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AB-1284 Tribal ancestral lands and waters: cogovernance and comanagement agreements.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 09/30/2024 02:00 PM
AB1284:v93#DOCUMENT

Assembly Bill No. 1284
CHAPTER 657

An act to add Sections 6502.3 and 11019.82 to the Government Code, relating to Native American tribes.

[ Approved by Governor  September 27, 2024. Filed with Secretary of State  September 27, 2024. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1284, Ramos. Tribal ancestral lands and waters: cogovernance and comanagement agreements.
(1) Existing law governs various interactions between the state and federally recognized Native American tribes within the state. Existing law encourages and authorizes all state agencies, as defined, to cooperate with federally recognized California Indian tribes on matters of economic development and improvement for the tribes.
Existing law provides that the Legislature encourages the State of California and its agencies to consult on a government-to-government basis with federally recognized tribes and to consult with nonfederally recognized tribes and tribal organizations, as appropriate, in order to allow tribal officials the opportunity to provide meaningful and timely input in the development of policies, processes, programs, and projects that have tribal implications. Existing law provides that the Legislature encourages the state and its agencies to consult with a federally recognized tribe, at the tribe’s request for a government-to-government consultation on a specified agency action, within 60 days of the request.
This bill would provide that the Legislature encourages the Natural Resources Agency, and its departments, boards, conservancies, and commissions, to enter into cogovernance and comanagement agreements with federally recognized tribes. The bill would authorize the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency or a delegate to enter into cogovernance and comanagement agreements with federally recognized tribes for the purposes of shared responsibility, decisionmaking, and partnership in resource management and conservation within a tribe’s ancestral lands and waters, and would require the secretary or a delegate to be the signatory for these agreements. The bill would authorize the secretary or a delegate, as provided, and within 90 days of a federally recognized tribe’s request, to begin government-to-government negotiations on cogovernance and comanagement agreements with the tribe.
(2) Existing law provides that 2 or more public agencies, by agreement, may form a joint powers authority to exercise any power common to the contracting parties, as specified.
For purposes of cogovernance and comanagement agreements entered into pursuant to the provisions described in paragraph (1), this bill would deem powers exercisable by any public agency that is not a federally recognized tribe to be common to a contracting federally recognized tribe.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) California’s Native Americans have always been the stewards of California’s land and waters.
(b) California’s Native Americans have distinct cultural, spiritual, environmental, economic, and public health interests, and hold indigenous traditional knowledge relating to natural systems in California.
(c) Federally recognized tribes in California have the sovereign governance authority to enter into agreements with other sovereigns.
(d) Executive Order No. N-15-19 acknowledges and apologizes on behalf of the State of California for the historical “violence, exploitation, dispossession and attempted destruction of tribal communities” and the subsequent removal of California Native Americans from their ancestral lands.
(e) Executive Order No. N-15-19 reaffirms and incorporates by reference the principle of government-to-government engagement established by Executive Order No. B-10-11 and the state’s commitment to strengthening effective government-to-government relationships with tribes.
(f) Executive Order No. B-10-11 recognizes and reaffirms the inherent right of California’s Native American tribes to exercise sovereign authority over their members and territory.
(g) Governor Newsom’s Statement of Administration Policy on Native American Ancestral Lands seeks “opportunities to support California tribe’s co-management of and access to” lands that are within tribal ancestral territories and under the ownership or control of the state.
(h) The purpose of the Statement of Administration Policy on Native American Ancestral Lands is to partner with tribes to, among other things, facilitate comanagement and support tribal self-determination and self-governance.
(i) California’s 30x30 Initiative is committed to strengthening tribal partnerships, including the development of opportunities for “meaningful and mutually beneficial tribal management and tribal co-management within new and existing state lands, marine waters, and private lands, through formal agreements and other means.”

SEC. 2.

 Section 6502.3 is added to the Government Code, to read:

6502.3.
 For purposes of cogovernance and comanagement agreements entered into pursuant to Section 11019.82, powers exercisable by any public agency that is not a federally recognized tribe shall be deemed common to a contracting federally recognized tribe.

SEC. 3.

 Section 11019.82 is added to the Government Code, to read:

11019.82.
 (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the Tribal Cogovernance and Comanagement of Ancestral Lands and Waters Act.
(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Ancestral lands and waters” means lands, resources, and waters within a federally recognized tribe’s ancestral territory.
(2) “Cogovernance” is governance that emphasizes collaboration and shared decisionmaking on a government-to-government level.
(3) “Comanagement” means a collaborative effort established through an agreement in which two or more sovereigns mutually negotiate, define, and allocate amongst themselves the sharing of management functions and responsibilities for a given territory, area, or set of natural resources.
(4) “Federally recognized tribe” means a tribe located in the state and acknowledged by the federal government pursuant to the annual list published under the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. Sec. 5131) in the Federal Register.
(5) “Natural Resources Agency” means the Natural Resources Agency and each of its departments, boards, conservancies, and commissions identified in Section 12805.
(c) The Legislature encourages the Natural Resources Agency to enter into cogovernance and comanagement agreements with federally recognized tribes.
(1) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency or a delegate shall be the signatory, and may enter into cogovernance and comanagement agreements with federally recognized tribes for the purposes of shared responsibility, decisionmaking, and partnership in resource management and conservation within a tribe’s ancestral lands and waters.
(2) The scope of cogovernance and comanagement agreements shall be limited to those areas under the jurisdiction of the Natural Resources Agency. The Natural Resources Agency may enter into a cogovernance or comanagement agreement with a federally recognized tribe without further specific legislative authorization.
(d) At the request of a federally recognized tribe, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency or a delegate at the appropriate department, board, conservancy, or commission may, to the extent feasible within existing staffing and budget, within 90 days of the request, begin government-to-government negotiations on cogovernance and comanagement agreements with the tribe.