SECTIONS 5810-5818.2 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 5810-5818.2

5810. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the
Keene-Nejedly California Wetlands Preservation Act.

5811. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The remaining wetlands of this state are of increasingly
critical economic, aesthetic, and scientific value to the people of
California, and that the need exists for an affirmative and sustained
public policy and program directed at their preservation,
restoration, and enhancement, in order that wetlands shall continue
in perpetuity to meet the needs of the people.
(b) Although the state established a specific plan in 1979 for the
protection, acquisition, restoration, preservation, and management
of wetlands to be implemented through the year 2000, a need to update
this plan now exists, and the process should include the
identification of priorities for wetland conservation through the
year 2020.
(c) California has established a successful program of regional,
cooperative efforts to protect, acquire, restore, preserve, and
manage wetlands. These programs include, but are not limited to, the
Central Valley Habitat Joint Venture, the San Francisco Bay Joint
Venture, the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project, and the
Inter-Mountain West Joint Venture. These public-private partnerships,
wherever practicable, shall be the primary means of achieving the
objectives of this chapter.
(d) Active and voluntary involvement by private landowners in
wetlands conservation, restoration, and enhancement contributes
significantly to the long-term availability and productivity of
wetlands in the state.
(e) With the passage of Propositions 12 and 13 in March 2000, the
people of California have provided the state with unprecedented
financial resources to acquire, restore, preserve, and manage
wetlands. There is a pressing need for state agencies that are
responsible for wetlands conservation to develop and disseminate a
wetlands conservation strategy for review by the general public, for
use by the Legislature in the annual budget process, for use by local
public agencies in pursuing local and regional wetlands conservation
programs, and for use by state agencies updating existing programs
for acquiring, restoring, preserving, and managing wetlands
resources.

5812. As used in this chapter, unless the context clearly requires
a different meaning, the following terms mean:
(a) "Agency" means the Resources Agency.
(b) "Departments" means the Department of Parks and Recreation,
the Department of Fish and Game, and the California Coastal
Conservancy.

5813. (a) Nothing in this chapter abrogates or supersedes any
existing local, state, or federal law or policy pertaining to
wetlands, or establishes maximum or minimum standards or any other
requirement for wetlands fill or mitigation. Additionally, nothing in
this chapter shall be construed to create any new legal obligations
for private landowners, or for lands owned by the United States
Department of Defense, for wetlands inventories, wetlands management
requirements, or any other regulatory requirements pertaining to
wetlands use or conversion.
(b) Any of the departments may acquire interests in real property
less than the fee, including, but not limited to, acquisition of
development rights, when it determines that acquisition of the lesser
interest will accomplish the purposes of this chapter in furthering
the public's interest in the protection, preservation, restoration,
and enhancement of wetlands.

5814. (a) The agency shall update all of the state's existing
wetlands inventory resources in order to prepare a study to
accomplish the following goals:
(1) To identify the restoration and enhancement opportunities in
the state for wetlands in public ownership.
(2) To identify means of protecting and enhancing existing
wetlands in public ownership and to identify additional recreational
benefits and opportunities that are compatible with the primary goal
of maximizing the habitat value of wetlands.
(3) To identify opportunities for voluntary public-private
partnerships for wetlands restoration, enhancement, and management on
private lands.
(4) To identify those wetlands of particular significance in the
state that are not currently in public ownership for which there is
believed to be a willing seller.
(5) To identify additional recreational benefits that can be
provided on existing, restored, or newly created wetlands in public
ownership or for which there is a cooperative agreement for public
use by a private landowner and a local, state, or federal agency.
(6) To provide a basis for the inclusion of wetlands data and
information in the California Continuing Resources Investment
Strategy Project (CCRISP), which was funded in the Budget Act of
2000.
(7) To identify, utilizing existing resources, wetlands on lands
owned by federal agencies in California and those wetlands that are
protected by existing wetlands management and conservation mandates
imposed by federal law.
(8) To identify, in conjunction with the Office of Planning and
Research, those instances where lead agencies have adopted mitigation
measures pursuant to Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000), or
natural community conservation plans prepared pursuant to Chapter 10
(commencing with Section 2800) of the Fish and Game Code, that
utilize or reference wetland resources located on lands owned by the
United States Department of Defense.
(b) The agency shall consult and cooperate with counties cities,
other appropriate state and federal agencies with an interest in
wetlands resources, and willing landowners in conducting the study.
The study shall be submitted to the Legislature not later than
January 1, 2003, and shall set forth, for consideration by the
Legislature, a plan for the acquisition, protection, preservation,
restoration, and enhancement of wetlands, including funding
requirements and the priority status of specific proposed wetlands
projects.

5815. The agency, in preparing the wetlands priority plan and
program pursuant to Section 5814, shall give particular recognition
to the conservation, recreation, and open-space plans and programs of
local agencies, and shall, wherever feasible and appropriate,
identify and devise cooperative means for planning and for the
protection and preservation of wetlands by local agencies.

5815.5. In compiling data for the wetlands inventory required by
Section 5814, the agency and the departments shall, as a first
priority, rely on existing sources of information and data. If the
agency determines that ground surveys are needed to supplement or
correct aerial and satellite imagery, the agency and the department
shall obtain the permission of any private landowner before entering
his or her property to gather information to complete the wetlands
inventory.

5816. The agency shall give particular recognition to opportunities
for protecting and preserving wetlands lying within, or adjacent to,
existing units of the state park system or other state-owned lands
protected and managed primarily as wildlife habitat.

5817. Any of the departments may enter into operating agreements
with cities, counties, and districts for the management and control
of wetlands, or interests in wetlands, acquired pursuant to this
chapter. However, any agreement shall ensure the protection and
preservation of the wetlands and ensure the right of use and
enjoyment of the wetlands by the people of the state. Further, any
agreement entered into by the Department of Fish and Game pursuant to
this section shall provide that public use of lands and waters
subject to the agreement shall be in accordance with regulations
adopted by the Fish and Game Commission.

5818. All acquisitions made pursuant to this chapter shall be
subject to the Property Acquisition Law (Part 11 (commencing with
Section 15850), Division 3, Title 2 of the Government Code).

5818.1. The Coastal Wetlands Fund is hereby established in the
State Treasury and shall be an interest-bearing fund administered by
the Department of Fish and Game.

5818.2. (a) (1) The funds in the Coastal Wetlands Fund may be
expended by the Department of Fish and Game and the State Coastal
Conservancy, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the
maintenance of coastal wetlands property owned by the state, a
conservancy of the state, a local government agency, or a nonprofit
organization.
(2) The funds in the Coastal Wetlands Fund may be expended by the
state pursuant to this section in the form of grants.
(3) An applicant may apply to the State Coastal Conservancy for a
grant pursuant to the grant application procedures in Division 21
(commencing with Section 31000) to perform maintenance of coastal
wetlands property owned by the state, a conservancy of the state, a
local government agency, or a nonprofit organization.
(b) The Department of Fish and Game and the State Coastal
Conservancy may accept contributions to the Coastal Wetlands Fund.
The sources of contributions that may be accepted include, but are
not limited to, private individuals and organizations, nonprofit
organizations, and federal, state, and local agencies including
special districts. The contributions accepted may include moneys
identified pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act
(Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)) or the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.) as
acceptable mitigation for development projects. The Department of
Fish and Game and the State Coastal Conservancy shall deposit a
contribution accepted pursuant to this subdivision in the Coastal
Wetlands Fund, subject to the requirements of Section 5818.1.