BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2555
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Date of Hearing: March 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE
Marc Levine, Chair
AB 2555
(Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife) - As Introduced
February 19, 2016
SUBJECT: Fish and wildlife
SUMMARY: Extends the operative date on several Fish and Game
Code sections that will otherwise sunset the end of this year
unless extended, including provisions related to invasive quagga
and zebra mussel programs, coho salmon recovery, and procedural
provisions of the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).
Specifically, this bill:
1)Extends provisions of existing law authorizing the Department
of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to develop and implement a recovery
strategy pilot program for coho salmon for three years to
January 1, 2020. These provisions will otherwise remain in
effect only until January 1, 2017, and as of that date will be
repealed unless extended.
2)Extends provisions of existing law authorizing the DFW to
conduct inspections and take other actions necessary to
prevent the spread of invasive dreissenid mussels in waters of
the state, and related provisions, for three years to January
1, 2020. These provisions will otherwise remain in effect
only until January 1, 2017, and as of that date will be
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repealed unless extended.
3)Repeals the sunset date on certain procedural provisions of
CESA enacted in 2013, thereby allowing those provisions to
continue in effect.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Prohibits the possession, importation, transportation,
transfer or release of dreissenid mussels in California, and
authorizes the DFW to conduct inspections and take other
related actions to prevent the spread of the invasive mussels.
These provisions sunset on January 1, 2017, unless extended.
2)Authorizes the DFW to develop and implement a coho salmon
recovery strategy pilot program, and specifies the contents of
the strategy. These provisions sunset on January 1, 2017,
unless extended.
3)Establishes procedural rules for administrative proceedings
under CESA. Some of these provisions sunset on January 1,
2017, unless extended.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: This bill is a committee bill that extends the sunset
date on several sections of the Fish and Game Code.
1) Author's Statement: This committee bill extends the sunset
date on several sections of the Fish and Game Code that will
otherwise sunset the end of this year. The provisions address
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three different areas: programs to prevent spread of invasive
quagga and zebra mussels, coho salmon recovery strategies, and
CESA administrative procedure provisions.
2) Background: Committee bills are often introduced to enact
technical or noncontroversial but needed amendments to statutes.
This bill would extend or repeal the sunset date in three
different areas of the Fish and Game Code.
a) Quagga and Zebra Mussels: The first concerns DFW's
existing authority to conduct inspections and take other actions
to prevent the spread of highly invasive quagga or zebra
mussels, and the existing prohibition on the transport,
possession and import of dreissenid mussels into the state.
This program will sunset the end of 2017 unless extended.
Unfortunately, the threat of quagga and zebra mussel
infestations has not been eliminated and thus the need for the
program and DFW authorities in this area to continue.
b) Coho salmon recovery: Existing law authorizes DFW to
develop and implement a coho salmon recovery strategy pilot
program and sets out what the strategy should contain. Coho
salmon are listed under CESA and continue to be threatened with
extinction, thus the need for continued recovery strategies for
coho salmon. These sections will sunset the end of this year
unless extended. Sunset of these provisions does not, however,
eliminate DFW's responsibilities for coho salmon recovery
efforts.
c) CESA: SB 749 (Wolk), Chapter 387, Statutes of 2013, among
other things, made several changes to clarify administrative
procedural processes under CESA. The changes were
noncontroversial and unopposed but a sunset clause was added at
the time to ensure there were no unintended consequences. The
changes included clarification of when a public hearing is
closed for purposes of finalizing the administrative record in
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CESA proceedings, and the circumstances under which the
administrative record can be reopened, which include material
changes in the law and a determination by the Fish and Game
Commission (FGC) that additional information is needed to reach
a decision on the petition. The FGC is required, if it reopens
the record, to provide an opportunity for public comment on the
submitted information prior to the issuance of a decision. The
changes also required a species status report prepared by the
DFW for purposes of determining whether a petitioned action is
warranted to be independently peer reviewed and made available
on the DFW's Internet Web site. The DFW is required to amend
the draft status report as appropriate to incorporate scientific
information from the independent peer review, and to make the
revised status report available for a minimum of 30 days for
public review prior to the hearing on the listing decision. The
FGC is authorized to grant an extension of time of up to six
months, if necessary, to complete independent peer review and
provide the required time for public notice and review.
Finally, the changes clarified DFW's responsibilities for
independent peer review of species status reports. This bill
would repeal the sunset clause on these provisions thereby
allowing them to continue in effect.
3) Prior and related legislation: SB 749 (Wolk), Chapter 387,
Statutes of 2013, among other things, enacted the procedural
clarifications to CESA that would be extended by this bill.
AB 1683 (Wolk), Chapter 419, Statutes of 2007, enacted the
quagga and zebra mussel program. SB 215 (Huff ), Chapter 332,
Statutes of 2011, extended the sunset date on the program to
2017.
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The authority for the Coho Salmon recovery strategy program was
initially enacted by SB 216 (Sher), Chapter 854, Statutes of
2003, and the sunset date on the program was extended to 2017 by
SB 749 (Wolk) in 2013.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Diane Colborn / W., P., & W. / (916)
319-2096
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