(a) The department shall annually adjust the fees in this chapter pursuant to Section 713.

(b) Moneys received pursuant to this chapter shall be deposited in a separate dedicated account within the Fish and Game Preservation Fund and expended for the purposes of this chapter.

(c) The department shall adopt and amend guidelines and criteria to implement this chapter. The department shall develop these guidelines and criteria in coordination with interested parties, including, but not limited to, bank sponsors, conservation organizations, and federal and state bank approving agencies. The guidelines shall incorporate all relevant documents and program guidance, including, but not limited to, the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding approved by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, for the purpose of jointly establishing a framework for developing and using combined or coordinated approaches to mitigation and conservation banking in California. Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code shall not apply to the development, adoption, or amendment, of guidelines or criteria pursuant to this section. The guidelines and criteria shall be posted on the department’s Internet Web site.

(d) The costs of a conservation and mitigation banking program, including, but not limited to, costs incurred by the department during its guideline adoption and review, approval, establishment, monitoring, and oversight of banks, shall be reimbursed from revenues of conservation and mitigation bank application fees imposed pursuant to Sections 1798.5, 1798.6, and 1799.

(Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 565, Sec. 14. (SB 1148) Effective January 1, 2013.)