California Fish and Game Code 12029 – (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the …
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) The environmental impacts associated with cannabis cultivation have increased, and unlawful water diversions for cannabis irrigation have a detrimental effect on fish and wildlife and their habitat, which are held in trust by the state for the benefit of the people of the state.
Terms Used In California Fish and Game Code 12029
- Department: means the Department of Fish and Wildlife. See California Fish and Game Code 37
- Fish: means a wild fish, mollusk, crustacean, invertebrate, amphibian, or part, spawn, or ovum of any of those animals. See California Fish and Game Code 45
- State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Fish and Game Code 83
- Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Fish and Game Code 73
- Wildlife: means and includes all wild animals, birds, plants, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and related ecological communities, including the habitat upon which the wildlife depends for its continued viability. See California Fish and Game Code 89.5
(2) The remediation of existing cannabis cultivation sites is often complex and the permitting of these sites requires greater department staff time and personnel expenditures. The potential for cannabis cultivation sites to significantly impact the state’s fish and wildlife resources requires immediate action on the part of the department’s lake and streambed alteration permitting staff.
(b) In order to address unlawful water diversions and other violations of the Fish and Game Code associated with cannabis cultivation, the department shall establish the watershed enforcement program to facilitate the investigation, enforcement, and prosecution of these offenses.
(c) The department, in coordination with the State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Cannabis Control, shall establish a permanent multiagency task force to address the environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation. The multiagency task force, to the extent feasible and subject to available resources, shall expand its enforcement efforts on a statewide level to ensure the reduction of adverse impacts of cannabis cultivation on fish and wildlife and their habitats throughout the state.
(d) In order to facilitate the remediation and permitting of cannabis cultivation sites, the department may adopt regulations to enhance the fees on any entity subject to Section 1602 for cannabis cultivation sites that require remediation. The fee schedule established pursuant to this subdivision shall not exceed the fee limits in Section 1609.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 70, Sec. 99. (AB 141) Effective July 12, 2021.)