Assembly Standing Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife

I also want to welcome Assembly Member Gallagher when he comes, who will be sitting in for Assembly Member Dahle for today's hearing due to an approved absence. For each bill, we're allowing up to two main witnesses in support, two main witnesses in opposition.

Following the primary witnesses, remaining witnesses are asked to limit their testimony to their name, organization, and position on the bill. Thank you for your cooperation on that one because it'll keep things going smoothly. We have three short bills--short--we have short three bills hearing today. We have three short bills for our hearing today: SB 708, Jones, SB 1009, Dahle, and SB 1226, Cortese, if a quorum is present, which it is not.

So due to the absence of quorum, we'll begin as a subcommittee. By check-in or bill number? By check-in or bill number? Okay. All right. I thank Mr. Cortese for being here on time, but I got to take Dahle first. So, Senator Dahle, come on down. We do hear them in File Order.

Thank you, Madam Chair and Members. I'm here to present SB 1009, which would reauthorize the Department of General Services to lease property at no cost to the Mount Shasta Museum Association for the next 25 years with the possibility of a renewal.

Since July 1983, the Mount Shasta Museum Association has operated with an all-volunteer staff and funded solely by membership, grants, and donations. During the 36 years of operation, the museum has reached over 500,000 visitors, including former Governor Jerry Brown.

Since the expiration of the original lease agreement in 2006, the Mount Shasta Museum Association has been operating under a month-to-month lease, meaning new legislation is in order.

This bill would require the Mount Shasta Museum Association to utilize the leased land for a historic museum and environmental education purposes, permit reasonable public access to the facility, maintain liability insurance for the lease portion of the facility, and maintain the lease portion of the facility at all times.

If this bill passes, it would allow the museum to operate as a public benefit and continue to provide free and low-cost educational programs and exhibits to its 14,000 visitors that visit the museum each year. The bill passed on consent in the Senate with 37 ayes and no no votes. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Excellent. Thanks so much. Any witnesses?

I did not have them drive all the way down. I'm assuming we're going to get out, so I'm hopeful that they. They would.

That's a big assumption on your part. That's alright.

As you know, you were up in the district in Mount Shasta, and, you know, it's a long drive.

That's right. That's right. Do we have any witnesses? I mean, anybody in the audience in support seeing none. And no, I don't see any witnesses in opposition. Lucky you. And no one in the audience wishing to oppose this outstanding bill. With that, back to the Committee. Any questions? Thank you. Assembly Member Hart?

We will when we get a quorum. I promise you. Thank you, Mister Dahle. We will take it up for a vote when we get a quorum.

Thank you. Appreciate your time.

Do you want to close?

Respectfully ask for an aye vote.

There you go, Senator. Thank you. Senator Cortese, come on down. Thank you for your patience. Good morning.

Thank you, Madam Chair and Members of the Committee. SB 1226 protects public access to our state waterways. It would amend a trespassing provision in the Fish and Game Code that has been determined to be inconsistent with the state constitution.

It clarifies that the public has a right to use navigable waters for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreation. The bill is narrowly tailored to the conclusions of at least two separate state attorney general opinions on the public use of navigable waters. I can't spit that out this morning.

It does not grant the public any right to use non-navigable waters or lands, and the California Fish and Game Commission still retains the ability to restrict hunting or fishing on any navigable waterway. The bill is also consistent with the State of California's 30 by 30 Goal of ensuring public access for all Californians to the outdoors.

This committee passed very similar bill last year, AB 859, with a strong bipartisan vote. With us here today, we have Mark Hennelly with California Waterfowl Association and Mark Smith with the Northern California Guides Association. At the appropriate time, I'd respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Hi there, Madam Chair, Members of the Committee. Mark Hennelly with California Waterfowl Association. We represent not only duck hunters, but many of the private landowners that maintain wetland habitat up and down the state.

As Senator Cortese mentioned, SB 1226 corrects a provision in the Fish and Game Code, Section 2016, that effectively discriminates against duck hunters by preventing them from using navigable floodwaters, which, as you know, are part of the Public Trust. No other recreational use of navigable waters is criminalized in that way, including fishing and boating.

Fixing, you know, this provision would not only ensure that hunters aren't improperly cited for trespass, but also save law enforcement and the court's time and money because the citations are typically thrown out if the judge has access to the attorney general's opinions. So, I'll leave it at that, and just respectfully ask for an aye vote. Thank you.

Excellent. Thank you. Do we have any MeToos in the audience?

Is this on? Yes. Madam Chair and Members, Mark Smith, on behalf of the Northern California Guides and Sportsmen's Association, in support. Thank you.

Madam Chair, Chris Hoon, on behalf of Delta Waterfowl, in support. Thank you.

Excellent. I don't--any witnesses--I mean, anybody in opposition, witness or otherwise? I don't think so. I think we might take roll here. We just lost the one that will let us have a quorum. Okay. Any--let's bring it back to the committee. Any questions? Thank you for the bill. We don't want ambiguity in navigable waters, and I can say that this morning.

Thank you. Much better than I.

So I thank you for the bill, and when we get a quorum, we'll take it up for a vote. We'll get a motion to take it up for a vote. Thanks for the clarification.

