Environmental mitigation: Department of Transportation.

(1) The California Endangered Species Act (CESA) requires the Fish and Game Commission to establish a list of endangered species and a list of threatened species and to add or remove species from either list if it finds, upon the receipt of sufficient scientific information, as specified, that the action is warranted. CESA prohibits the taking of an endangered, threatened, or candidate species, except as specified. Under the act, the Department of Fish and Wildlife may authorize the take of listed species if the take is incidental to an otherwise lawful activity, the impacts are minimized and fully mitigated, and the applicant ensures adequate funding for implementing the mitigation measures and for monitoring compliance with, and the effectiveness of, those measures. This bill would specify that any transportation funding identified in the State Highway System Management Plan for purposes of these provisions is presumed to provide adequate funding for the long-term maintenance of a habitat connectivity or wildlife corridor structure on the state highway system, but not for the habitat on or around the structure, and would require an applicant to provide an endowment. (2) Existing law vests the Department of Transportation with full possession and control of the state highways and associated properties. Existing law authorizes the department to acquire any real property that it considers necessary for state highway purposes. This bill would authorize the department to purchase property for specified environmental mitigation purposes, to be called environmental mitigation property, and to transfer that property to specified governmental and nongovernmental entities, or to purchase the property in the name of those entities. This bill would authorize the department to create an endowment or enter into an agreement with the transferee of an environmental mitigation property or another party to provide funding for the establishment, preservation, restoration, and maintenance of the property consistent with certain permit conditions or mitigation requirements. The bill would authorize the department to enter into a cooperative agreement with certain other parties to hold, manage, and invest an endowment for an environmental mitigation property and disburse payments from the endowment to the holder of the property consistent with the fund agreement. The bill would repeal these provisions on December 31, 2033. This bill would also authorize the department to purchase, exempt from specified advertising or bidding requirements, environmental mitigation credits in a mitigation credit agreement or from a mitigation bank, conservation bank, in-lieu fee program, or from another mitigation credit provider in certain circumstances. The bill would authorize the department to purchase, exempt from those same advertising or bidding requirements, environmental mitigation credits from a mitigation bank, conservation bank, in-lieu fee program, mitigation credit agreement, or from another mitigation credit provider for the purpose of fulfilling mitigation responsibilities for natural resources or for advance mitigation purposes, using an alternative solicitation method, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to enter into agreements with governmental, nonprofit, and for-profit entities for the purpose of mitigating environmental impacts caused by transportation projects or for advance mitigation purposes. The bill would repeal these provisions on December 31, 2033. This bill would require, by July 1, 2025, and annually thereafter until July 1, 2033, the department to provide a written report to the relevant legislative policy and budget committees that includes specified information related to its environmental mitigation program. (3) Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to make and enter into any contracts in the manner provided by law that are required for the performance of its duties. Existing law, the State Contract Act, governs the bidding and award of public works contracts by specific state departments, including the Department of Transportation. This bill would, if an intercity passenger rail project is constructed within the Interstate 15 right-of-way, require the department to ensure the construction of 3 wildlife crossings and appurtenances at 3 priority locations, as provided. The bill would authorize the department to solicit proposals for, accept unsolicited proposals for, negotiate, or enter into an agreement with a rail entity, as defined, to develop and construct the wildlife crossings and appurtenances, as specified. The bill would establish parameters for this authorization. (4) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.