Bill Text: CA SB1480 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Trapping.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2012-09-26 - In Senate. Consideration of Governor's veto pending. [SB1480 Detail]

Download: California-2011-SB1480-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 1480	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Corbett
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Hill)

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend Sections 4004, 4005, 4007, and 4008 of, to add
Sections 4013 and 4014 to, and to repeal and add Section 4006 of, the
Fish and Game Code, relating to trapping.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1480, as introduced, Corbett. Trapping.
   (1) Existing law, except as specified, requires every person,
other than a fur dealer, who traps fur-bearing mammals or nongame
mammals, designated by the Fish and Game Commission, or who sells raw
furs of those mammals, to have a trapping license from the
Department of Fish and Game. Certain persons taking mammals injurious
to growing crops or other property are exempted from the trapping
license requirement, except those persons providing trapping services
for profit are required to obtain a trapping license from the
department.
   This bill would establish 2 classes of trapping licenses. The bill
would authorize a person who has complied with all applicable
licensing and license renewal requirements to trap wildlife for
recreation or fur to be issued a Class I trapping license. The bill
would authorize specified persons trapping wildlife for a profit be
issued a Class II trapping license. The bill would require the
department to publish a list of Class II trapping licensees on its
Internet Web site. The bill would authorize the commission to suspend
or revoke a trapping license at a regularly scheduled meeting of the
commission on prescribed grounds.
   The bill would revise fees for trapping licenses, and would
establish the Trapping Enforcement Account in the Fish and Wildlife
Preservation Fund. The bill would require fee revenues to be placed
in the account, to be available, upon appropriation, for specified
purposes relating to the enforcement of existing laws and regulations
governing trapping.
   The bill would require a Class II trapping licensee to make a
reasonable effort, as defined, to prevent leaving orphaned dependent
animal young to die within inaccessible areas of a structure such as
a home or business, as a consequence of trapping and killing the
mother. The bill would further require Class II trapping licensees to
provide clients with a written contract, containing prescribed
information, prior to setting traps.
   (2) Existing law, except as expressly provided, makes any
violation of the Fish and Game Code, or any rule, regulation, or
order made or adopted under that code, a misdemeanor.
   The bill would make it unlawful to kill any trapped mammal by
listed methods or to solicit trapping services business from the
public for reasons of health or safety pursuant to specified laws. By
specifying these new Fish and Game Code violations, thereby defining
new crimes, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
   (3)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.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 4004 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to
read:
   4004.  It is unlawful to do any of the following:
   (a) Use a trap with saw-toothed or spiked jaws.
   (b) Use or sell leghold steel-jawed traps with a spread of 51/2
inches or larger without offset jaws.
   (c) Use steel-jawed traps larger than size 11/2 or with a spread
larger than 47/8 inches for taking muskrat.
   (d) Set or maintain traps which do not bear a number or other
identifying mark registered to the department or, in the case of a
federal, state, county, or city agency, bear the name of that agency,
except that traps set pursuant to Section 4152 or 4180 shall bear an
identifying mark in a manner specified by the department. No
registration fee shall be charged pursuant to this subdivision.
   (e) Fail to visit and remove all animals from traps at least once
daily. If the trapping is done pursuant to Section 4152 or 4180, the
inspection and removal shall be done by the person who sets the trap
or the owner of the land where the trap is set or an agent of either.

   (f) Use a steel leghold trap with a spread exceeding 71/2 inches
or killer-type trap of the conibear type that is larger than 
10   6  inches by  10   6
 inches  , unless partially or wholly submerged in water
 .
   (g) Set or maintain steel leghold traps within 30 feet of bait
placed in a manner or position so that it may be seen by any soaring
bird. As used in this subdivision, "bait" includes any bait composed
of mammal, bird, or fish flesh, fur, hide, entrails, or feathers.
   (h) Set or maintain steel leghold traps with a spread of 51/2
inches or larger without a tension device. 
   (i) Kill any mammal trapped in accordance with this section by
intentional drowning, chest crushing or thoracic compression, or
injection with any chemical not sold for the purpose of euthanizing
animals.  
   (j) Solicit trapping services business from the public for reasons
of health or safety pursuant to Section 4152, 4180, or 4011. 
  SEC. 2.  Section 4005 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:

