Bill Text: CA AB2376 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Fish and wildlife: strategic vision.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2010-09-28 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 424, Statutes of 2010. [AB2376 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB2376-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2376 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 424
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 28, 2010
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 28, 2010
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 31, 2010
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 31, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 15, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Huffman
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to add Section 12805.3 to the Government Code, relating to
fish and wildlife.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2376, Huffman. Fish and wildlife: strategic vision.
The California Constitution establishes the Fish and Game
Commission and provides for the delegation to the commission of
powers relating to the protection and propagation of fish and game.
Existing statutory law delegates to the commission the power to
regulate the taking or possession of birds, mammals, fish,
amphibians, and reptiles in accordance with prescribed laws. Existing
law establishes the Department of Fish and Game in the Natural
Resources Agency, and generally charges the department with the
administration and enforcement of the Fish and Game Code.
This bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources
Agency to convene a committee, with membership as prescribed, to
develop and submit to the Governor and Legislature, before July 1,
2012, a strategic vision for the department and the commission that
addresses specified matters relating to state fish and wildlife
resource management.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 12805.3 is added to the Government Code, to
read:
12805.3. (a) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency shall
convene a committee to develop and submit to the Governor and the
Legislature, before July 1, 2012, a strategic vision for the
Department of Fish and Game and the Fish and Game Commission.
(b) The committee members shall include all of the following:
(1) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency.
(2) The Director of Fish and Game.
(3) The president of the Fish and Game Commission.
(4) The chair of the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission.
(5) A representative of the University of California.
(6) Representatives of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
and the National Marine Fisheries Service, if they choose to
participate.
(c) The strategic vision shall address all of the following
matters:
(1) Improving and enhancing capacity of the department and the
commission to fulfill their public trust responsibilities to protect
and manage the state's fish and wildlife for their ecological values
and for the use and benefit of the people of the state.
(2) Comprehensive biodiversity management, including conservation
planning and monitoring.
(3) Sustainable ecosystem functions, including terrestrial,
freshwater, and marine habitat.
(4) Opportunities for sustainable recreational and commercial
harvest of fish and wildlife.
(5) Permitting, regulatory, and enforcement functions.
(6) Science capacity and academic relationships, including
strategies to protect and enhance the independence and integrity of
the science that forms the basis for department and commission
policies and decisions.
(7) Education, communication, and relations with the public,
landowners, nonprofit entities, and land management agencies.
(8) Reforms necessary to take on the challenges of the 21st
century, including, but not necessarily limited to:
(A) Climate change and adaptation.
(B) Meeting California's future renewable energy needs while
protecting sensitive habitat.
(C) The restoration of the state's native fish species.
(D) Implementing and updating the state's Wildlife Action Plan.
(9) The development and deployment of technology to meet the
department's mission, including data modeling, collection, and online
reporting.
(10) Budget and fiscal development, accounting, and management.
(11) Coordination among state agencies.
(12) Recommendations for institutional or governance changes,
including clarification of the roles of the commission and the
department.
(13) Strategies for identifying stable funding options to fulfill
the mission of the department while reducing dependency on the
General Fund.
(14) Other recommendations deemed desirable by the committee.
(d) The committee shall seek input from elected officials,
governmental agencies, and interested parties, and shall review
existing reports and studies on the functioning of the department and
other state models for fish and wildlife governance.
(e) For the purposes of carrying out this section, the committee
may also seek input from other policy and resource leaders.
(f) (1) The committee, its members, and state agencies represented
on the committee may contract for consultants to assist in the
preparation of the strategic vision.
(2) Contracts entered into pursuant to paragraph (1) shall
terminate no later than December 31, 2011.
(3) Contracts entered into pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
exempt from Part 2 (commencing with Section 10100) of Division 2 of
the Public Contract Code.
(g) The Governor or the committee shall appoint a "blue ribbon"
citizen commission or task force, a stakeholder advisory group, and
any other group that the Governor or the committee deems necessary or
desirable to assist in carrying out this section. A stakeholder
advisory group appointed pursuant to this section shall be broadly
constructed to represent a diverse range of interests affected by
state policies that govern fish and wildlife, including, but not
necessarily limited to, persons representing fishing and hunting
interests, nonprofit conservation organizations, nonconsumptive
recreational users, landowners, scientific and educational interests,
and other interests or entities dedicated to habitat conservation
and protection of public trust resources. The committee convened
pursuant to subdivision (a), in developing the strategic vision,
shall take into account the recommendations of any group appointed
pursuant to this subdivision.
(h) (1) The requirement for submitting the strategic vision
imposed under subdivision (a) is inoperative on January 1, 2015,
pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, or on the date
that the strategic vision is submitted, whichever date is later.
(2) The strategic vision shall be submitted in compliance with
Section 9795 of the Government Code.
