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SB-1163 Wildlife-vehicle collisions: wildlife salvage permits.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 06/27/2024 09:00 PM
SB1163:v94#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  June 27, 2024
Amended  IN  Assembly  June 17, 2024
Amended  IN  Senate  May 16, 2024
Amended  IN  Senate  April 17, 2024
Amended  IN  Senate  April 03, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 1163

Introduced by Senator Dahle
(Coauthors: Senators Dodd and Ochoa Bogh)

February 14, 2024

An act to amend Sections 1023 and 2000.6 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to wildlife.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1163, as amended, Dahle. Wildlife-vehicle collisions: wildlife salvage permits.
Existing law authorizes the Fish and Game Commission to adopt regulations that it deems necessary for the disposition of birds or mammals that are killed accidentally. Existing law also authorizes the commission, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish, in consultation with specified public agencies and stakeholders, a pilot program no later than January 1, 2022, for the issuance of wildlife salvage permits that authorize a person to recover, possess, use, or transport certain mammals that have been accidentally killed as a result of a vehicle collision for purposes of salvaging wild game meat for human consumption. Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to implement the pilot program no later than 6 months after the commission establishes the pilot program. Existing law repeals the pilot program provisions on January 1, 2029.
This bill would eliminate the January 1, 2022, deadline for the commission to establish this previously authorized pilot program and would extend the repeal date for the pilot program to January 1, 2034. program.
Existing law authorizes, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the department to develop a separate pilot program to collect and compile information and data on wildlife-vehicle collisions to support certain wildlife conservation efforts.
This bill would require the department to conclude the pilot program 5 years after the date of commencement.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Each year it is estimated that as many as 100,000 deer alone are hit by motor vehicles on the state’s roadways. Not only does this place thousands of motorists in grave danger, it also potentially translates into hundreds of thousands of pounds of healthy meat that could be used to feed those in need.
(2) Recent legislation signed into law (Assembly Bill 2344 (Chapter 964 of the Statutes of 2022)) requires the Department of Transportation, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and other appropriate agencies, to establish an inventory of connectivity needs on the state highway system where the implementation of wildlife passage features could reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions or enhance wildlife connectivity.
(3) Subsequent implementation of Assembly Bill 2344 has resulted in the Department of Fish and Wildlife securing eight additional full-time staff to assist with its wildlife crossing responsibilities.
(4) State agencies and others involved in planning mitigation for wildlife-vehicle collisions, such as wildlife crossings and barrier fencing, have traditionally used the California Roadkill Observation System, hosted at the University of California, Davis, to report roadkill and as their primary roadkill data source.
(5) Other western states use systems similar to the California Roadkill Observation System as their roadkill database. These states electronically issue permits that authorize roadkill salvage to further facilitate roadkill data reporting. The technology exists in the state to quickly and cost effectively establish a system that similarly facilitates wildlife data collection by way of issuing wildlife salvage permits.
(6) The states that employ combining wildlife data collection and salvage permitting share the data from these programs with the public in real time through an internet website portal.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that this act do all of the following:
(1) Build upon Assembly Bill 2344 by substantially assisting in the gathering of data necessary to determine the locations in greatest need of wildlife passage features.
(2) Ease and improve the reporting of where these collisions occur in order to generate the necessary information to develop appropriate prevention strategies, such as wildlife crossings.
(3) Make available to Californians tens of thousands of pounds of a healthy, wild, big game food source that currently is wasted each year following wildlife-vehicle collisions.

SEC. 2.

 Section 1023 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:

1023.
 (a) (1) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the department may develop a pilot program to collect and compile information and data on wildlife-vehicle collisions to support wildlife conservation efforts conducted through regional conservation investment strategies approved pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 1850), the Advance Mitigation Program (Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 800) of Chapter 4 of Division 1 of the Streets and Highways Code), or any policy or project implemented to reduce the loss of wildlife from vehicle collisions.
(2) The pilot program shall be at a maximum of three geographically dispersed sites identified by the department to be areas of high wildlife-vehicle collisions.
(3) The department shall conclude the pilot program five years after the date of the commencement of the pilot program.
(b) (1) In developing the pilot program, the department may coordinate with other state agencies that remove dead wildlife from roadways to determine the scope of data collected on wildlife-vehicle collisions.
(2) In collecting and compiling information and data pursuant to the pilot program, the department may use information and data made available on the California Roadkill Observation System administered by the University of California, Davis.
(c) At the conclusion of the pilot program, the department shall report to the commission on the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions identified during the study period, barriers to additional data collection, and the feasibility of creating a statewide wildlife-vehicle collision reporting system. The report shall include an estimate of the costs of implementing the statewide wildlife-vehicle collision reporting system.

