ATTACHMENT B
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 10, 2024
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 25, 2024
california legislature—2023–24 regular session
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 2443
Introduced by Assembly Member Juan Carrillo
February 13, 2024
An act to amend Section 1927.3 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to the western Joshua tree. add and repeal Chapter 3.10 (commencing with Section 7287.11), Chapter 3.11 (commencing with Section 7287.13), and Chapter 3.12 (commencing with Section 7287.15) of Part
1.7 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to taxation. legislative counsel’s digest
AB 2443, as amended, Juan Carrillo . Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act: industrial projects and commercial projects.
Transactions and use taxes: Cities of Lancaster , P almdale, and Victorville.
Existing law authorizes cities and counties, subject to certain limitations and approval requirements, to levy a transactions and use tax for general or specific purposes, in accordance with the procedures and r equirements set forth in the Transactions and Use Tax Law , including a requirement that the combined r ate of all taxes that may be imposed in accordance with that law in the jurisdiction not e xceed 2%.
This bill would authorize the Cities of Lancaster , Palmdale, and Victorville to impose a tr ansactions and use tax for the support of countywide transportation programs or general services, at a r ate of no more than 1% that, in combination with other transactions and use
97 taxes, would exceed the above-described combined rate limit of 2%, if certain requirements are met. The bill would provide that a transactions and use tax rate imposed pursuant to the bill will not be considered for purposes of the combined r ate limit described abo ve. The bill would repeal these authorizations on J anuary 1, 2029, if an or dinance proposing the tax has not been approved by that date, as specified.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Cities of Lancaster, Palmdale, and Victorville.
Existing law, the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act, prohibits any person or public agenc y from importing into the state, e xporting out of the state, or taking, possessing, purchasing, or selling within the state, a western Joshua tree or any part or product of the tree, except as provided. Under existing law, the Department of Fish and Wildlife may authorize, by permit, the taking of a western Joshua tree if certain conditions are met, including, among other conditions, that the permittee mitigates all impacts to, and the taking of, the western Joshua tree.
Existing law authorizes the department to enter into an agreement with any county or city to dele gate to the county or city the ability to authorize the taking of a western Joshua tree associated with developing single-family residences, multifamily residences, accessory structures, and public works projects concurrent with its approval of the project if certain conditions are met. Existing law authorizes any person or public agency receiving a take authorization for a project to pay specified fees in lieu of satisfying the mitigation obligation on several bases, including if the project receives a permit issued by a county or city.
This bill would additionally authorize the department to enter into an agreement with any city to delegate to the city the ability to authorize the taking of western Joshua trees associated with de veloping commercial and industrial projects. The bill w ould, relative to other project types subject to dele gated local mitigation authority, limit the bases for commercial or industrial projects to pay specified fees in lieu of satisfying the mitigation obligation, as provided.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 3.10 (commencing with Section 7287.11) line 2 is added to P art 1.7 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation 97 — 2 — AB 2443
line 1 Code, immediately following Chapter 3 (commencing with Section line 2 7287), to read:
line 3
line 4 Chapter 3.10. City of Victorville Transactions and Use line 5 Tax
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line 7 7287.11. (a) Notwithstanding any other law , the City of line 8 Victorville, by ordinance or by citizens’ initiative, may impose a line 9 transactions and use tax for general or specific purposes at a rate line 10 of no more than 1 percent that would, in combination with all taxes line 11 imposed in accordance with Part 1.6 (commencing with Section line 12 7251), exceed the limit established in Section 7251.1 if all of the line 13 following requirements are met:
line 14 (1) The city council of the City of Victorville adopts an line 15 ordinance proposing the transactions and use tax by the applicable line 16 voting approval requirement.
line 17 (2) The ordinance proposing the tr ansactions and use tax is line 18 submitted to the elector ate and is appr oved by the voter s voting line 19 on the ordinance by the applicable voting appr oval requirement line 20 in accordance with the California Constitution. line 21 (3) The transactions and use tax conforms to the Transactions line 22 and Use Tax Law (P art 1.6 (commencing with Section 7251)), line 23 other than Section 7251.1.
line 24 (b) Notwithstanding Section 7251.1, a transactions and use tax line 25 rate imposed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not be consider ed line 26 for purposes of the combined rate limitation established by Section line 27 7251.1.
line 28 7287.12. If, as of J anuary 1, 2029, an or dinance or citizens’ line 29 initiative pr oposing a tr ansactions and use tax has not been line 30 approved as r equired by Section 7287.11, this c hapter shall be line 31 repealed as of that same date.
