BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 2001|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520    Fax: (916)      |                              |
          |327-4478                          |                              |
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 2001
          Author:   Mathis (R) 
          Amended:  8/2/16 in Senate
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE:  9-0, 6/14/16
           AYES:  Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson,  
            Monning, Vidak, Wolk

          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  76-0, 4/28/16 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote

           SUBJECT:   Fully protected fish:  Owens pupfish:  California  
                     State Safe Harbor Agreement Program Act


          SOURCE:    Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley 

          DIGEST:   This bill establishes criteria that would authorize  
          the incidental take of Owens pupfish, a fully protected species,  
          in the Owens and Mojave River watersheds in the context of a  
          safe harbor agreement entered into pursuant to the California  
          Endangered Species Act. 


          Senate Floor Amendments of 8/2/16 avoid chaptering out so that  
          this bill and other bills dealing with fully protected species  
          that amend the same section of law would be effective if any  
          combination of them are signed by the Governor. The other two  
          bills are AB 1845 (Dahle) and AB 2488 (Dababneh).  The technical  
          amendment  limits incidental take of the Owens pupfish to only  








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                                                                    Page  2


          the Owens River watershed. 


          ANALYSIS:  


          Existing law: 


          1)Prohibits the taking or possession of a fully protected fish  
            except as specified. The species that are classified as fully  
            protected fish include but are not limited to the Owens  
            pupfish. 


          2)Permits Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to authorize the  
            taking of a fully protected fish for scientific research,  
            including efforts to recover fully protected, threatened, or  
            endangered species and requires DFW before authorizing the  
            take of a fully protected fish to make an effort to notify all  
            affected and interested parties, to publish the notice in the  
            California Regulatory Notice Register, and to provide 30 days  
            after publication for submittal of comments. 


          3)Authorizes DFW to authorize the taking of a fully protected  
            fish species whose conservation and management is provided for  
            in a natural community conservation plan approved by DFW. 


          4)Authorizes DFW to authorize incidental take of the fully  
            protected unarmored threespine stickleback fish, and the fully  
            protected limestone salamander, under certain limited  
            circumstances, provided specified criteria and standards are  
            met regarding location as well as take minimization,  
            mitigation and conservation.


          5)Provides for the listing of species as threatened or  
            endangered under federal and state endangered species acts.  
            The DFW may issue permits for incidental take of listed  
            species, if specified conditions are met, including  
            mitigation, minimization, and adaptive management  
            requirements. 







                                                                    AB 2001  
                                                                    Page  3




          6)Establishes procedures for "safe harbor" agreements that allow  
            landowners to take endangered or threatened species under  
            specified conditions including a requirement that the species  
            is at least as numerous as it was prior to the management  
            activities undertaken pursuant to the safe harbor agreement. 


          This bill establishes criteria that would authorize the  
          incidental take of Owens pupfish, a fully protected species, in  
          the Owens and Mojave River watersheds in the context of a safe  
          harbor agreement entered into pursuant to the California  
          Endangered Species Act.


          Background


          The region's Native Americans have a long history with the Owens  
          pupfish. Historically, the fish was a staple food item for the  
          local tribes who caught the fish in the hundreds and dried and  
          stored them. They have been working for several years to obtain  
          permits to relocate some of the endangered pupfish to  
          conservation ponds in order to assist in recovery efforts for  
          this species.




          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No


          SUPPORT:   (Verified8/1/16)


          Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley (source)
          Audubon California 
          Bishop Tribal Council
          Bridgeport Indian Colony
          Desert Fishes Council
          Kern Valley Indian Community
          Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Reservation







                                                                    AB 2001  
                                                                    Page  4


          Owens Valley Indian Water Commission
          Timbusha Shoshone Tribe
          Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified8/1/16)


          None received

          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:   The Bishop Paiute Tribe is the sponsor  
          of this bill and it states that this bill will clearly convey  
          the authority for the state to issue permits for take incidental  
          to efforts to recover endangered fish by reversing the decline  
          of populations through the removal of barriers for cooperative  
          restoration projects. 

          Audubon California states that the Owens Pupfish could be  
          recovered by expanding its range beyond the few isolated areas  
          where they currently exist to sites with appropriate habitat in  
          multiple locations throughout the valley. 

          The Bridgeport Indian Colony states that the Owens pupfish once  
          occupied many areas within the Owens Valley and was an important  
          food source for the Paiute. 

          The Desert Fishes Council, a professional association of  
          scientists, states that the Owens pupfish now lives only in five  
          ponds which cumulative cover less than one-third of an acre. The  
          fish may be successfully managed as proposed by the Bishop  
          Paiute. 


           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  76-0, 4/28/16
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,  
            Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,  
            Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,  
            Dababneh, Dahle, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines,  
            Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,  
            Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger  
            Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,  
            Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty,  
            Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell,  







                                                                    AB 2001  
                                                                    Page  5


            Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,  
            Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,  
            Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Chávez, Daly, Mathis, Olsen

          Prepared by:William Craven / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
          8/3/16 19:26:03


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