BILL NUMBER: AB 949 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2001
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Kehoe
FEBRUARY 23, 2001
An act to amend Sections 1601 and 1603 of the Fish and
Game Code, relating to streambeds, and making an appropriation
therefor. An act to amend Section 2801 of, and to add
Section 2826 to, the Fish and Game Code, relating to natural
community conservation planning, and making an appropriation
therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 949, as amended, Kehoe. Natural waters
Community Conservation Planning Act .
(1) Under existing law, general plans for a project for
construction by, or on behalf of, any state or local governmental
agency or any public utility are required to be submitted to the
Department of Fish and Game if the project will, among other things,
divert, obstruct, or change the natural flow or the bed, channel, or
bank of any river, stream, or lake designated by the department in
which there is at any time an existing fish or wildlife resource or
from which these resources derive benefit.
Existing law also makes it unlawful for any person to
substantially change the bed, channel, or bank of any river, stream,
or lake designated by the department without first notifying the
department, except as provided.
This bill would add to those requirements any project by such an
entity or person that would fill the bed, channel, or bank of any
river, stream, or lake and would also include isolated wetlands,
seasonal wetlands, vernal pools, or other waters that are not part of
a tributary system to interstate water or to navigable water of the
United States.
(2) Other provisions of existing law would make a violation of the
bill a misdemeanor. Thus, this bill would impose a state-mandated
local program by creating a new crime.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
(4)
(1) The existing Natural Community Conservation Planning Act
authorizes the Department of Fish and Game to enter into an agreement
with any person for the purpose of preparing and implementing a
natural community conservation plan to provide comprehensive
management and conservation of multiple wildlife species.
The United States Supreme Court,in Solid Waste Agency v. Army
Corps. EN. (2001) 148 L.Ed.2d 576, did not extend regulation under
the federal Clean Water Act to wetlands not adjacent to open water
that serve as habitat for migratory birds.
This bill would authorize natural community conservation plans to
provide for the conservation of wetlands and wetlands-dependent
species no longer receiving protection under the federal Clean Water
Act pursuant to that case.
(2) Under existing law, the money in the Fish and Game
Preservation Fund is continuously appropriated to the department to
carry out the Fish and Game Code.
Because this bill would impose new duties on the department, the
bill would thereby make an appropriation.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1601 of the Fish and Game Code is
SECTION 1. Section 2801 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to
read:
2801. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The continuing population growth in California will result in
increasing demands for dwindling natural resources and will result in
the continuing decline of the state's wildlife.
(b) There is a need for broad-based planning to provide for
effective protection and conservation of the state's wildlife
heritage while continuing to allow appropriate development and
growth.
(c) Natural community conservation planning is an effective tool
in protecting California's natural diversity while reducing conflicts
between protection of the state's wildlife heritage and reasonable
use of natural resources for economic development.
(d) Natural community conservation planning promotes coordination
and cooperation among public agencies, landowners, and other private
interests, provides a mechanism by which landowners and development
proponents can effectively participate in the resource conservation
planning process, provides a regional planning focus that can
effectively address cumulative impact concerns, minimizes wildlife
habitat fragmentation, promotes multispecies management and
conservation, provides an option for identifying and ensuring
appropriate mitigation for impacts of fish and wildlife, and promotes
the conservation of broad-based natural communities and species
diversity.
(e) Natural community conservation planning can provide for
efficient use and protection of natural and economic resources while
also promoting greater sensitivity to important elements of the state'
s critical natural diversity.
(f) Natural community conservation planning is an effective
planning process that can facilitate early coordination to protect
the interests of the state, the federal government, local public
agencies, landowners, and other private parties.
(g) Natural community conservation planning is a mechanism that
can provide an early planning framework for proposed development
projects within the planning area in order to avoid, minimize, and
compensate for impacts on wildlife caused by development and growth.
(h) Natural community conservation planning is consistent with,
and will support, the fish and wildlife management activities of the
department in its role as the trustee for fish and wildlife within
the state.
(i) The purpose of natural community conservation planning is to
sustain and restore those species and habitat identified by the
department that are necessary to maintain the continued viability of
biological communities that are impacted by growth and development.
(j) Natural community conservation planning can serve as an
effective means to integrate the conservation mandates and permitting
requirements of various state and federal environmental protection
laws, including the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1251 et
seq.). In light of recent changes in federal law related to
protection of wetlands, it is desirable to create a clear incentive
to provide for the conservation of wetlands and wetlands-dependent
plant and animal species that may no longer be receiving protection
under federal law through the natural community conservation planning
process.
SEC. 2. Section 2826 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to read:
2826. A natural community conservation plan may provide for the
conservation of wetlands and wetlands-dependent species no longer
receiving protection under the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C.
1251 et seq.) pursuant to the United States Supreme Court ruling in
Solid Waste Agency v. Army Corps EN. (2001) 148 L.Ed.2d 576, if the
department finds all of the following:
(a) The plan ensures that there is no net loss of existing
wetlands or recreational uses and that the plan provides a long-term
gain in the quality and quantity of wetlands acreage and functions in
the plan area.
(b) The plan meets the substantive requirements of the federal
Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1251 et seq.) by requiring project
proponents to avoid or minimize all significant adverse environmental
impacts to wetlands from projects and to conduct onsite mitigation
where possible for all unavoidable project impacts.
(c) Any use of offsite mitigation or wetlands mitigation banks
shall be in close enough proximity to the project site that the
mitigation will provide actual replacement of the hydrological,
vegetative, and wildlife function and values of the wetlands on the
project site. _____________________________________ All
matter omitted in this version of the bill appears in the bill as
introduced in the Assembly February 23, 2001 (JR 11)
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