Amended in Senate April 15, 2015

Amended in Senate March 19, 2015

Senate Bill No. 204

Introduced by Senator Pavley

February 11, 2015

An act to amend Sections 513, 5001, begin delete 5080.16, end delete and 5080.42 of, to add Sections 5001.2 and 5080.44 to, and to add and repeal Sections 5002.25 and 5003.9 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to state parks.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 204, as amended, Pavley. State parks.

Existing law establishes the Department of Parks and Recreation and vests the department with the control of the state park system.

This bill would require the Director of Parks and Recreation to promote and regulate the use of the state park system in a manner that conserves the scenery, natural and historic resources, and wildlife in the individual units of the system for the enjoyment of future generations.

The bill would require the Department of Parks and Recreation, on or before December 1, 2016, to prepare a report to the Legislature that identifies the 10 projects within units of the state park system or on other property of the department that may provide the most significant greenhouse gas reductions.

Existing law requires the department to prepare a general plan or revise an existing plan, for a unit of the state park system following classification or reclassification of the unit by the State Park and Recreation Commission, and prior to the development of any new facilities in any previously classified unit.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency to prepare or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project, as defined, that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment, as defined, or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect.

This bill would authorize a lead agency responsible for the environmental analysis and review under CEQA of a proposed park development project, until January 1, 2022, to conduct the analysis and review separately from the development and approval of the general plan for the unit, if the proposed project is contained in a management or development plan of the department prepared for that unit that is or was subject to environmental review under CEQA.

begin delete

Existing law authorizes the Director of Parks and Recreation to negotiate or renegotiate a concession contract if specified conditions exist.

end delete begin delete

This bill would additionally authorize the director to negotiate or renegotiate a concession contract if the services provided pursuant to the contract will have minimal impact on state park resources, are inherently mobile or transitory in nature, and do not occupy a state-owned structure. The bill would also declare the intent of the Legislature that the department shall not compete with specified existing concession contracts.

end delete

Existing law, until January 1, 2019, authorizes the department to enter into an operating agreement with a qualified nonprofit organization for the development, improvement, restoration, care, maintenance, administration, or operation of a unit, or units, or portion of a unit, of the state park system.

This bill would delete the repeal date of that provision, thereby extending its operation indefinitely. The bill would also authorize the department to accept donations of real property or money from public or private sources to be used for the purpose of funding park programs to benefit youth, as defined. The bill would authorize the department to enter into cooperative agreements with public or nonprofit organizations that serve youth, to provide service and learning opportunities for youth, as described. begin insert The bill would further declare the intent of the Legislature that the department shall not compete with specified existing concession contracts. end insert

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.  

It is the intent of the Legislature that the
Department of Parks and Recreation not compete with existing
concession contracts through which comparable food and beverage
services are provided to the public.

SEC. 2.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(1) Nearly 35,000 volunteers contribute their time and energy
to the Department of Parks and Recreation, thereby enhancing the
experiences of visitors, complementing the work of departmental
staff, and generating economic activity through their voluntary
efforts at state parks.

(2) The department estimates that volunteers contribute more
than begin delete one million end delete begin insert 1,000,000 end insert hours each year and generate nearly
twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) in economic value to
the local and regional economies around state parks through these
substantial volunteer efforts.

(3) It is the department’s existing practice to offer one or more
types of complimentary passes to the department’s volunteers in
recognition of their value-added contributions. Those
complimentary passes should also be offered to the volunteers at
cooperating associations in recognition of the value-added services
they provide.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Department of Parks
and Recreation extend the existing policies for the issuance of
complimentary state park passes to persons who volunteer at state
parks through cooperating associations, as defined in Section 513
of the Public Resources Code, consistent with the California State
Government Volunteers Act set forth in Chapter 8.5 (commencing
with Section 3110) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government
Code.

SEC. 3.  

Section 513 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:

513.  

(a) The department, as a means of furthering the
interpretive and educational functions of the state park system,
may enter into an agreement to act cooperatively with a nonprofit
cooperating association engaged in educational or interpretive
work in a state park system unit, as the director may designate,
whereby the cooperating association would furnish educational
and interpretive materials, or educational and interpretive services,
or educational and interpretative materials and services, for sale
to the public.

