AB 353: Protected species: take: Bouquet Canyon: habitat restoration project.

Existing law prohibits the taking or possession of any fully protected fish, except as provided, and designates the unarmored threespine stickleback as a fully protected fish. The California Endangered Species Act prohibits the taking of an endangered or threatened species, except as specified. The Department of Fish and Wildlife may authorize the take of listed species if the take is incidental to an otherwise lawful activity and the impacts are minimized and fully mitigated.

This bill would permit the department to authorize, under the California Endangered Species Act, the take of the unarmored threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus williamsoni) resulting from impacts attributable to the habitat restoration project to restore, maintain, and improve riparian habitat on public lands in a prescribed portion of Bouquet Creek and projects to restore the flow capacity to Bouquet Creek in Bouquet Canyon on public lands, as specified, if certain conditions are satisfied.

This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 5515 of the Fish and Game Code, proposed by AB 1527, to be operative only if AB 1527 and this bill are chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2016, and this bill is chaptered last.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.