Bill Text: CA AB2285 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Bill 2285

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Natural resources: equitable outdoor access: 30x30 goal: urban nature-based projects.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-08-15 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2285 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2285-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2285

Introduced by Assembly Member Rendon

February 08, 2024

An act to add Section 71453 to the Public Resources Code, relating to environmental protection.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2285, as introduced, Rendon. Environmental protection: 30x30 goal: urban nature-based investments: parity.

By Executive Order No. N-82-20, Governor Gavin Newsom directed the Natural Resources Agency to combat the biodiversity and climate crises by, among other things, establishing the California Biodiversity Collaborative and conserving at least 30% of the state’s lands and coastal waters by 2030. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to prepare and submit, on or before March 31, 2024, and annually thereafter, a report to the Legislature on the progress made in the prior calendar year toward achieving the goal to conserve 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030. Existing law provides that it is the goal of the state to conserve at least 30% of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030, known as the 30x30 goal.

This bill would encourage the Governor’s office, state agencies, and the Legislature, when distributing resources towards conservation and restoration goals during future budgetary deliberations, to ensure parity in allocations toward urban nature-based investments. The bill would require state funding agencies, including certain state conservancies and the Wildlife Conservation Board, when programming and awarding funds to revise, modify, or amend guidelines as necessary to meet the 30x30 goal, to allow for urban nature-based projects on degraded lands to be eligible and competitive for state funds.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

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

SECTION 1.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) Executive Order No. N-82-20 by Governor Gavin Newsom directs the Natural Resources Agency to combat the biodiversity and climate crises by, among other things, establishing the California Biodiversity Collaborative and conserving at least 30 percent of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030, known as the 30x30 goal.

(2) Hundreds of millions of dollars in General Fund allocations have been directed to the Wildlife Conservation Board, the Department of Conservation, and state conservancies, among others, to meet the 30x30 goal.

(3) Governor Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom are championing the Outdoors for All initiative under the Natural Resources Agency that, among other things, seeks to expand parks in communities with little outdoor space and supports and underwrites programs to connect people who lack access to green space, fostering a sense of belonging and stewardship of the state’s outdoors.

(4) Senate Bill 337 (Chapter 392 of the Statutes of 2023) codifies the 30x30 goal.

(5) The County of Los Angeles Department of Parks & Recreation has piggybacked off the Governor’s and First Partner’s work on the 30x30 goal and Outdoors for All and prepared the 2022 Parks Needs Assessment Plus (PNA+) that identifies areas for Los Angeles-based environmental conservation and restoration that form the basis of the 30x30 goal.

(6) PNA+ goes beyond traditional conservation models that involve the acquisition and protection of natural lands and reimagines the 30x30 goal through a more equity- and access-facing lens to direct funding and resources into the healing and conversion of blighted, degraded, and otherwise underutilized urban-based lands into green spaces and microhabitats promoting nature-based opportunities, access, and enhanced community and neighborhood aesthetics.

(7) Through thorough analysis, PNA+ identifies possible green space acquisition and restoration opportunities within the county and reveals a sharp contrast among regions in the county.

(8) PNA+ discovered that most of the available land for acquisition pursuant to the 30x30 goal was in the north County of Los Angeles, an area already rich in park and open-space resources as compared to the south County of Los Angeles, an area richer in diversity and more challenged economically, wherein the opportunities for 30x30 projects are confined to degraded and underutilized lands.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to codify the priorities identified in the November 2023 report of the Outdoors for All initiative, “Providing Equitable Access to Parks and Nature,” and to encourage the Governor’s administration and the Legislature, when distributing resources towards conservation and restoration goals during future budgetary deliberations, to ensure parity in allocations toward urban nature-based investments.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to require state funding entities, including, but not limited to, state conservancies and the Wildlife Conservation Board, when programming and awarding funds to revise, modify, or amend guidelines as necessary to meet the 30x30 goal, to allow for urban nature-based projects on degraded lands to be eligible and competitive for state funds.

SEC. 2.

Section 71453 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

71453.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that the November 2023 report of the Outdoors for All initiative, “Providing Equitable Access to Parks and Nature,” proposes the following priorities to achieve Outdoors for All:

(1) Establish spaces for people and nature to thrive. This priority includes strategies that:

(A) Develop, improve, and maintain local and regional outdoor spaces.

(B) Support tribal ancestral land return as a pathway for outdoor access.

(D) Support multibenefit solutions for access and environmental priorities.

(E) Support deferred maintenance projects statewide that seek to expand access to recreation and provide a safe and welcoming experience for visitors.

