Title FGC — California Fish & Game Code

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Wetlands Mitigation Bank Act of 1993.

The Legislature finds and declares the following: (a) Wetlands are an important natural resource of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley because they provide significant habitat for migratory waterfowl of the Pacific flyway, for endangered species, and for many other resident wildli…

It is the intent of the Legislature that the funds necessary to cover the costs of administering this chapter be provided by the purchase of credits in mitigation bank sites.

Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this article govern the construction of this chapter.

“Bank site” or “mitigation bank site” means a publicly or privately owned and operated site on which wetlands have been or will be created in accordance with this chapter to compensate for adverse impacts caused by removal or fill permit activities authorized pursuant to Section …

“Credit” means a numerical value that represents the wetland acreage and habitat values of a mitigation bank site.

“Operator” means the department, or a public or private person or entity approved by the department, to administer a wetlands mitigation bank site.

“Permittee” means a public or private person or entity that meets all of the following conditions: (a) Has received a permit pursuant to Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1344 et seq.) for the removal or filling of wetlands, subject to a condition that al…

“Qualifying urban area” means any of the following when they occur within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley: (a) A geographical area having a population of 50,000 or more inhabitants within the jurisdiction of a city, or a town, as defined by Sections 20 and 21 of the Government …

“Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley” means the central valley region, as defined in subdivision (g) of Section 13200 of the Water Code.

The purpose of this chapter is to ensure that no net loss of wetland acreage or habitat values within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley occurs as a result of fill permit activities pursuant to Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1344 et seq.).

It is the state’s goal to increase the total wetlands acreage and values within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley.

(a) The department, in cooperation with those agencies specified in Section 1786, shall adopt regulations that establish standards and criteria for the bank site qualification process, for the evaluation of wetland habitat acreage and values created at the bank sites, and for the…

If any person desires to establish a wetlands mitigation bank site under this chapter, the person shall apply to the department for a determination that the bank site and the operator qualify under the criteria established by the department pursuant to this chapter. The determina…

(a) Before any wetlands are created on the bank site qualified pursuant to Section 1785, the department shall coordinate and shall be a signatory to a memorandum of understanding with the operator. The United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Army Corps of…

(a) If the bank site owner is a public entity, that entity shall pay annually to the county in which the property is located an amount equal to the county taxes levied on the property at the time title to the bank site is transferred to that entity. The public entity shall also p…

Upon the successful creation of any wetlands of at least 20 acres, or in the case of vernal pools, upon successful creation of vernal pools on a site at least 20 acres in size, the operator may request a determination by the department of the number of acres in the mitigation ban…

(a) Upon receipt of a request pursuant to Section 1790, the department shall determine the number of acres which are wetlands in the bank site based on the criteria established pursuant to Section 1784, and the department shall classify those wetlands according to established bio…

In the interest of assuring that the minimum price for wetland credit is sufficient to ensure the financial integrity of the bank, the department may establish a minimum price for each bank established pursuant to this chapter. The operator may set a higher price to the extent th…

The department shall be reimbursed for those expenses of the department identified in Section 1792 according to a schedule contained in an agreement with the person establishing a wetland mitigation bank. The agreement shall be approved by all parties prior to the commencement of…

A permittee shall provide compensation pursuant to Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1344 et seq.). The department shall classify the wetlands that the permittee will remove according to wetland type, consistent with Article 4 (commencing with Section 179…

Compensation pursuant to Section 1793 is subject to the condition that the operator establish the trust or bond required by subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 1786 and, in addition, is subject to the following conditions: (a) The full payment shall be…

After payment to the operator pursuant to this article, the permittee has no further obligations with respect to the operation of the bank site to which payment was made, unless the permittee has an equity involvement in the bank.

No bank site shall be qualified under Section 1785 on or after January 1, 2015.