SECTIONS 8700-8716 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 8700-8716

8700. This division shall be known and may be cited as the School
Land Bank Act.

8701. Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in
this section govern the construction of this division.
(a) "Commission" means the State Lands Commission.
(b) "Fund" means the School Land Bank Fund.
(c) "Trustee" means the State Lands Commission acting in its role
as trustee for the School Land Bank Fund.
(d) "School Land" means land or interests in land granted to the
state by an Act of Congress March 3, 1853 (Ch. 145, 10 Stat. 244),
for the specific purpose of providing support for the public schools.

8702. The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) Past policies of the state have resulted in significant
depletion of the inventory of lands granted by the federal government
to provide fiscal support for the public school system.
(b) It is essential that all remaining school lands and attendant
interests be managed and enhanced to provide an economic base for
support of the public school system.
(c) The commission shall plan and implement all transactions,
including exchanges, sales, and acquisitions which would facilitate
the management of school land interests for revenue generating
purposes.
(d) The state, through the commission, shall take all action
necessary to fully develop school lands, indemnity interests, and
attendant mineral interests into a permanent and productive resource
base.
(e) It is in the best interest of the state that school lands be
managed as a revenue source and it is the intent of the Legislature
that fair market value be a primary criterion in determining if
proposed uses or dispositions of land should be approved.
(f) The consolidation of school land parcels into contiguous
holdings is essential to sound and effective management and the power
to acquire lands by exchange or purchase is elemental to the
consolidation process.

8703. Acquisitions may be made by negotiated agreement with, or
purchase from, the owners of the outstanding interests. Nothing in
this division confers any authority to exercise the power of eminent
domain for the purposes of this division, although that power is
statutorily vested in the commission.

8704. The trustee shall make all reasonable attempts to acquire the
mineral and other subsurface rights in any acquisition pursuant to
this division. If the trustee is unable to acquire the mineral and
other subsurface rights, the trustee may purchase real property upon
the trustee expressly finding that the benefits to be derived from
the acquisition are substantial and that acquisition of the property
without the subsurface rights is in the best interests of the state
for the purposes set forth in this division.

8705. The trustee has the exclusive jurisdiction and authority to
administer the fund and the interest in real property acquired
pursuant to this division, including the selection, acquisition, and
conveyance of real property by the trustee as provided in this
division.

8706. The state, in its sovereign capacity, shall accept any
conveyance, and the land shall thereafter be held by the state as
land of the legal character of school lands subject to the school
land trust under the jurisdiction of the commission pursuant to
Division 6 (commencing with Section 6001).

8707. The commission shall accept the conveyances on the part of
the state and shall authorize their acknowledgment and recordation.

8708. Until expended for acquisitions in accordance with this
division, moneys in the fund shall be deposited in the Pooled Money
Investment Fund and the interest deposited in the fund.

8709. In addition to the purchase price to be paid, the costs and
expenses attributable to the acquisition may be payable from the
fund, provided that those costs shall not exceed 5 percent of the
expended funds.

8709.5. Expenses attributable to management and remediation efforts
on state school lands are payable from the fund.

8710. An action under this division is not subject to the
California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with
Section 21000)), the Subdivision Map Act (Division 2 (commencing with
Section 66410) of Title 7 of the Government Code), or the Property
Acquisition Law (Part 11 (commencing with Section 15850) of Division
3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

8711. There is in the State Treasury the School Land Bank Fund,
which is hereby created. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the
Government Code, all moneys in the fund are appropriated to the
commission for expenditure, without regard to fiscal years, for the
purposes of this division. When performing the powers and duties set
forth in this division, the commission shall be known as the School
Land Bank Trustee.

8712. The trustee may acquire real property or any interest in real
property with the objective of facilitating management of school
lands for the purpose of generating revenue.

8713. The trustee shall act only at an open, scheduled public
meeting, subject to all provisions of Division 6 (commencing with
Section 6001) relating to meetings of the commission. The trustee may
combine its meeting with the meetings of the commission.

8715. The provisions of this division are not intended as
exclusive, and shall not restrict the commission in otherwise meeting
any other responsibilities and jurisdiction the commission presently
has by law.

8716. The trustee may accept gifts of real property or money for
the purposes of this division.