State parks: operating agreements: park closures.

(1) Existing law requires the Department of Parks and Recreation to achieve any required budget reductions by closing, partially closing, and reducing services at selected units of the state park system. This bill would instead state that it is the intent of the Legislature that the department consistently operate the state park system, as specified. This bill would state that it is the intent of the Legislature, if budget reductions necessitate changes to the continued operation of state park units, that the department achieve any required budget reductions by implementing efficiencies and increasing revenue collection or reducing services and that full park closures only be considered as a last option, as provided. The bill would require, for any park units proposed for closure on or after July 1, 2014, that the department document and publicly disclose, among other things, the methodology used to evaluate and select the park units proposed for closure. Existing law requires the department to select park units for closure based solely on certain factors, including factors related to rate of visitation and proximity to other closed park units. This bill would, among other things, require that the rate of visitation be measured not only based on the raw number of visitations to the park unit, but also the extent to which the total capacity of the park unit is used. The bill would eliminate proximity to other closed park units as a factor for closure. In addition, the bill would add additional factors for consideration, including the extent to which closure of a unit would increase public safety hazards or impair the state's ability to protect iconic natural and historical resources. The bill would require the State Parks and Recreation Commission to hold a public hearing on any park unit closures that are proposed by the department on or after July 1, 2014. (2) Existing law prohibits the department from closing or proposing to close a state park in the 2012–13 or 2013–14 fiscal year. Existing law authorizes the department to enter into an operating agreement with a qualified nonprofit organization for the purposes of operating the entirety of a park unit, as identified by the director of the department, to the extent the operating agreement would enable the department to avoid closure of a unit or units of the state park system that may otherwise be subject to closure. This bill would provide that the prohibition to close, or propose to close, a state park in the 2012–13 or 2013–14 fiscal year does not limit or affect the department's authority to enter into an operating agreement during the 2012–13 or 2013–14 fiscal year, for purposes of the operation of the entirety of a state park, as agreed to by the director, during the 2012–13 or 2013–14 fiscal year. (3) Existing law establishes the State Parks Revenue Incentive Subaccount in the State Parks and Recreation Fund. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys in the account to the department to create incentives for projects that are consistent with the mission of the department and generate revenue, as provided. This bill would specify that projects referred to above include, but are not limited to, capital outlay projects. (4) Existing law requires the department to develop a revenue generation program as an essential component of a long-term sustainable park funding strategy. Existing law requires the incremental revenue generated by the revenue generation program to be deposited into the State Parks and Recreation Fund and transferred to the California State Park Enterprise Fund, as provided, once revenue targets have been met and the excess revenue is identified. Existing law further requires the department to allocate 50% of the total amount of revenues deposited into the California State Park Enterprise Fund, generated by a park district to that district if the amount of revenues generated exceeds the targeted revenue amount prescribed in the revenue generation program and requires the department to use 50% of the funds deposited into the California State Park Enterprise Fund for specific purposes. This bill would instead require that the incremental revenue generated by the program that is to be deposited into the State Parks and Recreation Fund be transferred instead to the State Parks Revenue Incentive Subaccount, rather than the California State Park Enterprise Fund, and would retain the same requirements for the allocation to a district and use of the revenues as described above. The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature, commencing on July 1, 2014, and annually on or before each July 1 thereafter, on the revenue distributed to each district. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.