(b) Pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 5080.02)
of Chapter 1.2 of Division 5, a concession may provide materials
and services that are intended to add to the convenience, enjoyment,
and safety of state park system visitors. A concession may also
provide, pursuant to this section, educational and interpretive
materials and services, as described in paragraphs (2) and (3) of
subdivision (d), with the approval of the department.

(c) A cooperating association may provide, pursuant to this
section, noneducational and noninterpretive materials and services,
as described in paragraph (4) of subdivision (d), or other materials
or services that would enhance the visitor experience, as part of
its cooperating association program with the approval of the
department, if the department is unable to obtain, through a good
faith effort, a concessionaire to provide those materials and
services.

(d) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Cooperating association” means a corporation that meets
all of the following criteria:

(A) The corporation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation,
organized pursuant to Part 2 (commencing with Section 5110) of
Division 2 of Title 1 of the Corporations Code.

(B) The articles of incorporation of the corporation state that
the specific purpose of the corporation is to provide support for
educational and interpretive programs of the state park system, or
portions of the programs.

(C) The corporation has a cooperating association program
contract with the department.

(D) The corporation is in compliance with the department’s
policies and guidelines regarding cooperating associations and has
obtained the department’s approval for its educational and
interpretive materials and services.

(2) “Educational and interpretive materials” include items that
promote visitor appreciation, understanding, and knowledge of
natural, cultural, and historic resources of the state park system,
including educational and interpretive gifts and souvenirs.

(3) “Educational and interpretive services” include those
activities and programs that focus on natural, cultural, and historic
resources of the state park system and are not generally offered
by the department.

(4) “Educational and interpretive materials and services” do not
include lodging, food service, horse and equipment rentals,
camping supplies, gifts and souvenirs, other than those described
in paragraph (2), transportation, except for equipment owned by
the department, recreational lessons, and the operation of
specialized facilities within a state park unit such as the theater at
Hearst San Simeon State Historic Monument and Old Town San
Diego State Historic Park, golf courses, and marinas.

(e) The department, at its discretion, may provide the services
of department personnel and shall provide space, if available, for
the sale of cooperating association materials, services, or both,
within a state park unit.

(f) Subject to rules and regulations that the director shall adopt,
all moneys collected by the cooperating association or received
by the department from the sale of cooperating association
materials, services, or both, provided by a cooperating association
shall be retained by or returned to the cooperating association for
use in the programs of the state park system unit that the
cooperating association has been designated to serve.

SEC. 4.  

Section 5001 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:

5001.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(1) California’s state parks are a true reflection of our state’s
collective history, natural and cultural heritage, and ideals. The
state parks can be models of healthy, natural, and sustainable
ecosystems and they can also commemorate important cultural
traditions or historic events. To remain relevant now and into the
future, state parks must protect California’s heritage and be
welcoming in order that visitors may understand and appreciate
these special places that have been set aside for their inspiration
and enjoyment.

(2) The state parks and other nature, recreation, and historic
areas deserve to be preserved and managed for the benefit and
inspiration of all state residents and visitors to the state parks. It
is the intent of the Legislature to clarify the priorities and
responsibilities of state agencies with respect to the management
and administration of the state park system.

(3) Individual units of the state park system derive increased
importance and recognition through their inclusion in a unified
state park system that is preserved and managed for the benefit
and inspiration of all Californians and visitors to the state.

(b) The Department of Parks and Recreation has control of the
state park system.

SEC. 5.  

Section 5001.2 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:

5001.2.  

The director shall promote and regulate the use of the
state park system in a manner that conserves the scenery, natural
and historic resources, and wildlife in the individual units of the
system for the enjoyment of future generations.

SEC. 6.  

Section 5002.25 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:

5002.25.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(1) The development of general plans by the department is
lagging far behind any reasonable schedule for completion, many
existing general plans are outdated, and there is no practical ability
of the department to complete its backlog of general plan
development or to maintain the relevancy of adopted general plans
in the future in the face of ever-changing circumstances.

(2) The conditions described in paragraph (1) should not
diminish the importance of long-range planning for state parks,
reduce the opportunities for public input to the department for
planning, management, or development efforts, or affect the review
of proposed management or development, as required by all
applicable laws or regulations.

(3) An alternative approach to the general planning requirements
of the department, that does not diminish public input into the
operations of a state park unit or reduce in any way the evaluation
of a project that is subject to the California Environmental Quality
Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)) and any other
applicable law, should be tested on a trial basis in order to assess
its strengths and weaknesses.

