Bill Text: CA AB2150 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Department of Parks and Recreation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2014-09-26 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB2150 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB2150-Enrolled.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2150 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 21, 2014
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 25, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 19, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 4, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 18, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 23, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Rendon
FEBRUARY 20, 2014
An act to amend Section 541.5 of, to add Section 535.4 to, and to
add Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 5880) to Division 5 of, the
Public Resources Code, relating to the Department of Parks and
Recreation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2150, Rendon. Department of Parks and Recreation.
(1) Existing law places responsibility of the state park system,
which includes all parks, public campgrounds, monument sites,
landmark sites, and sites of historical interest established or
acquired by the state, with the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Existing law requires the department to administer, protect, develop,
and interpret the property under its jurisdiction for the use and
enjoyment of the public. Existing law authorizes the department to
expend all moneys of the department for the care, protection,
supervision, extension, and improvement or development of the
property under its jurisdiction. Existing law requires the State Park
and Recreation Commission to evaluate and assess the department's
deferred obligations, as specified.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that the
department, as a means of increasing convenience to the public and
overall park visitation, expedite the use of certain technologies,
where feasible, for the purchase of park passes and the payment of
day use fees or other park fees. The bill would require the
department to identify and develop a priority list of deferred state
park maintenance projects, as specified. The bill would require the
department to apply specified factors when prioritizing and
identifying projects for the deferred maintenance list including,
among others, projects that are necessary to prevent a state park
from closing and, to the extent feasible and practicable, projects
that will increase park access to underserved communities.
This bill would rename the department's Division of External
Affairs as the Division of Community Initiatives and Park Access, and
would specify that the purposes and objectives of the division
include convening and developing strategic partnerships and
coalitions to facilitate, promote, and enhance access to, and
relevancy of, state parks for underserved communities. The bill would
require, on or before June 30, 2017, the division, in consultation
with certain agencies and organizations, to develop a strategic
action plan, as specified, for improving park access and relevancy
for urban and traditionally underserved populations.
(2) Existing law prohibits the department from closing or
proposing to close a state park in the 2012-13 or 2013-14 fiscal
year. Existing law provides that this prohibition does not limit or
affect the department's authority to enter into an operating
agreement during those fiscal years, as specified.
This bill would extend this prohibition against closing or
proposing to close a state park to the 2014-15 fiscal year and would
similarly not limit or affect the department's authority to enter
into an operating agreement during that fiscal year, as specified.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that various
agencies charged with public lands recreation and management have
developed systems that enable visitors to purchase and print
appropriate passes either in advance through the use of
Internet-based secured transactions or onsite through the use of
smartphones or other mobile telephone technologies or credit card
transactions.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of
Parks and Recreation, as a means of increasing convenience to the
public and overall park visitation, expedite the use of such
technologies, where feasible, for the purchase of park passes and the
payment of day use fees or other park fees.
SEC. 2. Section 535.4 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
535.4. (a) The department shall identify and develop a priority
list of deferred state park maintenance projects. The list shall only
include projects for which the initial design, scoping, and planning
necessary to develop verifiable project cost estimates have been
completed.
(b) In addition to the requirements described in subdivision (a),
the department shall apply the following factors when prioritizing
and identifying projects for inclusion on the deferred maintenance
priority list:
(1) Projects that are necessary to prevent a state park from
closing.
(2) Projects that are necessary to avoid violations of state law
and potential assessment of regulatory fines against the department,
including, but not limited to, projects to address water quality and
waste discharge requirements.
(3) Projects that are necessary to address imminent public safety
hazards.
(4) Projects that are necessary to maintain revenue or have the
potential to increase revenue generation in state parks.
(5) To the extent feasible and practicable, projects that will
increase park access to underserved communities.
(6) Projects that are necessary to protect significant natural or
cultural resources.
SEC. 3. Section 541.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
541.5. (a) The department shall not close, or propose to close, a
state park in the 2012-13, 2013-14, or 2014-15 fiscal year. The
commission and the department shall recommend all necessary steps to
establish a sustainable funding strategy for the department to the
Legislature on or before January 1, 2015.
