BILL NUMBER: SB 1179	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 16, 2006
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 26, 2006

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Morrow

                        JANUARY 17, 2006

    An act to amend Section 831.7 of the Government Code, and
to repeal and add   An act to amend  Section
115800 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to recreational
activities.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1179, as amended, Morrow  Recreational activities:
skateboarding. 
   Existing law, effective until January 1, 2008, provides that
skateboarding at a public skateboard park is a hazardous recreational
activity, if all of specified conditions are met, including if the
person skateboarding is 14 years of age or older.  
   This bill would reduce that age limit to 12 years of age or older.
The bill would also extend the operative dates of those provisions
until January 1, 2012, and would make other conforming changes to
that provision.  
   Existing law, operative on January 1, 2008, prohibits an operator
of a skateboard park from permitting any person to ride a skateboard
in the park unless that person is wearing a helmet, elbow pads, and
knee pads. Existing law, operative on January 1, 2008, further
describes how those requirements may be satisfied with respect to a
recreational skateboard facility owned and operated by a local public
agency, as specified.  
   This bill would instead make those provisions operative on January
1, 2012.  
   Under existing law, public entities and public employees are
generally not liable to any person who participates in various
hazardous recreational activities, including bicycle racing or
jumping and mountain bicycling.  
   This bill would add skateboarding to that provision of law.
 
   Existing law, effective until January 1, 2008, provides that
skateboarding at a public skateboard park is a hazardous recreational
activity, if specified conditions are satisfied. That law, also in
effect until January 1, 2008, requires local public agencies to
maintain a record of all known or reported injuries incurred by
skateboarders in a public skateboard park or facility, and other
information regarding these incidents, as specified, and requires
that copies of those records be filed annually with the Judicial
Council, which is required to report to the Legislature on these
incidents and any claims arising therefrom. Existing law also
prohibits the operator of a skateboard park to permit a person to
ride a skateboard in the park unless the person is wearing a helmet,
elbow pads, and knee pads.  
   This bill would repeal those provisions. The bill would instead
provide that the decision of a local public agency whether to
regulate conditions of use at a public skateboard park does not alter
a public entity or public employee's immunity from liability to
persons who participate in certain hazardous recreational activities.

