Bill Text: CA AB52 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Bill 52

Introduced

Bill Title: Native American Heritage Commission: powers and duties.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-12-03 - From printer. May be heard in committee January 2. [AB52 Detail]

Download: California-2025-AB52-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 52

Introduced by Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry

December 02, 2024

An act to amend Section 5097.94 of the Public Resources Code, relating to Native American tribes.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 52, as introduced, Aguiar-Curry. Native American Heritage Commission: powers and duties.

Existing law establishes the Native American Heritage Commission and vests the commission with specified powers and duties relative to Native American cultural resources.

This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to that provision.

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

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

SECTION 1.

Section 5097.94 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

5097.94.

The commission shall have the following powers and duties:

(a) To identify and catalog places of special religious or social significance to Native Americans, and known graves and cemeteries of Native Americans on private lands. The identification and cataloguing of known graves and cemeteries shall be completed on or before January 1, 1984. The commission shall notify landowners on whose property the graves and cemeteries are determined to exist, and shall identify the Native American group most likely descended from those Native Americans who may be interred on the property.

(b) To make recommendations relative to Native American sacred places that are located on private lands, are inaccessible to Native Americans, and have cultural significance to Native Americans for acquisition by the state or other public agencies for the purpose of facilitating or assuring access to those sacred places by Native Americans.

(c) To make recommendations to the Legislature relative to procedures that will voluntarily encourage private property owners to preserve and protect sacred places in a natural state and to allow appropriate access to Native American religionists for ceremonial or spiritual activities.

(d) To appoint necessary clerical staff.

(e) To accept grants or donations, real or in kind, to carry out the purposes of this chapter and the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 2001 (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 8010) of Part 2 of Division 7 of the Health and Safety Code).

(f) To make recommendations to the Director of Parks and Recreation and the California Arts Council relative to the California State Indian Museum and other Indian matters touched upon by department programs.

(g) To bring an action to prevent severe and irreparable damage to, or assure appropriate access for Native Americans to, a Native American sanctified cemetery, place of worship, religious or ceremonial site, or sacred shrine located on public property, pursuant to Section 5097.97. If the court finds that severe and irreparable damage will occur or that appropriate access will be denied, and appropriate mitigation measures are not available, it shall issue an injunction, unless it finds, on clear and convincing evidence, that the public interest and necessity require otherwise. The Attorney General shall represent the commission and the state in litigation concerning affairs of the commission, unless the Attorney General has determined to represent the agency against whom the commission’s action is directed, in which case the commission shall be authorized to employ other counsel. In an action to enforce this ~~subdivision~~ subdivision, the commission shall introduce evidence showing that a cemetery, place, site, or shrine has been historically regarded as a sacred or sanctified place by Native American people and represents a place of unique historical and cultural significance to an Indian tribe or community.

(h) To request and use the advice and service of all federal, state, local, and regional agencies, including for purposes of carrying out the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 2001 (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 8010) of Part 2 of Division 7 of the Health and Safety Code).

(i) To assist Native Americans in obtaining appropriate access to sacred places that are located on public lands for ceremonial or spiritual activities.

(j) To assist state agencies in any negotiations with agencies of the federal government for the protection of Native American sacred places that are located on federal lands.

(k) (1) To mediate, upon application of either of the parties, disputes arising between landowners and known descendants relating to the treatment and disposition of Native American human burials, skeletal remains, and items associated with Native American burials.

(2) The agreements shall provide protection to Native American human burials and skeletal remains from vandalism and inadvertent destruction and provide for sensitive treatment and disposition of Native American burials, skeletal remains, and associated grave goods consistent with the planned use of, or the approved project on, the land.

(l) To assist interested landowners in developing agreements with appropriate Native American groups for treating or disposing, with appropriate dignity, of the human remains and any items associated with Native American burials.

(m) To provide each California Native American tribe, as defined in Section 21073, on or before July 1, 2016, with a list of all public agencies that may be a lead agency pursuant to Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) within the geographic area with which the tribe is traditionally and culturally affiliated, the contact information of those public agencies, and information on how the tribe may request the public agency to notify the tribe of projects within the jurisdiction of those public agencies for the purposes of requesting consultation pursuant to Section 21080.3.1.

(n) (1) To assume the powers and duties of the former Repatriation Oversight Commission and meet, when necessary and at least quarterly, to perform all of the following duties:

(A) Order the repatriation of human remains and cultural items in accordance with the act.

(B) Establish mediation procedures and, upon the application of the parties involved, mediate disputes among tribes and museums and agencies relating to the disposition of human remains and cultural items. The commission shall have the power of subpoena for purposes of discovery and may impose civil penalties against any agency or museum that intentionally or willfully fails to comply with the act. Members of the commission and commission staff shall receive training in mediation for purposes of this subparagraph. The commission may delegate its responsibility to mediate disputes to a certified mediator or commission staff.

(D) Upon the request of tribes or museums and agencies, analyze and make decisions regarding providing financial assistance to aid in specific repatriation activities.

(E) Make recommendations to the Legislature to assist tribes in obtaining the dedication of appropriate state lands for the purposes of reinterment of human remains and cultural items.

(F) (i) Prepare and submit to the Legislature an annual report detailing commission activities, disbursement of funds, and dispute resolutions relating to the repatriation activities under the act.

(ii) A report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to this subparagraph shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(G) Refer any known noncompliance with the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (25 U.S.C. Sec. 3001 et seq.) to the United States Attorney General and the Secretary of the Interior.

(H) Impose administrative civil penalties pursuant to Section 8029 of the Health and Safety Code against an agency or museum that is determined by the commission to have violated the act.

(I) Establish those rules and regulations the commission determines to be necessary for the administration of the act.

(2) For purposes of this subdivision, the following terms have the following meanings:

(A) “Act” means the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 8010) of Part 2 of Division 7 of the Health and Safety Code).

(B) “Tribe” means a “California Indian tribe” as that term is used in the act.

(o) (1) To establish and assess a fee on a person or public or private entity that is reasonably related to the cost of conducting a search of catalogs, described in subdivision (a), inventories, described in Section 5097.96, or lists, described in Section 21073, for that person or entity, which funds shall be available to the commission upon appropriation by the Legislature.

(2) The Legislature finds that, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article XIII A of the California Constitution, the fees established pursuant to paragraph (1) are not taxes. To the extent that these fees are appropriated through the Budget Act for the purposes for which they are collected to provide services to the people of the State of California, the Legislature finds that these fees are not subject to Article XIII B of the California Constitution.

(p) Review and provide comment and guidance on all policies and procedures proposed pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 8025) and Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 8028.7) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of Division 7 of the Health and Safety Code.