(b) There is hereby appropriated twenty million five hundred
thousand dollars ($20,500,000) to the department from the State Parks
and Recreation Fund, which shall be available for encumbrance until
June 30, 2016, and for liquidation until June 30, 2018, to be
expended as follows:
(1) Ten million dollars ($10,000,000) shall be available to
provide for matching funds pursuant to subdivision (c).
(2) Ten million dollars ($10,000,000) shall be available for the
department to direct funds to parks that remain at risk of closure or
that will keep parks open during the 2012-13 to 2015-16 fiscal
years, inclusive. Priority may be given to parks subject to a donor
or operating agreement or other contractual arrangement with the
department.
(3) Up to five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) shall be
available for the department to pay for ongoing audits and
investigations as directed by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee,
the office of the Attorney General, the Department of Finance, or
other state agency.
(c) The department shall match on a dollar-for-dollar basis all
financial contributions contributed by a donor pursuant to an
agreement for the 2012-13 fiscal year for which the department
received funds as of July 31, 2013, and for agreements entered into
in the 2013-14 fiscal year. These matching funds shall be used
exclusively in the park unit subject to those agreements.
(d) The department shall notify the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee in writing not less than 30 days before the expenditure of
funds under this section of the funding that shall be expended, the
manner of the expenditure, and the recipient of the expenditure.
(e) The prohibition on the closure or proposed closure of a state
park in the 2012-13, 2013-14, or 2014-15 fiscal year, pursuant to
subdivision (a), does not limit or affect the department's authority
to enter into an operating agreement, pursuant to Section 5080.42,
during any of those fiscal years, for purposes of the operation of
the entirety of a state park during those fiscal years.
SEC. 4. Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 5880) is added to
Division 5 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
CHAPTER 14. DIVISION OF COMMUNITY INITIATIVES AND PARK ACCESS
5880. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the department
prioritize efforts to expand access to parks in underserved areas
by, among other things, convening and developing strategic
partnerships and coalitions to facilitate, promote, and enhance
access to, and relevancy of, state parks for underserved communities.
(b) The department's Division of External Affairs is hereby
renamed the Division of Community Initiatives and Park Access. The
purposes and objectives of the division shall include, but are not
limited to, convening and developing strategic partnerships and
coalitions to facilitate, promote, and enhance access to, and
relevancy of, state parks for underserved communities.
5881. On or before June 30, 2017, the Division of Community
Initiatives and Park Access, in consultation with other relevant
state and local agencies, nonprofit organizations, schools, public
health entities, and community-based organizations, shall develop a
strategic action plan for improving park access and relevancy for
urban and traditionally underserved populations. The strategic action
plan shall include, but need not be limited to, all of the
following:
(a) Identification of one or more pilot projects in underserved
regions to test and evaluate best management practices and strategies
to enhance park access and to meet the park needs of underserved
communities. It is the intent of the Legislature that the pilot
projects include engagement of local communities and local park
agencies in the planning process and an assessment of park assets and
park needs of residents living in the designated underserved region
of each pilot project.
(b) Identification and engagement of strategic partners,
including, but not necessarily limited to, local, regional, and
national park providers, local governments and special districts,
other state agencies that serve disadvantaged communities, education
and public health entities, and other community-based groups
interested in working collaboratively to address the park and
open-space needs of residents.
(c) Identification of strategies for developing and implementing
partnerships, projects, programs, and other initiatives to facilitate
all of the following:
(1) Increased visitation to state parks, particularly visitation
by those in underserved communities in park poor areas.
(2) Improved transportation options to existing state parks.
(3) Opportunities for active recreation, multigenerational
gatherings, and other culturally relevant amenities.
(d) Identification of partnerships, programs, and other
initiatives to address the park and recreational needs of underserved
youth and young adults, and to connect youth and young adults with
nature and the outdoors, including, but not necessarily limited to,
programs such as youth internships that focus on development of
leadership skills and provide a pathway for young adults to pursue
park-related careers.
(e) Identification of other barriers to state park access and
development of strategies and recommendations to remove those
barriers.
5882. Notwithstanding any other law, moneys allocated to the
department from the State Parks Protection Fund pursuant to Section
18900.3 of the Revenue and Taxation Code, and other nongovernmental
funds that may be made available for these purposes, may be used for
purposes of implementing this chapter.
