BILL NUMBER: AB 2488 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Dababneh
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 5515 of of, and to
add Section 2081.10 to, the Fish and Game Code, relating to
fish.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2488, as amended, Dababneh. Fish: fully protected
Protected species: unarmored threespine
stickleback; taking or possession.
Existing law prohibits the taking or possession of a fully
protected fish, except as provided. provided,
and designates the unarmored threespine stickleback as a fully
protected fish. The California Endangered Species Act prohibits the
taking of an endangered or threatened species, except as specified.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife may authorize the take of listed
species if the take is incidental to an otherwise lawful activity and
the impacts are minimized and fully mitigated.
This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to this
provision. permit the department to authorize, under
the California Endangered Species Act, the take of the unarmored
threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus williamsoni)
attributable to the periodic dewatering, inspection, maintenance, or
repair of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California's
Foothill Feeder water supply facility from Castaic Dam to the Joseph
Jensen Treatment Plant in the County of Los Angeles, as specified, if
certain conditions are satisfied.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) The Foothill Feeder below Castaic Dam in the County of Los
Angeles is the primary conduit for water from the State Water Project
for the Southern California region served by the Metropolitan Water
District of Southern California. The Metropolitan Water District of
Southern California is a public agency comprised of 26 member public
agencies - 14 cities, 11 municipal water districts, and one county
water authority - and provides water to more than 19 million people
in the Counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino,
San Diego, and Ventura.
(b) Water supplies from the State Water Project are a critical
part of Southern California's water supply portfolio, and any
interruption of that supply must be minimized to ensure delivery of
clean and reliable water supplies for municipal and industrial uses,
including health and human safety, and to water agencies and cities
that rely upon water supply deliveries from the Metropolitan Water
District of Southern California.
(c) Periodic dewatering, inspection, maintenance, modification, or
repair, including emergency repairs, require that all or a portion
of the Foothill Feeder be dewatered into the Santa Clara River and
certain of its tributaries where unarmored threespine stickleback
(Gasterosteus aculeatus williamsoni) may be present during these
activities. Thus, the incidental take of unarmored threespine
stickleback must be permitted for the periodic dewatering,
inspection, maintenance, modification, or repair of the Foothill
Feeder to protect Southern California water supplies.
SEC. 2. Section 2081.10 is added to the
Fish and Game Code , to read:
2081.10. (a) The department may authorize, under this chapter,
the incidental take of unarmored threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus
aculeatus williamsoni) attributable to the periodic dewatering,
inspection, maintenance, modification, or repair of the Metropolitan
Water District of Southern California's Foothill Feeder water supply
facility from Castaic Dam to the Joseph Jensen Treatment Plant in the
County of Los Angeles, contingent upon the fulfillment of the
following conditions:
(1) The department has determined that the requirements of
subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 2081 are satisfied for the take
of the unarmored threespine stickleback.
(2) The department ensures that all further measures necessary to
contribute to conservation as defined in subdivision (d) of Section
2805 are incorporated into the project.
(3) The take authorization provides for the development and
implementation, in cooperation with the department, of an adaptive
management process for monitoring the effectiveness of, and adjusting
as necessary, the measures to minimize and fully mitigate the
impacts of the authorized take. The adjusted measures are subject to
Section 2052.1.
(b) The take authorization shall cover any incidental take of
unarmored threespine stickleback attributable to the periodic
dewatering, inspection, maintenance, modification, or repair of the
Foothill Feeder that may occur in the following locations:
(1) ____.
(2) ____.
(c) This section shall not be construed to exempt from any other
law the periodic dewatering, inspection, maintenance, modification,
or repair of the Foothill Feeder.
SECTION 1. SEC. 3. Section 5515 of
the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:
5515. (a) (1) Except as provided in this section, Section 2081.6,
Section 2081.7, Section 2081.10, or Section 2835, a fully
protected fish shall not be taken or possessed at any time. No
provision of this code or any other law shall be construed to
authorize the issuance of a permit or license to take a fully
protected fish, and no permit or license previously issued shall have
force or effect for that purpose. However, the department may
authorize the taking of a fully protected fish for necessary
scientific research, including efforts to recover fully protected,
threatened, or endangered species. Before authorizing the take of a
fully protected fish, the department shall make an effort to notify
all affected and interested parties to solicit information and
comments on the proposed authorization. The notification shall be
published in the California Regulatory Notice Register and be made
available to each person who has notified the department, in writing,
of his or her interest in fully protected species and who has
provided an email address, if available, or postal address to the
department. Affected and interested parties shall have 30 days after
notification is published in the California Regulatory Notice
Register to provide relevant information and comments on the proposed
authorization.
(2) As used in this subdivision, "scientific research" does not
include an action taken as part of specified mitigation for a
project, as defined in Section 21065 of the Public Resources Code.
(3) A legally imported fully protected fish may be possessed under
a permit issued by the department.
(b) The following are fully protected fish:
(1) Colorado River squawfish (Ptychocheilus lucius).
(2) Thicktail chub (Gila crassicauda).
(3) Mohave chub (Gila mohavensis).
(4) Lost River sucker (Catostomus luxatus).
(5) Modoc sucker (Catostomus microps).
(6) Shortnose sucker (Chasmistes brevirostris).
(7) Humpback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus).
(8) Owens River pupfish (Cyprinoden radiosus).
(9) Unarmored threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus
williamsoni).
(10) Rough sculpin (Cottus asperrimus).