AB 160

This bill makes various changes to the regulation of aquaculture and fish farms.

Wetland permits

Under current law, no person may discharge dredged material or fill material

into a wetland unless the discharge is authorized by a wetland general permit or

individual permit issued by the Department of Natural Resources. An individual

permit is issued to a person for a particular discharge that is not covered under a

general permit. A general permit is issued for certain categories of discharges,

including a discharge that is part of a development for agricultural purposes if the

discharge does not affect more than 10,000 square feet of wetland. This bill adds

aquacultural purposes to this category of discharge.

This bill also exempts normal aquaculture activities from the requirement to

obtain an individual or general wetland permit, if the discharge is to a wetland that

has been created for aquacultural purposes in an area without any prior wetland

history. The bill defines “normal aquaculture activities” to include the following

activities in fish farms: 1) constructing, maintaining, or repairing ponds or raceways;

2) filling in or drawing down ponds or raceways; 3) maintaining or improving swales

or other drainage areas; and 4) maintaining, repairing, or replacing drains, pipes, or

other flowage controls. The bill also exempts the construction or maintenance of

roads used in fish farms from the requirement to obtain an individual or general

wetland permit.

Current law requires an applicant for an individual wetland permit to submit

to DNR an analysis of the practicable alternatives to the proposed discharge that will

avoid and minimize the discharge's adverse impacts on the wetland and that will not

result in any other significant adverse environmental consequences. Under current

law, DNR must limit its review of practicable alternatives to those alternatives that

are located at the discharge site and any adjacent site if the proposed project is

necessary for the expansion of an existing industrial, commercial or agricultural

facility. The bill adds the expansion of an existing aquacultural facility to this list.

Natural bodies of water used as fish farms

The bill expands the category of natural bodies of water that may be used as

part of a fish farm to include an artificial water body that is used as a registered fish

farm or as part of a registered fish farm, regardless of the water source of the artificial

water body, including an artificial water body that is fed by a spring. Under current

law, a natural body of water may be used as a fish farm or part of a fish farm only if

the water body is a freeze-out pond, a preexisting fish rearing facility, or a body of

water for which DNR has issued a permit. The bill defines “natural body of water"

as a spring, stream, pond, lake, or wetland that was historically present in a natural

state but may have been physically altered over time.

The bill also creates an exemption to the general prohibition on using a natural

water body as a fish farm for a person who holds a permit from DNR to use a natural