This law emphasizes the importance of protecting and conserving California's fish and wildlife. These resources belong to the people, are crucial for the state’s economy, and are vital for food supply. Therefore, the state is responsible for conserving them.

This section defines key terms used in this chapter. An 'Agreement' refers to a formal arrangement about changing a lake or streambed. 'Day' means a regular calendar day. 'Emergency' is defined as in another section of the Public Resources Code. 'Entity' refers to any person, government agency, or public utility that must follow these rules.

This law section states that if you plan to change or use parts of a river, stream, or lake in certain significant ways, you generally need to inform the relevant department and sometimes get their approval. You must include a detailed description of your project and pay any required fees. They will check your notification and decide if your activity affects fish or wildlife. If it's harmful, they may issue an agreement with necessary protections.

If your work is routine maintenance of water facilities, you may not need repeated approvals unless conditions significantly change. For cannabis cultivation licensed by the Department of Cannabis Control, you might not need a separate agreement if your activities protect wildlife resources as required by those licenses.

Violating these rules is illegal, and the department can take actions against non-compliance, especially for licensed cannabis growers who don't meet required conditions. All necessary fees must be paid before the department processes notifications or agreements.

This section explains the process for handling activities that might harm fish and wildlife resources. After being notified by an entity, the department decides if the activity could have a negative impact. If so, they create a draft agreement outlining how to protect the affected resources and send it to the entity. The entity has 30 days to accept or suggest changes, and if there's disagreement, they can meet with the department to resolve it. If they fail to respond in 90 days, the agreement is withdrawn, and they must notify again before starting the activity.

If an agreement isn't reached through discussion, the entity can request arbitration. A panel of three arbitrators is formed: one chosen by the department, one by the entity, and a third mutually selected or appointed. This panel resolves disputes within 14 days, and their decision is binding. The process ensures the protection measures are based on current scientific knowledge. Each party covers their own arbitration costs and split the cost of the third arbitrator.

If you are affected by a decision from an arbitration panel, you can ask a court to confirm, change, or cancel that decision. This process is done by following rules in a specific part of another set of laws, called the Code of Civil Procedure.

This section explains the rules about agreements related to protecting fish and wildlife resources. Normally, these agreements can't last more than five years, but the entity must still carry out protective measures for fish and wildlife even after the agreement ends. An entity can ask for a single extension before the original term ends, unless the department finds that changes are necessary to continue protecting the wildlife.

If there's disagreement about needed changes, there's a process to resolve this through arbitration. Extensions can't be longer than five years. If an agreement expires without an extension request, a new notification must be submitted.

Agreements can last longer than five years if certain conditions are met, like providing a status report every four years and the department confirmed compliance. The department can inspect sites to ensure compliance, and a special log must be kept for long-term agreements.

This law ensures that the department cannot require someone to obtain any other local, state, or federal permit as a condition for issuing an agreement.

This law says that any time limit mentioned in this chapter can be lengthened if everyone involved agrees to it.

This section explains that the department must give detailed information to any entity that submits a notification as specified. This includes the review period for the notification, how and when to object to proposed measures, and the response times for objections. It also covers the right to arbitration of measures in a draft agreement and provides details on the procedures, timelines, and fee requirements for arbitration. Finally, it includes the current fee schedule for obtaining an agreement.

The law allows a department to charge fees to any organization under this chapter, with the fees covering the costs of overseeing and enforcing the rules. These fees can pay for activities like creating agreements and performing inspections, and they are placed into a specific fund.

The fees may be adjusted each year according to a different law, and each project should not have a fee over $5,000. However, this $5,000 cap does not apply to projects related to particular agreements under another section.

This law outlines situations where the usual regulatory rules don't apply, mainly focusing on emergency conditions. If you're dealing with immediate emergencies to protect life or property, urgent repairs for public services after a disaster, or highway repairs due to natural disasters, these do not require usual detailed procedures. However, roadway expansions or work on scenic highways don't get a free pass. Whoever does this emergency work has to inform the relevant department within 14 days of starting. Not following these guidelines can result in a violation.

This law explains that if you submit a timber harvesting plan with certain details, it counts as giving the required notice for altering streams or water bodies. To be valid, the plan must include information like the type of work, the volume and type of materials and water, equipment used, vegetation impact, and operation timeline. You also need a diagram showing the work location and road access.

The Department won't process this notification until they receive both the plan and a related fee. They aren't obligated to approve any agreements less than 60 days after receiving a complete notification. The agreement starts when timber operations begin, unless stated otherwise in the agreement.

This section states that the department can suspend or revoke an agreement if an entity doesn't comply with the agreement's terms or fails to provide updates on time. Before taking action, the department must establish procedures and give the entity written notice explaining why they're being suspended or revoked. The entity should also have a chance to fix any issues before the agreement is suspended or revoked.

If the department finds that an entity's proposed activity violates regulations before a final agreement is made, it can pause reviewing their application. The usual rules and deadlines won't apply until the issue is resolved. This rule stops if the violation is fixed, if legal actions aren't started in time, or if any legal cases are dropped.

This law states that if an entity is ordered by a court or administrative body to do work that involves this chapter, they must include specific protective measures for fish and wildlife suggested by the department in their agreement. These protective measures cannot be challenged or changed through arbitration.

If an entity breaks the rules of this chapter, it can be fined up to $25,000 for each violation. This fine is in addition to any other penalties under the law.

When deciding the fine amount, the court considers factors like the seriousness and impact of the violation, any cleanup efforts, the violator's financial situation, and past violations.

The Attorney General or local authorities can bring lawsuits for these violations on behalf of the people.

In these cases, it's not necessary to prove that harm will occur without an injunction. The court can issue injunctions without such proof.

Fines collected are not considered traditional fines and are split, with half going to county wildlife funds and half to the state Fish and Game Preservation Fund.

This section states that any agreements made by the department before January 1, 2004, will be governed by the rules that were in place before that date. However, this rule does not apply to a specific requirement from Section 1602, which involves the need for an entity to provide proof of an agreement made before January 1, 1977, if the department asks for it.

This law allows the department to create general agreements for growing cannabis instead of requiring individual agreements. These general agreements skip certain processing time rules and don't need further review, making them final once issued. There's a fee for these agreements, determined under existing guidelines. If the department creates or changes a general agreement, it happens as an emergency regulation to protect public well-being, and these regulations remain until changed. Importantly, these regulations aren't subject to some environmental review requirements.