Cal. FGC § 12016
This is the official text of Cal. FGC § 12016, part of California’s Fish and Game Code — regulates hunting, fishing, and wildlife conservation.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Official statutory text
(a) In addition to any other provision of law, any person who discharges or deposits any substance or material deleterious to fish, plant, bird, or animal life or their habitat into, or which threatens to enter, the waters of this state is liable civilly to the department for all actual damages to fish, plant, bird, or animal life or their habitat and, in addition, for the reasonable costs incurred in cleaning up the deleterious substance or material or abating its effects, or both.
(b) For the purposes of this section, “deleterious substance or material” does not include substances or materials otherwise expressly permitted or authorized to be deposited or discharged into waters of the state by law.
(b) For the purposes of this section, “deleterious substance or material” does not include substances or materials otherwise expressly permitted or authorized to be deposited or discharged into waters of the state by law.
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Need a lawyer in California?
Find a California lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.