SB 69 - Ocean Resiliency Act of 2019

• Requires Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop and implement a plan to improve survival of hatchery-produced salmon and their contribution to commercial and recreational fisheries, with reports due one year and three years after implementation and plan completion by year two.

• Mandates development of a policy by January 1, 2022, for using in-river and ocean net pen releases of hatchery salmon during droughts or abnormal mortality periods, and requires at least one additional ocean-based offsite hatchery salmon release operation by January 1, 2022.

• Requires development of sediment reduction and fishery restoration plans for the Elk River watershed in Humboldt County and one additional hydrologic area by July 1, 2021, with prioritization of Fisheries Restoration Grant Program projects accordingly.

• Establishes voluntary vessel speed reduction incentive program in Santa Barbara Channel and San Francisco Bay areas to reduce air pollution, whale strike risk, and underwater acoustic impacts, with implementation by May 1, 2021, and reporting by December 31, 2022.

• Updates timber harvesting plan requirements for lands with listed anadromous salmonids to include erosion control plans consistent with existing regulations, requires California Geological Survey review for extreme erosion hazard areas, and mandates evaluation and updating of forest practice rules by January 1, 2024.

• Requires Natural Resources Agency to inventory coastal wetlands and submit a study by January 1, 2023, with updates every five years, and directs State Coastal Conservancy to report on beneficial reuse of dredged sediment program by December 31, 2022.