Outdoor Environmental Education and Recreation Program.

Existing law establishes the Office of Education and the Environment in the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery for the purpose of implementing a statewide environmental education program. This bill would establish the Outdoor Environmental Education and Recreation Program in the Department of Parks and Recreation, for purposes of increasing the ability of underserved and at-risk populations to participate in outdoor recreation and educational experiences by awarding grants to education programs that are available to the public and are operated by public entities or nonprofit organizations. The bill would create the Outdoor Environmental Education and Recreation Fund in the State Treasury and provide that, upon appropriation by the Legislature, moneys in the fund shall be used for awarding grants pursuant to the program. The bill would authorize the Director of Parks and Recreation to accept, and require the director to deposit into the fund, voluntary private donations made for support of the program. The bill would express the Legislature's intent that the fund be capitalized with moneys from the General Fund and donations. This bill would require the director to develop program components, including, but not limited to, criteria for awarding grants, and staffing and budget needs. The bill would require the California Environmental Education Interagency Network to serve as an advisor to the director in developing the program components. The bill would require the director to give priority for funding, where feasible, to outdoor environmental education programs with specified attributes. The bill would require the director, by January 1, 2016, to submit to the Legislature a report on the criteria for the awarding of grants and the availability of grant funding.