Bill Text: CA AB411 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: California Recreational Trails and Greenways Act.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Failed) 2024-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB411 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB411-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  March 16, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 411

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Introduced by Assembly Member Bennett

February 02, 2023

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An act to amend Section 164.56 of, and to add Section 2381.5 to, 5073.5 to the Streets and Highways Public Resources Code, relating to transportation. state parks.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 411, as amended, Bennett. Transportation: trails. California Recreational Trails and Greenways Act.

Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to annually allocate $7,000,000 to the Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program Fund to provide grants to local, state, and federal agencies and nonprofit entities to undertake certain environmental enhancement and mitigation projects, including, but not limited to, urban forestry projects, acquisition or enhancement of resource lands, and projects to mitigate the impact of proposed transportation facilities or to enhance the environment.

This bill would revise that statement of legislative intent to instead allocate $10,000,000 annually for that purpose. The bill would also revise the types of projects eligible for funding by, among other things, expressly including natural surface trail improvements, the conversion of rail corridors to trails, pedestrian and cyclist safety improvements at rail crossings, and roadside recreation.

Existing law establishes the Active Transportation Program in the Department of Transportation to encourage the increased use of active modes of transportation. Existing law provides that the program is funded by state and federal moneys through appropriations in the annual Budget Act and that certain moneys, excluding specified federal moneys for recreational trails projects appropriated to the Department of Parks and Recreation, are to be appropriated for that purpose.

Existing law requires the Director of Parks and Recreation to cause to be prepared the California Recreational Trails System Plan, a comprehensive plan for the development and operation of a statewide system of recreation trails, as specified.

The California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, approved by the voters as Proposition 68 at the June 5, 2018, statewide primary direct election, authorizes the issuance of bonds in the amount of $4,000,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program. Under the act, if any moneys allocated pursuant to the act are not encumbered or expended by the recipient entity within the time period specified by the administering agency, the unexpended moneys are required to revert to the administering agency for allocation, as specified. Article XVI of the California Constitution requires measures authorizing general obligation bonds to specify the single object or work to be funded by the bonds and further requires a bond act to be approved by a ²/₃ vote of each house of the Legislature and a majority of the voters.

This bill would state that the Legislature is required to annually appropriate all of those federal moneys for recreational trails projects to the Department of Parks and Recreation for purposes of its recreational trails program and that not more than $1,700,000 of those federal moneys may be allocated for motorized trail benefits. The bill would authorize the Department of Parks and Recreation to give preference to natural surface, multibenefit trails and trail systems when awarding those appropriated moneys. require the Department of Parks and Recreation to establish the California Recreational Trails and Greenways Program to, beginning in 2024, award competitive grants on a biennial basis for new, expanded, or improved public access opportunities through nonmotorized recreational trail creation, improvement, enhancement, and restoration projects. The bill would create the California Recreational Trails and Greenways Fund in the State Treasury, and would require that specified moneys, including, to the extent consistent with Proposition 68, unexpended Proposition 68 moneys that revert to the administering agency for allocation, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be deposited into the fund and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, be available for allocation by the department for purposes of the program, as specified. In order to reduce the financial burdens associated with frontloaded cost structures and match requirements, the bill would authorize the department to create a loan or grant process for advanced payment and match assistance to reduce barriers to participation in the program.

Proposition 117, an initiative measure approved by the electors at the June 5, 1990, statewide primary direct election, enacted the California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990. The act creates the Habitat Conservation Fund and requires the moneys in the fund to be used for specified purposes generally relating to the acquisition, enhancement, or restoration of wildlife habitat, including $2,000,000 annually for 50% matching grants to local agencies for projects meeting specified purposes and, additionally, for the acquisition of wildlife corridors and urban trails, nature interpretation programs, and other programs that bring urban residents into park and wildlife areas. The act, as initially approved by the electors, required the Controller, until June 30, 2020, to annually transfer $30,000,000 from the General Fund to the Habitat Conservation Fund, less any amount transferred to the Habitat Conservation Fund from specified accounts and funds, and authorizes the Legislature to extend the operative effect of this transfer by statute. Except for the extension of this transfer and other specified exceptions, the act prohibits the Legislature from amending the act except by a ⁴/₅ vote of the membership of both houses of the Legislature. The act requires any amendment of the act to be consistent with, and further the purposes of, the act. Existing law extends the transfer of these funds until June 30, 2030.

