Bill Text: CA AB510 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 510 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: State property acquisition: West Coyote Hills project site: funding.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-09-01 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB510 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB510-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate July 20, 2017

Amended IN Senate July 11, 2017

Amended IN Assembly April 17, 2017

Amended IN Assembly March 23, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 510

Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk-Silva
(Coauthor: Senator Newman)

February 13, 2017

An act to add Section 31199.1 to the Public Resources Code, relating to state property.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 510, as amended, Quirk-Silva. State property acquisition: West Coyote Hills project site: funding.

Existing law generally authorizes the Director of General Services to acquire title to real property in the name of the state whenever the acquisition of real property is authorized or contemplated by law, if no other state agency is specifically authorized and directed to acquire it. Existing law establishes the State Coastal Conservancy and prescribes the membership, functions, and duties of the conservancy with regard to the protection, preservation, restoration, and enhancement of specified coastal lands. Existing law establishes the Coastal Trust Fund in the State Treasury.

This bill would require that the $15,000,000 appropriated in the Budget Act of 2017 for the purposes of SB 714 of the 2017–18 Regular Session be deposited in the West Coyote Hills Conservancy Program Account in the Coastal Trust Fund to be used for the purchase of specified property and related projects. The bill would make findings and declarations regarding funding under the bill for the Wildlife Conservation Board to open up, operate, and maintain the Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to specify the particular uses of ~~those~~ the appropriated funds.

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

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

SECTION 1.

It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to specify the particular uses of the funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2017 for the purposes of Senate Bill 714 of the 2017–18 Regular Session.

SEC. 2.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) This act will help save the largest remaining open space in the highly urbanized region of the Counties of Los Angeles and Orange to be enjoyed by over one million people as a natural preserve.
(b) West Coyote Hills covers 510 acres of privately owned land located west of Euclid Street at the northern edge of Fullerton. This land was historically used by Chevron for oil drilling and extraction and is adjacent to the 72-acre Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve, which is owned by the City of Fullerton.
(c) The Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve was purchased by the City of Fullerton in 1983 and named for a previous Fullerton mayor who worked to keep a part of the 510 acres of West Coyote Hills.
(d) The Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve is home to the following species: coyote brush, southern willow scrub, coast prickly pear, California sagebrush, purple phacelia, yellow sun cups, and orange monkeyflowers, and the California gnatcatcher, coastal cactus wren, Towhees, and California quail. The hills are a stopover on the Pacific Flyway for migratory birds, and a wintering ground for hawks and harriers.
(e) It has been 34 years since the Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve was purchased by the City of Fullerton in 1983, yet it remains closed to the public due to lack of funds.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide $250,000 in initial funds for the Wildlife Conservation Board to open up, operate, and maintain the Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve to the public, provided the Wildlife Conservation Board and the City of Fullerton enter into an agreement for these purposes.

SEC. 2.SEC. 3.

Section 31199.1 is added to the Public Resources Code, immediately following Section 31199, to read:

31199.1.

The fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) appropriated in the Budget Act of 2017 for the purposes of Senate Bill 714 of the 2017–18 Regular ~~session~~ Session shall be deposited in the West Coyote Hills Conservancy Program Account in the Coastal Trust Fund to be used for all of the following purposes:

(a) The purchase by the State Coastal Conservancy of the 510-acre West Coyote Hills project site, which is located in the northwest area of the City of Fullerton adjacent to the Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve that encompasses 72.3 acres west of Euclid Street, and is generally bounded on the north by the City of La Habra, on the east by Euclid Street, on the west by the City of La Mirada, and on the south by Rosecrans Avenue and residential development, and through which Gilbert Street extends in a northerly direction through the east-central portion of the project site.

(b) Projects undertaken, and grants awarded, in the West Coyote Hills area by the State Coastal Conservancy for the purpose of meeting the following objectives:

(1) To improve public access to, within, and around hills, ridgetops, and urban open spaces, consistent with the rights of private property owners, and without having a significant adverse impact on agricultural operations and environmentally sensitive areas.

(2) To protect, restore, and enhance natural habitats and connecting corridors, watersheds, scenic areas, and other open-space resources of regional importance.

(3) To promote, assist, and enhance projects that provide open space and natural areas that are accessible to urban populations for recreational and educational purposes.

(c) Ten percent of the fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) appropriated in the Budget Act of 2017 for the funding of projects pursuant to Senate Bill 714 of the 2017–18 Regular Session and 10 percent of all future amounts appropriated for the same purpose shall be used by the State Coastal Conservancy for the creation of the West Coyote Hills Conservation Program Endowment. The endowment funds shall be invested in an appropriate investment instrument for purposes consistent with subdivision (b).

(d) Two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) shall be allocated to the ~~State Coastal Conservancy~~ Wildlife Conservation Board to open up, operate, and maintain the Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve, provided that the ~~State Coastal Conservancy~~ Wildlife Conservation Board and the City of Fullerton enter into ~~a memorandum of understanding~~ an agreement for these purposes on or before April 1, 2018.