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AB-1303 Urban greening.(2007-2008)

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Amended  IN  Assembly  April 30, 2007
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 09, 2007

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2007–2008 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1303

Introduced  by  Assembly Member Smyth

February 23, 2007

An act to add Section 32654.5 to, and to add Chapter 1.56 (commencing with Section 5095.30) to Division 5 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to urban greening.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1303, as amended, Smyth. Urban greening.

(1)Under

Under existing law, programs have been established pursuant to bond acts for, among other things, the development and enhancement of state and local parks and recreational facilities.
The Safe Drinking Water, Water Quality and Supply, Flood Control, River and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2006, an initiative statute approved by the voters at the November 7, 2006, statewide general election, among other things, makes $580,000,000 in bond funds available for improving the sustainability and livability of the state’s communities through investment in natural resources. The initiative requires $90,000,000 of those bond funds to be available for urban greening projects that reduce energy consumption, conserve water, improve air and water quality, and provide other community benefits, and requires implementing legislation to provide for planning grants for urban greening programs.
This bill would require the Department of Parks and Recreation, consistent with those provisions of the initiative, to establish a local assistance program to offer grants, on a competitive basis, to an eligible city, county, or district authorized to provide park, recreational, or open-space services, or a combination of those services. The bill would require the department, in evaluating an application for a grant, to assign higher priority to an application based on satisfying specified criteria.
The bill would authorize the department to implement the program only in a fiscal year for which funding is provided for this purpose in the annual Budget Act.

(2)Existing law, until January 1, 2010, establishes the San Diego River Conservancy in the Resources Agency. Existing law provides for the conservancy’s powers and duties.

This bill would require the conservancy to create an urban greening program for urban greening projects that reduce energy consumption, conserve water, improve air and water quality, and provide other community benefits, and would specify the projects to which the conservancy is required to give priority.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Chapter 1.56 (commencing with Section 5095.30) is added to Division 5 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
CHAPTER  1.56. Urban Greening Act of 2007

5095.30.
 This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Urban Greening Act of 2007.

5095.31.
 The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:
(a) The program created by this chapter will finance urban greening in the neighborhoods most in need of trees and foliage.
(b) Urban greening will improve the quality of life, reduce air pollution, save energy, and help to reduce global warming.

5095.32.
 As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) “City” means a city or a city and county.
(b) “District” means a regional park district, regional park and open-space district, or regional open-space district formed pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 5500), or a recreation and park district formed pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 5780).
(c) “Nonprofit organization” means a nonprofit public benefit corporation formed pursuant to the Nonprofit Corporation Law (Division 2 (commencing with Section 5000) of the Corporations Code), qualified to do business in California, qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code, and that has among its primary purposes the preservation, protection, or enhancement of land or water resources in their natural, scenic, historical, agricultural, forested, or open-space condition or use, or the provision of conservation and environmental education and other recreational, vocational, and educational services to urban youth.
(d) “School district” means a school district of any kind or class, except a community college district, and as further defined pursuant to Sections 80 to 87, inclusive, of the Education Code.
(e) “Urbanized county” means a county with a population of 200,000 175,000 or more, as determined by the Department of Finance on the basis of the most recent verifiable census data.

5095.33.
 Consistent with subdivision (a) of Section 75065, the department shall establish a local assistance program to offer grants, on a competitive basis, to an eligible city, county, or district authorized to provide park, recreational, or open-space services, or a combination of those services.

5095.34.
 The following entities are eligible to apply for grants pursuant to this chapter:
(a) An urbanized county.
(b) A city or district, irrespective of population, in an urbanized county.

5095.35.
 The department may award a grant pursuant to this chapter only for a project that is within the jurisdiction of an eligible applicant, as specified in Section 5095.34.

5095.36.
 In evaluating an application for a grant that meets the requirements of Section 5095.35, the department shall assign higher priority to an application, for each of the following criteria satisfied:
(a) The amount of the grant sought, plus any locally contributed amount, will meet the cost of the project, and will be fully usable by the residents of the project’s area.
(b) The project provides multiple benefits.
(c) The project will reduce energy consumption, conserve water, improve air and water quality, and provide other community benefits.
(d) The project uses existing public lands.
(e) The project serves a community with the greatest need for urban greening.
(f) The project facilitates the joint use of public resources and investments, including schools.
(g) The project involves partnerships between the applicant and one or more of the following entities:
(1) Volunteer groups.
(2) Local service organizations.
(3) Nonprofit organizations.
(4) California Conservation Corps.
(5) Certified local conservation corps.
(6) School districts.
(h) The development phase of the project was planned with public input from the affected community.

5095.37.
 (a) The department shall adopt guidelines to amplify or clarify the criteria specified in Section 5095.36, and may adopt additional criteria, to supplement those criteria, but the scope of the additional criteria shall be limited to providing additional guidance in selecting projects in areas that have the greatest deficiencies in urban greening.
(b) The department shall develop a procedural guide for the administration of this chapter and the guidance of applicants.
(c) The department shall solicit written comments and hold public hearings at convenient locations throughout the state on guidelines or a procedural guide that is proposed to be adopted or developed pursuant to this section.
(d) Guidelines or a procedural guide adopted or developed pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the review or approval of the Office of Administrative Law or to any other requirement of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(e) The department shall not expend more than 5 percent of the amount annually appropriated for the purposes of this chapter for administrative costs of the grant program.

5095.38.
 (a) An applicant for a grant shall agree to comply with all of the following requirements:
(1) To operate and maintain the property developed so that it is usable by residents of the project’s area. With the approval of the department, the grant recipient, or its successor in interest of the property, may transfer its property interest and the responsibility to operate and maintain the property, in accordance with the terms of the grant and any applicable law, to a public agency that is able to operate and maintain the property in perpetuity. Any attempt to make a transfer in violation of this paragraph is void.
(2) To use the property only for the purposes for which the grant was made and to make no other use or sale or other disposition of the property, except as expressly authorized by a specific provision of law. If the use of the property is changed to a use that is not permitted by the terms of the grant, or if the property is sold or otherwise disposed of, the grant recipient shall reimburse the state an amount equal to the amount of the grant, the fair market value of the land and any improvements constructed with the grant, or the proceeds from the sale or other disposition, whichever amount is greatest. If the property that is sold or otherwise disposed of is less than the entire interest in the property funded with the grant, the grant recipient shall reimburse the state an amount equal to either the proceeds from the sale or other disposition of the interest or the fair market value of the interest sold or otherwise disposed of, whichever amount is greater.
(b) In lieu of seeking reimbursement pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), the department may impose restrictions on the use of public park property identical to the requirements for the preservation of public parks set forth in the Public Park Preservation Act of 1971 (Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 5400)) with respect to any property used, sold, or otherwise disposed of in a manner not permitted by the terms of the grant.

5095.39.
 A grant recipient shall encumber grant moneys within three years of the date of appropriation, and liquidate the funds within eight years of the date of appropriation.

5095.40.
 Except as provided in Section 5095.41, the department shall implement this chapter in no less than five fiscal years over a 10-fiscal-year period.

5095.41.
 The department may implement this chapter only in a fiscal year for which funding is provided for this purpose in the annual Budget Act.

SEC. 2.Section 32654.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:
32654.5.

Within its jurisdiction, the conservancy shall create an urban greening program for urban greening projects that reduce energy consumption, conserve water, improve air and water quality, and provide other community benefits. The conservancy shall give priority to projects that provide multiple benefits, use existing public lands, serve communities with the greatest need, and facilitate the joint use of public resources and investments, including schools.