republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20152016/sb-839.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Public resources."
description: "(1) Existing law prohibits an entity from substantially diverting or obstructing the natural flow of, or substantially changing or using any material from the bed, channel, or bank of, any river, stream, or lake, or from depositing certain material where it may pass into any river, stream, or lake designated by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, without first notifying the department of that activity, and entering into a lake or streambed alteration agreement if required by the department to protect fish and wildlife resources. Under existing law, it is unlawful for any person to violate those notification and agreement provisions, and a person who violates them is also subject to a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 for each violation. For purposes of these provisions, existing law defines entity to mean any person, state or local governmental agency, or public utility subject to the notification and agreement provisions."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "SB 839"
citation: "California SB 839 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill", "appropriation"]
subjects: ["Public resources."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 21
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2016-01-07"
last_action: "2016-09-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/51cbe13e-4fc3-4b7b-8cfa-58dfdf608b1e"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB839"
source_hash: "a195eca9df671f98986b7961538b119eef4219d91b7c6ce77ea342d00460a32e"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 839 (20152016) — Public resources.

(1) Existing law prohibits an entity from substantially diverting or obstructing the natural flow of, or substantially changing or using any material from the bed, channel, or bank of, any river, stream, or lake, or from depositing certain material where it may pass into any river, stream, or lake designated by the Department of Fish and Wildlife, without first notifying the department of that activity, and entering into a lake or streambed alteration agreement if required by the department to protect fish and wildlife resources. Under existing law, it is unlawful for any person to violate those notification and agreement provisions, and a person who violates them is also subject to a civil penalty of not more than $25,000 for each violation. For purposes of these provisions, existing law defines entity to mean any person, state or local governmental agency, or public utility subject to the notification and agreement provisions.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **01/07/16 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB839&version=20150SB83999INT)
2. **05/25/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB839&version=20150SB83998AMD)
3. **06/14/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB839&version=20150SB83997AMD)
4. **09/13/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB839&version=20150SB83995CHP)
5. **SB839** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB839)
6. **08/30/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB839&version=20150SB83996ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading SB839 Committee On B. & F.R. — **25–11** (pass) · upper
- Unfinished Business SB839 Committee On B. & F.R. (Leno) Concurrence — **26–13** (pass) · upper
- SB 839 B. & F. R. Senate Third Reading By TING — **48–28** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-01-07** Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print. `introduction, reading-1`
- **2016-01-08** From printer. May be acted upon on or after February 7.
- **2016-01-11** Referred to Com. on B. & F.R. `referral-committee`
- **2016-04-11** Withdrawn from committee.
- **2016-04-11** Ordered to second reading.
- **2016-04-12** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-04-14** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 25. Noes 11. Page 3540.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-04-14** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2016-05-02** Referred to Com. on BUDGET. `referral-committee`
- **2016-05-25** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on BUDGET. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-06-14** From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on BUDGET. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, committee-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-06-15** Assembly Rule 96 suspended. (Ayes 50. Noes 25. Page 5358.)
- **2016-06-15** Withdrawn from committee.
- **2016-06-15** Ordered to third reading.
- **2016-06-15** Assembly Rule 63 suspended. (Ayes 50. Noes 25. Page 5358.)
- **2016-06-16** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 48. Noes 28. Page 5391.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-06-16** In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- **2016-08-26** Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 26. Noes 13. Page 5441.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2016-09-01** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 5 p.m.
- **2016-09-13** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2016-09-13** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 340, Statutes of 2016.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/51cbe13e-4fc3-4b7b-8cfa-58dfdf608b1e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).