BILL NUMBER: SB 89 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 26, 2004
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 24, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 23, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 17, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 15, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 11, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 26, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 20, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 25, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 17, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Senators Alpert, Battin, Ducheny, Figueroa, Karnette,
Kuehl, Margett, Oller, Perata, Romero, Scott, Sher, Speier,
Torlakson, and Vincent
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Koretz)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Lieber)
JANUARY 27, 2003
An act to add Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 2220) to
Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to wild animals.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 89, Alpert. Wild animals: domestic ferrets.
(1) Existing law prohibits the importation, transportation,
possession, or release into this state of certain wild animals,
including ferrets, without a permit issued by the Department of Fish
and Game. The existing California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be
prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact
report (EIR) on any project that it proposes to carry out or approve
that may have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA provides
that the purpose of an EIR is to provide public agencies and the
public in general with detailed information about the effect that a
proposed project is likely to have on the environment, to list the
ways in which the significant effects of a project might be
minimized, and to indicate alternatives.
This bill would, notwithstanding any other provision of law,
require the department to issue a certificate of amnesty to any
person who owns a domestic ferret on the mainland of the State of
California, if the owner of the ferret is able to produce
documentation from a licensed veterinarian that the ferret has been
vaccinated against rabies, and a certificate of spay or neuter issued
by a licensed veterinarian. The bill would make a certificate of
amnesty valid for the life of the individual ferret for which it is
issued. The bill would provide that certain permitholders would not
be required to apply for a certificate of amnesty.
The bill would authorize the department to charge a fee in an
amount of not more than $75 for the issuance of each certificate of
amnesty. The bill would require, notwithstanding any other provision
of law, each ferret for which the department has issued a
certificate of amnesty to be deemed to be owned legally, and would
prohibit the enforcement of any provision of law prohibiting the
ownership or possession of ferrets in California other than a license
or permit requirement imposed by a city, county, or city and county
within its jurisdiction.
The bill would require 1/3 of the revenues resulting from the
imposition of the certificate of amnesty fee to be utilized by the
department to cover the administrative costs including, but not
limited to, startup costs, incurred in issuing the certificate and
any startup costs of the amnesty program, and the remaining 2/3 of
the resulting revenues from the issuance of each certificate to be
deposited in the Domestic Ferret Environmental Study Account, which
the bill would create in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund.
The bill would make the moneys in the account available to the
department upon appropriation by the Legislature, commencing with the
2005-06 fiscal year, upon the balance of the account reaching
$250,000. The bill would also authorize donations from individuals
and organizations to be deposited in the account, and would prohibit
any information derived from those donations from being utilized by
the department or any law enforcement agency to enforce any
prohibition on the importation, transportation, or possession of
domestic ferrets, or any regulations relating to domestic ferrets.
The bill would require the moneys in the account to be utilized by
the department solely for the purpose of preparing, or contracting
for the preparation of, an environmental impact report to determine
the effects on the environment of the state of removing the domestic
ferret from the list of wild animals that are unlawful, except under
a specified permit, to import, transport, possess, or release alive
into this state. The bill would authorize the department to enter
into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences, the
University of California, the California State University, or any
similar scientific institution of higher learning, or any combination
of those institutions, to assist in obtaining scientific data for
the environmental impact report. The bill would require the
department, upon completion of that report, to provide a copy of the
final environmental impact report and any related findings to the
Legislature and the commission, and to make those documents available
to the public on the department's Web site, and would require the
commission to hold a hearing to determine whether to remove the
domestic ferret from the list of wild animals that are unlawful to
import, transport, possess, or release alive into the state. The
bill would authorize the department to continue to issue certificates
of amnesty if the commission determines to remove the domestic
ferret from that list. The bill would require the director of the
department, if the commission determines not to remove the domestic
ferret from that list, to determine a date that is not later than 90
days following that determination by which the department would be
required to cease issuing certificates of amnesty. Because a
violation of the Fish and Game Code is a misdemeanor, the bill would
impose a state-mandated local program by changing the definition of a
crime.
(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.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 2220) is added to
Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, to read:
CHAPTER 2.5. DOMESTIC FERRETS
2220. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department
shall issue a certificate of amnesty to any person who owns a
domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo) on the mainland of the State
of California, if the owner of the ferret is able to produce both of
the following with respect to that ferret:
(a) Documentation from a licensed veterinarian that the ferret has
been vaccinated against rabies with a vaccine approved for use in
ferrets by the United States Department of Agriculture and
administered in accordance with the recommendations of the vaccine
manufacturer.
