California Public Resources Code 31012 – (a) The Coastal Trust Fund is hereby established in the State …
(a) The Coastal Trust Fund is hereby established in the State Treasury, to receive and disburse funds paid to the conservancy in trust, subject to the right of recovery to fulfill the purposes of the trust, as provided in this section.
(b) (1) There is in the Coastal Trust Fund the San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program Account, which shall be expended solely for the purposes of Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 31160).
Terms Used In California Public Resources Code 31012
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
(2) The conservancy shall deposit in the San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program Account all funds received by the conservancy for the purposes of the San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program established under Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 31160), from sources other than the state or federal government and not provided for in subdivision (a) of Section 31164. These funds include, but are not limited to, private donations, fees, penalties, and local government contributions.
(c) (1) There is in the Coastal Trust Fund the Coastal Program Account. Funds in the Coastal Program Account shall be expended solely for their specified trust purposes.
(2) Upon approval of the Department of Finance, the conservancy shall deposit in the Coastal Program Account all funds paid to the conservancy in trust for purposes of this division, except those funds identified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b). The funds that shall be deposited in the Coastal Program Account, upon that approval, include, but are not limited to, funds that are paid to the conservancy in trust for purposes of mitigation, for settlement of litigation, instead of other conditions of coastal development permits or other regulatory entitlements, or for other trust purposes consistent with this division and specified by the terms of a gift or contract. Funds in the Coastal Program Account shall be separately accounted for according to their source and trust purpose. Funds shall not be deposited in the Coastal Program Account without the Department of Finance’s approval.
(d) (1) There is in the Coastal Trust Fund the California Climate Resilience Account. Notwithstanding § 13340 of the Government Code, and except as provided in paragraph (6), funds in the account are continuously appropriated to the conservancy, as follows, without regard to fiscal year. Funds shall be expended by the conservancy, the California Coastal Commission, and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission for coastal zone management planning and implementation activities to address the risks and impacts of climate change, sea level rise, and associated extreme events to coastal and bay communities and natural resources. The purpose of the account is to support project implementation, capital outlay, and local assistance grants. Up to 10 percent of the funds shall be available for administrative costs.
(2) Except as specified by an instrument imposing conditions on the use or expenditure of the specific funds provided, funds appropriated for these purposes shall be allocated as follows:
(A) To the California Coastal Commission, 20 percent of the funds deposited in the account during each fiscal year.
(B) To the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, 20 percent of the funds deposited in the account during each fiscal year.
(C) To the conservancy, 60 percent of the funds deposited in the account during each fiscal year.
(3) Funds in the account shall be expended solely for their specified purposes.
(4) Funds that may be deposited into the California Climate Resilience Account include, but are not limited to, appropriations and grants, funds from the federal government, regional planning agencies, and local governments, fees, litigation settlements, permits, and mitigation requirements, and private donations that are eligible to be spent for the purposes of the account.
(5) Nothing in this section shall apply to funds eligible for deposit in the Bay Fill Clean-Up and Abatement Fund pursuant to § 66647 of the Government Code or to any funds collected pursuant to the California Coastal Act of 1976 (Division 20 (commencing with Section 30000)).
(6) To the extent that any funds are appropriated into the account by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, those funds shall be segregated for purposes of accounting. Funds appropriated into the account by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act shall not be continuously appropriated and are subject to the provisions of § 16304 of the Government Code.
(e) Interest that accrues on funds in the Coastal Trust Fund shall be retained in the Coastal Trust Fund and available for expenditure by the conservancy for the trust purposes.
(f) The conservancy shall maintain separate accountings of funds within the Coastal Trust Fund, pursuant to its fiduciary duties, for the purpose of separating deposits and interest on those deposits, according to their trust purposes.
(g) Notwithstanding § 13340 of the Government Code, and except as provided in subdivision (d), all funds in the Coastal Trust Fund are continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal year, to the conservancy to fulfill the trust purposes for which the payments of funds were made.
(h) The conservancy shall provide an annual accounting to the Department of Finance of the conservancy’s expenditures from, and other activities related to, the Coastal Trust Fund.
(Amended by Stats. 2014, Ch. 35, Sec. 148. (SB 861) Effective June 20, 2014.)