BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2001|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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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
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