17607.
(a) The department and the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Office of Planning and Research, the Division of the State Architect, the Office of Public School Construction, and any other appropriate state entities, as determined by the department and the Natural Resources Agency, shall facilitate an interagency and stakeholder engagement process to prepare, on or before December 1, 2024, a master plan for green schoolyards. The master plan shall do all of the following:(1) Recommend a definition for green schoolyard.
(2) Inventory and map in-need education facilities in the state, categorized according to the level vulnerability of those facilities to extreme heat.
(3) Recommend a statewide goal for the number of schools with green schoolyards to be achieved by a specified date. This goal shall prioritize green schoolyards for in-need education facilities that are the most vulnerable to extreme heat, as identified in paragraph (2).
(4) Identify barriers to planning, designing, constructing, implementing, and maintaining green schoolyards.
(5) Recommend strategies to overcome the barriers identified in paragraph (4).
(6) Identify recommendations and best practices to prevent or mitigate the impacts of extreme heat in schools, including through nature-based solutions, such as increasing tree canopy cover, vegetation, and green space, and by modifying, removing, or replacing surfaces and materials to increase solar reflectance, promote evaporative cooling, increase permeability, or reduce the amount of heat absorbed.
(7) Identify recommendations and best practices to maximize cobenefits, including greenhouse gas reductions, biodiversity, air and water quality, flood and stormwater management, recreation, and public health.
(8) Identify recommendations and best practices to support the long-term success and sustainability of school greening projects, including through the use of native vegetation, drought-tolerant vegetation, and storm-tolerant vegetation, and recommendations and best practices for the long-term care and maintenance of the trees, vegetation, and green space.
(9) Recommend how to support equitable implementation of and outcomes from school greening funding, programs, projects, and practices.
(10) Promote school greening projects that occur within school areas used by pupils, including, but not limited to, areas used for recreation, recess, lunch, or instruction outdoors.
(b) (1) The department and the Natural Resources Agency shall, on or before December 1, 2024, submit the master plan for green schoolyards to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature.
(2) The requirement for submitting the master plan imposed pursuant to paragraph (1) is inoperative on December 1, 2028, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
(c) (1) The Natural Resources Agency shall incorporate the recommendations and best practices from the master plan for green schoolyards into the guidelines for the Urban Greening Program established pursuant to Section 12802.10 of the Government Code.
(2) The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shall incorporate the recommendations and best practices from the master plan for green schoolyards into the guidelines for the school greening component of the Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program established in Section 4799.12 of the Public Resources Code.
(3) The Department of Parks and Recreation shall incorporate the recommendations and best practices from the master plan for green schoolyards into the guidelines for the Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program established pursuant to Section 5643 of the Public Resources Code.
(d) The master plan for green schoolyards shall be advisory for local educational agencies.
(e) The Natural Resources Agency may designate a department under its jurisdiction to fulfill its responsibility to prepare the master plan for green schoolyards.
(f) For the purpose of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “In-need education facility” means a schoolsite of a local educational agency in which either of the following apply:
(A) A schoolsite located in a disadvantaged community, as identified in Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code, or a low-income community, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 39713 of the Health and Safety Code.
(B) A schoolsite in which 70 percent or more of the pupils are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, as defined in Section 42238.01.
(2) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school that maintains a kindergarten or any of the grades 1 to 12, inclusive.