BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2013-2014 Regular Session |
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BILL NO: SB 1289 HEARING DATE: April 29, 2014
AUTHOR: Fuller URGENCY: No
VERSION: February 21, 2014 CONSULTANT: Toni Lee
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Off-highway motor vehicle recreation: land transfer.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Existing law, the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Act of
2003 (Public Resources Code (PRC) §5090.01 et seq.) provides for
the acquisition, management, and funding of off-highway motor
vehicle recreation areas or trails through the Division of
Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation within the Department of
Parks and Recreation (DPR).
Existing law grants the State Lands Commission (SLC) statutory
authority to control specified state lands (PRC §6201 et seq.).
These lands included 5.5 million acres of school lands granted
to the state by the federal government in 1853. Because the
state sold most of these lands in the 19th century, SLC
currently remains in possession of 468,600 acres and retains the
mineral rights to an additional 790,000 acres.
Existing law, the School Land Bank Act (Act) (PRC §8700 et
seq.), created the School Land Bank Fund (SLBF) and grants to
the SLC authority and exclusive jurisdiction to administer the
fund and interest in school lands. SLC may only use SLBF monies
to acquire or enhance school lands. The Act contains legislative
findings including the declaration that management of remaining
school lands should provide an economic base in support of the
public school system. The Act requires that all sales,
exchanges, and acquisitions of school lands occur for revenue
generating purposes. Net revenues from selling school lands are
deposited in the SLBF (PRC §6217.7). Net revenues from leasing
school lands are deposited in the Teachers' Retirement Fund and
expended through the California Teachers' Retirement System
(CalSTRS) (PRC §6217.5).
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AB 982 (Skinner, Ch. 485, Stats. 2011) requires SLC to exchange
lands with the United States Secretary of the Interior to
consolidate school land parcels into contiguous holdings
suitable for renewable energy-related projects. A portion of the
revenues generated from renewable energy leases must cover SLC's
transfer-related costs. These land exchanges are designed to
benefit the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP),
which seeks to conserve desert wildlife while facilitating the
timely permitting of compatible renewable energy projects. The
Johnson Valley area is a target for renewable energy development
under DRECP.
In 1980 under the Desert Conservation Area Plan, the United
States Congress created the Johnson Valley public lands in San
Bernardino County. From these lands, the U.S. Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) designated 188,000 acres as the Johnson Valley
Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Recreation Area (JVOA), the largest
OHV recreation area in the country. This site contains steep red
rock mountains, rolling hills, open valleys, dry lake beds and
sandy washes and is popular for hiking, rock hounding, wildlife
watching, and four-wheel drive vehicle use. The area near
Anderson Dry Lake and Soggy Dry Lake is employed for competitive
racing events, such as the popular King of the Hammers Race, and
OHV riding. According to DPR's OHV website, these events draw
thousands of visitors to the area on an annual basis.
The area around JVOA is home to many unique plant and animal
species including the threatened desert tortoise. The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service lists OHV use, military operations, and
loss of habitat from desert energy operations as contributors to
desert tortoise mortality.
In 2004, the United States Marine Corps (USMC) identified the
need to train an expeditionary force of about 15,000 troops
periodically, which would require an expansion of the Twentynine
Palms Base land area to support large-scale air and ground
live-fire and maneuver training. In February 2013, an
environmental impact study of the proposed expansion offered six
alternative options. The USMC's preferred option, Alternative 6,
would have withdrawn a total of 146,667 acres from the JVOA:
108,530 acres exclusively for military use and 38,137 acres as a
restricted public access area open for recreational use when
military exercises were not being conducted. The OHV community
objected to this alternative.
In 2014, the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat
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Center acquired 78,993 acres of the JVOA for exclusive military
use after passage of the National Defense Authorization Act of
2014 (HR 3304). An additional 53,231 acres of the JVOA was
designated as a shared area reserved for military exercises 60
days a year and open for recreation the rest of the year. This
result allows USMC access to less area than proposed in
Alternative 6 and reduces the total size of the JVOA. The JVOA
now includes 43,431 acres year round and increases in size to
96,662 acres for 300 days of the year when the shared areas are
open to recreation. The King of Hammers Race area and access to
Soggy Dry Lake Bed and Emerson Dry Lake Bed are maintained
within the boundaries of the new JVOA. This arrangement
terminates on March 31, 2039.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would authorize the State Lands Commission to transfer
to the Department of Parks and Recreation unidentified parcels
of land owned by the state adjacent to the Johnson Valley
Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area for off-highway motor
vehicle recreation.
The author has identified seven parcels of school lands for
inclusion into this bill, but was unable to amend the bill prior
to the bill being heard before the Committee. These seven parcel
numbers are: 0454-431-17-0-000, 0454-431-18-0-000,
0454-431-10-0-000, 0454-431-20-0-000, 0454-431-21-0-000,
0454-431-24-0-000, and 0454-431-26-0-000.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
The California Off-Road Vehicle Association (CORVA) argues that
due to the expansion of the Twentynine Palms Marine Base, loss
of land to the Johnson Valley OHV open area will cause the
cancellation of many competitive events that used to take place
in the area. CORVA believes that allowing the state OHV division
to take over control of state lands near the Johnson Valley OHV
may mitigate some of these negative effects.
Nick Benson Sr., owner of Nick's Computer Works in Barstow,
believes that expansion of the Johnson Valley OHV through the
adoption of SB 1289 would financially benefit businesses and the
state through increased sales and sales taxes resulting from
heightened recreation. Mr. Benson is an avid off-roader and
associates the activity with quality family time, BBQs, and
camping experience.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
Sierra Club California (SCC) contends that off-road use of
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vehicles can present serious impacts on the environment. This
activity can lead to erosion, denuding the area of vegetation,
and disturbances to wildlife and habitats. They note a 2010
scientific study reporting that, "Local ORV activities
contributed to particulate matter pollution in San Luis Obispo
County that exceeded threshold levels set by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency as hazardous to human health."
SCC states that it would not be appropriate for the legislature
to approve the expansion of or new ORV parks without studying
the full impacts on the environment and local communities.
COMMENTS
1.All seven parcels proposed for transfer from SLC to DPR are
targeted to become part of DRECP . SLC is currently negotiating
a land exchange package with the BLM for renewable energy
projects pursuant to AB 982. As amended, the bill would
eliminate any opportunity to use the parcels for revenue
generation or renewable energy purposes as required under the
Act.
Simply transferring the title of school lands to DPR appears
to violate SLC's duties pursuant to the Act. The legislature
declared that management of remaining school lands should
provide an economic base for the school system (PRC §8701(b)),
but this bill provides for no funds to change hands.
Additionally, there are likely to be costs to SLC associated
with transferring lands.
2.The current boundaries and conditions governing the JVOA
resulted from six years of negotiation between BLM, USMC, and
the off-road vehicle community . This bill renews negotiations
with a different set of entities, DPR and SLC.
3.It is unclear how disruptive the change in size of the Johnson
Valley OHV area will be for holding future sporting events as
over 67 square miles of terrain are available at its smallest
size . Well over double that amount is available to OHV
activities for 300 days of the year. As noted above, the
locations used for the King of Hammers event remain in the
JVOA.
4.CalSTRS' financial health . Although the specific amount
depends upon the valuation method and recent investment
returns, CalSTRS is widely acknowledged to be currently
underfunded on the order of tens of billions of dollars.
SUPPORT
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California Off-Road Vehicle Association
Nick Benson Sr.
OPPOSITION
Sierra Club California
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