BILL NUMBER: SB 1622 CHAPTERED 09/27/02 CHAPTER 975 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 27, 2002 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 26, 2002 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 30, 2002 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 26, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 23, 2002 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 13, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 23, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 16, 2002 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 1, 2002 INTRODUCED BY Senator Murray FEBRUARY 21, 2002 An act to amend Sections 5004.5, 5095.3, 5095.4, and 5095.5 of, and to add Sections 5095.6 and 32556.2 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to public resources. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1622, Murray. Parks and recreation: California Youth Soccer and Recreation Development Program: urban parks: Ballona Creek. (1) Existing law establishes the California Youth Soccer and Recreation Development Program in the Department of Parks and Recreation to provide assistance to local agencies and community-based organizations with regard to funding, and fostering the development of, new youth soccer, baseball, and basketball recreation opportunities in the state. Existing law requires the department to report to the Assembly Committee on Budget and the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review on the need for soccer and baseball fields and basketball courts in the state and related facilities, and to coordinate with local agencies and community-based organizations to identify those areas in the state where there is a shortage of appropriate recreational facilities, as provided. This bill would expand the purposes of the program to include funding and fostering softball recreation opportunities in the state, would require the department to report to those legislative committees after awarding those grants, and would eliminate the requirement that the department coordinate with local agencies and community-based organizations. The bill would require that administrative expenses be paid from funds authorized for the program, and would specify that the program would be implemented only upon appropriation of sufficient funds for this purpose. (2) The State Urban Parks and Healthy Communities Act authorizes the department to expend moneys in the State Urban Parks and Healthy Communities Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to provide grants to state agencies, local governments, and community organizations to provide environmental education and park opportunities for schoolage children. The act requires the Director of Parks and Recreation, in consultation with the State Department of Education, to develop guidelines for curriculum for outdoor education using state conservancy properties in existence on January 1, 2002. This bill, instead, would require the director, in consultation with State Department of Education, to develop a competitive grant program to assist state parks, state conservancies in existence as of January 1, 2003, and urbanized and heavily urbanized local agencies and community-based organizations within those jurisdictions working in collaboration, to provide outdoor educational opportunities to children. (3) The State Urban Parks and Healthy Communities Act requires the department to give special consideration to projects that wholly or partly replace an area of blight or that contribute significantly to the economic revitalization to the immediate community. The act requires that a Member of the Legislature first nominate a program or project in order for that program or project to qualify as an eligible program or project under the act. This bill would delete those provisions. The bill would make various other changes affecting the administration of the programs and projects funded under the act, as provided. The bill would require that all funds appropriated to the department pursuant to the act be encumbered within 3 years of the date of the appropriation, and expended within 8 years of the date of the appropriation. The bill would provide that any grants to state or local agencies, nonprofit organizations, or community groups, on or after January 1, 2003, pursuant to the act be contingent upon a future appropriation in the annual Budget Act. (4) Existing law establishes the Baldwin Hills Conservancy, prescribes the functions and duties of the conservancy, and establishes the governing board of the conservancy. The board is required to perform a study relating to Ballona Creek, develop a proposed map for that area, and provide a report to the Legislature on those activities by January 1, 2003. This bill would change the date the report is required to be provided to the Legislature to January 1, 2004. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 5004.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 5004.5. (a) The California Youth Soccer and Recreation Development Program is hereby created in the department. The department shall administer the program, which is intended to provide assistance to local agencies and community-based organizations with regard to funding, and fostering the development of, new youth soccer, baseball, softball, and basketball recreation opportunities in the state. (b) After all grants authorized under this program have been awarded, the department shall report to the Budget Committee of the Assembly and the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee of the Senate on the number of grant applications received, the total amount of funds sought by applicants, and the number of eligible applications that were not funded. (c) The California Youth Soccer and Recreation Development Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury, to be used as a repository of funds derived from federal, state, and private sources to be used for the program. (d) The department shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to local agencies and community-based organizations for the purposes of the program, subject to an appropriation therefor. The department shall also develop eligibility guidelines for the award of grants that give preference to those communities that provide matching funds for grants, and that are heavily populated, low-income urban areas with a high youth crime and unemployment rate. The guidelines shall also require that preference be given to those inner city properties that may be leased for periods of at least five years or more for recreational purposes. The department shall conduct public hearings throughout the state prior to final adoption of eligibility guidelines. (e) Any regulation, guideline, or procedural guide adopted or developed pursuant to this section is not subject to the review or approval of the Office of Administrative Law or to any other requirement of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. (f) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) "Community-based organization" means an organization that enters into a cooperative agreement with the department