State Coastal Conservancy: West Coyote Hills Conservancy Program.

(1) Existing law establishes the State Coastal Conservancy and prescribes the membership and functions and duties of the conservancy with regard to the protection, preservation, restoration, and enhancement of specified coastal lands. Existing law establishes the Coastal Trust Fund to receive and disburse funds paid to the conservancy in trust for specified coastal purposes, and establishes separate accounts in the fund for the purpose of separating deposits into the fund according to their origin. Existing law also establishes the Wildlife Conservation Board and requires the board to take various actions with regard to the preservation of public lands to protect wildlife and habitat in the state. This bill would, until January 1, 2028, establish the West Coyote Hills Conservancy Program, to be administered by the conservancy and to undertake projects and award grants in the West Coyote Hills area, as described, for purposes relating to improvement of public access, and the protection, restoration, and enhancement of natural resources in the area. The bill would prescribe the duties of the conservancy with regard to the implementation and administration of the program. The bill would create the West Coyote Hills Conservancy Program Account within the fund, for the purpose of depositing and disbursing funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for program purposes. The bill would require that the $15,000,000 appropriated in the Budget Act of 2017 for the purposes of this bill be deposited in the account to be used for the purchase of specified property and related projects. The bill would make findings and declarations regarding funding under the bill for the board to open up, operate, and maintain the Robert E. Ward Nature Preserve, and would state the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to specify the particular uses of the appropriated funds. (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.