This bill is part of the 2024 Cannabis Bills section of our ongoing update on California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update which includes information on cannabis bills from other years.
AB 2643 (Wood D) Cannabis cultivation: environmental remediation.
(1) Existing law requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to establish the watershed enforcement program to facilitate the investigation, enforcement, and prosecution of offenses relating to unlawful water diversions and other violations of the Fish and Game Code associated with cannabis cultivation. Existing law also requires the department, in coordination with specified state agencies, to establish a permanent multiagency task force to address the environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation.
This bill would require the department to conduct a study to create a framework for cannabis site restoration projects funded by the Cannabis Restoration Grant Program with the goal of providing guidance for the cleanup, remediation, and restoration of environmental damage caused by cannabis cultivation, and to complete the study by January 1, 2027, as specified. The bill would authorize the department to enter into an agreement with a nongovernmental organization or educational institution for that entity to conduct the study.
The bill would require the department, in collaboration with relevant federal agencies, to facilitate biannual meetings of stakeholders to serve as forums to delineate the most effective strategies, frameworks, and workflows for identifying, reclaiming, and restoring lands affected by illicit cannabis cultivation and for eradicating illicit cannabis cultivation on those lands.
The bill would require the department to submit an annual report to the Legislature until January 1, 2030, on illicit cannabis cultivation on public lands, as specified.
(2) Existing law imposes various civil penalties for violations of specified environmental laws in connection with the production or cultivation of a controlled substance, as specified. Existing law defines controlled substance for this purpose to mean a drug, substance, or immediate precursor listed in any of the schedules established pursuant to the California Uniform Controlled Substances Act.
This bill would provide that, if cannabis is no longer listed in one of the above-described schedules, the term “controlled substance” would continue to include cannabis for purposes of those civil penalty provisions.
(3) Existing law, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), an initiative measure, as additionally amended by statute, establishes the California Cannabis Tax Fund as a continuously appropriated fund consisting of specified taxes, interest, penalties, and other amounts related to commercial cannabis activity. Each fiscal year, AUMA requires the Controller to make disbursements from the fund pursuant to a specified schedule, including, among others, amounts to the Environmental Restoration and Protection Account. Of the amount deposited into the Environmental Restoration and Protection Account, AUMA requires the Controller to disburse the funds to the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Department of Parks and Recreation for, among other things, the cleanup, remediation, and restoration of environmental damage in watersheds affected by cannabis cultivation and related activities, as specified, and to support local partnerships for this purpose.
This bill would direct the Department of Fish and Wildlife to use moneys made available from that account for those purposes to fund a study, biannual meetings, and reports, as specified.
(4) AUMA authorizes the Legislature to amend its provisions with a 2/3 vote of both houses to further its purposes and intent, except as specified. This bill would declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of AUMA.
Read more about California Cannabis Legislation – see the full California Cannabis Law Legislative Update.
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