Thank you very much, and thanks for the committee's help with this. Appreciate it.

Excellent. So we are just waiting on a quorum and one more author so that we can get through our agenda. Fastest committee in the west, I say. Thank you all for getting here. I believe we have a quorum, so we're going to go ahead and take roll.

[Roll Call].

Great. Having a quorum, we need a motion on the--I believe we'll note Assembly Member Rivas.

[Roll Call].

Great.

Right. Okay. So, having already heard SB 1009 with Dahle, do we have a motion? Motion from Assembly Member Davies, second from Schiavo. Let's go ahead and take a vote.

Item number two, SB 1009. Motion is do pass to Appropriations. [Roll call]

And we'll leave that open for any add-ons should they come. The next bill that we're going to vote on, which we already heard, was SB 1226 by Senator Cortese, and that is a do pass to Appropriations, so let's go ahead. Do I have a motion? Motion from Hart, second from Schiavo. Let's take a vote.

Item number three, SB 1226. Motion is do pass to Appropriations. [Roll call]

Excellent. So, we're just waiting on Senator Jones for SB 708, and we will leave the roll open on the other ones. What was the tally on each of those? 1009 was 10 ayes, so that'll get out. 1226 was 10 ayes. Great.

Did you have something to tell me about Jones?

He's in the elevator.

Oh, perfect.

So, while we're waiting for Senator Jones, we're going to do some add-ons for Assembly Member Addis.

Item number two, SB 1009. Motion is do pass to Appropriations. [Roll call] And then item number three, SB 1226. Motion is do pass to Appropriations. [Roll call]

Good morning, Senator Jones. Come on down.

Good morning. Chairwoman and Members, thank you very much for your patience this morning. I appreciate it, and the deference. I will try to make it quick and hopefully get to, if there's any questions, be able to get those answered. And I'm sorry, Chairwoman, shall I start or... Okay. I appreciate that. Thank you, Madam Chair and Members.

California balances recreational interests of off highway vehicles with the need to protect the environment. The great success of the OHV recreation has come from a clear understanding of the rules and willingness of OHV organizations to share individual responsibility with their members.

The OHV competition sticker program was discontinued by the California Air Resources Board for competition motorcycles after 2022. It's interesting. If you're on Instagram, the Department of Parks is already putting posts on Instagram trying to explain how this system is going to wind down, so we're here to fix that for them, hopefully.

The discontinuation of the sticker does not allow competition, so now we are left in need of a way for law enforcement to clearly identify the vehicles and provide clear rules to event administrators. OHV competitions are popular with families and have made certain communities destination places for fans.

The program will simply provide a clear and simple solution to identifying who is allowed on a competition course. I'm proud to say that there is no opposition to the bill. I have with me today Terry McHale, representing the Coalition of Public Access, and Don Amador, a representative with the Motorcycle Industry Council. And I did pick up that there's a motion already, and there's a second. So I appreciate the early support on this bill. We'll try not to talk you out of it.

Madam Chair, Terry McHale, with Aaron Read and Associates, representing the Coalition for Public Access. And also, this morning, my good friend Jim Lombardo, who is injured and unable to be here today, the California Motorcycle Association and ABATE. This is a technical bill. It does not expand OHV recreation. What it does is, as Madam Chairman likes, there is no more ambiguity in terms of enforcement. We're asking for an aye vote. Thank you very much.

Yeah. Don Amador, native Californian. And there's a good reason why several of our conservation group partners and the state and federal land managers that I know support this bill, and that is because they want it to help in the chaos and confusion caused when CARB ended the Red Sticker Program in 2021 with no subsequent identification process in place for the newer models.

Also, SB 708 restores fee monies collected that were once lost when the Red Sticker Program ended. So once again, riders will pay their way for competition event related costs, such as trail maintenance, conservation, and law enforcement. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you so much. Do we have any folks in the audience in support?

Thank you, Chair and Members. Ashley Walker with Nossaman on behalf of the Motorcycle Industry Council and several of our members in support.

Madam Chair and Members, Mark Smith on behalf of the Off Road Vehicle Legislative Coalition in support. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Seeing no one else. Do we have any witnesses in opposition? Any members of the audience in opposition? Seeing none. I'll bring it back to the committee. Any questions? Comments? Okay, we have a motion. And we had a second, correct? Davies, and then Villapudua. Okay, great. So let's go ahead, and would you like to close?

I would just respect the request an aye vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator. Okay, let's go for it.

Item number one, SB 708. Motion is do pass to Transportation. [Roll Call]

Okay, looks like that gets out, and we will leave it open for anyone else who might come. Thank you so much, Senator

Thank you, Chairwoman. I appreciate you. Thank you.

Mister. Alanis. We're going to clear up some. And Gallagher. Well, there you have it. Thank you, everyone. Okay, we'll go ahead and add on for these two, Alanis.

Okay, item number one, SB 708. Motion do pass to Transportation. [Roll call] Item number two, SB 1009. Motion is do pass to Appropriations. [Roll call] Item number three, SB 1226. Motion is do pass to Appropriations. [Roll call]

That's it. And Mr. Garcia has advised he won't be here. So with that, we will adjourn.