This bill would encourage the department, to the extent consistent with Proposition 117, to allocate 50% of the $2,000,000 described above for purposes of increasing access to trails.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 (a)The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1)Since the establishment of California’s Active Transportation Program (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 2380) of Division 3 of the Streets and Highways Code) pursuant to Chapter 359 of the Statutes of 2013, the state has allocated nearly $2.5 billion to the program. In contrast, during that same period, only $1.7 million in nonstate sources was annually allocated for nonmotorized recreational trails.

(2)

(a) Due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fundamental human need to interact with people and nature, the popularity of California’s nonmotorized natural surface recreation trails exploded over the past two years. and has continued beyond the pandemic.

(3)

(b) Nonmotorized recreation trails are the venues of choice for diverse outdoor activities, including hiking, equestrian use, adventure, gravel and mountain biking, trail running, and passive nature experience.

(c) According to the Outdoor Foundation’s 2022 “Outdoor Participation Trends Report,” all five of the most popular outdoor activities, including hiking, camping, fishing, running, and cycling, are largely trail dependent.

(4)According

(d) To reinforce the findings and declarations above, according to the Outdoor Industry Association, trail activities are the most popular form of outdoor engagement in the country, yet California spends less than $2 million $2,000,000 per year on nonmotorized natural surface trail enhancements through a federally funded program.

(5)

(e) Several strategy documents produced by Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration to combat climate change and promote resilient landscapes, including the document “Pathways to 30x30 California: Accelerating Conservation of California’s Nature” (April 22, 2022), which emphasizes the need for sustainable and equitable recreation and trail investments, will help to facilitate nonmotorized natural surface trail enhancements.

(6)

(f) In an effort to combat wildfire through the joint management of lands, California and the United States Forest Service entered into the “Agreement for Shared Stewardship of California’s Forest and Rangelands,” which calls for a shared vision around access and diversity, including by “increasing accessible trails and facilities, and targeting low-income communities that lack access.”

(7)

(g) To further promote the multibenefit opportunities inherent in climate and resiliency investments, California should further explore the incorporation of new trails and trail corridors into future risk reduction buffers and shaded fuel break projects.

(8)

(h) According to the Outdoor Industry Association, California’s outdoor economy is one of the state’s primary economic drivers, contributing nearly $100 billion $100,000,000,000 annually in goods and services to the financial health of the state, and trail infrastructure is a critical component to this sector’s level of success.

(9)

(i) Through the enactment of Proposition 68, as approved at the June 5, 2018, statewide direct primary election, and the Budget Act of 2021, California has seen an infusion of resources for nature-based investments to accelerate the pace and scale of climate resiliency and public access projects.

(10)

(j) While the state has recently made a substantial commitment to outdoor programming, this investment is incongruous with the level of investment in trail infrastructure, which are the primary means to connect people and programs to nature, and California needs to establish a sustainable state-specific funding source to keep up with trail demand.

(11)

(k) To underscore the demand for funding in this area, during a recent grant cycle to secure awards relating to trails and greenway corridors, there were more than $400 million $400,000,000 in funding requests, but there was only $27 million $27,000,000 available pursuant to Proposition 68, as approved at the June 5, 2018, statewide direct primary election.

(b)It is the intent of the Legislature that the changes made by this bill apply only to appropriations made on or after the effective date of this measure.

(l) In 2013, California established the nation’s first Active Transportation Program, an important achievement, but, in establishing this program, shifted 60 percent of the funds otherwise available on an annual basis for recreation-specific trail improvements.

(m) In order to align scarce state dollars with the need to meet existing and growing public access considerations, lawmakers should reevaluate and, to the extent possible, combine existing grant programs and priorities consistent with Governor Gavin Newsom’s “Outdoors for All” initiative and outdoor activity trends and use patterns.

SEC. 2.Section 164.56 of the Streets and Highways Code is amended to read:

164.56.

(a)It is the intent of the Legislature to allocate ten million dollars ($10,000,000) annually to the Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program Fund, which is hereby created.

(b)Local, state, and federal agencies and nonprofit entities may apply for and may receive grants, not to exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000) for any single grant, to undertake environmental enhancement and mitigation projects that are directly or indirectly related to the environmental impact of modifying existing transportation facilities or for the design, construction, or expansion of new transportation facilities.

