Bills · 2017-2018 Regular Session

AB 497

Relating to: mitigation requirements applicable to wetland individual permits. (FE)

Cooperative associations Natural resources, department of — Environmental protection Natural resources, department of — Hunting and fishing Public utility Public works Wetland

Introduced, completed
Passes Assembly, completed
Passes Senate, completed
Governor signs, completed
Law, completed

Unfamiliar terms? Glossary

What this bill does

Plain-language analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau

Under this bill, if the Department of Natural Resources issues a wetland

individual permit to a public utility, DNR may not require mitigation unless the

discharge authorized by the wetland individual permit will result in a permanent fill

of more than 10,000 square feet of wetland.

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, or the discharge is exempt from permitting requirements.

Current law requires DNR to issue wetland general permits for discharges to

wetlands that are necessary for temporary access or waste disposal if not more than

two acres of wetlands are affected, discharges for certain development if not more

than 10,000 square feet of wetlands are affected, and for utility and highway

construction and maintenance.

For a discharge into a wetland that is not authorized under a wetland general

permit, current law requires a person to apply for and obtain a wetland individual

permit. Before DNR may issue a wetland individual permit, it must require the

restoration, enhancement, creation, or preservation of other wetlands to compensate

for adverse impacts to a wetland resulting from the discharge, also known as

mitigation.

What it would cost

Fiscal estimates filed by state agencies, as official PDFs

Fiscal Estimate From DNR

Votes

Assembly: Report Assembly Amendment 1 adoption recommended by Committee on Energy and Utilities, Ayes 14, Noes 0

Passed 14–0 Oct 30, 2017 official source full page

No individual roll call was recorded for this vote. Committee votes and some older sessions record totals only.

Assembly: Report passage as amended recommended by Committee on Energy and Utilities, Ayes 13, Noes 1

Passed 13–1 Oct 30, 2017 official source full page