SEC. 3.

 Section 2000.6 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:

2000.6.
 (a) (1) Consistent with Section 91.8 of the Streets and Highways Code, and upon appropriation by the Legislature, the commission may establish a pilot program for the issuance of wildlife salvage permits through a user-friendly and cell-phone-friendly web-based portal to persons desiring to recover, possess, use, or transport, for purposes of salvaging wild game meat for human consumption of, any deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, or wild pig that has been accidentally killed as a result of a vehicle collision on a roadway within the state. This permitting process shall be available at no cost to the public.
(2) In developing the pilot program, the commission shall consult with the department, the Department of Transportation, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, other relevant public entities, and stakeholders to ensure public health and safety and to ensure the pilot program does not facilitate poaching.
(3) The commission shall prescribe the requirements for applying for and receiving a wildlife salvage permit and set the terms and conditions it deems necessary for the safe recovery, possession, use, and transportation of deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, or wild pig pursuant to a wildlife salvage permit.
(4) The commission shall require a person seeking to obtain a wildlife salvage permit to report through the web-based portal described in paragraph (1), at a minimum, the location, type, and description of the animal salvaged, the date and time of salvage, the basic characteristics of the incident and a description of the vehicle involved, where applicable, and the destination where the carcass will be transported.
(5) The commission may limit the implementation of the pilot program only to certain counties or regions of the state.
(6) The commission may restrict the roadways where wildlife salvage may be conducted and the species subject to salvage, and may regulate any other aspect of the pilot program necessary to ensure the pilot program’s success, to minimize risks to public safety, and to prevent poaching.
(7) A person desiring to salvage the carcass of an animal pursuant to this section shall do so in a manner consistent with Section 21718 of the Vehicle Code.
(8) The commission shall consider and recommend to the department public education and outreach for the wildlife salvage pilot program beyond traditional hunting populations to the general public.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 2000.5, if a person unintentionally strikes and kills a deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, or wild pig on a roadway in the state with a vehicle, that person may recover, possess, use, or transport the whole animal and salvage the edible portions of the animal pursuant to a wildlife salvage permit.
(c) Subdivision (b) shall also apply to an individual who encounters an unintentionally killed deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, or wild pig that has been struck with a vehicle.
(d) This section does not authorize an individual to kill an injured or wounded animal for the purpose of salvage. An animal that is severely injured in an accidental vehicle collision may only be salvaged pursuant to this section if it is subsequently killed by the department pursuant to Section 1001 or a law enforcement officer authorized by the department to kill injured wildlife.
(e) (1) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the department shall implement the pilot program no later than six months after the commission establishes the pilot program.
(2) (A) The department shall develop and make available to the public the web-based portal described in subdivision (a) for the wildlife salvage pilot program to facilitate participation in the pilot program.
(B) The web-based portal shall work with the existing harvest reporting system in use by the department, including identification of the person salvaging the animal.
(C) The department shall work to include data collected from the wildlife salvage pilot program in any other wildlife-vehicle collision data collection efforts, including data collection efforts conducted pursuant to Section 1023.
(f) This section does not authorize the take of wildlife species listed pursuant to the California Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050)) and Section 670.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, or other nongame wildlife, fully protected species, migratory birds, including, but not limited to, waterfowl, and other wildlife species not lawfully hunted.
(g) The state is not liable for any harm, injury, loss, or damage arising out of the recovery, possession, use, transport, or consumption of any wild game animal legally salvaged pursuant to this section.
(h) Beginning on the first March 1 after the department implements the pilot program, and each March 1 thereafter, the department shall make available on its internet website data that includes the number of wildlife salvage permits issued, locations of impacts, and species of wildlife.
(i) Subdivisions (b) to (d), inclusive, shall become operative when the department implements the pilot program.
(j) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2034, 2029, and as of that date is repealed.