BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 580 (Wolk, Kehoe)
Hearing Date: 04/11/2011 Amended: 03/29/2011
Consultant: Brendan McCarthy Policy Vote: NR&W 6-3
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 580 prohibits the sale or use for non-park
purposes of state park lands, unless substitute lands are
received in return.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Fund
Administrative costs Absorbable within existing
resourcesSpecial *
Revenues from the sale Unknown potential revenue losses General
of state park lands
* State Park and Recreation Fund.
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill may meet the criteria for referral to
the Suspense File.
The Department of Parks and Recreations manages almost 280 park
units throughout the state. The parks in the system were
acquired over many years, through purchases by the state or
donations by private individuals, foundations, and the federal
government. (Some parks properties are leased by the state, for
example on property owned by the federal government.) The state
has purchased and developed park properties using General Fund
monies, special funds, bond funds, and federal funds.
Current law (the Public Park Preservation Act) prohibits public
entities from acquiring any park for non-park purposes unless
there is sufficient compensation provided or replacement
parkland provided in exchange. It is not clear whether this
requirement applies to parks in the state park system.
SB 580 prohibits the sale or use of state park lands for
purposes incompatible with park purposes, unless suitable
substitute land is received in exchange. Substitute park land
must have equal recreational and environmental value, the same
or higher fair market value, and be located close enough to the
original park lands to allow for recreational access to the same
population of visitors. The State Parks and Recreation
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Commission would determine whether a proposed exchange meets the
criteria of the bill.
The bill also prohibits the State Parks and Recreation
Commission from considering substitute park land unless it
determines that there is no other practical alternative to the
disposition or alternative use of the park lands.
If appropriate substitute lands are not available, the bill
allows the Commission to approve monetary compensation for the
park lands, provided that the monetary compensation is used to
acquire replacement lands with similar values and that are
located in the area of the original park lands.
The bill does not apply to any existing uses of state park lands
that have been authorized prior to January 1, 2012.
The Department indicates that any administrative costs to comply
with the bill would be absorbable within existing resources.
Because SB 580 requires the state to use proceeds from the sale
of state park properties for the acquisition of replacement
properties, the bill may limit the state's ability to generate
General Fund revenues from potential land sales.
The extent to which the state could generate General Fund
revenues from a sale of state park lands depends on the sources
of funding used to acquire and develop a given property. Many
park properties were bequeathed to the state, typically with
conditions that require their preservation as park lands. Also,
the state has used federal funds and bond funds to pay for the
acquisition of many state park properties. Any revenues
generated from the sale of properties initially acquired with
federal or bond funds would most likely have to be used for the
purchase of substitute park lands. This requirement may also
apply to lands that were improved with federal or bond funds
(for example the construction of attractions such as visitor
centers or trail systems).
There are two likely scenarios for the sale of state park
properties. The first is that park properties are sold to
facilitate the development of infrastructure such as roads or
electricity transmission lines. Because large scale proposals of
this kind occur infrequently, and because such proposals are
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Page 4
likely to impact park properties acquired and developed with
non-General Fund monies, it does not seem likely that putting
limitations on this type of property sale would cause the state
to forego significant General Fund revenues.
The second scenario for the sale of park lands would occur if
the state decided to sell state parks or portions of state
parks, to generate General Fund revenues or reduce operational
costs. It is possible that the state could generate General Fund
revenues through such sales, provided that the state could
identify park lands that were acquired with General Fund
revenues, have the potential for non-park uses that would make
the property valuable on the open market, and were not subject
to other restrictions on their use (such as Coastal Commission
recreational requirements) that would limit the market value of
the lands. To the extent that such properties could be
identified and the state wished to sell these properties, this
bill would limit the state's ability to generate General Fund
revenues. Given the constraints mentioned above, it does not
seem likely that the state could generate significant General
Fund revenues from the sale of park lands.
This bill is identical to SB 679 (Wolk, 2009) which was vetoed
by Governor Schwarzenegger.