(4) A trial approach to general planning requirements, as
described in paragraph (3), should be undertaken in park units
where its use would contribute to a successful partnership
arrangement with a cooperating association.

(b) A lead agency responsible for the environmental analysis
and review, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act
(Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)), of a proposed
development project in a unit of the state park system may conduct
the analysis and review separately from the development and
approval of the general plan for the unit, if the proposed project
is contained in a management or development plan of the
department prepared for that unit that is or was subject to
environmental review pursuant to the act.

(c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2022,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2022, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 7.  

Section 5003.9 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:

5003.9.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that the
department should identify its energy costs, projects that could
reduce those costs, and potential energy-related infrastructure
projects that may be eligible for funding from revenues that may
be generated pursuant to a market-based compliance mechanism
that may be adopted by the State Air Resources Board pursuant
to Part 5 (commencing with Section 38570) of Division 25.5 of
the Health and Safety Code.

(b) (1) On or before December 1, 2016, the department shall
prepare a report to the Legislature that identifies the 10 projects
within units of the state park system or other property of the
department that may provide the most significant greenhouse gas
reductions.

(2) The report required pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

(c) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this
section is repealed on January 1, 2021.

begin delete

SEC. 8.  

Section 5080.16 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

5080.16.  

If the director determines that it is in the best interests
of the state, the director, upon giving notice to the State Park and
Recreation Commission, may negotiate or renegotiate a contract,
including terms and conditions, when one or more of the following
conditions exist:

(a) The bid process as prescribed in this article has failed to
produce a best responsible bidder.

(b) The negotiation or renegotiation would constitute an
extension of an existing contract obtained through the process
required by this article and the extended contract would provide
for substantial and additional concession facilities, which would
be constructed at the sole expense of the concessionaire and which
are set forth in the general plan for the unit and are needed to
accommodate existing or projected increased public usage.

(c) Lands in the state park system administered by the
department and lands under the legal control of the prospective
concessionaire are so situated that the concession is dependent
upon the use of those public and private lands for the physical or
economic success, or both, of the concession.

(d) Whenever a concession is desired for particular interpretive
purposes in a unit of the state park system and the prospective
concessionaire possesses special knowledge, experience, skills, or
ability appropriate to the particular interpretive purposes.

(e) Whenever the concession has been severely and adversely
impacted through no fault of the concessionaire by an unanticipated
calamity, park closure, major construction, or other harmful event
or action.

(f) Whenever the estimated administrative costs for the bid
process exceed the projected annual net rental revenue to the state.

(g) The services provided pursuant to the contract will have
minimal impacts on state park resources, are inherently mobile or
transitory in nature, and do not occupy a state-owned structure.
Those services may include, but are not limited to, mobile food
and beverage services.

end delete

begin delete SEC. 9. end delete
begin insert SEC. 8. end insert   

Section 5080.42 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

5080.42.  

(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
article, the department may enter into an operating agreement with
a qualified nonprofit organization for the development,
improvement, restoration, care, maintenance, administration, or
operation of a unit or units, or portion of a unit, of the state park
system, as agreed to by the director. If the department enters into
an operating agreement that involves the operation of the entirety
of a park unit, that agreement may be entered into pursuant to this
section only to the extent that the agreement would enable the
department to avoid closure of a unit or units of the state park
system that may otherwise be subject to closure. The prohibition
on park closures, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 541.5, does
not limit the department’s authority to enter into an operating
agreement pursuant to this section, as provided in subdivision (e)
of Section 541.5. The department may only enter into an operating
agreement that involves the operation of the entirety of a park unit
for no more than 20 park units. An operating agreement with a
qualified nonprofit organization shall include, but shall not be
limited to, the following conditions:

(1) The district superintendent for the department shall provide
liaison with the department, the nonprofit organization, and the
public.

(2) The nonprofit organization shall annually submit a written
report to the department regarding its operating activities during
the prior year and shall make copies of the report available to the
public upon request. The report shall be available on the Internet
Web sites of both the department and the nonprofit organization.
The report shall include a full accounting of all revenues and
expenditures for each unit of the state park system that the
nonprofit organization operates pursuant to an operating agreement.

(3) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), all revenues
that the qualified nonprofit organization receives from a unit shall
be expended only for the care, maintenance, operation,
administration, improvement, or development of the unit. The
qualified nonprofit organization may additionally contribute in-kind
services and funds raised from outside entities for the care,
maintenance, operation, administration, improvement, or
development of the unit.

