BILL NUMBER: AB 711	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 19, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Rendon
    (   Principal coauthor:   Assembly Member
  Pan  ) 
    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Blumenfield,   Fong,   Stone,   and
Williams   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2013

   An act to amend Section  3002   3004.5 
of the Fish and Game Code, relating to  fish and wildlife
  hunting  .


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 711, as amended, Rendon.  Fish and wildlife: methods of
taking.   Hunting: nonlead ammunition.  
   Existing law requires the Fish and Game Commission, by July 1,
2008, to establish by regulation a public process to certify
centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition as nonlead ammunition, and to
define by regulation nonlead ammunition as including only centerfire
rifle and pistol ammunition in which there is no lead content.
Existing law requires the commission to establish and annually update
a list of certified centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition. 

   Existing law requires that nonlead ammunition, as determined by
the commission, be used when taking big game with a rifle or pistol,
as defined by the Department of Fish and Wildlife's hunting
regulations, and when taking coyote, within specified deer hunting
zones, but excluding specific counties and areas. Existing law
requires the commission to establish a process, to the extent that
funding is available, that will provide hunters in these specified
deer hunting zones with nonlead ammunition at no or reduced charge. A
violation of these provisions is a crime.  
   This bill would revise and recast these provisions to require the
use of nonlead ammunition for the taking of all wildlife, including
game mammals, game birds, nongame birds, and nongame mammals, with
any firearm. The bill would require the commission, by July 1, 2014,
to certify, by regulation, nonlead ammunition for these purposes. The
bill would make conforming changes. The bill would provide that
these provisions do not apply to government officials or their agents
when carrying out a mandatory statutory duty required by law. 

   The bill would require the commission to promulgate regulations by
July 1, 2014, that phase in the requirements of these provisions.
The bill would require that these requirements be fully implemented
statewide by no later than July 1, 2016. The bill would also require
that the commission not reduce or eliminate any existing regulatory
restrictions on the use of lead ammunition in California condor
habitat unless or until the additional requirements for use of
nonlead ammunition as required by these provisions are implemented.
 
   By expanding and changing the definition of a crime, the bill
would impose a state-mandated local program.  
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.  
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.  
   Existing law makes it unlawful to shoot at a game bird or mammal,
including a marine mammal, as defined, from a powerboat, sailboat,
motor vehicle, or airplane.  
   This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to this provision.

   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program:  no
  yes  .


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:  
   (a) California's wildlife species represent the state's rich
natural resources and environmental health and beauty.  
   (b) California's wildlife species play an important role in the
state's environmental health.  
   (c) Fifty years of research have shown that the presence of lead
in the environment poses an ongoing threat to the health of the
general public and the viability of the state's wildlife species,
including federally listed threatened and endangered species.

