845 Hearing Date: June 14,
2016
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|Author: |Dahle | | |
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|Version: |May 11, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|William Craven |
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Subject: Protected species: take: rough sculpin
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
1) Prohibits the taking or possession of species listed as fully
protected fish except as specified. The species that are
classified as fully protected fish include but are not limited
to the rough sculpin.
2) Authorizes Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to authorize
the taking of a fully protected fish species whose conservation
and management is provided for in a Natural Community
Conservation Plan (NCCP) approved by DFW.
3) Authorizes DFW to authorize incidental take of the fully
protected unarmored threespine stickleback fish, and the fully
protected limestone salamander, under certain limited
circumstances, provided specified criteria and standards are met
for minimization, mitigation, non-jeopardy, and conservation.
4) Provides for the listing of species as threatened or
endangered under federal and state endangered species acts. The
DFW may issue permits for incidental take of listed species, if
specified conditions are met, including mitigation,
minimization, and adaptive management requirements.
AB 1845 (Dahle) Page 2
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PROPOSED LAW
This bill authorizes the DFW to authorize the take of rough
sculpin, a fully protected fish, resulting from repair of Spring
Creek Bridge in Shasta County if the following specified
conditions are met:
a) Requirements of the California Endangered Species Act
(CESA) are met, including that the take is incidental to an
otherwise lawful activity, the impacts are minimized and
fully mitigated, adequate funding is provided for
monitoring, and the take permit will not jeopardize the
continued existence of the species;
b) Measures necessary to meet a conservation standard are
incorporated into the project.
2) Provides that this authorization for take of rough sculpin
shall not be construed to exempt the project from any other law.
3) States legislative findings and declarations regarding the
Spring Creek Bridge at Fall River, its importance in providing
access to ranches, residences and United States Forest Service
lands, and the need of the County of Shasta for take
authorization regarding rough sculpin in order to maintain that
access.
4) Makes other technical conforming changes.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to background information provided by the author, the
Spring Creek Bridge is deteriorating and in need of repair.
Shasta County initiated a project to replace the bridge in 2008.
The bridge is a 150 foot long, multi-span, wood structure
constructed in 1950. It is load limited to three tons. The wood
structure, constantly exposed to water, is in a constant state
of decay requiring significant and ongoing maintenance. Caltrans
bridge inspection records indicate that out of 200 bridges in
Shasta County, this bridge is in the worst condition. The bridge
provides access to ranches, including nine residences, and U.S.
Forest Service lands. If the bridge is closed, residents would
AB 1845 (Dahle) Page 3
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be required to take a 10 mile detour to Fall River Mills on
narrow roads that would be impassable in winter. In 2009 an
environmental study revealed the presence of rough sculpin in
the Fall River, which is protected under California law as a
fully protected fish species. The rough sculpin, Cottus
asperrimus, is the smallest member of the fish family Cottidae,
at approximately 3-4 inches in length. The species 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.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
Sierra Club California's opposition letter opposes the bill
based on its view that the bill is not as strong as last year's
fully protected species bill that dealt with the unarmored
three-spined stickleback in Los Angeles County. Specifically,
this organization requests that the bill specify that the
environmental impacts of the project are mitigated, that a
biologist be on site during construction, and that a monitoring
and adaptive management program be developed.
COMMENTS
This bill would allow a one-time project specific exemption from
the fully protected fish species statute to allow a permit for
the replacement of an aging bridge on Spring Creek Road over the
Fall River. Without these repairs the bridge will close
indefinitely cutting off access 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.
2) Due to the limited range of the rough sculpin DFW indicates
that any impact to their habitat is significant. Siltation from
dredging and bank erosion caused by livestock grazing are some
of the primary threats to the species. The species is listed
both as threatened under CESA, and as a fully protected fish
species under California law. While DFW can issue incidental
take permits for species that are protected under CESA, subject
to mitigation and related requirements, the fully protected
species statutes do not allow for the issuance of take permits,
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but prohibit all take of the species, with narrow exceptions
only for scientific research, or as part of a NCCP. The
Legislature has recently considered similar requests for
exceptions to allow take of fully protected species for specific
projects. These other bills included provisions requiring
compliance with CESA conditions for mitigation, minimization,
avoidance of jeopardy, and monitoring, and required that the
project include measures to meet a conservation standard. This
bill includes similar protective provisions.
3) The Sierra Club's letter was written before the most recent
amendments to the bill were publicly available. Its concerns
seem to have been addressed with the amendments from the author
on May 11 as well as the suggested amendment from the Committee,
but the Committee may wish to seek clarification at the hearing.
The proposed Committee amendment would add a provision regarding
monitoring and adaptive management that was included in the
previous bills dealing with fully protected species. These
include:
AB 353 (Lackey), Chapter 620, Statutes of 2015, that authorized
DFW to authorize take of a fully protected fish species known as
the unarmored threespine stickleback resulting from a habitat
restoration project on Bouquet Creek if specified conditions are
met, including CESA requirements for minimization and
mitigation, necessary measures to satisfy a conservation
standard for recovery, and an adaptive management process that
substantially contributes to the long-term conservation of the
species. Additionally, AB 1973 (Olsen), Chapter 121, Statutes of
2012, authorized DFW to authorize incidental take of the
limestone salamander, a fully protected amphibian species,
resulting from impacts attributable to a highway restoration
project in Mariposa County known as the Ferguson Slide Permanent
Restoration Project, provided specified conditions are met,
including but not limited to, adoption of specific avoidance and
mitigation measures, CESA requirements for minimization and
mitigation, necessary measures to satisfy a conservation
standard for recovery, and an adaptive management process.
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS
AMENDMENT 1
Add provisions substantially similar to Fish and Game Code
section 2081.6 (a) (6) and (7) that are in every other bill
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dealing with a project for which an exception from the
fully protected species statute was enacted into law.
SUPPORT
Shasta County
OPPOSITION
Sierra Club of California
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