3004.5
. (a) (1) Nonlead centerfire rifle and pistol ammunition, as
determined by the commission, shall be required when taking big game,
as defined in the department's mammal hunting regulations (14 Cal.
Code Regs. 350), with rifle or pistol, and when taking coyote, within
the California condor range.
(2) For purposes of this section, "California condor range" means:
(A) The department's deer hunting zone A South, but excluding
Santa Cruz, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, and San Joaquin
Counties, areas west of Highway 101 within Santa Clara County, and
areas between Highway 5 and Highway 99 within Stanislaus, Merced,
Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern Counties.
(B) Areas within deer hunting zones D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, and D13.
(3) The requirements of this subdivision shall remain in effect in
the California condor range unless and until the more restrictive
nonlead prohibitions required pursuant to subdivision (b) are
implemented.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (j), and as soon as is
practicable as implemented by the commission pursuant to subdivision
(i), but by no later than July 1, 2019, nonlead ammunition, as
determined by the commission, shall be required when taking all
wildlife, including game mammals, game birds, nongame birds, and
nongame mammals, with any firearm.
(c) (1) The commission shall maintain, by regulation, a public
process to certify ammunition as nonlead ammunition, and shall
define, by regulation, nonlead ammunition as including only
ammunition in which there is no lead content, excluding the presence
of trace amounts of lead. The commission shall establish and annually
update a list of certified ammunition.
(2) The list of certified ammunition shall include, but not be
limited to, any federally approved nontoxic shotgun ammunition.
(d) (1) To the extent that funding is available, the commission
shall establish a process that will provide hunters with nonlead
ammunition at no or reduced charge. The process shall provide that
the offer for nonlead ammunition at no or reduced charge may be
redeemed through a coupon sent to a permitholder with the appropriate
permit tag. If available funding is not sufficient to provide
nonlead ammunition at no charge, the commission shall set the value
of the reduced charge coupon at the maximum value possible through
available funding, up to the average cost within this state for
nonlead ammunition, as determined by the commission.
(2) The nonlead ammunition coupon program described in paragraph
(1) shall be implemented only to the extent that sufficient funding,
as determined by the Department of Finance, is obtained from local,
federal, public, or other nonstate sources in order to implement the
program.
(3) If the nonlead ammunition coupon program is implemented, the
commission shall issue a report on the usage and redemption rates of
ammunition coupons. The report shall cover calendar years 2008, 2009,
and 2012. Each report shall be issued by June of the following year.
(e) The commission shall issue a report on the levels of lead
found in California condors. This report shall cover calendar years
2008, 2009, and 2012. Each report shall be issued by June of the
following year.
(f) The department shall notify those hunters who may be affected
by this section.
(g) A person who violates any provision of this section is guilty
of an infraction punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars ($500).
A second or subsequent offense shall be punishable by a fine of not
less than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more than five thousand
dollars ($5,000).
(h) This section does not apply to government officials or their
agents when carrying out a statutory duty required by law.
(i) The commission shall promulgate regulations by July 1, 2015,
that phase in the requirements of this section. The requirements of
this section shall be fully implemented statewide by no later than
July 1, 2019. If any of the requirements of this section can be
implemented practicably, in whole or in part, in advance of July 1,
2019, the commission shall implement those requirements. The
commission shall not reduce or eliminate any existing regulatory
restrictions on the use of lead ammunition in California condor range
unless or until the additional requirements for use of nonlead
ammunition as required by this section are implemented.
(j) (1) The prohibition in subdivision (b) shall be temporarily
suspended for a specific hunting season and caliber upon a finding by
the director that nonlead ammunition of a specific caliber is not
commercially available from any manufacturer because of federal
prohibitions relating to armor-piercing ammunition pursuant to
Chapter 44 (commencing with Section 921) of Title 18 of the United
States Code.
(2) Notwithstanding a suspension pursuant to paragraph (1),
nonlead ammunition shall be used when taking big game mammals,
nongame birds, or nongame mammals in the California condor range, as
defined in subdivision (a).