SECTIONS 1360-1372

1360.  This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the OakWoodlands Conservation Act.1361.  For purposes of this article, the following terms have thefollowing meanings: (a) "Board" means the Wildlife Conservation Board establishedpursuant to Section 1320. (b) "Conservation easement" means a conservation easement, asdefined in Section 815.1 of the Civil Code. (c) "Fund" means the Oak Woodlands Conservation Fund. (d) "Land improvement" means restoration or enhancement ofbiologically functional oak woodlands habitat. (e) "Local government entity" means any city, county, city andcounty, district, or other local government entity, if the entity isotherwise authorized to acquire and hold title to real property. (f) "Nonprofit organization" means a tax-exempt nonprofitorganization that meets the requirements of subdivision (a) ofSection 815.3 of the Civil Code. (g) "Oak" means any species in the genus Quercus. (h) "Oak woodlands" means an oak stand with a greater than 10percent canopy cover or that may have historically supported greaterthan 10 percent canopy cover. (i) "Oak woodlands management plan" means a plan that providesprotection for oak woodlands over time and compensates privatelandowners for conserving oak woodlands. (j) "Special oak woodlands habitat elements" means multi- andsingle-layered canopy, riparian zones, cavity trees, snags, anddowned woody debris.1362.  It is the intent of the Legislature that this articleaccomplish all of the following: (a) Support and encourage voluntary, long-term private stewardshipand conservation of California's oak woodlands by offeringlandowners financial incentives to protect and promote biologicallyfunctional oak woodlands over time. (b) Provide incentives to protect and encourage farming andranching operations that are operated in a manner that protects andpromotes healthy oak woodlands. (c) Provide incentives for the protection of oak trees providingsuperior wildlife values on private lands. (d) Encourage local land use planning that is consistent with thepreservation of oak woodlands, particularly special oak woodlandshabitat elements. (e) Provide guidelines for spending the funds allocated for oakwoodlands pursuant to the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, CleanAir, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 (theVillaraigosa-Keeley Act (Chapter 1.692 (commencing with Section5096.300) of Division 5 of the Public Resources Code)). (f) Establish a fund for oak woodlands conservation, to whichfuture appropriations for oak woodlands protection may be made, andspecify grant making guidelines.1363.  (a) The Oak Woodlands Conservation Fund is hereby created inthe State Treasury. The fund shall be administered by the board.Moneys in the fund may be expended, upon appropriation by theLegislature, for the purposes of this article. (b) Money may be deposited into the fund from gifts, donations,funds appropriated by the Legislature for the purposes of thisarticle, or from federal grants or loans or other sources, and shallbe used for the purpose of implementing this article, includingadministrative costs. Funds from the Safe Neighborhood Parks, CleanWater, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 (theVillaraigosa-Keeley Act (Chapter 1.692 (commencing with Section5096.300) of Division 5 of the Public Resources Code)), but notincluding funds dedicated as matching funds for the federal ForestLegacy Program, shall be deposited in the fund. (c) To the extent consistent with the Safe Neighborhood Parks,Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 (theVillaraigosa-Keeley Act (Chapter 1.692 (commencing with Section5096.300) of Division 5 of the Public Resources Code)), the board mayuse money designated for the preservation and restoration of oakwoodlands in the Oak Woodlands Conservation Fund for projects inconjunction with the California Forest Legacy Program (Div. 10.5(commencing with Sec. 12200) of the P.R.C.)), but only for thepurposes specified in this article and only if the followingrequirements are met: (1) The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shall make aninitial recommendation to the board. (2) The board may deny any initial recommendation to theDepartment of Forestry and Fire Protection. Subsequently, if thedepartment alters an initial proposal, in a manner that the boarddetermines to be significant, the board may withdraw its initialapproval of the recommendation at any time during the process. (d) The purposes for which moneys in the fund may be used includeall of the following: (1) Grants for the purchase of oak woodlands conservationeasements. Any entity authorized to hold a conservation easementunder Section 815.3 of the Civil Code may hold a conservationeasement pursuant to this article. The holder of the conservationeasement shall ensure, on an annual basis, that the conservationeasement conditions have been met for that year. (2) Grants for land improvement. (3) Cost-sharing incentive payments to private landowners whoenter into long-term conservation agreements. An agreement shallinclude management practices that benefit oak woodlands and promotethe economic sustainability of farming and ranching operations. (4) Public education and outreach by local government entities,park and open-space districts, resource conservation districts, andnonprofit organizations. The public education and outreach shallidentify and communicate the social, economic, agricultural, andbiological benefits of strategies to conserve oak woodlands habitatvalues, including watershed protection benefits that reduce soilerosion, increase streamflows, and increase water retention andsustainable agricultural operations. (5) Assistance to local government entities, park and open-spacedistricts, resource conservation districts, and nonprofitorganizations for the development and implementation of oakconservation elements in local general plans. (6) Technical assistance consistent with the purpose of preservingoak woodlands. (e) Not more than 20 percent of all grants made by the boardpursuant to this article may be used for the purposes described inparagraphs (4), (5), and (6) of subdivision (d). Not less than 80percent of funds available for grants pursuant to this article shallbe expended for the purposes described in paragraphs (1), (2), and(3) of subdivision (d). (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this articlegoverns the expenditure of funds for the preservation of oakwoodlands pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section5096.350 of the Public Resources Code.1363.5.  (a) Commencing on June 30, 2003, and every two yearsthereafter, the board shall report to the Legislature and theGovernor concerning the activities and expenditures of the fund. (b) (1) In the first report to the Legislature, the board shallprovide its best estimate of the total amount, in terms of acreage,species, and coverage, of oak woodlands habitat purchased with fundsfrom the Habitat Conservation Fund and other funds pursuant to theCalifornia Wildlife Protection Act of 1990 (Chapter 9 (commencingwith Section 2780) of Division 3). (2) In each subsequent report, the board shall update theinformation required by paragraph (1) to reflect additional oakwoodlands habitat purchased with funds from the Habitat ConservationFund pursuant to Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 2780) of Division3, and any purchases made with moneys deposited in the Oak WoodlandsConservation Fund. (c) The board shall provide its best estimate in each report ofthe acreage, cover, and species of oak woodlands habitat purchasedwith all moneys from the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, CleanAir, and Coastal Protection Bond Fund. (d) The board shall make all information available online at itsWeb site. (e) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2020, and, asof January 1, 2021, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute thatis enacted before January 1, 2021, deletes or extends the dates onwhich it becomes inoperative and is repealed.1364.  Moneys in the fund shall be available to local governmententities, park and open-space districts, resource conservationdistricts, private landowners, and nonprofit organizations for thepurposes set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 1363.1365.  The board shall develop and adopt guidelines and criteria forawarding grants that achieve the greatest lasting conservation ofoak woodlands. The board shall develop these guidelines inconsultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, theDepartment of Food and Agriculture, the University of California'sIntegrated Hardwood Range Management Program, conservation groups,and farming and ranching associations. As it applies to the award ofgrants for the implementation of this article, the board criteriashall specify that easement acquisitions that are the mostcost-effective in comparison to the actual resource value of theeasement shall be given priority.1366.  (a) To qualify for a grant pursuant to this article, thecounty or city in which the grant money would be spent shall prepare,or demonstrate that it has already prepared, an oak woodlandsmanagement plan that includes a description of all native oak specieslocated within the county's or city's jurisdiction. (b) To qualify for a grant pursuant to this article, the boardshall certify that any proposed easement was not, and is not,required to satisfy a condition imposed upon the landowner by anylease, permit, license, certificate, or other entitlement for useissued by one or more public agencies, including, but not limited to,the mitigation of significant effects on the environment of aproject pursuant to an approved environmental impact report or tomitigate a negative declaration required pursuant to the CaliforniaEnvironmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section21000)) of the Public Resources Code. (c) To qualify for a grant under this article, the applicant shalldemonstrate that its proposal provides protection of oak woodlandsthat is more protective than the applicable provisions of law inexistence on the date of the proposal. (d) A county or city may develop an oak woodlands management plan.A nonprofit corporation, park and open-space district, resourceconservation district, or other local government entity may apply tothe board for funds to develop an oak woodlands management plan for acounty or city, but the county or city shall maintain ultimateauthority to approve the oak woodlands management plan. (e) The process for developing an initial oak woodlands managementplan, and the adoption of significant amendments to a plan, asdetermined by the county or city, are subject to the Ralph M. BrownAct (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division2 of Title 5 of the Government Code). (f) A proposal by a local government entity, nonprofitcorporation, park and open-space district, private landowner, orresource conservation district for a grant to be expended for thepurposes of this article shall be certified by the county or city asbeing consistent with the oak woodlands management plan of the countyor city. If the land covered by the proposal is in the jurisdictionof more than one county or city, each county or city shall certifythat the proposal is consistent with the oak woodlands managementplan of each county or city. (g) If two or more entities seek grant funding from the boardpursuant to this article for the same jurisdiction, the county orcity shall designate which entity shall lead the efforts to manageoak woodlands habitat in the area.1367.  On or before April 1, 2002, the board and the Department ofForestry and Fire Protection shall develop a memorandum ofunderstanding regarding the protection of oak woodlands that does allof the following: (a) If necessary, creates a specific process for working togetherto use money from the fund in conjunction with the California ForestLegacy Program Act of 2000 (Division 10.5 (commencing with Section12200) of the Public Resources Code). (b) Lists elements a county or city shall include in its oakwoodlands management plan. Items included in the plan shall assist acounty or a city to specify conservation priorities and prevent oakwoodlands habitat fragmentation while minimizing the cost andadministrative burden associated with developing the plan. Theelements may include any or all of the following: (1) Tree inventory mapping. (2) Oak canopy retention standards. (3) Oak habitat mitigation measures. (4) A procedure to monitor the effectiveness of the plan and tomodify the plan as necessary. (c) Designates an online repository for oak woodlands managementplans that will be easily accessible to the public and any otherstate agency involved in oak woodlands conservation efforts. (d) Discusses the relationship between oak woodlands conservationefforts under this article and efforts by other state agencies toprotect oak woodlands, including efforts to combat sudden oak death,and outlines a plan, as necessary, for coordinating with theseagencies.1368.  The board may not approve a grant to a local governmententity, park and open-space district, resource conservation district,or nonprofit organization if the entity requesting the grant hasacquired, or proposes to acquire, an oak woodlands conservationeasement through the use of eminent domain, unless the owner of theaffected lands requests the owner to do so.1369.  A city or county planning department may utilize a grantawarded for the purposes of this article to consult with a citizenadvisory committee and appropriate natural resource specialists inorder to report publicly to the city council or the board ofsupervisors on the status of the city's or county's oak woodlands.Each city or county planning department that receives a grant for thepurposes of this article shall report to the city council or to theboard of supervisors of the county, as appropriate, on the use ofthose grant funds within one year from the date the grant isreceived.1370.  No money may be expended from the fund to adopt guidelines orto administer the fund until at least one million dollars($1,000,000) is deposited in the fund.1372.  Nothing in this article grants any new authority to the boardor any other agency, office, or department to affect local policy orland use decisionmaking.