Ocean resources: marine resources and preservation.

Existing law establishes a California Artificial Reef Program, administered by the Department of Fish and Game, to include the placement of artificial reefs, as defined, in state waters and a prescribed study of existing successful reefs and new reefs to determine design criteria. This bill would enact the California Marine Resources Legacy Act to establish a program to allow partial removal of offshore oil structures, administered by the department. The act would authorize the department to conditionally approve the partial removal of offshore oil structures, if specified criteria are satisfied, including a finding that the alternative of partial removal provides a net environmental benefit and substantial cost savings compared to the alternative of full removal of these structures. The act would require the Ocean Protection Council, for purposes of determining whether partial removal provides a net environmental benefit, to establish specified criteria, to consult with the department, the California Coastal Commission, the State Lands Commission, the California Ocean Service Trust, and other responsible agencies as to those criteria, and would require that partial removal comply with the California Environmental Quality Act. The act would require the State Lands Commission to determine the cost savings of partial removal, and would require the applicant, upon conditional approval for conversion, to apportion a percentage of the cost-savings funds in accordance with a prescribed schedule to the California Endowment for Marine Preservation, the county immediately adjacent to the location of the facility, the Fish and Game Preservation Fund, the Coastal Act Services Fund, and the General Fund. The act would prohibit the department from taking title to a decommissioned offshore oil structure in open coastal waters unless prescribed requirements are met. The bill would require the State Coastal Conservancy, upon the department's final approval of the first application, to create and update, as specified, an advisory spending plan for cost savings deposited in the endowment. The conservancy would be required to submit a copy of the spending plan and all updates to the Legislature, and the Board of Directors of the California Endowment for Marine Preservation. The bill would establish the California Endowment for Marine Preservation, subject to the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law, in order to create a permanent source of funding for projects and programs that will conserve, protect, restore, and enhance the open coastal and marine resources of the state. The endowment would be governed by a board of directors, with membership and duties prescribed by the bill. The bill would require the endowment to coordinate its activities with the Department of Fish and Game, the California Coastal Commission, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the State Lands Commission, and appropriate federal agencies. The bill would require the endowment to allocate 10% of any funds received pursuant to the act to qualified state agencies within 24 months of receipt of the funds.