(F) Coordinate with school districts and regional governments to enhance green schoolyards and explore opportunities for schoolyards to fill gaps outside of school hours.

(G) Support connecting different sized outdoor spaces, including statewide and regional trail networks, to provide diverse experiences for all skill levels, with the cobenefit of creating wildlife corridors.

(H) Ensure outdoor space development and management is consistent with California’s Climate Adaptation Strategy, Scoping Plan, and Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy.

(I) Support implementation of antidisplacement measures to ensure access to open space does not lead to gentrification.

(J) Collaborate with private landowners and federal, state, regional, and local governments to explore opportunities to expand recreation access on private lands.

(2) Foster belonging. This priority includes strategies that:

(A) Share culturally diverse, relevant, and relatable stories and images of California’s people and history through the programming, interpretive materials, art, and signage offered at outdoor spaces, cultural and historic places, and museums.

(B) Foster public appreciation of, and connection to, California’s natural and cultural resources.

(C) Support improvements to language access for outdoor programming, educational materials, and staff at open spaces, cultural and historic places, and museums.

(D) Build trust between and among staff and visitors.

(E) Create adult and youth-centered programming, including intergenerational opportunities, at outdoor spaces to inspire and build confidence across a broad range of recreational users and activities.

(F) Rename offensive and derogatory geographic features and place names across outdoor spaces to address historical wrongs and create safe and inclusive spaces.

(3) Connect people and the outdoors. This priority includes strategies that:

(A) Make information about California’s parks and outdoor spaces easier to find and understand.

(B) Explore opportunities to offer free broadband on state recreation lands, and cultural and historic properties, allowing for more accessible information, inclusive signage, programming, and connectivity to address safety concerns.

(C) Enhance and create more green, accessible, safe, active, public, and shared transportation options linking the outdoors and communities.

(D) Explore ways to provide free access to California state parks for low-income communities.

(E) Support tribal members in harvesting culturally significant materials in outdoor spaces.

(F) Explore public-private partnerships to support gear libraries and low-cost outings and classes at outdoor spaces.

(G) Prioritize funding and a streamlined process for building lower cost coastal accommodations.

(H) Prioritize partnerships with nonprofits that provide youth and families from underserved communities and people with disabilities with access to state lands through supervised programming.

(4) Cocreate with communities. This priority includes strategies that:

(A) Conduct early, often, and meaningful tribal consultations with the goal of enhancing tribal partnerships and collaboration.

(B) Invite and embed meaningful tribal consultation and community engagement into grant processes.

(C) Update the grant applications of the Natural Resources Agency and its departments to increase support and reduce barriers for underserved communities, including California Native American tribes, and the organizations that serve them.

(D) Collaborate with other agencies to build best practices for public meetings that are accessible to people with disabilities and increase involvement by underserved communities through language access and greater transparency about state processes.

(E) Collaborate with the Governor’s office to enhance outreach efforts for appointed positions on Natural Resources Agency boards and commissions to increase community representation.

(F) Identify opportunities for tribal governments and community-based organizations to cocreate and comanage parks and outdoor spaces.

(G) Continue to grow the Natural Resources Agency’s capacity to meaningfully engage underserved communities.

(5) Build equitable career pathways and a representative workforce. This priority includes strategies that:

(A) Bridge internship, conservation corps, and other career development programs to careers with the state.

(B) Enhance strategies and inclusive career outreach and programming through dedicated staff at the Natural Resources Agency’s career center.

(C) Continue coordination of intra-agency workgroups and the Department of Human Resources to reassess job classifications, hiring processes, and salary ranges.

(D) Continue coordination efforts of intra-agency workgroups to develop career pathways strategies to support aligned efforts in employee retention.

(6) Align funding to achieve Outdoors for All. This priority includes strategies that:

(A) Develop and communicate an inventory of equitable access investments and impact.

(B) Prioritize resource efficiency and reduce redundancies.

(D) Align existing funding sources to create multibenefit projects and programs.

(E) Streamline standards and decisionmaking tools for equitable outdoor access to determine strategic investments for the state.

(b) The Governor’s office, state agencies, and the Legislature, when distributing resources towards conservation and restoration goals during future budgetary deliberations, are encouraged to ensure parity in allocations toward urban nature-based investments.

(c) State funding agencies, including, but not limited to, the conservancies established pursuant to Sections 31100, 32320, 32510, 32555, 32602, 32633, 33200, and 33501 of this code and Section 66906 of the Government Code and the Wildlife Conservation Board, shall, when programming and awarding funds to revise, modify, or amend guidelines as necessary to meet the 30x30 goal, allow for urban nature-based projects on degraded lands to be eligible and competitive for state funds.