pursuant to Section 513, a nonprofit group or organization, or a friends of parks group or organization of a city, county, city and county, and regional park. All community-based organizations shall have a current tax-exempt status as a nonprofit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code. (2) "Local agency" means a city, county, city and county, park and recreation district, open-space district, or school district. (g) This section shall be implemented only upon appropriation of sufficient funds to the department for that purpose. (h) All funds received by the department pursuant to this section shall be encumbered within three years of the date of the appropriation and expended within eight years from the date of the appropriation. (i) Nothing in this section is intended to prohibit community-based organizations from acting in partnership with organizations that do not have tax-exempt status as a nonprofit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code. SEC. 2. Section 5095.3 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 5095.3. There is hereby created, in the State Treasury, the State Urban Parks and Healthy Communities Fund. The department shall expend moneys from this fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to provide grants to state agencies, including state conservancies in existence on January 1, 2002, urbanized or heavily urbanized local agencies, and community-based organizations, in accordance with Sections 5095.4 and 5095.5. Funds necessary to administer this chapter shall be appropriated in the annual Budget Act. SEC. 3. Section 5095.4 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 5095.4. (a) The director, in consultation with the State Department of Education, shall develop a competitive grant program to assist state parks, state conservancies in existence as of January 1, 2003, urbanized and heavily urbanized local agencies, and community-based organizations within those jurisdictions, working in collaboration, to provide outdoor educational opportunities to children. (1) Applicant entities shall provide a 25-percent matching contribution in community resources. The matching contributions may be in the form of money, including funds from other state or local assistance programs, gifts of real property, equipment, and consumable supplies, volunteer services, free or reduced-cost use of land, facilities, or equipment, and bequests and income from wills, estates, and trusts. The department may establish findings for hardships to waive the matching requirement when an applicant cannot meet the requirement. (2) The department may give additional consideration to applicant entities collaborating with other entities, including, but not limited to, school districts, faith-based groups and others providing outreach programs to identify and attract urbanized youth most in need of organized, constructive recreational activities. (b) The department shall make one-third of any funds appropriated for the purposes of this chapter available to give special priority to providing increased access for elementary schoolage children in grades 2 to 8, inclusive, to conservancy or state, community, and regional park properties and, in addition, shall give priority, in awarding a grant pursuant to this section, to all of the following: (1) Programs that use curriculum tied to the science content standards and science framework adopted by the State Board of Education. (2) Applicants that serve children with family incomes below the statewide average, based on the most recent figures computed and established by the Department of Finance. (3) Applicants that provide access to children who are underserved or lack access to parks or other outdoor venues suitable to conduct appropriate environmental education instruction. (4) Applicants that have developed working collaboratives to develop environmental education partnerships. (5) Applicants working in collaboration with local educational agencies to identify those children lacking adequate opportunities to access outdoor environmental education curriculum or innovative or alternative recreation programming. (c) The amount of a grant awarded pursuant to this section may not be less than twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) or more than two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000). A grant may be expended for any of the following purposes: (1) Staffing that is directly associated with the programming. (2) Staff training or development directly associated with the programming. (3) Costs associated with transporting youth between a community or school and the proposed environmental education venue. (4) Medical insurance for the participants, only if the insurance is a requirement pursuant to the activity. (5) Operational costs, such as the rental equipment, food, and supplies. (6) Applicants that can demonstrate that the administrative costs associated with this activity will not exceed more than 7.5 percent of the amount of the grant. (d) The department may gather information from the applicants as to the effectiveness of these programs in meeting program objectives. The department shall summarize this information and report to the appropriate budget and fiscal committees of both houses of the Legislature as to the number of children served, the educational objectives met, and the level of demand. (e) Applicant agencies may enter into contracts with other public agencies or entities to provide unique interpretive skills or to present authentic, curriculum-based programs in units of conservancy properties or state, community, or regional park systems for services not otherwise provided. The purpose of this subdivision is to authorize the applicants to provide programming services, equipment, and materials that assist in the curriculum program or provide educational activities that assist in the presentation of cultural traditions. SEC. 4. Section 5095.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 5095.5. (a) The department shall allocate two-thirds of any funds appropriated for the purposes of this chapter to provide grants to urbanized or heavily urbanized local agencies or community-based organizations within these jurisdictions for the acquisition and development of properties for active recreational purposes, as defined. Eligible projects shall meet all of the following criteria: (1) The amount of the grant applied for, together with any matching contribution, shall meet all of the cost of acquiring and developing the project, and when construction of the project is completed, the new urban park or facility shall have a management plan and demonstrate to the satisfaction of the department that the applicant agencies have sufficient means to ensure that the park or facility shall remain open and accessible to the public. (2) The application includes a commitment for a matching contribution. The matching contributions may be in the form of money, including funds from other state or local assistance programs, gifts of real property, equipment, and consumable supplies, volunteer services, free or reduced-cost use of land, facilities, or