(a)The Transportation Wildlife Connectivity Remediation Program is hereby established to be administered by the department, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, for the purposes of improving wildlife connectivity across transportation systems in connectivity areas.
(b)Upon appropriation of funds by the Legislature, the department shall develop a program of projects that support the remediation and improvement of wildlife connectivity across transportation systems, including the state highway system, in accordance with this section.
(c)
(1)The department, in concurrence with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, shall develop guidelines
for the implementation of the program, following one or more public workshops and an opportunity for the public to provide writ
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(a)
The Transportation Wildlife Connectivity Remediation Program is hereby established to be administered by the department, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, for the purposes of improving wildlife connectivity across transportation systems in connectivity areas.
(b)
Upon appropriation of funds by the Legislature, the department shall develop a program of projects that support the remediation and improvement of wildlife connectivity across transportation systems, including the state highway system, in accordance with this section.
(c)
(1)
The department, in concurrence with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, shall develop guidelines
for the implementation of the program, following one or more public workshops and an opportunity for the public to provide written comments. The guidelines for the program are exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
(2)
The guidelines for the program shall establish selection criteria including the factors set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 158.1 with consideration given to funding wildlife connectivity improvements as standalone projects or funding those improvements on the department’s planned projects, including, but not limited to, maintenance and operations projects, to achieve efficiencies in addressing wildlife connectivity needs identified pursuant to subdivision (d).
(d)
A project funded by the program shall address a wildlife connectivity need identified in
the inventory of connectivity needs for the state highway system established pursuant to Section 158.1 or another documented wildlife connectivity need across transportation infrastructure in a connectivity area.
(e)
A project funded by this program may include, but is not limited to, any of the following:
(1)
The placement of exclusion and directional fencing.
(2)
The use of advanced technology to improve the safety of wildlife crossing transportation infrastructure.
(3)
The construction of wildlife-friendly underpasses, overpasses, culverts, and elevated sections of road in key wildlife connectivity areas.
(f)
The department may receive compensatory mitigation credits pursuant to Section
1957 of the Fish and Game Code for the implementation of a project in this program if the Department of Fish and Wildlife concurs with the creation of those credits.