Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a) The voluntary local program may initiate
an amendment to a local program by providing written notification to the
Department and by providing the Department with the necessary information for
review. The Department review and approval of such amendments shall be governed
by the following provisions. The Director shall approve any minor or major
program amendment if the amended program would continue to meet the standards
in section
786.3(g) of this
article.
(1) Minor Amendments. Amendments that
the Department determines will not significantly modify the scope or nature of
the local program; will not likely result in a significant adverse impact on
candidate, threatened, or endangered species beyond that anticipated from the
originally approved plan; will not likely diminish the habitat-enhancing
benefits of the local program; and will otherwise meet the standards in section
786.3(g) of this
article shall be considered minor amendments to the local program. The Director
shall approve minor amendments and incorporate them into the local program, or
shall deny the minor amendments, within 30 days of submission of a minor
amendment to the Department. Minor amendments may be used to adapt a local
program's management practices based on experience in implementing the local
program to make those practices more effective in meeting the standards in
section 786.3(g) of this
article, provided the Department determines the changes meet the criteria in
this subsection (a)(1) for minor amendments. For a minor amendment of a local
program for which the Department adopted an environmental analysis, the
Department may prepare an addendum to the environmental analysis or other
appropriate document.
(2) Major
Amendments. Amendments that the Department determines would significantly
modify the scope or nature of the local program, likely result in a significant
adverse impact on candidate, threatened, or endangered species beyond that
anticipated from the originally approved plan, diminish the habitat-enhancing
benefits of the local program, or require additional environmental review
pursuant to section
21166
of the Public Resources Code or California Code of Regulations, Title 14,
section 15162, shall be considered major
amendments to the local program. Requests for major amendments shall be
reviewed according to the process established in this article for new local
programs, except that the information and analysis provided in support of an
application for a major amendment may rely on supplemental information to the
analysis used in the initial submittal for the local
program.
(b) The
Department may initiate an amendment to a local program pursuant to this
subsection if it believes that an amendment is reasonably necessary to bring
the local program into compliance with the provisions in section
2086(b)
of the Fish and Game Code or any other relevant provision of law.
(1) To make minor amendments as defined in
subsection (a)(1) of this section, the Department shall notify in writing the
voluntary local program designee of the proposed minor amendment and give the
voluntary local program participants 60 days to accept or decline the proposed
minor amendments. If the voluntary local program decides to decline the
proposed minor amendments, the Department may initiate steps necessary to allow
for the termination of the program or allow individuals to withdraw from the
voluntary local program. If the voluntary local program accepts the amendments
or fails to respond within the 60 days, the Department may approve the minor
amendments with no further consultation.
(2) To make major amendments as defined in
subsection (a)(2) of this section, the Department must make a finding that the
program is not in compliance with section
2086(b)
of the Fish and Game Code and state its rationale. The local program designee
shall be notified in writing of the findings and rationale and be given 60 days
to respond to deficiencies outlined by the Department. If the voluntary local
program fails to amend the program, as directed by the Department, the
Department may initiate steps necessary to terminate the program and allow
individuals to withdraw from the voluntary local program.
1. New
section filed 12-31-98; operative 12-31-98 pursuant to Government Code section
11343.4(d)
(Register 99, No. 1).
2. Renumbering of former section 786.4 to new
section 786.6 and new section filed
8-28-2002; operative 9-27-2002 (Register 2002, No.
35).
Note: Authority cited: Sections
702 and
2086,
Fish and Game Code. Reference: Sections
2062,
2067,
2068,
2080
and
2086,
Fish and Game Code.
