SECTIONS 5819-5819.8 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 5819-5819.8

5819. Unless the context requires otherwise, the following
definitions govern this chapter:
(a) "Acquisition" means obtaining fee title or a lesser interest
in real property, including an easement, development right, or water
right.
(b) "Development" includes, but is not limited to, improvement,
rehabilitation, restoration, enhancement, preservation, protection,
and interpretation.
(c) "Interpretation" includes, but is not limited to, visitor
serving amenities that communicate the significance and value of
natural, historical, and cultural resources in a manner that
increases understanding of those resources.
(d) "Nonprofit organization" means a private, nonprofit
organization that qualifies for exempt status under paragraph (3) of
subsection (c) Section 501 of Title 26 of the United States Code.
(e) "Program" means the Sierra Nevada-Cascade Conservation Grant
Program established pursuant to this chapter.
(f) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Resources Agency.
(g) "Sierra Nevada-Cascade Mountain Region" or "region" has the
meaning set forth in subdivision (e) of Section 5096.347.

5819.1. (a) This chapter establishes the Sierra Nevada-Cascade
Conservation Grant Program in the Resources Agency.
(b) The secretary shall administer the program.
(c) The program applies only in the Sierra Nevada-Cascade Mountain
Region.

5819.2. (a) The secretary shall administer the program consistent
with authorized funding, and collaborate and cooperate with local
governments and interested parties.
(b) The purposes of the program include all of the following:
(1) Providing increased opportunities for tourism and recreation
in the region.
(2) Protecting water quality in the region from degradation.
(3) Reducing the risk of natural disasters, such as fire, in the
region.
(4) Protecting, conserving, and restoring the region's physical,
cultural, archaeological, and historical resources.
(5) Assisting the region's economy, including providing increased
economic opportunities.
(6) Identifying the highest priority projects and initiatives in
the region for which funding is needed.
(7) Enhancing public use and enjoyment of land in the region that
is owned by the state or a local government.
(8) Supporting efforts that advance, in a complementary manner,
environmental preservation of the region and the economic well-being
of the region's residents.
(9) Helping to preserve working landscapes in the region.
(10) Supporting local government efforts to develop and implement
open space and habitat protection plans, including natural community
conservation plans, in the region.

5819.3. (a) The secretary may undertake projects and activities to
further the purposes identified in Section 5819.2. Those projects and
activities may include providing grants and loans to public agencies
and nonprofit organizations for acquisition, restoration,
development, and other activities and projects, that are necessary to
meet the purposes identified in Section 5819.2. The projects and
activities undertaken by the secretary, including the providing of
grants and loans, shall be consistent with any restrictions related
to the source of moneys that are used to fund those activities and
projects.
(b) In administering this chapter, the secretary shall collaborate
and cooperate with the city or county in which a grant is proposed
to be used or an interest in land is proposed to be acquired.

5819.4. To implement Section 79544 of the Water Code, the secretary
may provide grants to local public agencies, local water districts,
and nonprofit organizations, for acquisition in the region pursuant
to this chapter and consistent with Section 79544 of the Water Code,
only for the following purposes:
(a) Acquiring agricultural, forest, or grazing land, or other
working landscapes, to prevent conversion of that land to uses that
could decrease water quality in the region and degrade habitat
values, or to convert that land to uses that could improve water
quality in the region and habitat.
(b) Acquiring land adjacent to or affecting rivers, streams,
lakes, or wetlands, that, if not protected, could lead to a decrease
in water quality in the region.
(c) Purchasing water rights that will protect both water quality
and in stream flow, in the region, for resource protection.
(d) Acquiring land that mitigates or prevents current or
anticipated management practices that contribute to water quality
degradation in the region.

5819.5. The secretary shall require an applicant for a grant for
land or water resource acquisition to include in the grant
application a proposal for the long-term management of the resource
that the applicant proposes to acquire. The applicant shall identify
the entity that will hold title to the resource, including any state
or federal agency to which title may be transferred after
acquisition, and the entity that will be responsible for managing and
protecting the water quality value of the resource.

5819.6. An acquisition made pursuant to this chapter shall be from
a willing seller.

5819.7. All regulations, criteria, and procedural guides that the
secretary adopts to implement this chapter are exempt from Chapter
3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title
2 of the Government Code.

5819.8. It is the intent of the Legislature to provide in any
legislation that establishes a Sierra Nevada Conservancy an
appropriate transition from the program established by this chapter
within the Resources Agency to the new conservancy.