AB 2640: Fully protected species: Lost River sucker and shortnose sucker limited take authorization: California condor limited take authorization.

(1)The California Endangered Species Act (CESA) prohibits the taking of an endangered or threatened species, except as specified. Under CESA, the Department of Fish and Wildlife may authorize, by permit, the take of listed species if the take is incidental to an otherwise lawful activity and the impacts are minimized and fully mitigated.

Existing law prohibits the taking or possession of a fully protected fish, except as provided, and designates the Lost River sucker and the shortnose sucker as fully protected fish.

This bill would permit the department to authorize, under CESA, the take or possession of the Lost River sucker and shortnose sucker resulting from impacts attributable to or otherwise related to the decommissioning and removal of the Iron Gate Dam, the Copco 1 Dam, the Copco 2 Dam, or the J.C. Boyle Dam, each located on the Klamath River, consistent with the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement, if specified conditions are met.

(2)The federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) directs federal agencies, in consultation with the United States Secretary of the Interior or the United States Secretary of Commerce, as appropriate, to carry out conservation programs for endangered or threatened species listed under ESA. ESA generally prohibits activities affecting these threatened and endangered species unless authorized by a permit from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service, as appropriate. ESA provides for enhancement of survival permits to allow actions necessary for the establishment and maintenance of experimental populations designated pursuant to ESA.

Existing law provides that a person who obtains a federal enhancement of survival permit that authorizes the taking of an endangered or threatened species that is also listed as an endangered, threatened, or candidate species under CESA, in order to establish or maintain an experimental population of the species pursuant to ESA, requires no further authorization or approval under CESA for that person to take that species as identified in, and in accordance with, the enhancement of survival permit, if specified requirements are met. Existing law also authorizes the incidental take of an endangered, threatened, or candidate species that is designated as an experimental population under ESA, without the need for further authorization or approval under CESA, if specified requirements are met.

Existing law prohibits the taking or possession of a fully protected bird, except as provided, and designates the California condor as a fully protected bird. Existing law authorizes the department to carry out a California condor preservation project that has objectives including habitat protection, field research, a captive breeding program, and a condor release program. Existing law requires the department, jointly with a specified federal-state condor recovery team established pursuant to ESA, to develop a plan to respond to these objectives.

This bill would provide that if the take of California condors under the Northern California Condor Restoration Program, as defined, is exempt from further authorization or approval under CESA based on acquisition of a federal enhancement of survival permit or based on a federal experimental population designation, and the Director of Fish and Wildlife finds the permit or designation, as applicable, to be consistent with the objectives and plans of the California condor preservation project, the take or possession of California condors under the Northern California Condor Restoration Program shall also be exempt from the above-described prohibitions against the taking or possession of any fully protected bird.