SECTIONS 5090.50-5090.53 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 5090.50-5090.53

5090.50. (a) The division shall develop and implement a grant and
cooperative agreement program to support the planning, acquisition,
development, maintenance, administration, operation, enforcement,
restoration, and conservation of trails, trailheads, areas, and other
facilities associated with the use of off-highway motor vehicles,
and programs involving off-highway motor vehicle safety or education.
(b) When appropriated by the Legislature for grants and
cooperative agreements, available funds shall be awarded in
accordance with the following categories:
(1) Operation and maintenance.
(A) Fifty percent of the funds appropriated by the Legislature
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 5090.61 shall be expended
solely for grants and cooperative agreements for the acquisition,
maintenance, operation, planning, development, or conservation of
trails and facilities associated with the use of off-highway motor
vehicles for recreation or motorized access to nonmotorized
recreation.
(B) Guidelines developed to implement this paragraph, pursuant to
subdivision (d), shall at a minimum:
(i) Give preference to applications that sustain existing
off-highway motor vehicle recreation opportunities.
(ii) Give additional consideration to applications that improve
facilities that provide motorized access to nonmotorized recreation
opportunities.
(C) Applications that would affect lands identified as inventoried
roadless areas by the Forest Service of the United States Department
of Agriculture are eligible for cooperative agreements under
paragraph (1) if the application is for a project that does any of
the following:
(i) Realigns a forest system road or trail to prevent irreparable
resource damage that arises from the design, location, use, or
deterioration of a classified route and that cannot be mitigated by
route maintenance.
(ii) Reconstructs a national forest system road or trail to
implement a route safety improvement project on a classified route
determined to be hazardous on the basis of accident experience or
accident potential on that route.
(iii) Maintains a road or trail that is included in the National
Forest Road and Trail System on or before January 1, 2009.
(D) Any unencumbered funds under this paragraph shall only be used
in future grant cycles for purposes consistent with this paragraph.
(2) Restoration.
(A) Twenty-five percent of the funds appropriated by the
Legislature pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 5090.61 shall be
expended solely for grants and cooperative agreements for projects
that provide ecological restoration or repair to habitat damaged by
either legal or illegal off-highway motor vehicle use.
(B) The division shall develop and implement, in consultation with
the Wildlife Conservation Board, a competitive grant and cooperative
agreement program which shall be administered in accordance with
this paragraph.
(C) Funds identified in this paragraph shall be available for
grants and cooperative agreements for projects that provide
ecological restoration or repair to habitat damaged by both legal and
illegal off-highway motor vehicle use.
(D) Eligible projects include:
(i) Removal of a road or trail or restoration of an area
associated with the rerouting and subsequent closure of a designated
road or trail.
(ii) Removal of roads or trails and the restoration of damaged
habitats in any area that is not designated for motorized vehicle
use.
(iii) The removal of closed roads or trails, or a portion of a
closed road or trail, that will help to prevent off-highway motor
vehicle access to closed areas.
(iv) Scientific and cultural studies regarding the impact of
off-highway motor vehicle recreation not otherwise required by state
or federal laws.
(v) Planning to identify appropriate restoration techniques,
strategies, and project implementation, including planning associated
with environmental review.
(vi) Restoration projects that generally improve and restore the
function of natural resource systems damaged by motorized activities.
(E) Eligible applicants include local, state, and federal
entities, Native American tribes, educational institutions, and
eligible nonprofit organizations.
(F) Guidelines developed to implement this paragraph shall at a
minimum do all of the following:
(i) Give additional consideration to applications for projects
that will restore areas that have the potential for the most
significant environmental damage.
(ii) Guarantee that no grant will be used for the development or
maintenance of trails for motorized use.
(G) Any unencumbered funds under this paragraph shall be used only
in future grant cycles for purposes consistent with this paragraph.
(3) Law enforcement.
(A) Twenty percent of the funds appropriated by the Legislature
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 5090.61 shall be available for
law enforcement grants and cooperative agreements and shall be
allocated to local and federal law enforcement entities for personnel
and related equipment. The amount of the grant or cooperative
agreement shall be proportionate to the off-highway motor vehicle
enforcement needs under each entity's jurisdiction.
(B) The division shall develop a method to determine the law
enforcement needs for each applicant. Forty percent of law
enforcement grants and cooperative agreements shall be given to local
law enforcement entities, 30 percent to units of the United States
Bureau of Land Management, and 30 percent to units of the United
States Forest Service.
(C) The division shall develop eligibility guidelines for law
enforcement projects. The guidelines, at a minimum, shall require the
applicant to do all of the following:
(i) Specify formal and informal cooperation with other appropriate
law enforcement entities, including any applicable federal entities.
(ii) Establish a policy on how violations of off-highway motor
vehicle laws and regulations will be enforced on federal land, if the
applicant is a local law enforcement entity.
(iii) Identify areas with high priority law enforcement needs
because of public safety, cultural resources, and sensitive
environmental habitats, including wilderness areas and areas of
critical environmental concern.
(iv) Explain whether the applicant is recovering a portion of law
enforcement costs directly associated with privately sponsored events
where sponsors have obtained a local permit.
(v) Establish a public education program that includes information
regarding safety programs offered in the area and how to report
off-highway motor vehicle operation violations.
(vi) Specify how personnel is trained and educated regarding
off-highway motor vehicle safety and resource and cultural
protection.
(D) Notwithstanding subdivision (h), law enforcement entities that
receive funds allocated pursuant to this paragraph shall be subject
to a financial and performance audit at least once every five years.
The audits may be conducted in a random order. As part of the audit,
the department shall consider whether the law enforcement entity has
spent the grant money in accordance with its application.