line 32 SEC. 2. Chapter 3.11 (commencing with Section 7287.13) is line 33 added to Part 1.7 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, line 34 to read:
line 35
line 36 Chapter 3.11. City of Lancaster Transactions and Use line 37 Tax
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line 39 7287.13. (a) Notwithstanding any other law , the City of line 40 Lancaster, by or dinance or by citizens’ initiative, may impose a 97 AB 2443 — 3 —
line 1 transactions and use tax for general or specific purposes at a rate line 2 of no more than 1 percent that would, in combination with all taxes line 3 imposed in accordance with Part 1.6 (commencing with Section line 4 7251), exceed the limit established in Section 7251.1 if all of the line 5 following requirements are met:
line 6 (1) The city council of the City of Lancaster adopts an ordinance line 7 proposing the tr ansactions and use tax by the applicable voting line 8 approval requirement.
line 9 (2) The ordinance proposing the tr ansactions and use tax is line 10 submitted to the elector ate and is appr oved by the voter s voting line 11 on the ordinance by the applicable voting appr oval requirement line 12 in accordance with the California Constitution. line 13 (3) The transactions and use tax conforms to the Transactions line 14 and Use Tax Law (P art 1.6 (commencing with Section 7251)), line 15 other than Section 7251.1.
line 16 (b) Notwithstanding Section 7251.1, a transactions and use tax line 17 rate imposed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not be consider ed line 18 for purposes of the combined rate limitation established by Section line 19 7251.1.
line 20 7287.14. If, as of J anuary 1, 2029, an or dinance or citizens’ line 21 initiative pr oposing a tr ansactions and use tax has not been line 22 approved as r equired by Section 7287.13, this c hapter shall be line 23 repealed as of that same date.
line 24 SEC. 3. Chapter 3.12 (commencing with Section 7287.15) is line 25 added to Part 1.7 of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, line 26 to read:
line 27
line 28 Chapter 3.12. City of Palmdale Transactions and Use line 29 Tax
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line 31 7287.15. (a) Notwithstanding any other law , the City of line 32 Palmdale, by or dinance or by citizens’ initiative, may impose a line 33 transactions and use tax for general or specific purposes at a rate line 34 of no more than 1 percent that would, in combination with all taxes line 35 imposed in accordance with Part 1.6 (commencing with Section line 36 7251), exceed the limit established in Section 7251.1 if all of the line 37 following requirements are met:
line 38 (1) The city council of the City of Palmdale adopts an ordinance line 39 proposing the tr ansactions and use tax by the applicable voting line 40 approval requirement.
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line 1 (2) The ordinance proposing the tr ansactions and use tax is line 2 submitted to the elector ate and is appr oved by the voter s voting line 3 on the ordinance by the applicable voting appr oval requirement line 4 in accordance with the California Constitution.
line 5 (3) The transactions and use tax conforms to the Transactions line 6 and Use Tax Law (P art 1.6 (commencing with Section 7251)), line 7 other than Section 7251.1.
line 8 (b) Notwithstanding Section 7251.1, a transactions and use tax line 9 rate imposed pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not be consider ed line 10 for purposes of the combined rate limitation established by Section line 11 7251.1.
line 12 7287.16. If, as of J anuary 1, 2029, an or dinance or citizens’ line 13 initiative pr oposing a tr ansactions and use tax has not been line 14 approved as r equired by Section 7287.15, this c hapter shall be line 15 repealed as of that same date.
line 16 SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declar es that a special line 17 statute is necessary and that a g eneral statute cannot be made line 18 applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the line 19 California Constitution because of the critical needs of the line 20 transportation infrastructure and general services within the Cities line 21 of Lancaster, Palmdale, and Victorville.
line 22 SECTION 1. Section 1927.3 of the Fish and Game Code is line 23 amended to read:
line 24 1927.3. (a) The department may authorize, by permit, the line 25 taking of a western Joshua tree if all of the follo wing conditions line 26 are met:
line 27 (1) The permittee submits to the department for its appro val a line 28 census of all western Joshua trees on the project site, including line 29 size information and photographs, that cate gorize the western line 30 Joshua trees according to the following size classes:
line 31 (A) Less than one meter in height.
line 32 (B) One meter or greater but less than five meters in height. line 33 (C) Five meters or greater in height.
