Amended in Senate August 18, 2014

Amended in Senate March 11, 2014

Amended in Assembly January 8, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 896

Introduced by Assembly Member Eggman

February 22, 2013

An act to add Section 1506 to the Fish and Game Code, relating to wildlife management.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 896, as amended, Eggman. Wildlife management areas: mosquito abatement.

(1) Existing law provides for the formation of mosquito abatement and vector control districts, and prescribes the powers, functions, and duties of those districts, as specified. The existing Fish and Game Code authorizes the Department of Fish and Wildlife to take specified actions to protect, restore, rehabilitate, and improve fish and wildlife habitat.

Statutory provisions that were repealed on January 1, 2010, required a mosquito abatement and vector control district whose boundaries include one or more wildlife management areas to periodically, or at least semiannually, notify the department of those areas that exceed locally established mosquito population thresholds and associated mosquito control costs. begin delete These provisions required the department to take specified actions with regard to the control and abatement of mosquitos in those wildlife management areas. These provisions required those mosquito abatement and vector control districts, in consultation with the department, to develop standardized monitoring procedures for mosquito surveillance, as prescribed, for each managed wetland habitat at each wildlife management area, and to provide an annual report to the department of pesticide use in those habitats and areas, as specified. end delete

This bill would begin delete permanently reenact certain of those provisions and would also make those provisions applicable to end delete begin insert require end insert a mosquito abatement and vector control district begin insert that includes one or more wildlife management areas, as defined, or end insert in which vectors and vectorborne diseases from a wildlife management area may enter the begin delete district. The bill would require the department to prioritize, for funding, wildlife management areas that exceed locally established mosquito population thresholds based on specified factors. The bill would also make nonsubstantive conforming changes. By imposing new duties on local agencies with regard to mosquito control and abatement practices in wildlife habitat areas, end delete begin insert district, to periodically, or at least semiannually, notify the department of those areas that are of concern due to the potential for high mosquito populations that may incur associated mosquito control costs. By requiring local agencies to provide the notification, end insert the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. begin insert The bill would require the department to consult with local mosquito abatement and vector control districts to identify those areas within wildlife management areas having the highest need for additional mosquito reduction through the implementation of best management practices, as defined. end insert

(2) 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.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin insert

begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert begin insert

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to control
mosquito production on managed wetland habitat that is owned
or managed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife in a manner
that does all of the following:

end insert begin insert

(1) Maintains or enhances the waterfowl and other wildlife
values of that habitat.

end insert begin insert

(2) Minimizes financial costs to the Department of Fish and
Wildlife and local mosquito abatement and vector control districts.

end insert begin insert

(3) Reduces the need for chemical control of mosquitos.

end insert begin insert

(4) Increases coordination and communication between the
Department of Fish and Wildlife, local mosquito abatement and
vector control districts, and the State Department of Public Health.

end insert begin insert

(5) Maintains and protects humans, domestic animals, and
wildlife from vector-borne diseases such as West Nile virus.

end insert begin insert

(b) The Legislature further finds and declares that the
implementation of mosquito prevention best management practices
on managed wetland habitat is critical to the Department of Fish
and Wildlife’s effort to reduce mosquito production in its wildlife
management areas.

end insert

begin delete SECTION 1. end delete
begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

Section 1506 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to
read:

begin delete

1506.  

(a) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature to control
mosquito production on managed wetland habitat that is owned
or managed by the department, in a manner that does all of the
following:

(A) Maintains or enhances the waterfowl and other wildlife
values of that habitat.

(B) Minimizes financial costs to the department and local
mosquito abatement and vector control districts.

(C) Reduces the need for chemical control of mosquitos.

(D) Increases coordination and communication between the
department, local mosquito abatement and vector control districts,
and the State Department of Public Health.

(E) Maintains and protects humans, domestic animals, and
wildlife from vector-borne diseases such as West Nile virus.

