SECTIONS 7361-7364 - California Statutes

FISH AND GAME CODE

SECTION 7361-7364

7361. (a) Fees received by the department from the sale of the
Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp or validation shall be
deposited in a separate account in the Fish and Game Preservation
Fund. The Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp or validation
shall not be required, and no fee shall be collected, as of January
1, 2010.
(b) The department shall expend the funds in that account for the
long-term, sustainable benefit of the primary Bay-Delta sport
fisheries, including, but not limited to, striped bass, sturgeon,
black bass, halibut, salmon, surf perch, steelhead trout, and
American shad. Funds shall be expended to benefit sport fish
populations, sport fishing opportunities, and anglers within the
tidal waters of the San Francisco Bay Delta and the main stem of the
Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, including major tributaries, below
the most downstream dam, and consistent with the requirements of the
federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.)
and the California Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing
with Section 2050) of Division 3), the ecosystem restoration
component of the CALFED Programmatic Record of Decision dated August
28, 2000, and applicable commission policies.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that these funds be used
to augment, not replace, funding that would otherwise be allocated to
Bay-Delta sport fisheries from the sale of fishing licenses, the
California Bay-Delta Authority, or other federal, state, or local
funding sources.

7362. (b) The department, in consultation with the advisory
committee, shall develop priority areas for funding under the grant
program. The department shall give the advisory committee an
opportunity to review any draft public solicitation notice before
that notice is finalized and released to the public.
(c) The advisory committee shall assist the department in
providing outreach to encourage wide participation in the grant
program.
(d) The department shall provide the advisory committee a copy of
all grant applications. The advisory committee shall have a minimum
of 30 days to review projects and provide recommendations to the
department.

7363. (a) The director shall appoint a Bay-Delta Sport Fishing
Enhancement Stamp Fund Advisory Committee, consisting of nine
members. The committee members shall be selected from names of
persons submitted by anglers and associations representing Bay-Delta
anglers of this state and shall serve at the discretion of the
director for terms of not more than four years. The director shall
appoint persons to the committee who possess experience in subjects
with specific value to the committee and shall attempt to balance the
perspective of different anglers.
(b) The advisory committee shall recommend to the department
projects and budgets for the expenditure of the funds from the
account established in Section 7361. The department shall give full
consideration to the committee's recommendations.
(c) The department shall submit to the advisory committee and the
Chief Clerk of the Assembly and the Secretary of the Senate for
distribution to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the
Legislature, at least annually, on or before January 10 of each year,
an accounting of funds derived from the Bay-Delta Sport Fishing
Enhancement Stamps and validations, including the funds generated and
expended and administrative expenditures, and the status of programs
funded pursuant to this article. In addition, the department shall
report, at least annually, to the committee on the status of projects
undertaken with funds from that stamp or validation, including
reporting the department's reasoning in cases where committee
recommendations are not followed.
(d) The department shall post on its Internet Web site projects
undertaken with funds from the account established in Section 7361.
At a minimum, the Internet Web site shall list the project title,
applicant, a brief description of the project, the amount approved,
and the project's status.

7364. (a) The department shall do all of the following:
(1) In consultation with the advisory committee, develop a
spending plan that focuses on identifying and funding viable projects
and monitoring revenues to assist the department in effectively
expending available stamp revenues in a manner consistent with the
purposes described in Section 7361. The spending plan shall be
completed by January 31, 2010. Upon completion, a copy of the
spending plan shall be provided to the Legislature.
(2) Track and report the costs of projects funded pursuant to this
article by doing both of the following:
(A) Improve the tracking of individual project expenditures by
assigning a separate account to each project within the department's
accounting system.
(B) Require a project manager to approve all expenditures directly
related to the manager's projects, periodically reconcile records
for each project with accounting records, and report expenditures to
staff responsible for preparing advisory committee reports.
(3) Reimburse the department's general fund appropriation for any
lease payment charged to the department's general fund appropriation
on or before January 1, 2010, that was eligible to be paid from the
account established in Section 7361.
(4) Ensure that employees of the department appropriately charge
their time to projects funded pursuant to this article by providing
guidelines to employees concerning when to charge activities to the
account established in Section 7361.
(b) The department shall not charge payroll costs to the account
established in Section 7361 for employee activities that are not
related to the implementation of this article. The department shall
determine whether any other expenditure has been inappropriately
charged to the account established in Section 7361 and shall make all
necessary accounting adjustments.