Bill > AB1024

This bill establishes the San Gabriel Valley Bear Management and Community Safety Act, which requires the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop a comprehensive regional plan by January 1, 2027, specifically addressing bear-related issues in cities within the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County. The plan must include a detailed overview of bear behaviors in the San Gabriel Mountains, analyze potential reasons why bears enter neighborhoods and homes, review current city ordinances related to urban bear encounters, recommend best practices for reducing bear interactions, and reassess bear classification methods. The department must also establish measurable performance goals for reducing bear encounters and will be required to tag and track bears entering residential neighborhoods using advanced technologies like GPS tracking collars or AI-based tracking systems. Additionally, the department must submit a report to the Legislature detailing these performance goals by January 1, 2027, with the reporting requirement set to become inoperative on January 1, 2031. The Legislature specifically notes that this specialized statute is necessary due to the increasing frequency of bear encounters in San Gabriel Valley communities, which cannot be adequately addressed by a general statute.

Agriculture and Natural Resources, Budget and Finance

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1024