Senate Votes to End Penalty for Accidental Killing of Threatened Species

In a victory for farmers, miners and loggers, the state Senate on Thursday voted unanimously to repeal criminal penalties for the accidental killing of an endangered or threatened insect, plant or animal.

A 31-0 vote sent the bill (SB 120) by Sen. Jim Costa (D-Fresno) to the Assembly where similar legislation to relax endangered species protections is pending.

The Costa measure was supported by agricultural, mining, timber, oil and other business interests that argue that environmental protections of certain species have gone too far at the expense of humans. It was opposed by the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society and other conservationist organizations.

Now, a grower faces up to a year in jail and a maximum fine of $5,000 if an endangered animal, insect or plant is accidentally destroyed by plowing or other normal practices of farming, Costa said.

The state Department of Fish and Game said no one has been prosecuted for the accidental destruction of a protected species. But Costa said the mere existence of the penalties imposes an unfair criminal and economic threat to many Californians as they go about their usual work. The Costa bill was a result of controversy that erupted last year when a Kern County farmer, Taung Ming-Lin, was accused of violating federal endangered species laws by killing five kangaroo rats and plowing under protected habitat. The U.S. government recently reached a settlement and dropped its charges.

Costa said that although the Kern County case received national attention as a symbol of federal environmental excesses, other growers in his San Joaquin Valley district also feel threatened by state environmental protection laws.