Bill Text: CA AB1513 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: State lands: wilderness areas.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-02 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB1513 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB1513-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1513 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 29, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Evans
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Sections 5093.34, 5093.35, and 5093.39 of the
Public Resources Code, relating to state lands.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1513, as amended, Evans. State lands: wilderness areas.
The California Wilderness Act establishes a California wilderness
preservation system composed of state-owned areas designated by the
Legislature as wilderness areas and units of the state park system
classified as state wildernesses by the State Park and Recreation
Commission. The act requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources
Agency to review specified state-owned roadless areas under his or
her jurisdiction as of January 1, 1975, and to report to the
Legislature his or her recommendations as to the suitability or
nonsuitability of each area for preservation as state wilderness. The
act also requires the State Lands Commission to review specified
state-owned roadless areas under its jurisdiction and to report to
the Legislature its recommendations as to the suitability or
nonsuitability of those areas for preservation as wilderness areas.
Under the act, the presence of privately owned areas within or
contiguous to state-owned areas does not preclude the review of those
state-owned areas for suitability or nonsuitability for preservation
as state wilderness.
The act requires the secretary to report to the Governor and
Legislature, on or before December 1, 1975, and each year thereafter,
on the status of the California wilderness preservation system,
including a list and descriptions of the wilderness areas within the
system, guidelines and regulations in effect, and recommendations for
additions to the system.
This bill would instead require the secretary to review
state-owned roadless areas under his or her jurisdiction as of
January 1, 2010, and would require that the State Lands Commission
review specified state-owned roadless surface areas under its
jurisdiction that it holds as trustee of the School Land Bank Fund as
of January 1, 2010 , and . The
bill would require the secretary and the State Lands Commission to
each submit a report to the Legislature its
of recommendations as to the suitability or nonsuitability
of those areas for preservation as wilderness areas . The
bill would require the secretary and the State Lands Commission
and to prioritize reviews and reports as to the
suitability or nonsuitability of specified areas for preservation as
wilderness. The bill would include additional conditions that would
not preclude the review of state-owned areas for suitability or
nonsuitability for preservation as state wilderness. The bill would
also authorize the State Lands Commission to enter into agreements
with federal land management agencies to implement these provisions.
The bill would exempt state park lands classified as wilderness by
the State Park and Recreation Commission at public hearings, as
prescribed, from specified public and governmental notice and hearing
requirements of the act.
This bill would require that the report, due on or before December
1, 2010, from the secretary to the Governor and Legislature
regarding the status of the California wilderness preservation
system, include, in consultation with the State Lands Commission and
the Department of Fish and Game, a schedule for the required review
as to suitability or nonsuitability for preservation as state
wilderness of identified state-owned roadless areas.
This bill would delete obsolete provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the
California Wilderness Act of 2009.
SEC. 2. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The State of California manages thousands of acres of land
throughout the state.
(b) State lands are held and managed by the Department of Parks
and Recreation, the State Lands Commission, the Department of Fish
and Game, and other state agencies.
(c) Some state-owned lands that have been affected primarily by
the forces of nature provide outstanding opportunities for solitude
or primitive and unconfined types of recreation and contain
ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational,
scenic, or historical value.
(d) The California Wilderness Act requires the Secretary of the
Natural Resources Agency and the State Lands Commission to review
certain state-owned areas and report to the Legislature their
recommendations as to the suitability of each of those areas for
preservation as state wilderness.
(e) State agencies currently manage thousands of acres of
potentially suitable land that has not been reviewed for wilderness
suitability.
SEC. 3. Section 5093.34 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
5093.34. (a) The following areas are hereby designated as
components of the system:
(1) Santa Rosa Mountains State Wilderness, consisting of that
portion of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in San Diego County within
the area encompassed by Townships 9 and 10 South and Ranges 4, 5, 6,
7, and 8 East, San Bernardino Base and Meridian, except that the
State Park and Recreation Commission shall establish the precise
boundary.