(2) The Legislature further finds and declares that the
implementation of mosquito prevention best management practices
on managed wetland habitat is critical to the department’s effort
to reduce mosquito production on its wildlife management areas.

(b)

end delete

begin insert

begin insert 1506. end insert   

end insert

begin insert (a) end insert  For purposes of this section, the following definitions
apply:

(1) “Managed wetland habitat” means artificially irrigated and
intensively managed wetland habitat administered primarily for
the benefit of waterfowl and other wetland-dependent species.

(2) “Best management practices” means management strategies
jointly developed by the department, the State Department of Public
Health, and mosquito abatement and vector control districts, in
consultation with the Central Valley Habitat Joint Venture, for the
ecological control of mosquitoes on managed wetland habitat.

(3) “Wildlife management area” has the same meaning as set
forth in subdivision (d) of Section 1504.

(4) “Mosquito abatement and vector control district” has the
same meaning as set forth in subdivision (f) of Section 2002 of
the Health and Safety Code.

begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert  (1) A mosquito abatement and vector control district whose
district boundaries include one or more wildlife management areas
or a mosquito abatement and vector control district in which vectors
and vectorborne diseases from a wildlife management area may
enter the district shall periodically, or at least semiannually, notify
the department of those areas that begin delete exceed locally established
mosquito population thresholds and end delete begin insert are of concern due to the
potential for high mosquito populations that may incur end insert associated
mosquito control costs. begin delete The district shall provide the basis for the
established thresholds to the department. Those thresholds and
costs may be reviewed by the State Department of Public Health
for conformity to generally acceptable mosquito control standards. end delete

(2) (A) To reduce mosquito production at those wildlife
management areas described in paragraph (1), the begin delete department, in
consultation end delete begin insert department shall consult end insert with local mosquito
abatement and vector control begin delete districts, shall prioritize, for funding,
those end delete begin insert districts to identify those areas within end insert wildlife management
areas having the highest need for additional mosquito reduction
through the implementation of best management begin delete practices taking
into account the following: end delete begin insert practices. end insert

begin delete

(i) The best management practices identified pursuant to Chapter
553 of the Statutes of 2004 and any subsequent changes to those
practices for the applicable wildlife management area that, when
implemented, would result in the mosquito population being
reduced below the locally established threshold value while
maintaining and enhancing the waterfowl and other wildlife values
of that habitat.

(ii) The mosquito control plan developed pursuant to Chapter
553 of the Statutes of 2004, in consultation with the local mosquito
abatement and vector control district, and any subsequent changes
to the plan that applies the best management practices and any
other necessary management practices at the applicable wildlife
management area.

(iii) The existing resources available to the department to
implement best management practices in the applicable wildlife
management areas.

end delete

(B) If the wetland occupies land outside the jurisdictional
boundaries of a mosquito abatement and vector control district,
the department may consult with the State Department of Public
Health to determine which best management practices can be
implemented in the absence of an organized local mosquito control
program.

begin delete

(d) A mosquito abatement and vector control district described
in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) shall do all of the following:

(1) In consultation with the department, develop standardized
monitoring procedures for mosquito surveillance for each managed
wetland habitat at each wildlife management area, and, when the
monitoring procedures are completed, provide a copy of the
procedures to the department. These procedures may be reviewed
by the State Department of Public Health for conformity to
generally accepted mosquito control standards.

(2) Conduct posttreatment monitoring of wildlife management
area lands and develop performance criteria to document mosquito
control effectiveness.

(3) Provide an annual report to the department specifying the
types and quantities of pesticides used, types of habitat sprayed,
and the total number of acres treated in a wildlife management
area. The annual report shall also include recommendations for
the refinement of best management practices to reduce the need
for chemical control.

(e)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  This section does not affect existing authority of a mosquito
abatement and vector control district under Section 2040 of the
Health and Safety Code.

begin delete SEC. 2. end delete
begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.