(B) If the qualified nonprofit organization determines that the
revenues it has received from a unit are in excess of the revenues
that are needed for the care, maintenance, operation, administration,
improvement, or development of that unit, and that these funds
are not already specified for or committed to specific purposes
pursuant to an existing agreement or contract restricting the use
of those funds, the qualified nonprofit organization may dedicate
those excess revenues to another state park unit for that unit’s care,
maintenance, operation, administration, improvement, or
development.

(4) General Fund moneys shall not be provided to a nonprofit
organization to subsidize the operation or maintenance of a park
unit. This paragraph applies to state parks, the full operation of
which are turned over to a nonprofit organization, but does not
apply to or preclude the department from entering into agreements
with nonprofit organizations to operate a portion of a state park
unit, or from entering into comanagement agreements with
nonprofit organizations that involve the sharing of operational and
financial responsibilities for the park unit and that have the effect
of reducing state costs. This paragraph does not apply to park
entrance fees, concession revenues, or any other revenues generated
within a park operated by a nonprofit organization pursuant to this
section.

(b) An operating agreement entered into pursuant to subdivision
(a) shall honor the existing term of a current concession contract
for the state park unit subject to the operating agreement.

(c) An operating agreement entered into pursuant to subdivision
(a) shall specify the duties that the nonprofit organization shall be
responsible for carrying out relative to management and protection
of natural, historical, and cultural resources, and shall identify
those management duties that shall continue to be conducted by
the department, so that all core operations of the park are
delineated. Scientific, architectural, and engineering functions that
require special expertise or professional training shall only be
conducted by or under the supervision of qualified persons with
applicable expertise or training and subject to oversight by the
department.

(d) This section does not supersede the requirements of Section
5019.53 regarding the protection of natural, scenic, cultural, and
ecological values.

(e) The nonprofit organization and the district superintendent
for the department shall, following submittal of the annual report
pursuant to subdivision (a), hold a joint public meeting for
discussion of the report.

(f) If the department intends to enter into an operating agreement
for the development, improvement, restoration, care, maintenance,
administration, or operation of a unit or units, or a portion of a
unit, the department shall notify the Member of the Legislature in
whose district the unit is located, the Chair of the Senate Committee
on Natural Resources and Water, the Chair of the Assembly
Committee on Water, Parks begin insert , end insert and Wildlife, and the chairs of the
Assembly and Senate budget committees of that intention. The
notification shall include estimated operating costs and revenues
and core duties and responsibilities that are likely to be assigned
to the nonprofit organization and the department.

(g) For purposes of this section, a qualified nonprofit
organization is an organization that is all of the following:

(1) An organization that is exempt from taxation pursuant to
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(2) An organization that has as its principal purpose and activity
to provide visitor services in state parks, facilitate public access
to park resources, improve park facilities, provide interpretive and
educational services, or provide direct protection or stewardship
of natural, cultural, or historical lands, or resources.

(3) An organization that is in compliance with the Supervision
of Trustees and Fundraisers for Charitable Purposes Act, Article
7 (commencing with Section 12580) of Chapter 6 of Part 2 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(h) (1) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government
Code, the department shall provide a report to the Legislature, on
a biennial basis, of the status of operating agreements it has entered
into pursuant to this section. The report shall include a list of units
of the state park system with operating agreements, discussion of
the management and operations of each unit subject to an operating
agreement, an accounting of the revenues and expenditures incurred
under each operating agreement, and an assessment of the benefit
to the state from operating agreements entered into pursuant to
this section.

(2) A report submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

begin delete SEC. 10. end delete
begin insert SEC. 9. end insert   

Section 5080.44 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:

5080.44.  

(a) The department may accept donations of real
property or money from public or private sources to be used for
the purpose of funding park programs to benefit youth, as described
in subdivision (b).

(b) The department may enter into cooperative agreements with
public or nonprofit organizations that serve youth to provide service
and learning opportunities for young people by performing work
on state park system programs and projects under the supervision
of department employees, where the work is not being performed
by state park employees. Programs and projects covered under this
subdivision include all of the following:

(1) Restoring California’s natural, historic, archaeological,
recreational, and scenic resources.

(2) Training young people to be public land and resources
managers and stewards for careers in public service.

(3) Undertaking appropriate cultural and natural resource
conservation in a cost-effective and appropriate manner.