equipment, and bequests and income from wills, estates, and trusts. The department may establish findings for hardships to waive the matching requirement when an applicant cannot meet the requirement. (3) To the extent practicable, the project is a joint-use project between two or more agencies that share responsibility for ownership, development, or maintenance, or both, of the project. (b) The department shall adopt guidelines to amplify or clarify the criteria specified in Section 5095.4 or this section, and may adopt additional criteria, to supplement those criteria. (c) The department may develop a procedural guide for the administration of this chapter and the guidance of applicants. (d) The department shall solicit written comments and hold public hearings at convenient locations throughout the state on any regulations, guidelines, or the procedural guide proposed to be adopted or developed pursuant to this section. (e) The department shall adopt guidelines to implement this chapter. (f) Any regulation, guideline, or procedural guide adopted or developed pursuant to this chapter is not subject to the review or approval of the Office of Administrative Law or to any other requirement of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. (g) A grant received pursuant to this section may be expended to acquire the fee title or other interest in real property. If an application proposes to acquire less than fee title, the applicant shall demonstrate in the application, to the satisfaction of the department, that the proposed project will provide public benefits that are commensurate with the type and duration of the interest in real property to be acquired. (h) With the consent of an urbanized or heavily urbanized local agency, any eligible nonprofit organization that is tax exempt pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code may apply for a grant on behalf of an entity for the purposes of either Section 5095.4 or this section. The application shall include a copy of any contract between the local agency and the nonprofit organization and the resolution or other authorization of consent. The contract shall specify arrangements for the long-term management and operation of the urban park or recreation area commensurate with the amount of the grant, as determined by the department. (i) Every applicant for a grant pursuant to this section and the entity that will operate and maintain the property, if that entity is different than the applicant, shall agree to comply with all of the following requirements: (1) To operate and maintain the property developed pursuant to this chapter so that it is usable by residents of the affected area. With the approval of the department, the grant recipient, or its successor in interest in the property, may transfer its property interest and the responsibility to operate and maintain the property, in accordance with the terms of the grant and any applicable law, to a public agency or nonprofit organization that is able to operate and maintain the property in perpetuity. Any attempt to make a transfer in violation of this subdivision is void. (2) To use the property only for the purposes for which the grant was made and to make no other use or sale or other disposition of the property, except as authorized by statute. If the use of the property is changed to a use that is not permitted by the terms of the grant, or if the property is sold or otherwise disposed of, the grant recipient shall reimburse the department an amount equal to the amount of the grant, the fair market value of the land and any improvements constructed with the grant, or the proceeds from the sale or other disposition, whichever amount is greater. If the property that is sold or otherwise disposed of is less than the entire interest in the property funded with the grant, the grant recipient shall reimburse the department an amount equal to either the proceeds from the sale or other disposition of the interest or the fair market value of the interest sold or otherwise disposed of, whichever amount is greater. (3) In lieu of seeking reimbursement pursuant to paragraph (2), the department may impose restrictions on the use of public park property identical to the requirements for the preservation of public parks set forth in the Public Park Preservation Act of 1971 (Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 5400)) with respect to any property used, sold, or otherwise disposed of in a manner not permitted by the terms of the grant. (j) The recipient of a grant pursuant to this chapter may use the grant funds to pay for any portion of the cost of cleaning up, removing, or remediating any toxic materials or hazardous substances, if the amount used for cleanup, removal, or remediation does not exceed 20 percent of the grant allocated to the project. (k) The amount allocated pursuant to this chapter shall be roughly divided 60 percent to the southern portion of the state (south of the Tehachapi Mountains) and 40 percent to the northern portion. (l) Recognizing that some rural areas of the state have significant deficiencies of park facilities for active recreational purposes, the department shall consider allocating two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) pursuant to this section to nonurbanized local agencies. In awarding these grants, the department shall apply the same guidelines as those established for awarding a grant to a nonurbanized area pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 5621. (m) After all grants authorized under this chapter have been awarded, the department shall report to the Budget Committee of the Assembly and the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee of the Senate on the number of grant applications received, the total amount of funds sought by applicants, and the number of eligible applications that were not funded. (n) Nothing in this section is intended to prohibit community-based organizations from acting in partnership with organizations that do not have tax-exempt status as a nonprofit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code. SEC. 5. Section 5095.6 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read: 5095.6. (a) This chapter shall be implemented only upon appropriation of sufficient funds to the department for that purpose. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision, all funds that are appropriated to the department pursuant to this chapter shall be encumbered within three years of the date of that appropriation and expended within eight years of the date of that appropriation. (c) Any grants to state or local agencies or nonprofit organizations or community groups pursuant to this chapter, on or after January 1, 2003, shall be contingent upon a future appropriation in the annual Budget Act. SEC. 6. Section 32556.2 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read: 32556.2. Notwithstanding paragraph (3) of subdivision (e) of Section 32556, as amended by Section 3 of Chapter 3 of the Statutes of 2002, the report required under that paragraph shall be provided to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2004.