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Petitions to List Species Under the California Endangered Species Act

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Listing of Species Under the California Endangered Species Act

The criteria and process for listing species as candidate, threatened or endangered are outlined in the link opens in new window California Endangered Species Act (CESA) (Fish and Game Code Sections 2050, et seq.) and link opens in new windowSection 670.1, Title 14, California Code of Regulations (CCR).

The following represents a basic minimum timeline from receipt of a petition to the effective date of the listing/uplisting/downlisting/delisting of the species as threatened or endangered.

Day 1: The petition to list, uplist, downlist or delist a species is received in the Commission office, and is reviewed by Commission staff for proper format and for the presence or absence of the required information.

Day 10: An incomplete petition will be returned to the petitioner within 10 days. An accepted petition will be referred to the Department of Fish and Wildlife (Department) within 10 days and a notice of receipt of the accepted petition will be published in the California Regulatory Notice Register (Notice Register) and mailed to interested and affected parties.

Day 100: The Department will evaluate the petition according to the criteria listed subsection 670.1(d)(1), Title 14, CCR, and will provide its evaluation report to the Commission within 90 days of receiving the petition from Commission staff; however, the Department may request a 30-day extension.

Day 130: The Commission will take action on the petition at its next available meeting after the Department's evaluation report has been available to the public for 30 days. At the meeting, the Commission will make a finding on whether or not the petition contains sufficient scientific information to indicate that the petitioned action may be warranted. If the Commission finds there is sufficient scientific information to indicate that the petitioned action may be warranted, the Commission will designate the species as a candidate species (Section 2068, Fish and Game Code).

Day 146: A notice of the Commission's findings will be published in the Notice Register and mailed to interested and affected parties. If the Commission finds there is not sufficient scientific information to indicate that the petitioned action may be warranted, the process ends. If the Commission finds there is sufficient scientific information to indicate that the petitioned action may be warranted, the process continues.

Day 511: Within 12 months of the date of publication of the "candidacy" notice, the Department will prepare and submit a Status Report to the Commission.

Day 541: The Commission will receive the Department's Status Report at a regularly scheduled Commission meeting.

Day 601: Final consideration of the petition will be scheduled for the next regularly scheduled Commission meeting after official receipt of the Status Report. At this meeting, the Commission will make a finding of whether or not the petitioned action is warranted. Ratification of the findings will be scheduled for a future meeting. If the Commission finds that the petitioned action is not warranted, the process ends and the species will be removed from the list of candidate species. If the Commission finds that the petitioned action is warranted, a rulemaking process to add the species to the list of threatened and endangered species in Section 670.2 (plants) or Section 670.5 (animals) will begin.

Day 617: Notice of Findings and, if applicable, Notice of Proposed Changes in Regulations published in the Notice Register and mailed to interested and affected parties.

Day 664: Adoption of regulations.

Day 674: Regulations filed with the Office of Administrative Law.

Day 719: Regulations filed with Secretary of State.

Day 739: Effective date of Regulation.

Petitions, Notices and Documents

Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2020-0203-02
Petition to list Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) as an Endangered Species

Clara Hunt's milkvetch

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2020-0114-01
Petition to uplist Clara Hunt's milkvetch (Astragalus claranus ) from Threatened to Endangered

Western Joshua Tree

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2019-1112-01
Petition to list Western Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia) as a Threatened Species

Shasta Snow-wreath

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2019-1112-02
Petition to list Shasta Snow-wreath (Neviusia cliftonii) as an Endangered Species

Mountain Lion

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2019-0716-03
Petition to List Mountain Lion (Puma concolor) as a Threatened or Endangered Species

San Bernardino Kangaroo Rat

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2019-0402-06 and Z2019-0813-07
Petition to List the San Bernardino Kangaroo Rat (Dipodomys merriami parvus) as an Endangered Species

Bumble Bees

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2018-1030-03 and Z2019-0618-07
Petition to List the Crotch bumble bee (Bombus crotchii), Franklin’s bumble bee (Bombus franklini), Suckley cuckoo bumble bee (Bombus suckleyi), and western bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis occidentalis) as an Endangered Species

Northern California Summer Steelhead

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2018-1016-06 and Z2019-0618-08
Petition to List the Northern California Summer Steelhead as an Endangered Species

Upper Klamath-Trinity River Spring Chinook Salmon

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2018-0807-05
Petition to List the Upper Klamath-Trinity River Spring Chinook Salmon as an Endangered Species

Cascades Frog

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2017-0321-04 and Z2017-1017-10
Petition to List the Cascades Frog as a Threatened or Endangered Species

Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2017-0109-03
Petition to List the Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog as an Endangered Species

Lassics Lupine

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2016-0802-11, Z2017-0214-02 and Z2018-0904-03
Petition to List the Lassics Lupine as an Endangered Species

Coast Yellow Leptosiphon

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2016-0531-04, Z2016-1213-07, and Z2018-0904-04
Petition to List the Coast Yellow Leptosiphon as an Endangered Species

Humboldt Marten

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2015-0714-07, Z2016-0216-14, Z2018-0807-06, and Z2019-0114-03
Petition to List the Humboldt Marten as an Endangered Species

Tricolored Blackbird (2015 Petition)

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2015-0825-10, Z2015-1228-02 and Z2018-0904-01
Petition to List the Tricolored Blackbird as an Endangered Species

Northern Spotted Owl

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2012-0924-01, Z2013-1217-03, Z2016-0517-13, Z2016-0802-11, and Z2017-0627-07
Petition to List the Northern Spotted Owl as a Threatened or Endangered Species

Fisher (formerly Pacific fisher)

Office of Administrative Law's Notice ID #Z2009-0210-08, Z2009-0414--09, Z2010-0316-04, Z2010-0921-03, Z2013-0311-01, and Z2016-0420-05
Petition to List the Pacific Fisher as an Endangered Species