BILL NUMBER: AB 2092 CHAPTERED 09/09/02 CHAPTER 432 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 7, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE JUNE 27, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2002 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Kelley FEBRUARY 19, 2002 An act to amend Sections 8601 and 8625 of, and to add Section 6307.1 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to the California State Lands Commission, and making an appropriation therefor. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2092, Kelley. State Lands Commission: land exchange agreements: Arizona. (1) Existing law establishes the State Lands Commission within the Resources Agency, with specified duties governing state-owned lands. Existing law authorizes the commission to exchange lands of equal value with any state agency, political subdivision, person, or the United States when the exchange appears to be in the best interests of California and is to improve navigation, aid in reclamation or flood control protection, or to enhance the configuration of the shoreline. This bill would authorize the commission to enter into land exchange agreements with Arizona to transfer California's sovereign interest in land located in Arizona and to acquire Arizona's sovereign interest in land located in California. Upon completion of all possible land exchanges, if there is a difference in the total fair market value of the land transferred to Arizona and that acquired by California, this bill would require the difference be paid into or out of the Land Bank Fund. The Land Bank Fund is a continuously appropriated fund. By authorizing moneys in that fund to be expended for a new purpose, this bill would make an appropriation. (2) The Kapiloff Land Bank Act creates the Land Bank Fund, and continuously appropriates moneys in the fund subject to a statutory trust to the commission, acting as the Land Bank Trustee, to acquire real property or any interest in real property for the purposes of public trust title settlements and for mitigation, as defined. Existing law authorizes a project applicant other than a public agency to deposit mitigation donations to the fund. This bill would permit a public agency to deposit mitigation donations to the fund. This bill would also make a conforming change to the definition of "title settlements" under the act. Appropriation: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 6307.1 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read: 6307.1. (a) This section applies only to land in which California has a sovereign interest that lies within the boundaries of the State of Arizona and land in which Arizona has a sovereign interest that lies within the boundaries of the State of California, as a result of changes in the course of the Colorado River, and the redefinition in 1963 of the boundary between the two states. (b) The commission may enter into land exchange agreements with Arizona to transfer California's sovereign interest in land located within the boundaries of Arizona and to acquire Arizona's sovereign interest in land located within the boundaries of California. (c) The fair market value of the land transferred to Arizona shall be equal to the fair market value of the land acquired from Arizona. This requirement is not mandatory for each separate exchange transaction, but to the extent possible shall be complied with upon completion of all possible exchanges. (d) The total value of all lands exchanged pursuant to this section shall be determined according to fair market value. Upon completion of all possible exchanges, if there is a difference between the total value of all land transferred to Arizona, and all land acquired by California, the difference shall be eliminated by cash payments from or to the Land Bank Fund established by the Kapiloff Land Bank Act (commencing with Section 8600). (e) The commission may release the mineral rights in all the land transferred if it receives the mineral rights in all the land acquired. (f) All land to be acquired by California pursuant to this section shall become, upon acquisition, sovereign land of California subject to the public trust. Any exchange shall be void unless the land to be acquired by Arizona pursuant to the exchange becomes, upon acquisition, sovereign land of Arizona subject to the public trust. (f) Any land exchange made pursuant to this section shall be subject to the exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act contained in Section 21080.11. SEC. 2. Section 8601 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 8601. Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this section govern the construction of this division. (a) "Commission" means the State Lands Commission. (b) "Fund" means the Land Bank Fund created pursuant to Section 8610. (c) "Trustee" means the State Lands Commission acting in its role as trustee for the Land Bank Fund. (d) "Title settlements" means exchanges pursuant to Sections 6307 and 6307.1 and any agreements between the commission and others as a part of, or in lieu of, litigation in compromise settlements of public trust title questions, including real property exchanges, boundary determinations, or other means leading to a resolution of those questions and the necessary conveyances or other documentation provided by the agreements. (e) "Mitigation" means any measure to mitigate adverse environmental impacts that are lawfully imposed as a condition to the issuance of a permit or other authorization to undertake a project. (f) "Project" means, for purposes of mitigation only, any improvement to real property that adversely impacts existing or former wetlands. SEC. 3. Section 8625 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 8625. (a) The consideration passing to the state in title settlements may consist, in whole or in part, of monetary payments to the trustee for deposit into the fund that are subject to a statutory trust limiting their use exclusively to the purchase of interests in a Land Bank Fund parcel and conveyance of those interests to the state pursuant to Section 8626 as soon as practicable thereafter. (b) A project applicant may donate moneys for deposit to the fund for purposes of mitigation with the approval of the agency responsible for approving the project and the trustee shall accept the donation if land is held by the trustee for those purposes. A donation so deposited is subject to a statutory trust limiting its use exclusively to the identified mitigation. (c) Any party may deposit moneys into the fund for purposes of specified or unspecified projects to provide for management and improvement of real property held by the trustee to provide open space, habitat for plants and animals, and public access.