(2) Mount San Jacinto State Wilderness in Mount San Jacinto State
Park in Riverside County consisting of approximately 9,800 acres and
including all of Sections 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27,
28, 29, 30, and 31, Township 4 South, Range 3 East, and all of
Section 6, Township 5 South, Range 3 East, except the SW 1/4 NW 1/4,
NW 1/4 SW 1/4, NE 1/4 SW 1/4, SW 1/4 SW 1/4, and SE 1/4 SE 1/4, San
Bernardino Base and Meridian.
(3) The land in the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park after the
exchanges of land provided for in Section 6 of the act amending this
section at the 1979-80 Regular Session of the Legislature, effective
upon approval of a general plan for the area by the State Park and
Recreation Commission, as required by Section 5002.45.
(b) The following state school lands, currently under the
jurisdiction of the State Lands Commission, shall become components
of the system on January 1, 1977, unless exchanged with the federal
government for other lands pursuant to existing law prior to that
date:
(1) Approximately 640 acres in Monterey County within the Ventana
Wilderness, consisting of Section 16, Township 19 South, Range 2
East, Mount Diablo Base and Meridian.
(2) Approximately 40 acres in Monterey County within the Ventana
Wilderness, consisting of the NE 1/4 NE 1/4 of Section 36, Township
19 South, Range 3 East, Mount Diablo Base and Meridian.
(3) Approximately 80 acres in Monterey County within the Ventana
Wilderness, consisting of the SE 1/4 NW 1/4 and the SW 1/4 NE 1/4 of
Section 36, Township 19 South, Range 2 East, Mount Diablo Base and
Meridian.
(4) Approximately 40 acres in Santa Barbara County within the San
Rafael Wilderness, consisting of the SE 1/4 NW 1/4 of Section 16,
Township 7 North, Range 27 West, San Bernardino Base and Meridian.
(5) Approximately 80 acres in Siskiyou County within the Marble
Mountain Wilderness, consisting of the E 1/2 NW 1/4 of Section 16,
Township 41 North, Range 12 West, Mount Diablo Base and Meridian.
(6) Approximately 640 acres in Tehama County within the Yolla
Bolla Middle Eel Wilderness, consisting of Section 36, Township 27
North, Range 10 West, Mount Diablo Base and Meridian.
Nothing herein shall preclude the State Lands Commission from
effecting exchanges of any such land described in subdivision (b)
with the federal government on or after January 1, 1977, for the
purpose of including the exchanged land in the national wilderness
preservation system. Upon completion of any such exchange, any such
land described in subdivision (b) shall no longer be part of the
system.
SEC. 4. Section 5093.35 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
5093.35. (a) The secretary, in cooperation with each department
within the Natural Resources Agency, shall review state-owned
roadless areas under his or her jurisdiction as of January 1, 2010,
including, but not limited to, lands within the state park system,
state forests, fish and game refuges, reserves, sanctuaries, and
other areas designated for the protection of wildlife, but not
including tide and submerged lands lying below the mean high tide
line, and shall report to the Legislature his or her recommendations
as to the suitability or nonsuitability of each area for preservation
as state wilderness.
(b) The State Lands Commission shall review state-owned roadless
surface areas under its jurisdiction that it holds as trustee of the
School Land Bank Fund pursuant to Section 8711 as of January 1, 2010,
and that have been identified as possessing significant
environmental values pursuant to Section 6370.2, and shall report to
the Legislature its recommendations as to the suitability or
nonsuitability of each area for preservation as wilderness.
(c) The secretary and the State Lands Commission shall prioritize
reviews and reports as to the suitability or nonsuitability for
preservation as wilderness for the following areas:
(1) Henry W. Coe State Park.
(2) Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve.
(3) Austin Creek State Recreation Area.
(4) Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.
(5) Knoxville Wildlife Area.
(6) Cedar Roughs Wildlife Area.
(7) Lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of Fish and
Game that are within or adjacent to the following federal wilderness
areas:
(A) Cache Creek Wilderness.
(B) South Fork Eel Wilderness.
(C) Sanhedrin Wilderness.
