BILL NUMBER: AB 982 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 15, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 30, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 23, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 10, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 26, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Skinner
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to repeal and add Division 7.7 (commencing with Section
8700) of the Public Resources Code, relating to energy.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 982, as amended, Skinner. Energy: land exchange for renewable
energy-related projects.
The School Land Bank Act vests the State Lands Commission, as a
trustee, with the exclusive jurisdiction and authority to administer
the School Land Bank Fund and the interest in land acquired pursuant
to that act. The act authorizes the commission, acting as a trustee,
to acquire interest in real property for the purposes of facilitating
the management of school lands to generate income.
This bill would, contingent on the cooperation of the United
States Secretary of the Interior, require the commission to enter
into a memorandum of agreement by April 1, 2012, with the United
States Secretary of the Interior to facilitate land exchanges
consolidating school land parcels into contiguous holdings that are
suitable for renewable energy-related projects. The bill would
require the commission, by January 1 of each year, to report to the
Legislature on the status of the memorandum of agreement and school
land consolidation efforts for renewable energy-related projects.
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. Division 7.7 (commencing with Section 8700) of the
Public Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 2. Division 7.7 (commencing with Section 8700) is added to
the Public Resources Code, to read:
DIVISION 7.7. School Lands
CHAPTER 1. SCHOOL LAND BANK ACT
8700. This division shall be known and may be cited as the School
Land Bank Act.
8701. The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) Past policies of the state have resulted in significant
depletion of the inventory of lands granted by the federal government
to provide fiscal support for the public school system.
(b) It is essential that all remaining school lands and attendant
interests be managed and enhanced to provide an economic base for
support of the public school system.
(c) The commission shall plan and implement all transactions,
including exchanges, sales, and acquisitions which would facilitate
the management of school land interests for revenue generating
purposes.
(d) The state, through the commission, shall take all action
necessary to fully develop school lands, indemnity interests, and
attendant mineral interests into a permanent and productive resource
base.
(e) It is in the best interest of the state that school lands be
managed as a revenue source and it is the intent of the Legislature
that fair market value be a primary criterion in determining if
proposed uses or dispositions of land should be approved.
(f) The consolidation of school land parcels into contiguous
holdings is essential to sound and effective management and the power
to acquire lands by exchange or purchase is elemental to the
consolidation process.
8702. 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 School Land Bank Fund.
(c) "School land" means land or interests in land granted to the
state by an Act of Congress March 3, 1853 (Ch. 145, 10 Stat. 244),
for the specific purpose of providing support for the public schools.
(d) "Trustee" means the State Lands Commission acting in its role
as trustee for the School Land Bank Fund.
8703. Acquisitions may be made by negotiated agreement with, or
purchase from, the owners of the outstanding interests. Nothing in
this division confers any authority to exercise the power of eminent
domain for the purposes of this division, although that power is
statutorily vested in the commission.
8704. The trustee shall make all reasonable attempts to acquire
the mineral and other subsurface rights in any acquisition pursuant
to this division. If the trustee is unable to acquire the mineral and
other subsurface rights, the trustee may purchase real property upon
the trustee expressly finding that the benefits to be derived from
the acquisition are substantial and that acquisition of the property
without the subsurface rights is in the best interests of the state
for the purposes set forth in this division.
8705. The trustee has the exclusive jurisdiction and authority to
administer the fund and the interest in real property acquired
pursuant to this division, including the selection, acquisition, and
conveyance of real property by the trustee as provided in this
division.
8706. The state, in its sovereign capacity, shall accept any
conveyance, and the land shall thereafter be held by the state as
land of the legal character of school lands subject to the school
land trust under the jurisdiction of the commission pursuant to
Division 6 (commencing with Section 6001).
8707. The commission shall accept the conveyances on the part of
the state and shall authorize their acknowledgment and recordation.
8708. Until expended for acquisitions in accordance with this
division, moneys in the fund shall be deposited in the Pooled Money
Investment Fund and the interest deposited in the fund.
8709. In addition to the purchase price to be paid, the costs and
expenses attributable to the acquisition may be payable from the
fund, provided that those costs shall not exceed 5 percent of the
expended funds.
8709.5. Expenses attributable to management and remediation
efforts on state school lands are payable from the fund.
8710. An action under this chapter is not subject to the
California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with
Section 21000)), the Subdivision Map Act (Division 2 (commencing with
Section 66410) of Title 7 of the Government Code), or the Property
Acquisition Law (Part 11 (commencing with Section 15850) of Division
3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
8711. There is in the State Treasury the School Land Bank Fund,
which is hereby created. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the
Government Code, all moneys in the fund are appropriated to the
commission for expenditure, without regard to fiscal years, for the
purposes of this division. When performing the powers and duties set
forth in this division, the commission shall be known as the School
Land Bank Trustee.
8712. The trustee may acquire real property or any interest in
real property with the objective of facilitating management of school
lands for the purpose of generating revenue.
