Bill Text: CA AB896 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Wildlife management areas: mosquito abatement.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-09-20 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 494, Statutes of 2014. [AB896 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB896-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 896 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 494
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 20, 2014
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 20, 2014
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 22, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 26, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 18, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 11, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 8, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Eggman
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to add Section 1506 to the Fish and Game Code, relating to
wildlife management.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 896, Eggman. Wildlife management areas: mosquito abatement.
(1) Existing law provides for the formation of mosquito abatement
and vector control districts, and prescribes the powers, functions,
and duties of those districts, as specified. The existing Fish and
Game Code authorizes the Department of Fish and Wildlife to take
specified actions to protect, restore, rehabilitate, and improve fish
and wildlife habitat.
Statutory provisions that were repealed on January 1, 2010,
required a mosquito abatement and vector control district whose
boundaries include one or more wildlife management areas to
periodically, or at least semiannually, notify the department of
those areas that exceed locally established mosquito population
thresholds and associated mosquito control costs.
This bill would require a mosquito abatement and vector control
district that includes one or more wildlife management areas, as
defined, or in which vectors and vectorborne diseases from a wildlife
management area may enter the district, to periodically, or at least
semiannually, notify the department of those areas that are of
concern due to the potential for high mosquito populations that may
incur associated mosquito control costs. By requiring local agencies
to provide the notification, the bill would impose a state-mandated
local program. The bill would require the department to consult with
local mosquito abatement and vector control districts to identify
those areas within wildlife management areas having the highest need
for additional mosquito reduction through the implementation of best
management practices, as defined.
(2) 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.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to control
mosquito production on managed wetland habitat that is owned or
managed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife in a manner that does
all of the following:
(1) Maintains or enhances the waterfowl and other wildlife values
of that habitat.
(2) Minimizes financial costs to the Department of Fish and
Wildlife and local mosquito abatement and vector control districts.
(3) Reduces the need for chemical control of mosquitos.
(4) Increases coordination and communication between the
Department of Fish and Wildlife, local mosquito abatement and vector
control districts, and the State Department of Public Health.
(5) Maintains and protects humans, domestic animals, and wildlife
from vector-borne diseases such as West Nile virus.
(b) The Legislature further finds and declares that the
implementation of mosquito prevention best management practices on
managed wetland habitat is critical to the Department of Fish and
Wildlife's effort to reduce mosquito production in its wildlife
management areas.
SEC. 2. Section 1506 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to read:
1506. (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions
apply:
(1) "Managed wetland habitat" means artificially irrigated and
intensively managed wetland habitat administered primarily for the
benefit of waterfowl and other wetland-dependent species.
(2) "Best management practices" means management strategies
jointly developed by the department, the State Department of Public
Health, and mosquito abatement and vector control districts, in
consultation with the Central Valley Habitat Joint Venture, for the
ecological control of mosquitoes on managed wetland habitat.
(3) "Wildlife management area" has the same meaning as set forth
in subdivision (d) of Section 1504.
(4) "Mosquito abatement and vector control district" has the same
meaning as set forth in subdivision (f) of Section 2002 of the Health
and Safety Code.
(b) (1) A mosquito abatement and vector control district whose
district boundaries include one or more wildlife management areas or
a mosquito abatement and vector control district in which vectors and
vectorborne diseases from a wildlife management area may enter the
district shall periodically, or at least semiannually, notify the
department of those areas that are of concern due to the potential
for high mosquito populations that may incur associated mosquito
control costs.
(2) (A) To reduce mosquito production at those wildlife management
areas described in paragraph (1), the department shall consult with
local mosquito abatement and vector control districts to identify
those areas within wildlife management areas having the highest need
for additional mosquito reduction through the implementation of best
management practices.
(B) If the wetland occupies land outside the jurisdictional
boundaries of a mosquito abatement and vector control district, the
department may consult with the State Department of Public Health to
determine which best management practices can be implemented in the
absence of an organized local mosquito control program.
(c) This section does not affect existing authority of a mosquito
abatement and vector control district under Section 2040 of the
Health and Safety Code.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a
local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.
