For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Connectivity area” includes any of the following:

(1) An area identified by any federal or state agency that meets the needs for a special status species pursuant to the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) or the California Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code).

(2) An area identified by the Department of Fish and Wildlife as important for ecological connectivity for fish or wildlife between natural landscape areas based on consideration of the following factors:

(A) Important landscape linkages identified in regional connectivity studies or habitat protection plans.

(B) Known ungulate migration routes, including those identified in response to the federal Secretarial Order 3362, issued on February 9, 2018, by the federal Secretary of the Interior, and any subsequent updates to the order.

(C) Important movement corridors for sensitive species according to species-specific studies, genetic studies, or published recovery plans.

(D) Known areas of high wildlife mortality due to transportation infrastructure.

(E) Areas where wildlife is known to cross more frequently than other nearby areas, including riparian corridors, canyon bottoms, ridges, or open-space corridors.

(F) Areas where wildlife approach and refuse to cross highways, as identified by wildlife behavior data.

(G) Areas where habitat of adjacent lands is currently in good condition.

(H) Highways with identified barriers where lands adjacent to all approaches to the highway have conservation protections.

(I) Linkages that could facilitate range shifts due to climate change, including areas that connect lower to higher elevations or connect to northern habitats.

(3) An area identified by the department with known or potential transportation barriers to wildlife connectivity, as determined by the department.

(b) “Fish” means fish as defined in § 45 of the Fish and Game Code.

(c) “Natural landscape area” means a natural, intact habitat area with high ecological integrity that provides core habitat for wildlife and supports native biodiversity.

(d) “Permeability” means the ability of a feature, improvement, or facility to provide for passage of wildlife and improve connectivity to natural landscape areas or other habitat.

(e) “Wildlife” means wildlife as defined in § 89.5 of the Fish and Game Code.

(f) “Wildlife passage features” means culverts, underpasses, overpasses, bridges, directional fencing, barrier breaks, wildlife monitoring devices or detection systems, elevated highway segments, or other features, supported by a functional or potentially functional ecological buffer of habitat on multiple approaches to a highway that encourage use of the feature and are designed to be managed or restored using the best available science to improve the ability of wildlife to safely traverse transportation infrastructure.

(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 964, Sec. 2. (AB 2344) Effective January 1, 2023.)