California Endangered Species Act: take prohibition: self-defense.

Removed amendment history headers (dates of prior amendments, sponsor and coauthor names, vote/appropriation/fiscal committee information) and replaced them with enrolled bill formatting including passage dates, chapter number placeholder, and Governor's receipt/approval lines.

Removed the requirement that the defendant must have acted based on a 'good faith belief' they were using necessary and reasonable force. The defense now only requires that the defendant actually used necessary and reasonable force to protect themselves or others from immediate bodily harm, eliminating the subjective belief element.

Removed 'Notwithstanding Section 2014 or any other law' from the civil penalty provision and 'Notwithstanding any other law' from the criminal defense provision. The override language is no longer explicitly stated.

Changed legislative intent language from 'establish the same similar defenses' to 'establish similar defenses,' removing redundant wording.

Added a new subdivision (d) requiring the Department of Fish and Wildlife to prepare a report by July 1, 2032, containing compiled data (species, date, approximate location) on all takes reported under the notification requirement between January 1, 2027, and December 31, 2031. The report must be submitted to the relevant legislative policy and budget committees in both houses.

Corrected the fiscal note from 'State-mandated local program: no yes' to 'State-mandated local program: yes,' properly acknowledging that the bill imposes a state-mandated local program because violating the 24-hour notification requirement is a crime.

The self-defense standard was tightened from 'good faith belief that they were acting to protect themselves...from bodily harm' to 'used necessary and reasonable force to protect themselves...from immediate bodily harm.' This adds two new requirements: the force must be both necessary and reasonable, and the threat must be immediate rather than merely potential.

The defense now applies to violations of Section 2080 or 2085 (or both), whereas the prior version only covered Section 2080. This broadens which types of take-related offenses can qualify for the defense.

The state-mandated local program designation changed from 'no' to 'yes' because the new criminal notification requirement imposes obligations on local agencies that must be reimbursed under state law.

A new subsection (c) requires any person who committed a take or attempted take under the self-defense exception to notify the Department of Fish and Wildlife within 24 hours after the take.

Failure to provide the 24-hour notification is itself a crime, as noted in the bill summary. This creates a new criminal penalty for non-compliance with the reporting requirement.

A new Section 3 was added stating that no reimbursement is required under Article XIII B of the California Constitution, on the grounds that the only costs incurred by local agencies relate to creating or changing a crime.

Removed Section 1, which stated the Legislature's intent to enact subsequent legislation relating to wildlife. This was a placeholder for future bills and its removal means this bill no longer signals upcoming related legislation.

Added Assembly Member Gallagher and Senators Dahle and Grove as coauthors, indicating broader bipartisan or multi-member legislative support for the bill.

Changed 'listed under the act' to 'listed pursuant to the act' in multiple places. This is a legal drafting refinement that more precisely indicates species are listed in accordance with the procedures established by the act, rather than simply being found under it.

Changed the fiscal committee review requirement from 'no' to 'yes,' meaning the bill now requires review by the relevant fiscal committee before advancing, likely due to the removal of content and renumbering affecting budget analysis.

Added Section 2080.8 to the Fish and Game Code establishing a self-defense exemption from penalties for taking listed species when acting in good faith to protect a person from bodily harm.

The bill's purpose shifted from a general statement of intent to enact future wildlife legislation to a specific self-defense provision under the California Endangered Species Act. The original intent language was retained but moved to the end of the bill.

The civil and administrative penalty exemption applies if it can be shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant acted based on a good faith belief they were protecting themselves, a family member, or any other individual from bodily harm from an endangered, threatened, or candidate species.

A criminal defense is established for prosecution under Section 2080 (the take prohibition) if the defendant committed the offense based on a good faith belief they were protecting a person from bodily harm from a listed species.

Section 1(a) includes legislative findings noting that the federal Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1540) already provides a similar defense, establishing the rationale for aligning state law with federal law.