8713. The trustee shall act only at an open, scheduled public
meeting, subject to all provisions of Division 6 (commencing with
Section 6001) relating to meetings of the commission. The trustee may
combine its meeting with the meetings of the commission.
8715. The provisions of this division are not intended as
exclusive, and shall not restrict the commission in otherwise meeting
any other responsibilities and jurisdiction the commission presently
has by law.
8716. The trustee may accept gifts of real property or money for
the purposes of this division.
CHAPTER 2. LAND EXCHANGES FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY-RELATED
PROJECTS
8720. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The high cost of energy is taking a financial toll on
California's residents and economy, as well as making the state more
dependent on foreign oil.
(b) California is home to abundant renewable energy resources,
such as solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass.
(c) The State Lands Commission manages on behalf of the State
Teachers' Retirement Fund (STRS) hundreds of thousands of acres of
school lands, a great deal of which have significant potential for
siting large-scale renewable energy projects.
(d) The State Lands Commission has a duty pursuant to the School
Land Bank Act (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 8700)) to take all
action necessary to fully develop school lands into a permanent and
productive resource base for the benefit of STRS.
(e) A significant amount of school lands are not producing revenue
from large-scale renewable energy projects because they are
isolated, landlocked parcels, the majority of which are remote desert
lands. The consolidation of school land parcels into contiguous
holdings would facilitate the sound and effective management of these
lands for large-scale renewable energy projects.
(f) On October 16, 2008, the State Lands Commission adopted a
resolution supporting the environmentally responsible development of
school lands for renewable energy-related projects.
(g) If school lands are leased for large-scale renewable energy
projects, the state will benefit in the form of reduced carbon
emissions, a cleaner and healthier environment, affordable energy,
stronger national security, new jobs, and more funding for STRS.
(h) It is the policy of the state to promote the advancement,
development, assessment, and installation of large-scale renewable
energy projects on school lands. Any consolidation and development of
school lands for renewable energy should be done with assurances
that the state's unique and sensitive environment will be protected.
8721. For the purposes of this chapter, "California desert" means
the California Desert Conservation Area as described in Section 1781
of Title 43 of the United States Code.
8722. (a) The commission shall enter into a memorandum of
agreement by April 1, 2012, with the United States Secretary of the
Interior to facilitate land exchanges that consolidate school land
parcels into contiguous holdings that are suitable for large-scale
renewable energy-related projects. The memorandum of agreement shall
be tailored, to the extent feasible, to prioritize land exchanges
that are best suited for large-scale renewable energy project
development, including for the purposes of mitigation of the impacts
of that development.
(b) After the memorandum of agreement is entered into, the
commission shall make best efforts to consolidate all school land
parcels in the California desert into contiguous holdings for
large-scale renewable energy-related projects.
(c) The commission shall report to the Legislature by January 1 of
each year on the status of the memorandum of agreement and school
land consolidation efforts in the California desert.
(d) The requirements of this section are contingent on the
cooperation of the United States Secretary of the Interior.
8723. (a) Within 240 days of the execution of a memorandum of
agreement pursuant to Section 8722, the commission shall prepare and
submit to the United States Secretary of the Interior a proposal for
land exchanges that consolidate all school land parcels in the
California desert into contiguous holdings that are suitable for
large-scale renewable energy-related projects. In developing the
proposal, the commission shall give priority to land exchanges that
will facilitate the development of large-scale renewable energy
projects.
(b) The commission's proposal shall be based on an acre-for-acre
exchange with the United States.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), the commission may withhold a
school land parcel from an exchange proposal or request additional
consideration from the United States Secretary of the Interior if the
commission reasonably believes, based on existing and reliable
information, that an acre-for-acre exchange would not provide the
state with compensation that is equal to or greater than the fair
market value of the school land parcel. For the purposes of this
subdivision, the commission shall consider the potential renewable
energy value of a parcel the commission would receive in the
exchange.
(d) In preparing the land exchange proposal, the commission shall
consult with the Department of Fish and Game to identify areas in the
California desert that would be compatible
consistent with the goals of, and proposed
or adopted provisions of , the Desert Renewable
Energy Conservation Plan and are either of the following:
(1) Suitable for renewable energy projects because the identified
areas do not support direct habitat or habitat
corridor values for species listed as threatened, endangered, or
a species of special concern candidate
species pursuant to the California Endangered Species Act
(Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 1500) of Division 1
(Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of
Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code) or the federal Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.), and
that, in the judgment of the Department of Fish and Game,
are sufficient to warrant consideration of their designation as a
mitigation or conservation area for these species.
(2) Areas that would serve Suitable
as potential mitigation areas to mitigate the impacts that renewable
energy-related projects may have on the environment.
(e) The commission's costs and expenses attributable to the land
exchange process may be payable from the fund.
(f) The commission may consider counter land exchange proposals
from the United States Secretary of the Interior and make additional
proposals to the extent that the additional proposals achieve the
goals set forth in this chapter.
(g) Final approval of a land exchange proposed pursuant to this
chapter shall be made by the commission at a properly noticed
commission meeting.