BILL ANALYSIS �
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER |
| Senator Fran Pavley, Chair |
| 2013-2014 Regular Session |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
BILL NO: AB 2150 HEARING DATE: June 24, 2014
AUTHOR: Rendon URGENCY: No
VERSION: June 18, 2014 CONSULTANT: Bill Craven
DUAL REFERRAL: No FISCAL: Yes
SUBJECT: Department of Parks and Recreation.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
1) The Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) is charged with
control of the state park system and the responsibility for
administering, protecting, developing and interpreting state
parks for the use and enjoyment of the public. DPR is also
charged with protecting the state parks system from damage and
maintaining the peace at state parks.
2) DPR is authorized to collect fees, rents and other returns
for the use of state parks with those amounts to be determined
by DPR.
3) The Legislature established the State Parks Revenue
Incentives Subaccount within the State Park and Recreation Fund
and provided that funds in the subaccount are continuously
appropriated to DPR until June 30, 2014 to create incentives for
revenue generating projects in state parks. The control language
for that provision states that DPR shall use 50% of the funds
deposited into the subaccount to fund capital costs of
construction and installation of new revenue and fee collection
equipment and technologies and other physical upgrades to
existing facilities, and for other costs of restoring,
rehabilitating, and improving the state park system and its
natural, historical and visitor-serving resources that enhance
visitation and create opportunities to increase revenues.
4) The Legislature also established the State Park Enterprise
1
Fund as a working capital fund, and makes revenues in the fund
available to the department upon appropriation for encumbrance
and expenditure until June 30, 2014.
5) After the possibility of closing several dozen parks was
floated by the administration at various times in the past few
years, the Legislature adopted language prohibiting DPR from
closing or proposing to close a state park in the 2012-13 or
2013-14 fiscal years.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would do all of the following:
1. Require DPR to develop an updated priority list of deferred
maintenance projects for which verifiable project cost estimates
have been completed, and require DPR to apply specified priority
factors in identifying projects for inclusion on the list.
2. Establish a new division of Community Initiatives and Park
Access within DPR by July 1, 2015, to replace the Division of
External Affairs. The new division's main purpose is to develop
a strategic plan for to improve access to state parks especially
for urban and traditionally underserved populations. The plan
will also include up to 3 pilot projects to enhance park access
that would be developed in and managed to meet the needs of the
chosen communities. The strategic plan would be developed with
other public agencies, public health entities, and other
community-based organizations. The pilot projects would be based
on the best available management practices in the professional
literature, and would focus on increased visitation, improved
transportation options, development of regional collaboratives
to implement the strategic plan, and the increased use of
partnerships that focus on the recreational needs of underserved
youth. Funding for this effort would come from the tax
deductible donations made to DPR by the public through the
purchase of annual park passes and donations above the cost of
those passes.
3. Extend the current moratorium on state park closures and
related provisions to June 30, 2015.
4. Establish a 3 year pilot project for DPR to make available
one or more technologies to enable visitors to purchase and
print passes, including day use and annual passes. DPR would
2
maintain data on the sales including visitorship, revenues, and
the usage of passes sold pursuant to this provision. DPRs costs
would be covered either by the Revenue Incentive Subaccount or
the Enterprise Fund.
5. Remove the urgency clause.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
The author sees this bill as building on the work begun by the
Legislature in 2012, when many statutes were adopted to help DPR
bolster its finances, improve its revenue generation capability,
and make several internal administrative changes at the
department. One of those laws also recommended establishment of
a review commission, which led to the creation of the Parks
Forward Commission which has had several public meetings across
the state and released several draft recommendations. One of
those recommendations was to have a greater focus within DPR on
improving park access for underserved communities.
2. One of the first studies commissioned by Parks Forward
examined DPR's deferred maintenance list, which was estimated to
be $2 billion. However, the consultant's report found that there
were significant data reliability issues with the database and
it recommended that DPR develop an entirely new and prioritized
list of deferred maintenance, based on the consistent
application of priority criteria. DPR is working on updating its
list, and both DPR and the State Parks and Recreation Commission
(on which the author and the Committee chair both sit) have
developed recommended criteria for prioritizing deferred
maintenance projects.
3. The author believes that transforming the External Affairs
Division into a new Division of Community Initiatives and Park
Access will help address the lack of equitable access to parks
and open space in many urban and rural areas. This is not an
unfamiliar issue to DPR, nor is it an issue that DPR has ignored
over the years. However, it is an issue that has not been
addressed at the scale that is appropriate in 21st century
California, according to the author. To achieve the necessary
outreach to disadvantaged communities, DPR will need to help
create strategic partnerships across many sectors. The new
division will be a way to elevate the importance of this issue
with DPR as a more central and fundamental core part of its
mission, according to the author.
3
4. The California State Parks Foundation supports the additional
transparency to the deferred maintenance list as well as
extending the moratorium on closures. The County of Los Angeles
also supports the effort to update the approach to deferred
maintenance and the new approach to disadvantaged communities.
The Trust for Public Land supports all of the provisions in the
bill.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
None received.
SUPPORT
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
California State Parks Foundation
Trust for Public Land
OPPOSITION
None Received
4