BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 481|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 481
Author: Cox (R), et al
Amended: 7/16/09
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 11-0, 4/28/09
AYES: Pavley, Cogdill, Benoit, Hollingsworth, Huff, Kehoe,
Leno, Padilla, Simitian, Wiggins, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SENATE FLOOR : 36-0, 5/18/09 (Consent)
AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Ashburn, Benoit, Calderon,
Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Denham, DeSaulnier,
Ducheny, Dutton, Hancock, Harman, Hollingsworth, Huff,
Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Maldonado, Negrete McLeod,
Oropeza, Padilla, Pavley, Runner, Simitian, Steinberg,
Strickland, Walters, Wiggins, Wolk, Wright, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cedillo, Florez, Romero, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-0, 8/17/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Airports: wildlife
SOURCE : County of Sacramento
DIGEST : This bill provides that a taking of birds by a
federally certified airport in compliance with a federal
depredation permit for public safety purposes does not
violate state fish and game laws if certain conditions are
CONTINUED
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met.
Assembly Amendments restricted this bill to taking of birds
and made clarifying changes.
ANALYSIS : Both the federal and state endangered species
acts authorize, under specified conditions, activities that
may harm wildlife that is otherwise protected. These laws
and the regulations implemented pursuant to these statutes
may result in an applicant receiving what is called an
"incidental take permit" that authorizes activities that
may incidentally harm wildlife as part of an ongoing,
lawful activity such as real estate development or
construction.
Regulations of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
require airports to "take immediate action to alleviate
wildlife hazards whenever they are detected."
When airports experience incidents or damages caused by
wildlife strikes, the FAA requires development of a
Wildlife Hazard Management Plan.
The Wildlife Hazard Management Plan involve three tiers of
activities: habitat modification, harassment (through the
use of noise, pyrotechnics, etc.), and, as a last resort,
removal.
Further, many airports have a depredation permit from the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service that authorizes
the incidental take, under specified conditions, of
wildlife, in order to minimize the risk of bird strikes or
other encounters with wildlife.
California law has no parallel provision.
This bill:
1. Declares that it is the policy of the state to encourage
safe and biologically sound management of wildlife at
public use airports regulated by the FAA and operated
according to the FAA and federal laws. States that the
Legislature recognizes that it is necessary for public
use airports to perform limited and authorized wildlife
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hazing, harassment and depredation to protect public
health, safety and welfare.
2. Provides that a taking of birds by a public use airport
certificated by the FAA that has obtained and is in
compliance with a federal depredation permit that
authorizes the lawful taking of birds does not violate
state fish and game laws if the taking is in compliance
with the federal depredation permit and is for specified
purposes relating to public safety, and all of the
following conditions are met:
A. The taking occurs on lands owned or leased by the
airport.
B. The taking does not occur on lands that are
reserved for habitat mitigation or conservation
purposes of the species being taken, including lands
in a habitat conservation plan (HCP) or natural
communities conservation plan (NCCP).
C. There is no taking of a fully protected,
candidate, threatened, or endangered species.
3. Authorizes take of species only to relieve or prevent
injurious situations affecting public safety and only as
part of an integrated wildlife management program that
emphasizes nonlethal management techniques.
4. Requires airports to provide to the Department of Fish
and Game (DFG) the federal depredation permit and all
federal reports required pursuant to any federal
depredation permit or Wildlife Hazard Management Plan,
and to provide reasonable access to DFG for ensuring
compliance.
5. Requires DFG to seek reimbursement from the airport for
any reasonable costs associated with activities
resulting from any violations of these requirements.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/13/09) (Unable to reverify at time
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of writing)
County of Sacramento (source)
Air Transport Association
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
Airports Council International
American Airlines
Association of California Airports
Bob Hope Airport
Cities of Chico, Long Beach, Palm Springs, and Redding
County of Ventura
Delta Air Lines
Los Angeles World Airports
Fresno Yosemite International Airport
National Business Aviation Association
Orange County Board of Supervisors
San Diego County Regional Airport Authority
San Francisco International Airport
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Chapter of the American Association of Airport
Executives
United Air Lines
US Airways
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
the purpose of this bill is to make clear in state law that
airports operating in compliance with federally-issued
depredation permits do not violate state fish and game laws
by taking birds that pose a danger to the operation of
aircraft at those airports. Currently, there is no
specific law in California explicitly authorizing officials
at airports to conduct their federally-authorized
activities in furtherance of protecting public safety in
airline operations. The author's office cites a 2007
incident wherein a state fish and game warden threatened to
arrest Sacramento International Airport wildlife management
personnel when responding to a citizen complaint that
airport personnel were harassing birds at the Sacramento
airport. The author's office notes that a number of
meetings and discussions were held after which it was
agreed that the airport would better inform DFG of airport
activities, but that both DFG and the airport agreed there
was a need for the airport's authority to be clearly
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delineated in state law.
According to the sponsor, Sacramento International Airport
has the highest number of bird strikes occurring in the
FAA's Western-Pacific Region and the sixth highest number
in the nation. The collision of birds with a US Airways
flight in New York this past January and the safe emergency
landing of the aircraft demonstrated that bird strikes do
occur and can have dramatic and life-threatening
consequences. In early April, a United Airlines flight at
Sacramento International Airport also sustained a bird
strike during departure, but was safely able to land.
Sacramento County notes that this bill is needed because
state law does not explicitly allow for public airports to
take wildlife as a last resort, or to carry out other
methods to protect public safety during airplane departures
and arrivals.
While public safety is of paramount concern, there is also
concern that nonlethal methods of deterring wildlife be
used where possible, and that killing of birds be used as a
last resort where other nonlethal methods have proved
inadequate. In other cases, lands owned or leased by
airports have been specifically required to be reserved for
wildlife habitat for endangered species, and wildlife may
be attracted to those lands for that reason.
Amendments previously taken to this bill ensure that the
authorization does not allow the taking of wildlife on
lands owned or leased by the airport that were reserved for
habitat mitigation or conservation purposes for the
particular species being taken, and does not extend to the
taking of fully protected, candidate, endangered or
threatened species. The amendments further clarify that
the take is authorized only for public safety purposes as
part of an integrated wildlife management program that
emphasizes nonlethal management techniques.
Finally, to further the goal of communication, this bill
requires the airport to provide to DFG the federal
depredation permit and all federal reports required
pursuant to any federal depredation permit or Wildlife
Hazard Management Plan, and to provide DFG reasonable
access for compliance purposes.
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Carter, Chesbro, Conway,
Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng,
Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani,
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen,
John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Charles Calderon, Cook, Duvall, Monning,
Smyth, Vacancy
CTW:mw 8/19/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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