SECTIONS 9960-9965 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 9960-9965

9960. The following definitions shall govern the interpretation of
this chapter:
(a) "Suisun Marsh" means the Suisun Marsh as defined in Section
29101.
(b) "Primary management area" means the primary management area as
defined in Section 29102.
(c) "Suisun Marsh Protection Plan" means the plan identified and
defined in Section 29113.
(d) "District" means the Suisun Resource Conservation District.
(e) "Board" means the board of directors of the district.
(f) "Individual ownership" means a separate privately owned parcel
of land within the primary management area. Contiguous parcels of
land owned by the same legal entity comprise a single individual
ownership.
(g) "Department" means the Department of Fish and Game.

9961. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this chapter, the
organization, powers, and functions of the district shall be governed
by the provisions of this division.

9962. (a) The district shall have primary local responsibility for
regulating and improving water management practices on privately
owned lands within the primary management area of the Suisun Marsh in
conformity with Division 19 (commencing with Section 29000) and the
Suisun Marsh Protection Plan.
(b) The district shall issue regulations requiring compliance with
any water management plan or program for privately owned lands
within the primary management area if the plan or program has been
prepared by the district and approved and certified by the San
Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission as a component
of the local protection program required by Chapter 6 (commencing
with Section 29500) of Division 19.
(c) Following certification of the district's component of the
local protection program by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and
Development Commission, the board or its employees may, after
approval by a vote of four-fifths of the membership of the board,
obtain an inspection warrant pursuant to Title 13 (commencing with
Section 1822.50) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure and enter
onto privately owned lands within the primary management area for the
purpose of determining whether or not the landowner is complying
with the regulations of the district. Following a determination that
a landowner is violating the regulations, and after written notice to
the landowner, the board may request the District Attorney of the
County of Solano to take appropriate action.
(d) The first violation by any person of any district regulation
adopted pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be subject to a civil
penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500). A subsequent
violation of the same district regulation by the same person shall be
subject to a civil penalty not to exceed five thousand dollars
($5,000).
(e) The civil penalties prescribed in this section shall be
assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the
people of the State of California by the District Attorney of the
County of Solano. Such an action shall take precedence over all other
civil matters on the calendar, except those matters to which equal
precedence on the calendar is granted by law. Any penalty collected
under this section shall be paid to the Treasurer of the County of
Solano and shall be credited one-half to the county general fund and
one-half to the district.

9963. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 9803, the formation
of an improvement district within the primary management area may be
proposed and the petition therefor may be signed by a majority of
the members of the board. Thereafter, proceedings with regard to the
formation of the proposed improvement district shall be in accordance
with Sections 9804 through 9821, inclusive. However, wherever
"petition" is used in those provisions, it shall be deemed to refer
to the petition of the majority of the members of the board; and,
notwithstanding Section 9817, the petition shall not be required to
be dismissed unless more than one-half of the holders of title to the
real property within the proposed improvement district object to its
formation or the levy of the proposed assessment.

9964. The district may, with the consent of the owner, levy special
assessments on the lands of the consenting owner within the district
pursuant to the Municipal Improvement Act of 1913 (Division 12
(commencing with Section 10000) of the Streets and Highways Code) or
the Improvement Act of 1911 (Division 7 (commencing with Section
5000) of the Streets and Highways Code) and issue bonds to represent
unpaid assessments pursuant to the Improvement Act of 1911 or the
Improvement Bond Act of 1915 (Division 10 (commencing with Section
8500) of the Streets and Highways Code) to finance the construction
of improvements on those lands as provided by Section 9409.
Notwithstanding any provisions of Division 7 (commencing with
Section 5000) or Division 12 (commencing with Section 10000) of the
Streets and Highways Code, the district may contract for the
construction of these improvements without inviting public bids
therefor.

9965. (a) The Legislature finds that compliance with the mandated
regulations of the district will produce public benefits by improving
wildlife habitat in the primary management area and that providing
public funds to partially offset the costs of complying with those
regulations would serve a valid public purpose. Assistance under this
section shall not be treated as taxable income to a private
landowner.
(b) Each year the district shall submit to the department an
estimate of an amount sufficient to reimburse the private landowners
in the primary management area for 50 percent of the operation and
maintenance costs which it anticipates they will incur the following
fiscal year in carrying out this chapter and Division 19 (commencing
with Section 29000). Funds for this purpose shall not exceed five
thousand dollars ($5,000) per individual ownership. The funds shall
be included in the budget of the department payable from the Wildlife
Restoration Fund and shall be available to the department for
disbursement to the private landowners in accordance with subdivision
(c).
(c) Each fiscal year, any private landowner in the primary
management area who desires to qualify for the assistance provided by
this section shall, by December 31, submit to the district a claim
for those costs incurred that calendar year in carrying out the
operation and maintenance activities specified in that landowner's
individual ownership management program. Each claim shall be
accompanied by substantiating documents, as determined by the
district. The district shall review each claim to determine its
appropriateness by, including, but not limited to, an onsite
inspection to establish that the physical improvements or management
procedures for which a claim is submitted have been satisfactorily
completed. The district shall submit the individual ownership claims
to the department for review and approval for payment equal to 50
percent of each claim. However, no payment shall exceed five thousand
dollars ($5,000). In any fiscal year in which the funds appropriated
for purposes of this section are insufficient to pay 50 percent of
each claim, the department shall pay all approved claims on a pro
rata basis. In any fiscal year in which no funds are appropriated for
purposes of this section, the department shall pay no claims.