   (d) The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines lead
as toxic to both humans and animals, and lead can affect almost
every organ and system in the human body, including the heart, bones,
intestines, kidneys, and reproductive and nervous systems. It
interferes with the development of the nervous system and is
therefore particularly toxic to children, causing potentially
permanent learning and behavior disorders.  
   (e) Lead is a potent neurotoxin, for which no safe exposure level
exists for humans. The use of lead has been outlawed in and removed
from paint, gasoline, children's toys, and many other items to
protect human health and wildlife.  
   (f) Routes of human and wildlife exposure to lead include
contaminated air, water, soil, and food. Lead ammunition in felled
wildlife is often consumed by other animals and passed along the food
chain. Dairy and beef cattle have developed lead poisoning after
feeding in areas where spent lead ammunition has accumulated. Spent
lead ammunition can also be mingled into crops, vegetation, and
waterways.  
   (g) Efforts to limit wildlife exposure to lead ammunition have
been successful. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service banned
the use of lead shot for waterfowl hunting decades ago, and both
hunting and waterfowl have thrived since. And California passed a
successful law preventing the use of lead ammunition in condor
habitat. However, because these restrictions only apply in certain
areas or to the hunting of particular species, many species of
wildlife remain threatened by the use of lead ammunition and more
protections are needed. These successes have shown us how to extend
protection from lead poisoning to other wildlife.  
   (h) A variety of nontoxic ammunition is readily available. Studies
have shown that nontoxic ammunition performs as well as, or better
than, lead-based ammunition. 
   SEC.   2   .    Section  
3004.5 of the   Fish and Game Code   is amended to
read: 
   3004.5.  (a) Nonlead  centerfire rifle and pistol
 ammunition, as determined by the commission, shall be
required when taking  big game with rifle or pistol, as
defined by Section 350 of the department's mammal hunting
regulations, and when taking coyote, within the department's deer
hunting zone A South, but excluding Santa Cruz, Alameda, Contra
Costa, San Mateo, and San Joaquin Counties, areas west of Highway 101
within Santa Clara County, and areas between Highway 5 and Highway
99 within Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern
Counties, and within deer hunting zones D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, and
D13   all wildlife, including game mammals, game birds,
nongame birds, and nongame mammals, with any firearm  .
   (b) By July 1,  2008   2014  , the
commission shall establish, by regulation, a public process to
certify  centerfire rifle and pistol  ammunition as
nonlead ammunition, and shall define, by regulation, nonlead
ammunition as including only  centerfire rifle and pistol
 ammunition in which there is no lead content. The
commission shall establish and annually update a list of certified
 centerfire rifle and pistol  ammunition.
   (c) (1) To the extent that funding is available, the commission
shall establish a process that will provide hunters  within
the department's deer hunting zone A South, but excluding Santa Cruz,
Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and San Joaquin Counties, areas
west of Highway 101 within Santa Clara County, and areas between
Highway 5 and Highway 99 within Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno,
Kings, Tulare, and Kern Counties, and within deer hunting zones D7,
D8, D9, D10, D11, and D13  with nonlead ammunition at no or
reduced charge. The process shall provide that the offer for nonlead
ammunition at no or reduced charge may be redeemed through a coupon
sent to a permitholder with the appropriate permit tag. If available
funding is not sufficient to provide nonlead ammunition at no charge,
the commission shall set the value of the reduced charge coupon at
the maximum value possible through available funding, up to the
average cost within this state for nonlead ammunition, as determined
by the commission.
   (2) The nonlead ammunition coupon program described in paragraph
(1) shall be implemented only to the extent that sufficient funding,
as determined by the Department of Finance, is obtained from local,
federal, public, or other nonstate sources in order to implement the
program.
   (3) If the nonlead ammunition coupon program is implemented, the
commission shall issue a report on the usage and redemption rates of
ammunition coupons. The report shall cover calendar years 2008, 2009,
and 2012. Each report shall be issued by June of the following year.

   (d) The commission shall issue a report on the levels of lead
found in California condors. This report shall cover calendar years
2008, 2009, and 2012. Each report shall be issued by June of the
following year.
   (e) The department shall notify those hunters who may be affected
by this section.
   (f) A person who violates any provision of this section is guilty
of an infraction punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars ($500).
A second or subsequent offense shall be punishable by a fine of not
less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more than five thousand
dollars ($5,000). 
   (g) This section does not apply to government officials or their
agents when carrying out a mandatory statutory duty required by law.
 
   (h) The commission shall promulgate regulations by July 1, 2014,
that phase in the requirements of this section. The requirements of
this section shall be fully implemented statewide by no later than
July 1, 2016. The commission shall not reduce or eliminate any
existing regulatory restrictions on the use of lead ammunition in
California condor habitat unless or until the additional requirements
for use of nonlead ammunition as required by this section are
implemented. 
   SEC.   3   .    No reimbursement is
required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred
by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this
act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or
infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within
the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the
definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII
B of the California Constitution.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 3002 of the Fish and Game
Code is amended to read:
   3002.  It is unlawful to shoot at a game bird or mammal, including
a marine mammal as defined in Section 4500, from a powerboat,
sailboat, motor vehicle, or airplane.