(8) Lands under the jurisdiction of the State Lands Commission
that are within or adjacent to the following federal wilderness and
state park lands:
(A) Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness.
(B) Cache Creek Wilderness.
(C) Yuki Wilderness.
(D) Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.
(d) Additional reviews and reports as to suitability or
nonsuitability for preservation as wilderness shall be made by the
secretary and the State Lands Commission as follows:
(1) State-owned roadless areas within or contiguous to federal
wilderness areas designated by the Congress after January 1,
2010, 1975, within one year after the
designation.
(2) State-owned roadless areas that are acquired after January 1,
2010, within three years of the acquisition.
(2) State-owned roadless areas under their respective
jurisdictions that are acquired after January 1, 1975, within three
years of the acquisition.
(3) The secretary's reviews and reports under paragraphs (1) and
(2) shall consider the state-owned roadless areas under its
jurisdiction. The State Lands Commission's reviews and reports under
paragraphs (1) and (2) shall consider the state-owned roadless
surface areas under its jurisdiction that it holds as a trustee of
the School Land Bank Fund pursuant to Section 8711.
(e) (1) The secretary and the State Lands Commission, prior to
submitting their respective recommendations regarding the suitability
of an area for preservation as a wilderness area, shall:
(A) Give public notice of their respective proposed actions as
deemed appropriate, including publication in one or more newspapers
of general circulation in each county within which the affected area
is located, and mailed to every person who has filed a request for
notice of hearing. If the notice of hearing is published in a weekly
newspaper, it must appear therein on at least two different days of
publication, and, if in a newspaper published more often, there must
be at least five days from the first to the last day of publication,
both days included. The content of the notice of hearing shall
substantially comply with the requirements of Section 11346.5 of the
Government Code.
(B) Hold a public hearing or hearings for their respective
proposed actions, in the City of San Diego, City of Los Angeles, City
and County of San Francisco, or City of Sacramento, whichever is
closest to the area affected, not less than 30 days, nor more than 60
days, after the last date of publication of the notice. The hearing
shall be conducted in the manner specified in Section 11346.8 of the
Government Code.
(C) Advise, at least 30 days before the date of a hearing for
their respective proposed actions, the board of supervisors of each
county where the lands are located, and federal, state, and local
agencies concerned, and invite those officials and agencies to submit
their views on the proposed action at the hearing or within a
specified period thereafter.
(2) The secretary and the State Lands Commission shall cooperate,
when appropriate, when complying with the requirements of this
subdivision.
(f) A view submitted under subdivision (e) with respect to an area
shall be included with recommendations to the Legislature with
respect to that area.
(g) A modification or adjustment of boundaries of a wilderness
area designated by the Legislature shall be recommended to the
Legislature by the secretary or the State Lands Commission after
public notice of the proposal and public hearing or hearings as
provided in subdivision (e).
(h) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to lessen
the present statutory authority of a state agency with respect to
the maintenance of roadless areas.
(i) The following conditions shall not preclude the review of the
state-owned areas as provided in this section:
(1) The presence of privately owned areas within or contiguous to
state-owned lands.
(2) Sights and sounds from activities occurring outside of the
state-owned lands.
(3) The existence of nonnative plants or animals.
(4) Ongoing or planned wildlife and vegetation management
activities that make use of motorized equipment.
(5) Evidence of past human use.
(j) The State Lands Commission may enter into agreements with
federal land management agencies to implement this section.
(k) State park lands classified as wilderness by the State Park
and Recreation Commission at public hearings pursuant to Section
5002.3 are not subject to the requirements of subdivision (e).
SEC. 5. Section 5093.39 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
5093.39. (a) The secretary shall, on or before December 1 of each
year, report to the Governor and to the Legislature on the status of
the system, including a list and descriptions of the wilderness
areas within the system, guidelines and regulations in effect, and
recommendations for additions to the system.
(b) In the report due on or before December 1, 2010, the
secretary, in consultation with the State Lands Commission and the
Department of Fish and Game, shall include a schedule for the review,
pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 5093.35, of
state-owned roadless areas identified in subdivision (c) of Section
5093.35.
