BILL NUMBER: AB 711	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 4, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 3, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 12, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 17, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 19, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Rendon
   (Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Alejo, Gatto, and Pan)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Blumenfield, Fong, Holden,
Stone, and Williams)
   (Coauthor: Senator Steinberg)

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2013

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


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 711, as amended, Rendon. Hunting: nonlead ammunition.
   (1) 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 centerfire rifle and pistol
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. A violation of these provisions is a crime. 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.
   This bill would instead require, as soon as is practicable, but by
no later than July 1, 2019, 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 to certify, by regulation, nonlead ammunition for
these purposes. The bill would require that the list of certified
ammunition include any federally approved nontoxic shotgun
ammunition. 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 statutory duty required by law.
   The bill would require the commission to promulgate regulations by
July 1, 2015, 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, 2019. The bill would require the
commission to implement any of these requirements that can be
implemented practicably, in whole or in part, in advance of July 1,
2019. 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 range, as described, 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.
   (2) Existing federal law restricts the importing, manufacturing,
or sale of armor-piercing ammunition, as specified.
   This bill would temporarily suspend the required use of nonlead
ammunition for a specific hunting season  and caliber  upon
a finding by the Director of Fish and Wildlife that nonlead
ammunition of a specific caliber is not commercially available from
any manufacturer because of federal prohibitions relating to
armor-piercing ammunition. The bill would require, notwithstanding a
suspension, that nonlead ammunition be used when taking big game
mammals, nongame birds, or nongame mammals in the California condor
range.
   (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.  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 has 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. 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) Varieties of nonlead ammunition are readily available. Studies
have shown that nonlead ammunition performs as well as, or better
than, lead-based ammunition.
   (i) Given the deleterious impacts of lead ammunition, regulations
for the use of nonlead ammunition should be implemented as soon as
practicable in California. The Fish and Game Commission should
implement the requirement for the use of nonlead ammunition
incrementally, if practicable, to provide for increasing protection
from lead exposure until full compliance with the nonlead ammunition
requirement is achieved.
  SEC. 2.  Section 3004.5 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to
read:
   3004.5.  (a) (1) Nonlead centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition,
as determined by the commission, shall be required when taking big
game, as defined in the department's mammal hunting regulations (14
Cal. Code Regs. 350), with rifle or pistol, and when taking coyote,
within the California condor range.
   (2) For purposes of this section, "California condor range" means:

   (A) 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.
   (B) Areas within deer hunting zones D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, and D13.

   (3) The requirements of this subdivision shall remain in effect in
the California condor range unless and until the more restrictive
nonlead prohibitions required pursuant to subdivision (b) are
implemented.
    (b) Except as provided in subdivision (j), and as soon as is
practicable as implemented by the commission pursuant to subdivision
(i), but by no later than July 1, 2019, nonlead ammunition, as
determined by the commission, shall be required when taking all
wildlife, including game mammals, game birds, nongame birds, and
nongame mammals, with any firearm.
   (c) (1) The commission shall maintain, by regulation, a public
process to certify ammunition as nonlead ammunition, and shall
define, by regulation, nonlead ammunition as including only
ammunition in which there is no lead content, excluding the presence
of trace amounts of lead. The commission shall establish and annually
update a list of certified ammunition.
   (2) The list of certified ammunition shall include, but not be
limited to, any federally approved nontoxic shotgun ammunition.
   (d) (1) To the extent that funding is available, the commission
shall establish a process that will provide hunters 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.

   (e) 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.
   (f) The department shall notify those hunters who may be affected
by this section.
   (g) 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).
   (h) This section does not apply to government officials or their
agents when carrying out a statutory duty required by law.
   (i) The commission shall promulgate regulations by July 1, 2015,
that phase in the requirements of this section. The requirements of
this section shall be fully implemented statewide by no later than
July 1, 2019. If any of the requirements of this section can be
implemented practicably, in whole or in part, in advance of July 1,
2019, the commission shall implement those requirements. The
commission shall not reduce or eliminate any existing regulatory
restrictions on the use of lead ammunition in California condor range
unless or until the additional requirements for use of nonlead
ammunition as required by this section are implemented.
   (j) (1) The prohibition in subdivision (b) shall be temporarily
suspended for a specific hunting season  and caliber  upon a
finding by the director that nonlead ammunition of a specific
caliber is not commercially available from any manufacturer because
of federal prohibitions relating to armor-piercing ammunition
pursuant to Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of
the United States Code.
   (2) Notwithstanding a suspension pursuant to paragraph (1),
nonlead ammunition shall be used when taking big game mammals,
nongame birds, or nongame mammals in the California condor range, as
defined in subdivision (a).
  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.