BILL NUMBER: AB 1916	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 3, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 26, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 9, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 29, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Buchanan
    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Bonilla   and Skinner   ) 
    (   Coauthor:   Senator  
DeSaulnier   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2012

   An act to add Section 5080.36.2 to the Public Resources Code,
relating to state parks  , and declaring the urgency thereof, to
take effect immediately  .


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1916, as amended, Buchanan. State parks: operating agreements:
Mount Diablo State Park.
   Existing law vests with the Department of Parks and Recreation
control of the state park system. Existing law authorizes the
department to enter into an agreement with an agency of the United
States, including a city, county, district, or other public agency,
or any combination thereof, for the care, maintenance,
administration, and control of lands of the state park system.
   This bill would authorize the department to enter into a
restoration agreement with Save Mount Diablo, a nonprofit
organization, for the purpose of restoring the beacon on top of the
Summit Building in Mount Diablo State Park, and would require that
the agreement comply with specified requirements. 
   This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to
the necessity of a special statute for the Mount Diablo State Park.
 
   This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute. 
   Vote:  majority   2/3  . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The California state park system was created for the purposes
of preserving outstanding natural, scenic, and cultural values,
including the historic significance of units of the state park
system.
   (b) Mount Diablo State Park is one of the oldest parks in the
state park system. The park was created by legislation and dedicated
in 1921, and rededicated again in 1931, at the time the park's first
parcels of land were acquired.
   (c) The annual budget for the state park system, as a whole, has
been inadequate to maintain the existing units of the system, and the
ongoing shortfall has caused a backlog of deferred maintenance at
the parks.
   (d) The "Eye of Diablo" Beacon sits atop Mount Diablo. It was
originally installed in 1928 by Standard Oil of California on a steel
tower, approximately 75 feet west of its current location. The "Eye
of Diablo" Beacon was originally intended to serve as an aid to
aerial navigation. Using a remote switch from Denver, Colorado,
Colonel Charles Lindbergh simultaneously lit the "Eye of Diablo"
Beacon and a similar beacon located near Los Angeles on October 14,
1928.
   (e) The Visitor's Center Building at Mount Diablo State Park was
constructed from 1939 to 1942, inclusive, by the Diablo Conservation
Corps, a part of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The building was
designed specifically to accommodate the beacon atop the tower of the
building, and the beacon was relocated to that location. The beacon
was turned off on December 8, 1941, on the day after the attack on
Pearl Harbor, in observance of the West Coast blackout and in
recognition of the fear of Japan's attack on the United States coast.
In 1964, a group of local engineers restored the beacon to operating
condition, and on December 7, 1964, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
pressed the switch to relight the beacon to commemorate the survivors
of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The beacon is only lighted on
December 7th (Pearl Harbor Day) for this purpose.
   (f) In 1971, Save Mount Diablo (SMD) was incorporated as a
nonprofit 501(c) organization, dedicated to preserving Mount Diablo's
peaks, and the surrounding foothills and watersheds, through land
acquisition and preservation strategies designed to protect the
mountain's natural beauty, biological diversity, and historic and
agricultural heritage, to enhance the area's quality of life, and to
provide recreational opportunities consistent with protection of
natural resources.
   (g) Save Mount Diablo is a cosponsor for the annual lighting of
the beacon each Pearl Harbor Day.
   (h) The annual lighting of the Mount Diablo Beacon is an important
reminder of a significant time in our history, and should be
restored and kept operational.
  SEC. 2.  Section 5080.36.2 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:
   5080.36.2.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
article, the department may enter into a restoration agreement with
Save Mount Diablo, a nonprofit organization, for the purpose of
restoring the Mount Diablo Beacon on top of the Summit Building in
Mount Diablo State Park. The agreement shall include, but is not
limited to, all of the following:
    (1) A requirement that the restoration agreement shall follow the
United States Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the
Treatment of Historic Properties guidelines and the guidelines set
forth by the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and
Artistic Works.
   (2) A requirement that the restoration agreement shall also comply
with any applicable code of ethics or guidelines for practice
governing the rehabilitation and preservation of historical sites and
buildings. All plans for the work, the work in process, and the
finished work shall be audited by a conservator company pursuant to a
contract with the company.
   (3) All costs of the restoration of the Mount Diablo Beacon shall
be incurred under the authority of, and be the responsibility of,
Save Mount Diablo.
   (b) The restoration agreement that the department is authorized to
enter into with Save Mount Diablo pursuant to subdivision (a) is
intended to cover restoration work performed primarily by volunteers.
However, nothing in this section shall preclude Save Mount Diablo
from contracting for work performed by an individual or entity on a
paid or for-profit basis.
   SEC. 3.    The Legislature finds and declares that a
special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made
applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the
California Constitution because of the unique circumstances involving
the beacon at Mount Diablo State Park. 
   SEC. 4.    This act is an urgency statute necessary
for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety
within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
 
   The beacon atop Mount Diablo is in a state of complete disrepair
and is inoperable. The beacon needs to be repaired prior to December
7, 2012, in order to host the annual Pearl Harbor Memorial ceremony.
The beacon has been lit every year on December 7 since 1964. This
will be the first year that the ceremony won't be able to take place
because the beacon is inoperable. The Pearl Harbor survivors are
elderly and for many of them this may be the last year that they will
be alive to commemorate their fallen peers.