Bill Text: CA AB42 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 42 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: State parks.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-3)

Status: (Passed) 2011-10-04 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 450, Statutes of 2011. [AB42 Detail]

Download: California-2011-AB42-Amended.html

BILL NUMBER: AB 42	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 16, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 17, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Huffman

                        DECEMBER 6, 2010

   An act to add  and repeal  Section 5080.42  to
  of  the Public Resources Code, relating to state
parks.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 42, as amended, Huffman. State parks.
   Existing law gives control of the state park system to the
Department of Parks and Recreation. Existing law authorizes the
department to enter into agreements with an agency of the United
States, a city, county, district, or other public agency or any
combination thereof, for the care maintenance, administration, and
control by a party to the agreement of lands under the jurisdiction
of a party to the agreement, for the purpose of the state park
system.
   This bill would authorize the department to enter into an
operating agreement for the development, improvement, restoration,
care, maintenance, administration, or operation of a unit or units
 , or portion of a unit,  of the state park system, as
identified by the director, with a qualified nonprofit organization
 that exists to provide visitor services in state parks,
facilitate public access to park resources, improve park facilities,
or provide interpretive and educational services   ,
  as provided  . This bill would require the operating
agreement to include  , among other things,  a requirement
that the nonprofit organization annually submit a report to the
department. The bill would require the nonprofit organization and the
district superintendent for the department to hold a joint public
meeting for discussion of the report.
   The bill would require the department to notify a Member of the
Legislature of an intention to enter into an operating agreement
relating to a park in the member's district. The bill would also
require the department to report to the Legislature, on a biennial
basis, the status of any operating agreement. 
   The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2019. 
   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.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The California state park system is a unique resource that
requires preservation and protection for future generations.
   (b) California's state park system is the largest in the nation
and contains over 1.5 million acres of land managed for natural,
cultural, and historical values in 278 parks across the state.
   (c) California's state park system hosts more than 80 million
visitors annually and houses over 3,100 historic buildings and more
than 14,000 individual and group campsites.
   (d) California's state park system is a major draw for tourism in
the state and generates over $4 billion annually in economic activity
in communities near state parks and in park-related expenditures.
   (e) The budget for the state park system has not kept pace with
the state's population growth and growing demand. The annual budget
for state parks has been significantly below the amount necessary to
maintain the parks in their current condition. The ongoing shortfall
has caused a burgeoning backlog of deferred maintenance of over $1.3
billion in 2010, inadequate staff to protect park resources and
maintain public access and safety, and partial closures of many state
parks.
   (f) Current budget resources will force the closure of state parks
throughout the system and create impediments to public access and
enjoyment of those parks.
   (g) Californians deserve a world-class state park system that will
preserve and protect the unique resources of the state for future
generations. In order to safeguard those resources and maintain
public access, California's state park system must have stable,
reliable, and adequate funding sources to fully fund and support our
state parks.
   (h) As the search for stable funding sources continues in this
current budget crisis, it is critical that all efforts be made to
continue public access to state parks and to keep our parks open.
Nonprofit organizations can be important partners in meeting those
objectives, and where possible, they should be invited to assist the
state with operating parks in order to keep them open.
  SEC. 2.  Section 5080.42 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
   5080.42.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article,
the department may enter into an operating agreement  with a
qualified nonprofit organization  for the development,
improvement, restoration, care, maintenance, administration, or
operation of a unit or units  , or portion of a unit,  of
the state park system, as identified by the  director, with a
qualified nonprofit organization that exists to provide visitor
services in state parks, facilitate public access to park resources,
improve park facilities, or provide interpretive and educational
services. The operating   director. If the department
enters into an operating agreement that involves the operation of the
entirety of a park unit, that agreement may be entered into pursuant
to this section only to the extent that the agreement would enable
the department to avoid closure of a unit or units of the state park
system that may otherwise be subject to closure. The department may
only enter into an operating agreement that involves the operation of
the entirety of a park unit for no more than 20 park units. An
operating  agreement  with a qualified nonprofit  shall
include, but  is not   shall not be 
limited to, the following conditions  :
   (1) The district superintendent for the department shall provide
liaison with the department, the nonprofit organization, and the
public.
   (2) The nonprofit organization shall annually submit a written
report to the department regarding its operating activities during
the prior year and shall make copies of the report available to the
public upon request. The report shall include a full accounting of
all revenues and expenditures for each unit of the state park system
that the nonprofit organization operates pursuant to an operating
agreement.
   (3) All revenues received from a unit shall be expended only for
the care, maintenance, operation, administration, improvement, or
development of the unit. The qualified nonprofit organization may
additionally contribute in-kind services and funds raised from
outside entities for the care, maintenance, operation,
administration, improvement, or development of the unit. 
   (b) An operating agreement entered into pursuant to subdivision
(a) shall honor the existing term of a current concession contract
for the state park unit subject to the operating agreement. 

   (c) An operating agreement entered into pursuant to subdivision
(a) shall specify the duties that the nonprofit organization shall be
responsible for carrying out relative to management and protection
of natural, historical, and cultural resources, and shall identify
those management duties that shall continue to be conducted by the
department. Scientific, architectural, and engineering functions that
require special expertise or professional training shall only be
conducted by or under the supervision of qualified persons with
applicable expertise or training and subject to oversight by the
department.  
   (d) This section does not supersede the requirements of Section
5019.53 regarding the protection of natural, scenic, cultural, and
ecological values.  
   (b) 
    (e)  The nonprofit organization and the district
superintendent for the department shall, following submittal of the
annual report pursuant to subdivision (a), hold a joint public
meeting for discussion of the report. 
   (c) 
    (f)  If the department intends to enter into an
operating agreement for  the development, improvement,
restoration, care, maintenance, administration, or operation of a
unit or units, or a portion of  a unit, the department shall
notify the Member of the Legislature in whose district the unit is
located of that intention. 
   (g) For purposes of this section, a qualified nonprofit
organization is an organization that is both of the following: 

   (1) An organization that is exempt from taxation pursuant to
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  
   (2) An organization that has as its principal purpose and activity
to provide visitor services in state parks, facilitate public access
to park resources, improve park facilities, provide interpretive and
educational services, or provide direct protection or stewardship of
natural, cultural or historical lands, or resources.  
   (d) 
    (h)  (1) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the
Government Code, the department shall provide a report to the
Legislature, on a biennial basis, of the status of operating
agreements it has entered into pursuant to this section. The report
shall include a list of units of the state park system with operating
agreements, discussion of the management and operations of each unit
subject to an operating agreement, an accounting of the revenues and
expenditures incurred under each operating agreement, and an
assessment of the benefit to the state from operating agreements
entered into pursuant to this section.
   (2) A report submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

   (i) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends
that date.