(c)Projects eligible for funding include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1)Urban forestry projects designed to offset vehicular emissions of carbon dioxide.

(2)Acquisition or enhancement of resource lands that may provide multibenefits, including nonmotorized trail corridor access and easements, to mitigate the loss of, or the detriment to, resource lands lying within the right-of-way acquired for proposed transportation improvements.

(3)Natural surface trail improvements, conversion of rail corridors to trails, pedestrian and cyclist safety improvements at rail crossings, and roadside recreation.

(4)Projects to mitigate the impact of proposed transportation facilities or to enhance the environment, where the ability to effectuate the mitigation or enhancement measures is beyond the scope of the lead agency responsible for assessing the environmental impact of the proposed transportation improvement.

(d)Grant proposals shall be submitted to the Resources Agency for evaluation in accordance with procedures and criteria prescribed by the Resources Agency. The Resources Agency shall evaluate proposals submitted to it and prepare a list of proposals recommended for funding. The list may be revised at any time. Before including a proposal on the list, the Resources Agency shall make a finding that the proposal is eligible for funding pursuant to subdivision (f).

(e)Within the fiscal limitations of subdivisions (a) and (b), the commission shall annually award grants to fund proposals that are included on the list prepared by the Resources Agency pursuant to subdivision (d).

(f)Projects funded pursuant to this section shall be projects that contribute to mitigation of the environmental effects of transportation facilities, as provided for by Section 1 of Article XIX of the California Constitution.

SEC. 3.Section 2381.5 is added to the Streets and Highways Code, to read:

2381.5.

For purposes of the federal moneys received by the state for recreational trails projects described in Section 133(h)(5) of Title 23 of the United States Code, all of the following shall apply:

(a)The Legislature shall annually appropriate all of those moneys to the Department of Parks and Recreation for purposes of its recreational trails program.

(b)When awarding those moneys, the Department of Parks and Recreation may give preference to natural surface, multibenefit trails and trail systems.

(c)Not more than one million seven hundred thousand dollars ($1,700,000) of those moneys may be allocated for motorized trail benefits.

SEC. 2.

 Section 5073.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

5073.5.

 (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the California Recreational Trails and Greenways Act.

(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Disadvantaged community” has the same meaning as defined in Section 80002.

(2) “Fund” means the California Recreational Trails and Greenways Fund created pursuant to subdivision (c).

(3) “Program” means the California Recreational Trails and Greenways Program established by the department pursuant to subdivision (c).

(c) (1) The department shall establish the California Recreational Trails and Greenways Program to, beginning in 2024, award competitive grants on a biennial basis for new, expanded, or improved public access opportunities through nonmotorized recreational trail creation, improvement, enhancement, and restoration projects.

(2) The California Recreational Trails and Greenways Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury.

(d) To the extent consistent with state and federal law, the following moneys shall be deposited into the fund and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, shall be available for allocation by the department for purposes of the program:

(1) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, 50 percent of the federal Recreational Trails Program moneys that are received by the state and available for appropriation.

(2) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, 25 percent of the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (Public Law 88-578) moneys that are received by the state and available for local assistance grants.

(3) To the extent consistent with Proposition 68, as approved by the voters at the June 5, 2018, statewide primary direct election, any moneys that become available for allocation by the department pursuant to Section 80014 that may be lawfully allocated for purposes of the program.

(e) In awarding competitive grants through the program, the department shall do all of the following:

(1) Endeavor to fund multibenefit, multiuse, natural surface trails.

(2) Promote trails and trail infrastructure that minimize the impacts of human and natural ecosystem interface.

(3) Ensure at least 35 percent of the moneys awarded pursuant to the program benefit disadvantaged communities.

(f) To the extent consistent with Proposition 117, as approved by the voters at the June 5, 1990, statewide primary direct election, the department is encouraged to allocate 50 percent of the moneys it allocates pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 2787 of the Fish and Game Code for purposes of increasing access to trails.

(g) In order to reduce the financial burdens associated with frontloaded cost structures and match requirements, the department may create a loan or grant process for advanced payment and match assistance to reduce barriers to participation in the program.

SEC. 3.

 The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.