Habitat Restoration and Enhancement Act

The law keeps a single Department of Fish and Wildlife approval pathway for qualifying small habitat projects while adding clearer application, species-protection, fee, and reporting requirements.

What the law does ​

• Extends the Habitat Restoration and Enhancement Act until January 1, 2032.
• Defines eligible projects as those primarily improving native fish, wildlife, or plant habitat and qualifying under the State Water Resources Control Board’s small-project water-quality certification or equivalent.
• Requires project applicants to provide project designs, site and species information, environmental protections, fees, and, where applicable, proposed take of protected species.
• Requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to decide applications within 60 days for projects without the water-quality certification and 30 days for certified projects.
• Makes department approval replace other department permits or approvals for the project, but authorizes take only for species identified in the application.
• Requires approved projects to include measures that avoid and minimize harm to species protected by state law.
• Requires the department to establish an application-fee schedule by January 1, 2030, capped at reasonable program administration and implementation costs.
• Requires a program-implementation report to the Legislature by December 31, 2029.

Who it affects ​

• Public agencies, nonprofit organizations, and other proponents of qualifying habitat-restoration or enhancement projects.
• Native fish, wildlife, plant species, and state-protected species in or near approved project areas.
• The Department of Fish and Wildlife and State Water Resources Control Board.

Context ​

The law removes the former requirement to publish certain certified-project application information in the California Regulatory Notice Register.