(b) A certificate of spay or neuter issued by a licensed
veterinarian.
2221. The department may charge a fee in an amount of not more
than seventy-five dollars ($75) for the issuance of each certificate
of amnesty pursuant to Section 2220. One-third of the revenues
resulting from the imposition of that fee shall be utilized by the
department to cover the administrative costs incurred in issuing the
certificate and any startup costs of the amnesty program, and the
remaining two-thirds of the resulting revenues from the issuance of
each certificate shall be deposited in the Domestic Ferret
Environmental Study Account created pursuant to Section 2223.
2222. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each ferret
for which the department has issued a certificate of amnesty shall
be deemed to be owned legally, and, except as provided in subdivision
(c), is not subject to the enforcement of any provision of law
prohibiting the ownership or possession of ferrets in California.
(b) A certificate of amnesty issued pursuant to this chapter shall
be valid for the life of the individual ferret for which it is
issued.
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall preclude any city, county, or
city and county from requiring a license or permit for each ferret
owned by a person residing within the jurisdiction of that city,
county, or city and county.
(d) A person who holds a permit, as described in Section 2118, to
import, transport, or possess a domestic ferret for research, zoo,
or exhibition purposes shall not be required to apply for a
certificate of amnesty.
2223. The Domestic Ferret Environmental Study Account is hereby
created in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund.
(a) Moneys in the account shall be available, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, to the department, commencing with the 2005-06
fiscal year, upon the balance of the account reaching two hundred
fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), for the purpose of preparing the
environmental impact report required pursuant to Section 2224.
(b) The following moneys may be deposited in the account:
(1) Portions of the revenues resulting from the issuance of
certificates of amnesty pursuant to Section 2221.
(2) Donations from individuals and organizations. Information
derived from these donations shall not be utilized by the department
or any law enforcement agency to enforce any prohibition on the
importation, transportation, or possession of domestic ferrets, or
any regulations relating to domestic ferrets.
(3) Any other moneys appropriated by the Legislature for that
purpose.
(c) Moneys in the account shall be utilized by the department
solely for the purpose of preparing, or causing to be prepared, the
environmental impact report described in subdivision (a) of Section
2224.
2224. When the balance of the account created pursuant to Section
2223 reaches two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), the
department shall do all of the following:
(a) Prepare, or contract for the preparation of, an environmental
impact report that fulfills the requirements of Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code to
determine the effects on the environment of the state of removing the
domestic ferret from the list of wild animals that are unlawful to
import, transport, possess, or release alive into this state, except
under a revocable nontransferable permit, as described in Section
2118. A domestic ferret may not be released into the wild as a part
of that environmental impact report.
(b) The department may enter into an agreement with the National
Academy of Sciences, the University of California, the California
State University, or any similar scientific institution of higher
learning, or any combination of those institutions, to assist in
obtaining scientific data for the environmental impact report.
(c) Upon completion of the final environmental impact report, both
of the following shall occur:
(1) The department shall provide a copy of the final environmental
impact report and any related findings to the Legislature and the
commission, and make those documents available to the public on the
department's Web site.
(2) The commission shall hold a hearing to determine whether to
remove the domestic ferret from the list of wild animals that are
unlawful to import, transport, possess, or release alive into this
state, except under a revocable nontransferable permit, as described
in Section 2118. The commission shall take both of the following
into account when making that determination:
(A) Any testimony submitted in the hearing.
(B) The final environmental impact report prepared pursuant to
this section, and any related findings or documents.
(d) If the commission determines, pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (c), to remove the domestic ferret from the list of wild
animals that are unlawful to import, transport, possess, or release
alive into the state, except under a revocable, nontransferable
permit, the department may continue to issue certificates of amnesty
as described in this chapter.
(e) If the commission determines, pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (c), not to remove the domestic ferret from the list of
wild animals that are unlawful to import, transport, possess, or
release alive into the state, except under a revocable,
nontransferable permit, the director shall determine a date by which
the department shall cease issuing certificates of amnesty pursuant
to this chapter. The date determined by the director shall be within
90 days of the date on which the commission makes the determination
not to remove the domestic ferret from that list.
SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.