   4005.  (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, every
person, other than a fur dealer, who traps fur-bearing mammals or
nongame mammals, designated by the commission or who sells raw furs
of those mammals, shall procure a trapping license. "Raw fur" means
any fur, pelt, or skin that has not been tanned or cured, except that
salt-cured or sun-cured pelts are raw furs.
   (b) The department shall develop standards that are necessary to
ensure the competence and proficiency of applicants for a trapping
license.  No   A  person shall  not
 be issued a license until he or she has passed a test of his or
her knowledge and skill in this field.
   (c) Persons trapping mammals in accordance with Section 4152 or
4180 are not required to procure a trapping license except when
providing trapping services for profit. 
   (d) (1) A person who has complied with all applicable licensing
and license renewal requirements to trap wildlife for recreation or
fur may be issued a Class I trapping license.  
   (2) A person who has passed the test established by the department
pursuant to subdivision (b) or the test for persons trapping
wildlife for a profit in accordance with Section 4152 or 4180 may be
issued a Class II trapping license. The department shall publish on
the Internet Web site of the department a list of Class II licensees
authorized to provide trapping services to the public for a profit in
accordance with Section 4152 or 4180.  
   (3) A license shall be renewed only for the category of license
that is currently possessed. 
   (d) 
    (e)  No raw furs taken by persons providing trapping
services for profit may be sold. 
   (e) 
    (f)  The license requirement imposed by this section
does not apply to any of the following:
   (1) Officers or employees of federal, county, or city agencies or
the department, when acting in their official capacities, or officers
or employees of the Department of Food and Agriculture when acting
pursuant to the Food and Agricultural Code pertaining to pests or
pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 6021) of Chapter 9 of
Part 1 of Division 4 of the Food and Agricultural Code.
   (2) Structural pest control operators licensed pursuant to Chapter
14 (commencing with Section 8500) of Division 3 of the Business and
Professions Code, when trapping rats, mice, voles, moles, or gophers.

   (3) Persons and businesses licensed or certified by the Department
of Pesticide Regulation pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with
Section 11701) and Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 12201) of
Division 6 of, and Chapter 3.6, (commencing with Section 14151) of
Division 7 of, the Food and Agricultural Code, when trapping rats,
mice, voles, moles, or gophers. 
   (f) 
   (g)  Except for species that are listed pursuant to
Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3 or Chapter 8
(commencing with Section 4700), nothing in this code or regulations
adopted pursuant thereto shall prevent or prohibit a person from
trapping any of the following animals:
   (1) Gophers.
   (2) House mice.
   (3) Moles.
   (4) Rats.
   (5) Voles. 
   (h) (1) The commission may suspend or revoke a license issued
under this section at a regularly scheduled meeting of the
commission, upon violation of the code or violation of an
implementing regulation adopted pursuant to this article.  
   (2) The commission may also suspend or revoke a license issued
under this section at a regularly scheduled meeting of the commission
for publication of information about wildlife diseases that, in the
determination of the commission, is false or misleading. The
commission, in making that determination may consider, but shall not
be limited to consideration of, information about wildlife diseases
published by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and by the department on its Internet Web site. 
  SEC. 3.  Section 4006 of the Fish and Game Code is repealed.

   4006.  A trapping license shall be issued as follows:
   (a) To any resident of this state over the age of 16 years upon
payment of a base fee of forty-five dollars ($45), as adjusted under
Section 713.
   (b) To any resident of this state under the age of 16 years upon
payment of a base fee of fifteen dollars ($15), as adjusted under
Section 713.
   (c) To any person not a resident of this state upon payment of a
base fee of two hundred twenty-five dollars ($225), as adjusted under
Section 713.
   A license shall not be issued to a nonresident if the state in
which he or she resides does not provide for issuance of a
nonresident trapping license to California residents. Also, a
nonresident issued a license under this subdivision may take only
those species, and may take or possess only that quantity of a
species which a resident of California may take or possess under a
nonresident trapping license or permit in the state of residence of
that nonresident. 
  SEC. 4.  Section 4006 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to read:
   4006.  (a) The department shall issue a trapping license as
follows:
   (1) To any resident of this state over 16 years of age, upon
payment of a fee determined by the commission and adjusted annually
in accordance with Section 713.
   (2) To any resident of this state under 16 years of years, upon
payment of a fee determined by the commission and adjusted annually
in accordance with Section 713.
   (3) To any person not a resident of this state, upon payment of a
fee determined by the commission and adjusted annually in accordance
with Section 713. A license shall not be issued to a nonresident if
the state in which he or she resides does not provide for issuance of
a nonresident trapping license to California residents. Also, a
nonresident issued a license under this paragraph may take only those
species, and may take or possess only that quantity of a species
that a resident of California may take or possess under a nonresident
trapping license or permit in the state of residence of that
nonresident.
   (b) (1) Fees set pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be recorded in
the California Code of Regulations. Except for adjustments pursuant
to Section 713, a fee shall not be adjusted except as directed by the
commission in accordance with this section.
   (2) The commission shall adjust license fees imposed pursuant to
this section in accordance with findings of the department determined
in a review process to ensure that license fees are set in an amount
sufficient to recover, but not exceed, program costs.
   (c) The Trapping Enforcement Account is hereby established within
the Fish and Wildlife Preservation Fund. Revenues of license fees
imposed pursuant to this section shall be placed in the Trapping
Enforcement Account and moneys in the account shall be available,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, to fund the enforcement of the
provisions of this code relating to trapping and of regulations
adopted pursuant to those provisions.
  SEC. 5.  Section 4007 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:

   4007.  A  Class I  trapping license authorizes the person
to whom it is issued to take, during the open season, fur-bearing
mammals and nongame mammals for a term of one year from July 1st, or
if issued after the beginning of  such   that
 term, for the remainder  thereof   of the
term  and to sell the raw fur of  any such animal
  these mammals  .
  SEC. 6.  Section 4008 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:

   4008.   No   A  trapping license shall
 not  be issued to any applicant within one year following
the expiration of any trapping license previously issued to 
such   that  applicant unless  he 
 the applicant  has submitted to the department a sworn
statement showing the number of each kind of fur-bearing mammals and
nongame mammals taken under the previous license  and
  . A Class I trapping licensee shall provide  the
names and addresses of the persons to whom  they 
 furs  were shipped or sold.
  SEC. 7.  Section 4013 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to read:
   4013.  (a) A Class II trapping licensee shall make a reasonable
effort to prevent leaving orphaned dependent animal young to die
within inaccessible areas of a structure such as a home or business,
as a consequence of trapping and killing the mother. "Reasonable
effort" is defined as follows:
   (1) Utilizing basic wildlife natural history information included
in the Class II trapping license application examination.
   (2) Requesting information from the potential client that would
indicate whether dependent animal young are present, such as infant
vocalization and other sounds commonly associated with young being
present.
   (3) Conducting a visual inspection or setting a one-way-door with
a holding trap attached to determine if a lactating female animal is
present within the building if there is uncertainty as to whether
young are present.
   (b) A lactating female animal shall not be killed, and traps shall
not be set for a mother if young sounds have been reported or it is
known that dependent animal young exist on the premises and the
removal of young from within a structure or other area is not
possible due to inaccessibility.
  SEC. 8.  Section 4014 is added to the Fish and Game Code, to read:
   4014.  (a) Class II trapping licensees that provide trapping
services for profit pursuant to Section 4152 or 4180 shall provide
each client with a written contract prior to setting traps.
   (b) The written contract shall contain the following information
and disclosures and shall be printed in at least 12-point typeface
beginning on and continuing from the upper half of the first page of
the contract:

   California law requires consumers to be provided with the
following information and disclosures prior to traps being set, when
hiring wildlife trapping services.
     µ  Name and current contact information of the person setting a
trap.
     µ  The current year's trapping license number of the individual
setting a trap.
     µ  "It is only lawful to trap wildlife for a profit in
California if damage to crops or property has occurred. Animals
posing a risk to human health or safety may only be taken by
specified government officials (Sections 4152 and 4180 of the Fish
and Game Code)."
     µ  "This is a description of the property damage as confirmed by
the licensed trapper through visual inspection:
     __________________________________________."
     µ  "This is the target animal or species responsible for the
damage:
     __________________________________________."
     µ  "All furbearing and nongame mammals that are legal to trap
must be immediately killed or released. Unless released, trapped
animals shall be killed by shooting where local ordinances,
landowners, and safety permit (T-14 CCR SS 465.5(g)(1))."
     µ  "Nontarget animals are defined as those animals that become
accidentally trapped, but are not responsible for the documented
property damage. These animals must be immediately released."
     µ  "Traps must be inspected and all animals removed at least
once each day by the licensed trapper, the person hiring the trapper,
or an agent thereof, pursuant to Sections 4152 and 4180 of the Fish
and Game Code."
     µ  "This is the name and telephone number of the person charged
with checking the traps each day:
__________________________________________."
     µ  "A reasonable effort must be made to prevent orphaning
dependent animal young. It is prohibited to set traps for an animal
when young are inaccessible or to kill a lactating female animal if
young are inaccessible (Section 4013 of the Fish and Game Code)."
     µ  "The following methods of dispatching trapped land mammals
are prohibited: drowning, chest crushing, or injection with any
chemical not sold for the purpose of animal euthanasia."
     µ  An identifying tag issued by the Department of Fish and Game
is required to be affixed to every trap that is set.
     µ  Wildlife that pose a risk to human health or safety may be
taken only by specified government officials pursuant to Section
4152, 4180, or 4011 of the Fish and Game Code.
     µ  Address and signature of client:
     __________________________________________.
     µ  Signature of licensed trapper who will be placing traps:
     __________________________________________.
     µ  The following is a true and accurate list of each animal (by
species) removed from this address and the date each animal was
removed.
   Species Trapped: _________________________________
   Date: __________________________________________

  SEC. 9.  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.