line 34 (2) The permittee a voids and minimizes impacts to, and the line 35 taking of, the western Joshua tree to the maximum e xtent line 36 practicable. Minimization may include trimming, encroachment line 37 on root systems, relocation, or other actions that result in line 38 detrimental but nonlethal impacts to a western Joshua tree. line 39 (3) The permittee mitig ates all impacts to, and taking of, the line 40 western Joshua tree. The measures required to meet this obligation 97 AB 2443 — 5 —
line 1 shall be roughly proportional in e xtent to the impact of the line 2 authorized taking of the species. When v arious measures are line 3 available to meet this oblig ation, the measures required shall line 4 maintain the permittee’s objectives to the greatest extent possible. line 5 All required measures shall be capable of successful line 6 implementation. The permittee shall ensure adequate funding to line 7 implement the mitig ation measures. In lieu of completing the line 8 mitigation obligation on its own, the permittee may elect to satisfy line 9 this mitig ation oblig ation by paying fees, pursuant to the fee line 10 schedule in subdivision (d) or (e), for deposit into the fund. line 11 (4) (A) The department may include permit conditions that line 12 require the permittee to relocate one or more of the western Joshua line 13 trees. If relocation is required, the permittee shall implement line 14 measures to assist the survi val of relocated trees, and to comply line 15 with any other reasonable measures required by the department to line 16 facilitate the successful relocation and survi val of the western line 17 Joshua trees. These relocation measures shall include, but are not line 18 limited to, all of the following:
line 19 (i) A requirement that the relocated western Joshua tree is placed line 20 in a location and with proper orientation to improve its survival. line 21 (ii) A requirement that western Joshua trees are relocated at a line 22 time that maximizes their survival when feasible. line 23 (iii) A requirement that a desert native plant specialist be onsite line 24 to oversee relocation.
line 25 (B) The department may limit relocation to certain size classes line 26 of trees.
line 27 (C) By July 1, 2024, the department shall adopt guidelines and line 28 relocation protocols, based on the best available science, to relocate line 29 western Joshua trees successfully . The department shall consult line 30 with desert native plant specialists as part of the de velopment of line 31 these guidelines and relocation protocols. Chapter 3.5 (commencing line 32 with Section 11340) of P art 1 of Di vision 3 of Title 2 of the line 33 Government Code shall not apply to the de velopment, adoption, line 34 or amendment of guidelines and relocation protocols pursuant to line 35 this subparagraph.
line 36 (b) For purposes of this section, each western Joshua tree stem line 37 or trunk arising from the ground shall be considered an individual line 38 tree requiring mitigation, regardless of its proximity to any other line 39 western Joshua tree stem or trunk.
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line 1 (c) (1) If all of the conditions of paragraph (3) are met, the line 2 department may enter into an agreement with an y county to line 3 delegate to the county the ability to authorize the taking of a line 4 western Joshua tree associated with de veloping any one or more line 5 of the following projects concurrent with the county’s approval of line 6 the project:
line 7 (A) Single-family residences.
line 8 (B) Multifamily residences.
line 9 (C) Accessory structures.
line 10 (D) Public works projects.
line 11 (2) If all of the conditions of paragraph (3) are met, the line 12 department may enter into an agreement with any city to delegate line 13 to the city the ability to authorize the taking of a western Joshua line 14 tree associated with developing any one or more of the following line 15 projects concurrent with the city’s approval of the project:
line 16 (A) Single-family residences.
line 17 (B) Multifamily residences.
line 18 (C) Accessory structures.
line 19 (D) Public works projects.
line 20 (E) Commercial projects.
line 21 (F) Industrial projects.
line 22 (3) The delegation of authority pursuant to paragraphs (1) and line 23 (2) shall be subject to all of the following conditions:
line 24 (A) The county or city adopts an ordinance that requires as a line 25 condition of any approval or permit issued under the authority of line 26 an agreement entered into pursuant to this subdivision satisfaction line 27 of the requirements of this chapter.
line 28 (B) Except as provided otherwise in this subdivision, the county line 29 or city ensures that the permittee satisfies all of the requirements line 30 of subdivision (a) of this section.
line 31 (C) The project will tak e no more than 10 indi vidual western line 32 Joshua trees on the project site where the project proponent line 33 proposes to construct a single-f amily residence, multif amily line 34 residence, accessory structure, commercial project, or industrial line 35 project, or no more than 40 individual western Joshua trees on the line 36 project site on which a public agenc y proposes to undertak e a line 37 public works project. Before authorizing the take of more than 20, line 38 but no more than 40, individual western Joshua trees for a public line 39 works project, the county or city shall obtain the department’ s 97 AB 2443 — 7 —
line 1 written concurrence that the project has a voided and minimized line 2 the take of western Joshua trees to the maximum extent practicable. line 3 (D) The county or city shall collect any fees for permits issued line 4 and remit them quarterly to the fund as directed by the department. line 5 (E) The county or city entering into an agreement pursuant to line 6 this subdi vision may impose a reasonable fee to co ver the line 7 administrative costs of issuing the permit.
