BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair


          AB 504 (Chesbro) - Fish: sea cucumbers: transgenic fish.
          
          Amended: August 4, 2014         Policy Vote: NR&W 7-2
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: Yes (see staff comment)
          Hearing Date: August 4, 2014                      Consultant:  
          Marie Liu     
          
          This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File.
          
          
          Bill Summary: AB 504 would extend the statutory restrictions on  
          commercial sea cucumber fishing from 2015 until 2020 and would  
          prohibit the hatchery production, stocking, incubation, or  
          cultivation of any transgenic salmonid in California.

          Fiscal Impact: 
              Unknown and variable costs, likely less than $100,000 a  
              year on average, to the Fish and Game Preservation Fund for  
              the regulation and oversight of the commercial sea cucumber  
              fishery.
              Minor revenues of approximately $30,000 to the Fish and  
              Game Preservation Fund (special) from sea cucumber permit  
              revenues.
              Minor loss of scientific permit fee revenue (less than  
              $1,000) to the Fish and Game Preservation Fund (special). 

          Background: Existing law (FGC �8405 et seq.) oversees the  
          commercial fishing of sea cucumbers in California waters.  
          Specifically, commercial fishing of sea cucumbers requires a  
          permit (currently $344 in 2014 and is adjusted for inflation).  
          The number of permits issued is restricted to reduce fishing  
          impacts on the sea cucumber populations. The commercial sea  
          cucumber program is set to sunset on April 1, 2015.

          Existing law regulates aquaculture in the state (FGC �15000 et  
          seq.) and expressly prohibits the spawning, incubation, or  
          cultivation of any transgenic fish species in the Pacific Ocean.  
          Regulations defines "transgenic" as genetically altered by 1)  
          introducing DNA from another species or 2) manipulating DNA  
          within the organism to achieve gene addition, deletion,  
          doubling, or movement in the genome (14 CCR �1.92).








          AB 504 (Chesbro)
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          Proposed Law: This bill would extend the commercial sea cucumber  
          program from 2015 to 2020.

          This bill would extend the prohibition of spawning, incubation,  
          or cultivation of transgenic salmonids in the Pacific Ocean to  
          all waters of the state. The hatchery production and stocking of  
          transgenic salmonids would be expressly prohibited. 

          This bill would exempt from the prohibition "biomedical public  
          health" research conducted by California-accredited academic  
          institutions that were authorized pursuant to existing DFW  
          regulations and meet specified criteria.

          This bill would codify the regulatory definition of  
          "transgenic." 

          Staff Comments:  Sea cucumber provisions:  By extending the sunset  
          date of the commercial sea cucumbers, this bill extends both the  
          cost of regulating that fishery as well as the revenues from the  
          permit fees. The cost of regulating the sea cucumber fishery is  
          unknown because DFW does not track enforcement expenditures by  
          program or species. Non-enforcement costs, such as research  
          funding, can be variable depending on the needs of the fishery.  
          However, in the previous sunset extension of this program, DFW  
          estimated that the sea cucumber program and the Dungeness crab  
          program had less than $200,000 in program costs combined. At  
          least in terms of permit revenue and number of permits issued,  
          the Dungeness crab program is the larger of the two programs.  
          Thus staff estimates that annual costs for the sea cucumber  
          program is likely less than $100,000 annually.  The permit fees,  
          which are a constant revenue source, currently are sufficient to  
          at least cover the administration of the program. 

          This bill is a mandate because violations of the sea cucumber  
          permit program are a crime. However, under the California  
          Constitution, these costs are not reimbursable. 

           Transgenic fish provisions  : DFW currently has two scientific  
          permits issued for the use of transgenic fish. The exemption in  
          the bill for scientific research may only be given to a  
          "California-accredited academic institution." Staff notes that  
          the state does not accredit academic institutions, so it is  
          unclear whether this exemption could be legally applied in any  








          AB 504 (Chesbro)
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          situation. Additionally, at least one of the existing permits is  
          not for "biomedical public health" research. Should DFW no  
          longer be able to permit these two research projects, DFW will  
          lose permit revenues, which will be under $1,000 as each permit  
          is $462.

          Staff notes that the bill uses the term "biomedical public  
          health" research. This term is not defined in the bill and could  
          pose implementation issues.