Plain English Breakdown
The official text does not specify an effective date, only stating when provisions become inoperative and repealed.
AB-1319: Protecting Species and Tracking Federal Changes
This law bans trading wildlife taken illegally under state or federal rules effective on January 19, 2025, and creates a process to list species if federal protections drop.
What This Bill Does
- Makes it illegal in California to import, export, transport, sell, offer for sale, possess with intent to sell, receive, acquire, or purchase fish, wildlife, or plants taken in violation of any state law or U.S. law effective on January 19, 2025.
- Requires seized evidence related to these violations be forfeited upon conviction or entry of judgment.
- Orders the Department of Fish and Wildlife to determine if federal protections for endangered or threatened species have decreased.
- Requires the department to publish written findings in the California Regulatory Notice Register adding such species to a provisional candidate list, and report this determination at the next public meeting of the commission.
- Stops criminal or civil liability for entities operating under federal authorization as long as they are fully compliant with their federal biological opinion.
Who It Names or Affects
- People in California who import, export, transport, sell, offer for sale, possess with intent to sell, receive, acquire, or purchase fish, wildlife, or plants.
- The Department of Fish and Wildlife regarding species listing decisions.
- The Fish and Game Commission when reviewing provisional candidate lists.
Terms To Know
- Provisional candidate species
- A temporary list status for endangered or threatened species added because federal protections have decreased, following written findings by the department.
- Forfeiture
- The government taking ownership of seized evidence after a conviction or entry of judgment regarding these violations.
Limits and Unknowns
- These new rules stop working on December 31, 2031.
- The law is officially removed from the books on January 1, 2032.
- The official text does not state a specific effective date for when these changes begin.