Protected species: California Endangered Species Act.

Header changed from enrolled bill format (with Assembly/Senate passage dates, clerk signatures, and private secretary line) to chaptered law format with 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL' and 'CHAPTER 638' designation.

Approval and filing date added: 'Approved by Governor October 11, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 11, 2025.'

Page numbering changed from AB 1319 page references to Ch. 638 page references throughout the document.

The new criminal prohibition in Section 2076.6 no longer applies only to fish, wildlife, or plants involved in 'national or international trade.' The phrase was removed, broadening the crime to cover any such species taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of state or federal law regardless of whether trade was involved.

The entire emergency regulation provision (Section 2076.8) was deleted. This section had provided a mechanism for the commission to adopt emergency regulations listing federally listed species when federal protections decreased, including quarterly monitoring requirements, a two-year maximum duration for emergency regulations, and a process for transitioning to permanent listing. Its removal eliminates the fastest available state-level protection pathway in the bill.

A new subdivision (e) was added to Section 2076.7 allowing the Fish and Game Commission to remove a species from the provisional candidate species list, providing an exit mechanism that was previously absent.

A new subdivision (g) was added to Section 2076.7 stating that provisional candidate species shall have the same protections afforded to candidate species under the chapter, clarifying the legal status and protection level of provisionally listed species.

The bill text was reformatted from a traditional printed chaptered layout (with page numbers, centered headers, and line breaks) to a web page format including navigation menus, search tools, version history, and metadata such as publication date.

Section 2017 now prohibits importing, causing to be imported, exporting, and causing to be exported fish, wildlife, or plants taken in violation of law, not just transporting, selling, receiving, acquiring, or purchasing them.

The trade prohibition in Section 2017 now covers violations of any state law, regulation, or statute as well as federal laws, regulations, treaties, and statutes, rather than only federal statutes. This is a major expansion of the bill's reach.

Section 2017 now includes specific criminal penalties: first offense carries a $5,000 to $40,000 fine or up to one year in county jail; second or subsequent offenses carry a $10,000 to $50,000 fine or up to one year in county jail.

Section 2017 now includes a three-year statute of limitations for prosecution, overriding the general two-year limit in Penal Code Section 802.

Section 2017 now requires that upon conviction, any seized evidence be forfeited and either maintained by the department, donated to an educational or scientific institution, or destroyed.

The definition of 'federally listed species' in Section 2076.7 was narrowed from any species ever protected under the federal ESA to only species that are native to California, were listed or candidates as of January 1, 2025, and are not currently protected under CESA (Chapter 1.5).

A new definition of 'a decrease in endangered or threatened species protections by the federal government' was added, requiring both that the action be an act of Congress, rulemaking, executive order, or Endangered Species Committee action, AND that it reduce protection through delisting, status change, elimination of take prohibitions, or decreased mitigation.

A new provisional candidate species mechanism was added. The department must monitor federal actions, determine if a decrease in protections will substantially impact federally listed species in California and if provisional listing could reduce that impact, then publish written findings adding the species to the commission's list of provisional candidate species.

The department must report any species designated as a provisional candidate at the next public meeting of the Fish and Game Commission, and the commission may direct the department to prepare a full status review for ongoing CESA listing.

A new Section 3 was added containing legislative findings that the bill's provisions impose a limitation on the public's right of access to meetings and writings of public bodies, as required by Article I, Section 3 of the California Constitution.

The old Section 3 (no reimbursement) was renumbered to Section 4 due to the insertion of the new constitutional findings section.

Subdivision (e) of new Section 2076.7 now requires the commission or department to apply federal protections (biological opinions, incidental take permits, incidental take statements, and Section 4(d) rules) in effect as of January 19, 2025, without the previous exception that allowed them to opt out if they determined those protections did not satisfy state chapter requirements. This makes compliance with the frozen federal protections mandatory rather than discretionary.

The CEQA exemption in subdivision (h) is expanded from applying only to authorizations issued pursuant to subdivision (d) to also cover those issued pursuant to subdivision (e), broadening the range of take authorizations exempt from California Environmental Quality Act review.

Politically charged language stating the section 'is adopted to protect against direct challenges to species protection from the current federal administration' is removed from the sunset provision in subdivision (k), leaving only the operative dates (inoperative December 31, 2031; repealed January 1, 2032).

Multiple drafting errors are corrected throughout: contradictory phrasing like 'subsequent to between' and 'after between' is simplified to just 'between'; 'fewer decreased protections' is corrected to 'decreased protections'; a duplicate '1973' in a citation is removed; a double 'States' typo is fixed; and a redundant 'Section 4(d) subsection (d) of Section 4' reference is cleaned up to 'subsection (d) of Section 4.'

New subdivision (f) creates a safe harbor: entities operating under a federal authorization for take in effect on or before January 19, 2025 are exempt from criminal and civil penalties under this article during the pendency of an emergency regulation, as long as they remain in full compliance with their federal biological opinion, incidental take permit, incidental take statement, conservation benefit agreement, or Section 4(d) rules.

The time window for qualifying federal actions was narrowed from 'subsequent to January 19, 2025' (open-ended) to 'after between January 19, 2025, and December 31, 2031,' explicitly capping the period during which a federal action can trigger emergency listing.

Changed from 'may apply' to 'shall apply' the protections provided by existing federal biological opinions, incidental take permits, incidental take statements, or Section 4(d) rules when authorizing take of federally listed species during an emergency regulation, making it mandatory rather than discretionary.

