BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2001| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 2001 Author: Mathis (R) Amended: 8/2/16 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/14/16 AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson, Monning, Vidak, Wolk SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/28/16 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Fully protected fish: Owens pupfish: California State Safe Harbor Agreement Program Act SOURCE: Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley DIGEST: This bill establishes criteria that would authorize the incidental take of Owens pupfish, a fully protected species, in the Owens and Mojave River watersheds in the context of a safe harbor agreement entered into pursuant to the California Endangered Species Act. Senate Floor Amendments of 8/2/16 avoid chaptering out so that this bill and other bills dealing with fully protected species that amend the same section of law would be effective if any combination of them are signed by the Governor. The other two bills are AB 1845 (Dahle) and AB 2488 (Dababneh). The technical amendment limits incidental take of the Owens pupfish to only AB 2001 Page 2 the Owens River watershed. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Prohibits the taking or possession of a fully protected fish except as specified. The species that are classified as fully protected fish include but are not limited to the Owens pupfish. 2)Permits Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to authorize the taking of a fully protected fish for scientific research, including efforts to recover fully protected, threatened, or endangered species and requires DFW before authorizing the take of a fully protected fish to make an effort to notify all affected and interested parties, to publish the notice in the California Regulatory Notice Register, and to provide 30 days after publication for submittal of comments. 3)Authorizes DFW to authorize the taking of a fully protected fish species whose conservation and management is provided for in a natural community conservation plan approved by DFW. 4)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 regarding location as well as take minimization, mitigation and conservation. 5)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 2001 Page 3 6)Establishes procedures for "safe harbor" agreements that allow landowners to take endangered or threatened species under specified conditions including a requirement that the species is at least as numerous as it was prior to the management activities undertaken pursuant to the safe harbor agreement. This bill establishes criteria that would authorize the incidental take of Owens pupfish, a fully protected species, in the Owens and Mojave River watersheds in the context of a safe harbor agreement entered into pursuant to the California Endangered Species Act. Background The region's Native Americans have a long history with the Owens pupfish. Historically, the fish was a staple food item for the local tribes who caught the fish in the hundreds and dried and stored them. They have been working for several years to obtain permits to relocate some of the endangered pupfish to conservation ponds in order to assist in recovery efforts for this species. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified8/1/16) Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley (source) Audubon California Bishop Tribal Council Bridgeport Indian Colony Desert Fishes Council Kern Valley Indian Community Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Reservation AB 2001 Page 4 Owens Valley Indian Water Commission Timbusha Shoshone Tribe Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe OPPOSITION: (Verified8/1/16) None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The Bishop Paiute Tribe is the sponsor of this bill and it states that this bill will clearly convey the authority for the state to issue permits for take incidental to efforts to recover endangered fish by reversing the decline of populations through the removal of barriers for cooperative restoration projects. Audubon California states that the Owens Pupfish could be recovered by expanding its range beyond the few isolated areas where they currently exist to sites with appropriate habitat in multiple locations throughout the valley. The Bridgeport Indian Colony states that the Owens pupfish once occupied many areas within the Owens Valley and was an important food source for the Paiute. The Desert Fishes Council, a professional association of scientists, states that the Owens pupfish now lives only in five ponds which cumulative cover less than one-third of an acre. The fish may be successfully managed as proposed by the Bishop Paiute. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/28/16 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, AB 2001 Page 5 Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez, Daly, Mathis, Olsen Prepared by:William Craven / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116 8/3/16 19:26:03 **** END ****