line 8 (F) (i) The department retains express authority to suspend or line 9 revoke the county or city’ s tak e authorization in the e vent the line 10 department determines the county or city has violated the terms line 11 of the agreement, or this chapter , the county or city f ails to line 12 implement or enforce the terms of the agreement or this chapter , line 13 or the department determines that the local population of western line 14 Joshua trees within, or in the vicinity of, that county or city needs line 15 further protection. The county or city shall conduct an annual line 16 assessment of the status of the local population within the county line 17 or city and submit the assessment to the department. The line 18 department shall determine if the population needs further line 19 protection to provide for the conservation of the species. line 20 (ii) The department shall adopt standardized surv ey and line 21 assessment methods for the annual assessment required pursuant line 22 to clause (i), including requiring that a desert native plant specialist line 23 conduct the assessment. Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section line 24 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code line 25 shall not apply to the de velopment, adoption, or amendment of line 26 standardized surv ey and assessment methods pursuant to this line 27 subparagraph.
line 28 (G) The county or city shall be required to submit to the line 29 department quarterly reports documenting the number of permits line 30 issued, photographs and other e vidence demonstrating that tak e line 31 and other impacts were avoided and minimized to the maximum line 32 extent practicable, the number and size class of western Joshua line 33 trees authorized to be tak en, the number of western Joshua trees line 34 encroached upon, the number of western Joshua trees lethally line 35 removed, the number and location of western Joshua trees line 36 relocated, the amount of fees collected, and other information line 37 required by the department in the agreement.
line 38 (d) Any person or public agency receiving a take authorization line 39 pursuant to this chapter for a project that meets the criteria of either line 40 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) or subparagraph (B) of 97 — 8 — AB 2443
line 1 paragraph (1) may elect, in lieu of satisfying the mitig ation line 2 obligation provided for in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a), to pay line 3 fees in the amounts provided in paragraph (2) for deposit into the line 4 fund.
line 5 (1) (A) Any project in the area bounded by the intersection of line 6 Highway 99 and Highway 58, then east along Highway 58 to the line 7 intersection of Interstate 15, then north along Interstate 15 to the line 8 intersection of Highw ay 247, then south along Highw ay 247 to line 9 the intersection of Highw ay 18, then west along Highw ay 18 to line 10 the intersection of Highw ay 138, then west and north along line 11 Highway 138 to the intersection of Interstate 5, then north along line 12 Interstate 5 to the intersection of Highw ay 99, then north along line 13 Highway 99 to Highway 58.
line 14 (B) Any single-f amily residence, multif amily residence, line 15 accessory structure, or public w orks project recei ving a permit line 16 issued by a county or city pursuant to an agreement with the line 17 department pursuant to subdivision (c), regardless of location. line 18 (2) (A) One thousand dollars ($1,000) for each western Joshua line 19 tree five meters or greater in height.
line 20 (B) Two hundred dollars ($200) for each western Joshua tree line 21 one meter or greater but less than five meters in height. line 22 (C) One hundred fifty dollars ($150) for each western Joshua line 23 tree less than one meter in height.
line 24 (e) Any person or public agency receiving a take authorization line 25 pursuant to this chapter for a project that meets the criteria set forth line 26 in paragraph (1) may elect, in lieu of satisfying the mitig ation line 27 obligation provided for in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a), to pay line 28 fees in the amounts provided in paragraph (2) for deposit into the line 29 fund.
line 30 (1) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of subdivision (d), any line 31 project within two miles of Joshua Tree National Park, or any unit line 32 of the state park system.
line 33 (B) Any project that does not meet the criteria set forth in line 34 paragraph (1) of subdivision (d).
line 35 (2) (A) Two thousand fiv e hundred dollars ($2,500) for each line 36 western Joshua tree five meters or greater in height. line 37 (B) Five hundred dollars ($500) for each western Joshua tree line 38 one meter or greater but less than five meters in height. line 39 (C) Three hundred forty dollars ($340) for each western Joshua line 40 tree less than one meter in height.
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line 1 (f) Upon request, the department may authorize a reduction in line 2 the amount of the fees prescribed by subdi visions (d) and (e) for line 3 any western Joshua tree conserved by a project proponent through line 4 the acquisition of compensatory habitat mitigation land otherwise line 5 required by law for the project.
line 6 (g) (1) The permittee shall bear responsibility for implementing line 7 measures to assist the survi val of western Joshua trees relocated line 8 pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a).
line 9 (2) Unless specifically required by written agreement, a line 10 landowner that agrees in writing to allow western Joshua trees to line 11 be relocated onto land it owns shall not be liable for the continued line 12 survival of the western Joshua trees, shall not be required to line 13 manage or maintain the translocated western Joshua trees, and line 14 shall not be required to change existing land use practices, provided line 15 that the land use practices do not result in the taking, possession, line 16 sale, or further translocation of the western Joshua trees.
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