BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1473 Hearing Date: April 12,
2016
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Author: |Committee on Natural | | |
| |Resources and Water | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Version: |March 30, 2016 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Consultant:|Matthew Dumlao |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Natural resources
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
The Fish and Game Code sets out the state laws concerning fish
and wildlife in California, including laws regarding the
conservation and management of fish and wildlife resources, and
laws governing the recreational and commercial take of game and
nongame species in the State. It also specifies the duties,
responsibilities and authorities of the Department of Fish and
Wildlife and the Fish and Game Commission with regard to
implementation of the code requirements.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill makes technical changes to the Fish and Game Code
based on the recommendations put forward by the California Law
Revision Commission.
Specifically this bill would:
Generalize the procedural provisions to expressly apply
to all Commission regulation of take and possession of wild
animals, excepting only subject matter the Legislature has
expressly excluded from the application of those
provisions.
SB 1473 (Committee on Natural Resources and Water)
Page 2 of ?
Modernize the statutes governing Commission rulemaking
at public meetings to make them consistent with the
Commission's current practice and APA requirements.
Repeal obsolete provisions (Section 250) and make
conforming revisions to accommodate the reorganization.
In addition to technical improvements to the Fish and Game Code,
this bill repeals Chapter 1700 of the Statutes of 1967.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
None received.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received.
COMMENTS
Rationale for the changes :
In the Commission's report detailing their recommendations for
the Fish and Game Code, they provided the following statement:
"The Law Revision Commission is preparing draft legislation to
recodify the Fish and Game Code, in order to improve its
organization and clarity, remove obsolete or redundant material,
and correct technical errors. Because that work will involve the
reorganization of the entire code, the recodification
legislation will not be ready for presentation to the
Legislature until the study is completed.
However, some beneficial changes can be made more quickly. As
the larger study proceeds, the Law Revision Commission will make
note of technical corrections and minor substantive improvements
SB 1473 (Committee on Natural Resources and Water)
Page 3 of ?
that can be made to the existing code, without waiting for
completion of the entire study. Such improvements will be
periodically compiled into recommendations for submission to the
Legislature.
This recommendation is the second such proposal. It proposes a
largely non-substantive modernization and reorganization of
provisions of the Fish and Game Code relating to the regulatory
authority of the Fish and Game Commission.
This recommendation was prepared pursuant to Resolution Chapter
63 of the Statutes of 2014"
Changes to the statutes governing rulemaking at public meetings:
Currently, the commission adopts regulations through a series of
no less than three meetings, with specific objectives for each
meeting. That approach is retained in the revisions put forward
in this bill, along with changes to make the process comply with
APA requirements.
Repealing outdated State Lands Commission statute:
The State Lands Commission asked this committee to repeal a
statute that was never implemented. They provided this summary
in their request:
"In 1967, the California Legislature conditionally granted
public trust lands to the County of Los Angeles. To be
operative, the grantee was required to submit a land use plan to
the State Lands Commission for approval. The land use plan was
not submitted and the land reverted back to the State. It is
currently under the Commission's jurisdiction. Staff recommends
sponsoring legislation to repeal the granting statute to clarify
jurisdiction and lessen confusion when projects are proposed on
the land."
SB 1473 (Committee on Natural Resources and Water)
Page 4 of ?
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS
None.
SUPPORT
None received.
OPPOSITION
None received.