Corrected typo 'United Stated' to 'United States,' changed 'fewer protections' to 'decreased protections,' simplified redundant language in the list of qualifying federal actions, and renumbered subdivisions due to the insertion of new subdivision (f).

Section 2017(a) trade prohibition narrowed: the old version made it unlawful to trade fish, wildlife, or plants taken in violation of 'any law, treaty, regulation, policy, or finding statute' of the United States. The new version limits this to violations of 'any statute' only, removing treaties, regulations, policies, and findings from the trigger.

The list of qualifying federal actions in Section 2076.7 is expanded from a single category (FWS or NMFS decisions to not protect or decrease protection relying on post-January 19, 2025 regulatory amendments) to six categories: (1) an act of Congress amending the ESA or reducing protections, (2) FWS/NMFS decision not to protect a species, (3) FWS/NMFS decision to decrease protections for a federally listed species relying on post-January 19, 2025 regulatory amendments, (4) an action of the Endangered Species Committee under Section 1536(e), (5) issuance of new biological opinions with fewer protections than previously issued ones, and (6) a decision by United States Federal Courts to decrease protections.

New subdivision (a) in Section 2076.7 defines 'federally listed species' as any species, subspecies, distinct population segment, or evolutionarily significant unit that was, at any time, protected under the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973.

The emergency listing trigger in Section 2076.7 is narrowed from applying to any 'California native species' whose protection decreased due to federal action, to only a 'federally listed species that is native to California.' This means species never on the federal list can no longer be considered for emergency state listing under this provision.

Assembly Member Boerner added as coauthor.

New subdivision (c) allows an emergency regulation adopted under this section to remain in effect for up to two years as determined by the commission, or be terminated earlier if conditions change. This explicitly overrides Section 11346.1 of the Government Code, which normally limits how long emergency regulations can stay in force.

The department's monitoring and reporting duty (now subdivision (f)) is expanded to require the department to provide a list of species it recommends for emergency listing consideration and to recommend an order of priority for sequentially processing emergency regulations.

In the list of qualifying federal actions (subdivision (d), item 3), the phrase 'that occurred after January 19, 2025' was removed from the end of the provision about regulatory amendments. This removes a temporal limitation, meaning any amendment to regulations implementing the federal Endangered Species Act could potentially trigger state action, not just those occurring after January 19, 2025.

The CEQA exemption (now subdivision (g)) was updated to reference 'subdivision (c), (d)' instead of just 'subdivision (c)' to account for the renumbering caused by the new subdivision insertion.

Added Section 2017 making it unlawful in California to transport, sell, offer for sale, possess with intent to sell, receive, acquire, or purchase any fish, wildlife, or plant that was taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of federal laws on national or international trade of those species as in effect on January 19, 2025. This creates a state-level enforcement backstop for federal trade protections.

Added a CEQA exemption for authorizations issued by the department under the new emergency listing provision, meaning the California Environmental Quality Act does not apply to those authorizations.

The bill's scope expanded from a single amendment to Section 2073.3 (listing petition notice requirements) to a multi-section act covering trade enforcement, emergency species listing, and funding, with the original Section 2073.3 amendment retained but renumbered as the final section.

Added a cannabis and hemp exemption to the new Section 2017, clarifying that the prohibition does not apply to transporting, selling, receiving, acquiring, or purchasing cannabis or hemp as allowed under state law.

Added Section 2076.7 requiring the Fish and Game Commission to consider emergency CESA listing if it determines, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, that a federal action after January 19, 2025 under the federal Endangered Species Act results in decreased protection for a species and CESA listing could provide that protection.

Added a requirement that if a species is listed by emergency regulation under the new section, the department must promptly commence a status review and the commission must determine whether to list the species beyond the emergency duration.

Added authority for the commission or department to apply pre-2025 federal protections (biological opinions, incidental take permits, incidental take statements, or Section 4(d) rules) when authorizing take of species listed under the emergency regulation, unless those protections do not satisfy CESA requirements.

Added a non-exhaustive definition of federal actions warranting emergency listing consideration, including decisions by USFWS or NMFS not to protect a species or to decrease protection, particularly those relying on regulatory amendments made after January 19, 2025.

Added a requirement that the department monitor and report to the commission at least quarterly regarding federal government actions that may constitute an emergency under the new section.

Added a legislative statement of intent that the commission and department will be provided sustainable funding sufficient to fully implement the requirements of the new Section 2076.7 and resulting obligations.

Both new sections (2017 and 2076.7) become inoperative on December 31, 2031, and are repealed as of January 1, 2032. Section 2017 includes a savings clause allowing enforcement actions brought before the sunset date to proceed to final judgment.

Added a no-reimbursement provision (new Section 3) stating that no reimbursement is required under Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the act only creates new crimes or changes penalties, which are exempt from local agency cost reimbursement.

The state-mandated local program designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' reflecting that the new criminal provisions impose obligations on local agencies.

The amendment to Section 2073.3 of the Fish and Game Code was removed entirely. This provision had required the Fish and Game Commission to post notices on its internet website when mailing copies of endangered species listing petition notices to interested persons.

Section 2076.7(a) now limits the emergency regulation trigger to 'California native species' only, rather than any species. This means the commission would only be required to consider emergency listing for species native to California when federal protections decrease after January 19, 2025.

Section 2017(a) changed 'policy, or finding of the United States' to 'policy, or finding statute of the United States.' Adding the word 'statute' narrows the trade prohibition so it only applies when a species was taken in violation of a federal statutory finding, not any type of federal finding.

The state-mandated local program designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' acknowledging that the bill imposes costs on local agencies or school districts that may require reimbursement under the California Constitution.