(a) There are hereby established, initially in the Special Deposit Fund, continued in existence by Section 16370 of the Government Code, both of the following accounts:
(1) The Fish and Game Mitigation and Protection Endowment Principal Account. The department shall deposit in this account the endowment funds received by the department pursuant to an agreement described in subdivision (b) and all earnings generated thereon. The earnings shall be available to the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to fund long-term management, enhancement, monitoring, and enforcement activities on habitat lands in a manner consistent with the terms of the underlying agreement.
(2) The Fish and Game Mitigation and Protection Expendable Funds Account. The department shall deposit in this account moneys received pursuant to an agreement described in subdivision (b) that are not endowment funds and that are designated for expenditure for the purposes described in paragraph (2) of that subdivision. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the moneys in the account established by this paragraph are hereby continuously appropriated to the department for expenditure without regard to fiscal year, for the purposes described in this section.
(b) (1) The department may deposit moneys into the accounts established pursuant to subdivision (a) that it receives pursuant to any of the following, if those moneys are received for the purposes described in paragraph (2):
(A) Agreements or permits pursuant to the Natural Communities Conservation Planning Act (Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 2800) of Division 3).
(B) Conservation bank agreements.
(C) Habitat conservation implementation agreements.
(D) Incidental take permits.
(E) Legal or other written settlements.
(F) Mitigation agreements.
(G) Streambed or lakebed alteration agreements.
(H) Trust agreements.
(2) The department may deposit the moneys received pursuant to an agreement described in paragraph (1) in an account established by this section only if it receives those moneys for at least one of the following purposes:
(A) Mitigating the adverse biological impacts of a specific project, activity, spill, or release.
(B) Protecting, conserving, restoring, enhancing, managing, and maintaining fish, wildlife, native plants, or their habitats.
(c) While the Fish and Game Mitigation and Protection Endowment Principal Account and the Fish and Game Mitigation and Protection Expendable Funds Account are initially established in the Special Deposit Fund within the Pooled Money Investment Account, the Treasurer’s office shall, at the department’s request, transfer these funds from the Pooled Money Investment Account to another account within the State Treasury system to increase earnings over time while providing adequate liquidity. If either or both of these accounts are transferred from the Pooled Money Investment Account, assets in the transferred account or accounts may be held and invested in any of the investments identified in Section 16430 of the Government Code, except that the maturity date of commercial paper may exceed the limits set forth in Section 16430 of the Government Code. These investments shall be made as determined and directed by the department.
(d) To develop and maintain the investment strategy for these accounts, the department may retain investment advisers deemed acceptable to the Treasurer.
(Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 411, Sec. 7. Effective January 1, 2009.)