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AB 697

Protected species: authorized take: State Route 37 project.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Lori Wilson

AB 697 authorizes killing or harming protected species during California's State Route 37 highway project to enable construction while providing legal exemptions from endangered species protections.

Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 438, Statutes of 2025.
#protectedspecies #stateroute37project #authorizedtake
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Bill Summary · AB 697

Legislative bill overview

AB 697 authorizes the take (killing or harm) of protected species during the State Route 37 project in California, a major highway improvement initiative in the San Francisco Bay Area. The bill provides legal exemptions from state endangered species protections to allow project construction to proceed without violating wildlife protection laws.

Why is this important

State Route 37 is a critical transportation corridor connecting Marin and Sonoma counties, but the project area contains habitats for federally and state-listed endangered species, particularly salt marsh harvest mice and California clapper rails. This bill balances infrastructure development against environmental protection by creating a legal pathway for the project while presumably requiring mitigation measures to offset species impacts.

Potential points of contention

  • Environmental trade-offs: Authorizing the take of protected species represents a prioritization of infrastructure over habitat preservation, potentially setting precedent for similar exemptions on other projects
  • Mitigation adequacy: The bill's actual effectiveness depends on mitigation requirements (not detailed in the action summary), which may or may not sufficiently compensate for species loss
  • Cumulative habitat loss: Incremental authorizations of species take across multiple projects can compound long-term environmental damage despite individual mitigation efforts

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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