   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


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


   SECTION 1.    Section 115800 of the   Health
and Safety Code   , as amended by Section 1 of Chapter 409
  of the Statutes of 2002, is amended to read: 
   115800.  (a) No operator of a skateboard park shall permit any
person to ride a skateboard therein, unless that person is wearing a
helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads.
   (b) With respect to any facility, owned or operated by a local
public agency, that is designed and maintained for the purpose of
recreational skateboard use, and that is not supervised on a regular
basis, the requirements of subdivision (a) may be satisfied by
compliance with the following:
   (1) Adoption by the local public agency of an ordinance requiring
any person riding a skateboard at the facility to wear a helmet,
elbow pads, and knee pads.
   (2) The posting of signs at the facility affording reasonable
notice that any person riding a skateboard in the facility must wear
a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads, and that any person failing to
do so will be subject to citation under the ordinance required by
paragraph (1).
   (c) "Local public agency" for purposes of this section includes,
but is not limited to, a city, county, or city and county.
   (d) (1) Skateboarding at any facility or park owned or operated by
a public entity as a public skateboard park, as provided in
paragraph (3), shall be deemed a hazardous recreational activity
within the meaning of Section 831.7 of the Government Code if all of
the following conditions are met:
   (A) The person skateboarding is  14   12
 years of age or older.
   (B) The skateboarding activity that caused the injury was stunt,
trick, or luge skateboarding.
   (C) The skateboard park is on public property that complies with
subdivision (a) or (b).
   (2) In addition to the provisions of subdivision (c) of Section
831.7 of the Government Code, nothing in this section is intended to
limit the liability of a public entity with respect to any other duty
imposed pursuant to existing law, including the duty to protect
against dangerous conditions of public property pursuant to Chapter 2
(commencing with Section 830) of Part 2 of Division 3.6 of Title 1
of the Government Code. However, nothing in this section is intended
to abrogate or limit any other legal rights, defenses, or immunities
that may otherwise be available at law.
   (3) For public skateboard parks that were constructed on or before
January 1, 1998, this subdivision shall apply to hazardous
recreational activity injuries incurred on or after January 1, 1998,
and before January 1, 2001. For public skateboard parks that are
constructed after January 1, 1998, this subdivision shall apply to
hazardous recreational activity injuries incurred on or after January
1, 1998, and before January 1,  2008   2012
 . For purposes of this subdivision, any skateboard facility
that is a movable facility shall be deemed constructed on the first
date it is initially made available for use at any location by the
local public agency.
   (4) The appropriate local public agency shall maintain a record of
all known or reported injuries incurred by a skateboarder in a
public skateboard park or facility. The local public agency shall
also maintain a record of all claims, paid and not paid, including
any lawsuits and their results, arising from those incidents that
were filed against the public agency. Beginning in 1999, copies of
these records shall be filed annually, no later than January 30 each
year, with the Judicial Council, which shall submit a report to the
Legislature on or before March 31,  2007   2011
 , on the incidences of injuries incurred, claims asserted, and
the results of any lawsuit filed, by persons injured while
skateboarding in public skateboard parks or facilities.
   (5) This subdivision shall not apply on or after January 1, 2001,
to public skateboard parks that were constructed on or before January
1, 1998, but shall continue to apply to public skateboard parks that
are constructed after January 1, 1998.
   (e) This section shall remain in effect until January 1, 
2008   2012  , and as of that date is repealed,
unless a later enacted statute, enacted before January 1, 
2008   2012  , deletes or extends that date.
   SEC. 2.    Section 115800 of the   Health
and Safety Code   , as amended by Section 2 of Chapter 409
of   the Statutes of 2002, is amended to read: 
   115800.  (a) No operator of a skateboard park shall permit any
person to ride a skateboard therein, unless that person is wearing a
helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads.
   (b) With respect to any facility, owned or operated by a local
public agency, that is designed and maintained for the purpose of
recreational skateboard use, and that is not supervised on a regular
basis, the requirements of subdivision (a) may be satisfied by
compliance with the following:
   (1) Adoption by the local public agency of an ordinance requiring
any person riding a skateboard at the facility to wear a helmet,
elbow pads, and knee pads.
   (2) The posting of signs at the facility affording reasonable
notice that any person riding a skateboard in the facility must wear
a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads, and that any person failing to
do so will be subject to citation under the ordinance required by
paragraph (1).
   (c) "Local public agency" for purposes of this section includes,
but is not limited to, a city, county, or city and county.
   (d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 
2008   2012  .   
  SECTION 1.   Section 831.7 of the Government Code
is amended to read:
   831.7.  (a) Neither a public entity nor a public employee is
liable to any person who participates in a hazardous recreational
activity, including any person who assists the participant, or to any
spectator who knew or reasonably should have known that the
hazardous recreational activity created a substantial risk of injury
to himself or herself and was voluntarily in the place of risk, or
having the ability to do so failed to leave, for any damage or injury
to property or persons arising out of that hazardous recreational
activity.
   (b) As used in this section, "hazardous recreational activity"
means a recreational activity conducted on property of a public
entity which creates a substantial (as distinguished from a minor,
trivial, or insignificant) risk of injury to a participant or a
spectator.
   "Hazardous recreational activity" also means:
   (1) Water contact activities, except diving, in places where or at
a time when lifeguards are not provided and reasonable warning
thereof has been given or the injured party should reasonably have
known that there was no lifeguard provided at the time.
   (2) Any form of diving into water from other than a diving board
or diving platform, or at any place or from any structure where
diving is prohibited and reasonable warning thereof has been given.
   (3) Animal riding, including equestrian competition, archery,
bicycle racing or jumping, mountain bicycling, boating, cross-country
and downhill skiing, hang gliding, kayaking, motorized vehicle
racing, off-road motorcycling or four-wheel driving of any kind,
orienteering, pistol and rifle shooting, rock climbing, rocketeering,
rodeo, skateboarding, spelunking, sky diving, sport parachuting,
paragliding, body contact sports (i.e., sports in which it is
reasonably foreseeable that there will be rough bodily contact with
one or more participants), surfing, trampolining, tree climbing, tree
rope swinging, waterskiing, white water rafting, and windsurfing.
For the purposes of this subdivision, "mountain bicycling" does not
include riding a bicycle on paved pathways, roadways, or sidewalks.
   (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a), this
section does not limit liability which would otherwise exist for any
of the following:
   (1) Failure of the public entity or employee to guard or warn of a
known dangerous condition or of another hazardous recreational
activity known to the public entity or employee that is not
reasonably assumed by the participant as inherently a part of the
hazardous recreational activity out of which the damage or injury
arose.
   (2) Damage or injury suffered in any case where permission to
participate in the hazardous recreational activity was granted for a
specific fee. For the purpose of this paragraph, a "specific fee"
does not include a fee or consideration charged for a general purpose
such as a general park admission charge, a vehicle entry or parking
fee, or an administrative or group use application or permit fee, as
distinguished from a specific fee charged for participation in the
specific hazardous recreational activity out of which the damage or
injury arose.
   (3) Injury suffered to the extent proximately caused by the
negligent failure of the public entity or public employee to properly
construct or maintain in good repair any structure, recreational
equipment or machinery, or substantial work of improvement utilized
in the hazardous recreational activity out of which the damage or
injury arose.
   (4) Damage or injury suffered in any case where the public entity
or employee recklessly or with gross negligence promoted the
participation in or observance of a hazardous recreational activity.
For purposes of this paragraph, promotional literature or a public
announcement or advertisement which merely describes the available
facilities and services on the property does not in itself constitute
a reckless or grossly negligent promotion.
   (5) An act of gross negligence by a public entity or a public
employee which is the proximate cause of the injury.
   Nothing in this subdivision creates a duty of care or basis of
liability for personal injury or for damage to personal property.
   (d) Nothing in this section shall limit the liability of an
independent concessionaire, or any person or organization other than
the public entity, whether or not the person or organization has a
contractual relationship with the public entity to use the public
property, for injuries or damages suffered in any case as a result of
the operation of a hazardous recreational activity on public
property by the concessionaire, person, or organization.  

  SEC. 2.    Section 115800 of the Health and Safety
Code, as amended by Section 1 of Chapter 409 of the Statutes of
2002, is repealed.   
  SEC. 3.    Section 115800 of the Health and Safety
Code, as amended by Section 2 of Chapter 409 of the Statutes of
2002, is repealed.   
  SEC. 4.    Section 115800 is added to the Health
and Safety Code, to read:
   115800.  (a) The decision of a local public agency whether to
regulate conditions of use at a public skateboard park does not alter
a public entity or public employee's immunity from liability to
persons who participate in hazardous recreational activities,
pursuant to Section 831.7 of the Government Code.
   (b) For purposes of this section, "local public agency" includes,
but is not limited to, a city, county, city and county, and special
district.