AB 697: Protected species: authorized take: State Route 37 project. - California

02/14/25 - Introduced → 05/06/25 - Amended Assembly · 4 edits · May 6, 2025

MODERATE

The amended version of AB 697 narrows the scope of the incidental take authorization to specifically the Sears Point to Mare Island Improvement Project rather than all State Route 37 corridor improvements, adds California Ridgway's rail as a covered species (both for take authorization and as a fully protected bird), and strengthens monitoring requirements by requiring departmental approval of the adaptive management plan.

Scope change

The take authorization is narrowed from all State Route 37 corridor improvements across four counties to a single named project (Sears Point to Mare Island), while the broader set of covered projects in subdivision (b) remains unchanged. A new species (California Ridgway's rail) is added to both the take authorization and the fully protected bird list.

SCOPE

The incidental take authorization in subdivision (a) is narrowed from covering all 'improvements on the State Route 37 corridor described in subdivision (b) through the Counties of Marin, Sonoma, Napa, and Solano' to specifically the 'Sears Point to Mare Island Improvement Project on State Route 37 from east of Lakeville Highway near State Route 121 in the County of Sonoma to west of Sacramento Street in the County of Solano.' Subdivision (b) still lists both that project and PEL Study preferred alternative projects as covered, but the take authorization itself is limited to the named project.

ELIGIBILITY

California Ridgway's rail (Rallus obsoletus obsoletus) is added as a species for which incidental take may be authorized under Section 2081.13 and is also added to the list of fully protected birds in Section 3511(b).

REQUIREMENT

The monitoring and adaptive management condition now requires that both the monitoring program and the adaptive management process plan 'shall be approved by the department,' adding a new approval requirement not present in the introduced version.

TECHNICAL

Subdivisions (c), (d), and (e) of the original are renumbered as (b), (c), and (d) in the amended version. The non-exemption clause changes from 'improvements described in subdivision (b)' to 'improvements project described in subdivision (a),' reflecting the narrowed scope.

10/07/25 - Chaptered → AB697 · 1 edit

MINOR

No substantive legislative changes exist between these two versions. The diff reflects only a change in document format: the first version is the official authenticated chaptered document with traditional legislative layout, while the second is a web-based rendering from the California legislature website that includes navigation elements, metadata (vote type, appropriation status, fiscal committee designation), and different typographic formatting. The actual legal text of all three sections is identical.

TECHNICAL

The document changed from an official authenticated chaptered format (with page numbers, centered headers, and traditional legislative layout) to a web-based bill text rendering that includes site navigation, metadata fields such as vote type (MAJORITY), appropriation (NO), fiscal committee (YES), and local program (NO), and a different typographic structure. No legal language was added, removed, or altered.

05/06/25 - Amended Assembly → 09/08/25 - Enrolled · 5 edits · Sep 8, 2025

MODERATE

The enrolled version of AB 697 removes the California clapper rail from both the list of species eligible for incidental take authorization and from the state's fully protected birds list. It also narrows the geographic scope by removing Marin County and simplifies the project definition by eliminating a separate subdivision that referenced the 2022 State Route 37 Planning and Environmental Linkages Study, replacing it with a broader geographic description in the main text.

SCOPE

The California clapper rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus) was removed from the list of species for which incidental take may be authorized under new Section 2081.13(a).

Marin County was removed from the geographic scope of the project. The bill now covers only the Counties of Sonoma, Napa, and Solano instead of Marin, Sonoma, Napa, and Solano.

The separate subdivision (b) that defined covered projects (including the Sears Point to Mare Island project at specific post miles 2.4 to 8.5, and projects implementing the preferred alternative from the 2022 State Route 37 PEL Study or subsequent updates) was eliminated. The project is now described directly in subdivision (a) using a broader geographic boundary (east of Lakeville Highway near SR 121 in Sonoma to west of Sacramento Street in Solano).

DEFINITION

The California clapper rail was removed from the list of fully protected birds in Section 3511(b), meaning it no longer carries full protection status under that section.

TECHNICAL

The term 'adaptive management process plan' was changed to 'adaptive management plan' in the monitoring and adaptive management requirements.

09/08/25 - Enrolled → 10/07/25 - Chaptered · 2 edits · Oct 7, 2025

MINOR

This diff reflects only the administrative transition of AB 697 from its enrolled form to its chaptered (enacted) form after the Governor approved it on October 7, 2025. The substantive legislative text is unchanged; the differences are limited to formatting, page numbering, and the replacement of the signature block with the official chapter number (Chapter 438) and authentication header.

TECHNICAL

The bill header changed from the enrolled format (with blank fields for Governor's receipt date/time and signature line) to the chaptered format showing 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL,' Chapter 438, and the approval/filing date of October 7, 2025.

Page numbering changed from page 97 to page 96, and running headers changed from 'AB 697' style to 'Ch. 438' style throughout the document.

Protected species: authorized take: State Route 37 project.

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