BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1052
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 14, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Jared William Huffman, Chair
AB 1052 (Caballero) - As Introduced: February 27, 2009
SUBJECT : Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp
SUMMARY : Repeals the sunset on provisions of existing law
authorizing expenditure of funds from the Bay-Delta Sport
Fishing Enhancement Stamp account for projects to benefit
Bay-Delta sport fisheries, and providing for a Stamp Advisory
Committee. Specifically, this bill :
1)Repeals the sunset on provisions of existing law authorizing
expenditure of funds from the Bay-Delta Sport Fishing
Enhancement Stamp account for projects to benefit Bay-Delta
sport fisheries and providing for a Stamp Advisory Committee,
allowing these provisions to continue indefinitely, but
retains the January 1, 2010 sunset on the requirement to
purchase the stamp.
2)Requires the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to implement
recommendations of the state auditor contained in an October
2008 audit of the Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp
program, and requires DFG to report to the Legislature by an
unspecified date on compliance status, including development
of a plan for expenditure of available stamp revenues.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Until January 1, 2010, requires the purchase of a Bay-Delta
Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp to sport fish in the tidal
waters of the San Francisco Bay-Delta and the main stem of the
Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, including major
tributaries, below the most downstream dam. Requires fee
revenue from sale of the stamps to be deposited in a separate
account within the Fish and Game Preservation Fund, and to be
spent for the long-term sustainable benefit of the primary
Bay-Delta sport fisheries, including but not limited to
striped bass, sturgeon, black bass, halibut, salmon, surf
perch, steelhead trout and American shad. Requires
expenditures to benefit sport fishing populations, sport
fishing opportunities, and anglers within that geographic
area, consistent with endangered species laws and the
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ecosystem restoration component of CALFED. Funds are to be
used to augment and not replace funding that would otherwise
be allocated to Bay-Delta sport fisheries from other sources.
2)Requires the DFG director to appoint a Bay-Delta Sport Fishing
Enhancement Stamp Fund Advisory Committee consisting of nine
members representing Bay-Delta anglers, which shall make
recommendations to DFG for projects and budgets. Requires DFG
to give full consideration to the committee's recommendations.
Requires DFG to give an annual accounting to the Legislature
on the fund and projects.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown minor costs and potential savings as a
result of implementation of audit recommendations. If the
requirement to purchase the stamp is not extended, loss of
approximately $1.2 million annually to the Fish and Game
Preservation Fund.
COMMENTS : The Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp
replaced the prior Striped Bass Stamp in 2003. Sales of the
stamp have generated over $8 million dollars of revenue intended
for use on projects for the long-term sustainable benefit of
Bay-Delta sport fisheries. The State Auditor conducted an audit
of the program in 2008 at the request of the Legislature. The
auditor's review of DFG's administration of the Bay-Delta Stamp
program included the following findings:
DFG's use of the money collected from fish stamp
sales has been limited, and DFG and the fish stamp
advisory committee have been slow in identifying and
approving projects.
As of June 30, 2008, the fish stamp account had an
unspent balance of over $7 million, although a portion of
this amount was committed to approved projects that had
not yet been funded.
DFG does not have an accurate accounting of either
its administrative expenditures or individual project
expenditures for the program, and periodic reports DFG
provides to the committee do not include all the required
information.
During fiscal years 2005-06 through 2007-08, DFG
spent an estimated $201,000 in fish stamp funds to pay
for payroll costs and goods and services unrelated to
fish stamp activities.
The audit included a number of specific recommendations to
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address these deficiencies which are spelled out in this bill.
The DFG Director, in a written response to the audit agreed with
many of the audit recommendations and indicated that they were
in the process of implementing changes. It is unclear at this
time which of the recommendations have been fully implemented
and which remain to be done.
The author has introduced this bill to ensure DFG follows the
recommendations of the audit, and to extend the operative date
on the sections of law authorizing expenditure of the monies in
the fund and the existence of the advisory committee, which
would otherwise sunset at the end of this year. This bill, as
currently drafted, does not extend the sunset on the requirement
for purchase of the stamp. Depending on how much progress is
made in addressing the issues identified in the audit, the
author may wish to amend this bill to also extend the sunset on
the requirement to purchase the stamp.
Multiple fish species in the Delta have recently experienced
precipitous declines, including native species such as the Delta
smelt and Central Valley salmon, but other sport fish species
such as striped bass and American Shad are also in decline.
Multiple factors and stressors are suspected to be contributing
to these declines, including overall deteriorating conditions in
the Bay-Delta and its tributaries, pesticides and other water
quality pollutants, increased pumping of fresh water from the
Delta, invasive species, and ocean conditions. Revenue from the
Bay-Delta Sport fishing enhancement stamp provides one source of
funds, paid for by sport fishing men and women, for projects
that may help provide some long-term sustainable benefit to
these sport fish species.
Prior Legislation : AB 2162 (Mullin) of 2008 extended the
effective date of the Bay-Delta stamp from January 1, 2009
through January 1, 2010.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Allied Fishing Groups (sponsor)
*Includes 47 sport fishing groups throughout the state
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
Opposition
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Diane Colborn / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096