Subject: Migratory Fish Passage

The Legislature hereby finds and declares:

The decline of naturally spawning salmon and steelhead trout is primarily a result of the loss of appropriate stream habitat and the inability of fish to get access to habitat, according to recent reports to the Fish and Game Commission and by the Department of Fish and Game. Increasing the naturally spawning salmon and steelhead trout populations in California would provide a valuable public resource, employment opportunities, and substantial economic benefits to the state; Federal, state and local governments and nonprofit organizations are spending hundreds of millions of public dollars in California protecting and restoring habitat for salmon and steelhead trout through watershed and fishery restoration programs, with the state alone spending over two hundred million dollars for these purposes in the past five years; The California Department of Transportation has maintenance, construction, and oversight responsibility for the state’s roads, including approximately 5000 stream crossings on coastal streams; Stream crossings on roads frequently present barriers to the migration of fish, and there is an extensive lack of information regarding the number and extent of existing barriers to fish migration at state road stream crossings; Having such information would enable the department to better predict the time and funding required to complete transportation projects; Substantial savings to the state would result from improved ability to deliver transportation projects within their budgets and on time, and substantial benefit to the state’s salmon and steelhead trout populations would result from remediation of barriers to fish passage at stream crossings.

Definitions:

Fish passage means the ability of a migratory fish to access appropriate habitat at all points in its life cycle, including spawning and rearing.

“Department” means the Department of Transportation.

The following sections are added to the Streets and Highways code:

Section 156

In collaboration with the Director of the Department of Fish and Game, the Director of the Department of Transportation shall prepare an annual report to the Legislature describing the status of the Department’s progress in locating, assessing, and remediating barriers to anadromous fish passage. This report shall be given to the Legislature by October 31 of each year through the year 2020.

Section 156.1

The department shall complete surveys of all culverts on state-owned roads on coastal streams where anadromous fish are, or historically were, found to assess the presence of barriers to the passage of fish, add the resulting coastal stream data to the database maintained by the Department of Fish and Game that is currently known as CALFISH, and in collaboration with the Department of Fish and Game, submit a list of priority sites for remediation on coastal streams to the Legislature by December 31, 2009. The Department shall use methodologies approved by the Department of Fish and Game.

Section 156.2

The Department shall pursue development of a programmatic environmental review process with appropriate state and federal regulatory agencies for remediating barriers to fish passage that will streamline the permitting process for such projects. The Department shall include a description of its progress on this in the report specified in Section 156.

Section 156.3

For any project using state or federal transportation funds programmed after January 1, 2006, the department shall insure that, if the project affects a stream crossing on a stream where anadromous fish are, or historically were, found, an assessment of potential barriers to anadromous fish passage is done prior to commencing project design. The department shall submit the assessment to the Department of Fish and Game and add it to the CALFISH database . If any structural barrier to passage exists, remediation of the problem shall be designed into the project by the implementing agency. New projects shall be constructed so that they do not present a barrier to fish passage . When barriers to fish passage are being addressed, plans and projects shall be developed in consultation with the Department of Fish and Game.

Section 156.4

For any repair or construction project using state or federal transportation funds that affects a stream crossing on a stream where anadromous fish are, or historically were, found, the department shall perform an assessment of the site for potential barriers to anadromous fish passage and submit the assessment to the Department of Fish and Game. Section 136.1 of the Streets and Highways Code is amended to read:

The department may enter into major damage mitigation contracts to perform major damage repairs and operations on state highways when caused by sudden, unforeseen events such as storms, landslides, flooding, high surf, earthquakes or other geological action, or civil unrest. These contracts may be entered into prior to the onset of major damage in order to retain the contractor in readiness to respond to incidents as needed. Work performed under each contract shall be limited to physical construction, demolition, debris removal, remediation of barriers to fish passage, and traffic control. The work shall be considered, for funding purposes, as a public works construction project.

Section 5901 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read: Except as otherwise provided in this code, it is unlawful to construct or maintain in any stream in Districts 1, 1 3/8, 1 1/2, 1 7/8, 2, 2 ½, 2 ¼, 2 ¾, 3, 3 ½, 4, 4 1/8 , 4 ½, 4 3/4,11,12, 13, 23, and 25, any device or contrivance which prevents, impedes, or tends to prevent or impede, the passing of fish up and down stream.