California Assembly Bill AB1333 Latest Draft

 BILL NUMBER: AB 1333AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2011 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Achadjian FEBRUARY 18, 2011 An act  to amend Sections 5002.2, 5019.53, 5080.31, and 5080.32 of the Public Resources Code,  relating to state parks. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1333, as amended, Achadjian. State parks  : local authorities  .  (1) Under existing law, the Department of Parks and Recreation administers the state park system. Existing law requires, following classification or reclassification of a unit by the State Park and Recreation Commission, and prior to the development of any new facilities in any previously classified unit, the department to prepare a general plan or revise any existing plan for the unit.   This bill would revise the department's responsibilities regarding the preparation and revision of the general plan.   (2) Existing law requires that the purpose of state parks be to preserve outstanding natural, scenic, and cultural values, indigenous aquatic and terrestrial fauna and flora, and the most significant examples of ecological regions of California. Each state park is required to be managed as a composite whole in order to restore, protect, and maintain its native environmental complexes to the extent compatible with the primary purpose for which the park was established.   This bill would delete those requirements.   (3) Existing law requires the general plan, for a unit of the state park system that is the subject of an operating agreement between the department and another public agency for the care, maintenance, administration, and control of lands under the jurisdiction of any party to the agreement for the purpose of the state park system, to specifically evaluate and define the manner in which the unit is proposed to be operated. The general plan is required to be reviewed by the commission for a determination that the unit will be operated in a manner that generally meets the standards followed by the department in its operation of similar units, that enhances the general public use and enjoyment of, and recreational and educational experiences at, the unit, and that provides for the satisfactory management of park resources.   Revenues, received from lands subject to operating agreements entered into, renewed, or renegotiated on and after October 1, 1994, in excess of the cost, maintenance, operation, administration, improvement, or development of those lands, as determined by the department, are required to be available to the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, for expenditure for support of the department.   This bill would delete those requirements.   Under existing law, the Department of Parks and Recreation has control of the state park system. Existing law authorizes the department to enter into agreements with an agency of the United States, a city, county, district, or other public agency, for the care maintenance, administration, and control of state park lands that are under the jurisdiction of a party to the agreement for purposes of the state park system.   This bill would provide that it is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would require the state to give a right of first refusal to a local authority with a state park in its jurisdiction, to purchase the park or enter into an operating agreement for the operation of the park in the event that the park is subject to closure pursuant to the annual Budget Act.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no   yes  . State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 5002.2 of the   Public Resources Code   is amended to read:  5002.2. (a)  (1)    Following classification or reclassification of a unit by the State Park and Recreation Commission, and prior to the development of any new facilities in any previously classified unit, the department shall prepare a general plan or revise any existing plan, as the case may be, for the unit.  The   (2)     The  general plan shall consist of elements that will evaluate and define the proposed land uses, facilities, concessions, operation of the unit, any environmental impacts, and the management of resources, and shall serve as a guide for the future development, management, and operation of the unit.  The   (3)     The  general plan constitutes a report on a project for the purposes of Section 21100. The general plan for a unit shall be submitted by the department to the State Park and Recreation Commission for approval. (b) The resource element of the general plan shall evaluate the unit as a constituent of an ecological region and as a distinct ecological entity, based upon historical and ecological research of plant-animal and soil-geological relationships and shall contain a declaration of purpose, setting forth specific long-range management objectives for the unit consistent with the unit's classification pursuant to Article 1.7 (commencing with Section 5019.50), and a declaration of resource management policy  , setting forth the precise actions and limitations required for the achievement of the objectives established in the declaration of purpose  . (c) Notwithstanding the requirements of subdivision (a), the department is not required to prepare a general plan for a unit that has no general plan or to revise an existing plan, as the case may be, if the only development contemplated by the department consists of the repair, replacement, or rehabilitation of an existing facility; the construction of a temporary facility, so long as such construction does not result in the permanent commitment of a resource of the unit; any undertaking necessary for the protection of public health or safety; or any emergency measure necessary for the immediate protection of natural or cultural resources; or any combination thereof at a single unit. Any development is subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)). (d) Any general plan approved prior to July 1, 1972, may be used as the basis for development if the director finds that there has been no significant change in the resources of the unit since approval of the plan and that the plan is compatible with current policies governing development of the unit and the classification of the unit.  (e) Consistent with good planning and sound resource management, the department shall, in discharging its responsibilities under this section, attempt to make units of the state park system accessible and usable by the general public at the earliest opportunity.   (f)   (e)  The department may prepare a general plan  which   that  includes more than one unit of the state park system for units  which   that  are in close proximity to one another and  which   that  have similar resources and recreational opportunities if that action will facilitate the protection of public resources and public access to units of the state park system.  SEC. 2.   Section 5019.53 of the   Public Resources Code   is amended to read:   5019.53. State parks consist of relatively spacious areas of outstanding scenic or natural character, oftentimes also containing significant historical, archaeological, ecological, geological, or other similar values. The purpose of state parks shall be to preserve outstanding natural, scenic, and cultural values, indigenous aquatic and terrestrial fauna and flora, and the most significant examples of ecological regions of California, such as the Sierra Nevada, northeast volcanic, great valley, coastal strip, Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains, southwest mountains and valleys, redwoods, foothills and low coastal mountains, and desert and desert mountains. Each state park shall be managed as a composite whole in order to restore, protect, and maintain its native environmental complexes to the extent compatible with the primary purpose for which the park was established. Improvements   5019.53.   (a)     Improvements  undertaken within state parks shall be for the purpose of making the areas available for public enjoyment and education in a manner consistent with the preservation of natural, scenic, cultural, and ecological values for present and future generations. Improvements may be undertaken to provide for recreational activities including, but not limited to, camping, picnicking, sightseeing, nature study, hiking, and horseback riding, so long as those improvements involve no major modification of lands, forests, or waters. Improvements that do not directly enhance the public's enjoyment of the natural, scenic, cultural, or ecological values of the resource, which are attractions in themselves, or which are otherwise available to the public within a reasonable distance outside the park, shall not be undertaken within state parks.  State   (b)     State  parks may be established in the terrestrial or nonmarine aquatic (lake or stream) environments of the state.  SEC. 3.   Section 5080.31 of the   Public Resources Code   is amended to read:   5080.31. (a) The general plan for a unit of the state park system that is the subject of an agreement entered into pursuant to this article shall, in addition to the requirements set forth in Section 5002.2, specifically evaluate and define the manner in which the unit is proposed to be operated. The general plan shall be reviewed by the commission for a determination that the unit will be operated in a manner that generally meets the standards followed by the department in its operation of similar units, that enhances the general public use and enjoyment of, and recreational and educational experiences at, the unit, and that provides for the satisfactory management of park resources. (b) The   5080.31.   The  general plan for a unit that is the subject of an agreement entered into pursuant to this article may be prepared either by the department or by the public agency that is to operate the unit pursuant to the agreement.  SEC. 4.   Section 5080.32 of the   Public Resources Code   is amended to read:  5080.32. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), revenues received from lands subject to an operating agreement entered into pursuant to this article shall be available to the department only for the care, maintenance, operation, administration, improvement, or development of the unit of the state park system in which the lands from which the revenues were derived are located and any recreational trail providing access to those lands. (b)  (1)    As to operating agreements that are in force on September 30, 1994, if a local agency operates more than one unit of the state park system under the operating agreement, revenues received in excess of the  costs incurred for the  care, maintenance, operation, administration, improvement, or development of one unit may be utilized for those purposes at other units of the state park system operated by the local agency.  (2) As to operating agreements entered into, renewed, or renegotiated on and after October 1, 1994, revenues received from lands subject to an operating agreement in excess of the cost, maintenance, operation, administration, improvement, or development of those lands, as determined by the department, shall be available to the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the Budget Act, for expenditure for support of the department.   SECTION 1.   It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would require the state to give a right of first refusal to a local authority with a state park in its jurisdiction, to purchase the park or enter into an operating agreement for the operation of the park in the event that the park is subject to closure pursuant to the annual Budget Act.