(4) Education and safety. Five percent of the funds appropriated
by the Legislature pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 5090.61
shall be available for grants and cooperative agreements that either
provide comprehensive education that teaches off-highway motor
vehicle safety, environmental responsibility, and respect for private
property, or provide safety programs associated with off-highway
motor vehicle recreation.
(c) Eligible grant and cooperative agreement applicants include:
(1) Cities, counties, and districts that have approval to apply
for grant funds, in the form of a resolution from their governing
body.
(2) State agencies for projects under paragraph (2) of subdivision
(b).
(3) Agencies of the United States.
(4) Federally recognized Native American tribes.
(5) Education and nonprofit organizations for eligible projects
described in subdivision (f).
(d) Guidelines developed to implement this program shall at a
minimum do all of the following:
(1) Distribute grants and cooperative agreements on a competitive
basis, except for law enforcement grants allocated in accordance with
paragraph (3) of subdivision (b).
(2) Be developed with public input, including focus groups.
(3) Require applications to be in accordance with local or federal
plans and the strategic plan for off-highway motor vehicle
recreation prepared by the division.
(4) Require grant applicants to comply with the California
Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000)). Applicants for cooperative agreements shall complete
environmental review procedures that are at least comparable to those
of the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing
with Section 21000)).
(5) Require the applicant to agree to provide matching funds or
the equivalent value of services or material used, in an amount not
less than 25 percent of the total project cost.
(6) Require the applicant, if it is a city or county, to disclose
how fees collected pursuant to Section 38230 of the Vehicle Code are
being used and whether the use of these fees complements the
applicant's project.
(7) Fund all eligible applications to the extent feasible.
(e) All grants and cooperative agreements involving ground
disturbing activities shall be subject to the uniform application of
soil and wildlife habitat protection standards specified in Section
5090.53.
(f) Grants may be awarded to educational institutions and
nonprofit organizations. Eligible projects shall be limited to
scientific research, natural resource conservation activities, trail
and facility maintenance, restoration, and programs involving
off-highway motor vehicle safety or education. If the application for
grant funds involves activities on any public lands, all of the
following shall apply:
(1) The applicant shall include a work plan for the project.
(2) The applicant shall provide written permission from the
appropriate land manager to conduct a project, including a
description of how the project fits with the land management goals of
the area.
(3) The applicant shall provide matching funds or the equivalent
value of volunteer services or material used, in an amount not less
than 25 percent of the total project cost.
(4) The applicant shall be fiscally responsible for adhering to
the terms and conditions of the grants.
(g) The deputy director of the division shall not participate in
the scoring of grants or cooperative agreements.
(h) The department shall conduct an annual financial audit of the
grants and cooperative agreements program. During each year, the
department shall also conduct, or cause to be conducted, an audit of
the performance of a minimum of 20 percent of grant and cooperative
agreement recipients.
(i) The division shall establish an administrative appeal process
as part of the grants and cooperative agreements program. At a
minimum, this process shall do all of the following:
(1) Give applicants the right to appeal on the following grounds:
(A) The division failed to follow regulations established for the
award of grants and cooperative agreements.
(B) The division lacked sufficient factual evidence to support or
deny the award of a grant or cooperative agreement.
(2) Require the applicant to first appeal to the deputy director
of the division. If that appeal is denied, the applicant may then
appeal to the director of the division, or the director's appointee.
(3) Require applicants to file their first appeal within 30
calendar days following the notice of award or denial of a grant or
cooperative agreement. Notice of the decision or the rejection of the
appeal shall be issued within 60 days following the filing of an
appeal.
(4) Require applicants to exhaust these appeal rights prior to
seeking other legal remedies through the courts.
(j) A grant shall not be made, nor a cooperative agreement entered
into, pursuant to this section without the approval of the director.

5090.53. No funds may be granted or expended pursuant to Section
5090.50, unless all of the following conditions are met:
(a) If the project involves a ground disturbing activity, the
recipient has completed wildlife habitat and soil surveys and has
prepared a wildlife habitat protection program to sustain a viable
species composition for the project area.
(b) If the project involves a ground disturbing activity, the
recipient agrees to monitor the condition of soils and wildlife in
the project area each year in order to determine whether the soil
conservation standards adopted pursuant to Section 5090.35 and the
wildlife habitat protection program prepared pursuant to subdivision
(a) are being met.
(c) If the project involves a ground disturbing activity, the
recipient agrees that, whenever the soil conservation standards
adopted pursuant to Section 5090.35 are not being met in any portion
of a project area, the recipient shall close temporarily that
noncompliant portion, to repair and prevent accelerated erosion,
until the same soil conservation standards adopted pursuant to
Section 5090.35 are met.
(d) If the project involves a ground disturbing activity, the
recipient agrees that, whenever the wildlife habitat protection
program prepared pursuant to subdivision (a) is not being met in any
portion of a project area, the recipient shall close temporarily that
noncompliant portion until the same wildlife habitat protection
program prepared pursuant to subdivision (a) is met.
(e) The recipient agrees to enforce the registration of
off-highway motor vehicles and the other provisions of Division 16.5
(commencing with Section 38000) of the Vehicle Code and to enforce
the other applicable laws regarding the operation of off-highway
motor vehicles.
(f) The recipient agrees to cooperate with appropriate law
enforcement entities to provide proper law enforcement at and around
the facility.
(g) The recipient has identified the potential for the facility to
reduce illegal and unauthorized off-highway motor vehicle recreation
activities in the surrounding areas.
(h) The recipient has included in its application a description of
how it is meeting the operations and maintenance needs of any
existing off-highway motor vehicle recreation facility under its
jurisdiction.