8700-8716
PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE
SECTION 8700-8716
8700. This division shall be known and may be cited as the School Land Bank Act. 8701. Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this section govern the construction of this division. (a) "Commission" means the State Lands Commission. (b) "Fund" means the School Land Bank Fund. (c) "Trustee" means the State Lands Commission acting in its role as trustee for the School Land Bank Fund. (d) "School Land" means land or interests in land granted to the state by an Act of Congress March 3, 1853 (Ch. 145, 10 Stat. 244), for the specific purpose of providing support for the public schools. 8702. The Legislature finds and declares as follows: (a) Past policies of the state have resulted in significant depletion of the inventory of lands granted by the federal government to provide fiscal support for the public school system. (b) It is essential that all remaining school lands and attendant interests be managed and enhanced to provide an economic base for support of the public school system. (c) The commission shall plan and implement all transactions, including exchanges, sales, and acquisitions which would facilitate the management of school land interests for revenue generating purposes. (d) The state, through the commission, shall take all action necessary to fully develop school lands, indemnity interests, and attendant mineral interests into a permanent and productive resource base. (e) It is in the best interest of the state that school lands be managed as a revenue source and it is the intent of the Legislature that fair market value be a primary criterion in determining if proposed uses or dispositions of land should be approved. (f) The consolidation of school land parcels into contiguous holdings is essential to sound and effective management and the power to acquire lands by exchange or purchase is elemental to the consolidation process. 8703. Acquisitions may be made by negotiated agreement with, or purchase from, the owners of the outstanding interests. Nothing in this division confers any authority to exercise the power of eminent domain for the purposes of this division, although that power is statutorily vested in the commission. 8704. The trustee shall make all reasonable attempts to acquire the mineral and other subsurface rights in any acquisition pursuant to this division. If the trustee is unable to acquire the mineral and other subsurface rights, the trustee may purchase real property upon the trustee expressly finding that the benefits to be derived from the acquisition are substantial and that acquisition of the property without the subsurface rights is in the best interests of the state for the purposes set forth in this division. 8705. The trustee has the exclusive jurisdiction and authority to administer the fund and the interest in real property acquired pursuant to this division, including the selection, acquisition, and conveyance of real property by the trustee as provided in this division. 8706. The state, in its sovereign capacity, shall accept any conveyance, and the land shall thereafter be held by the state as land of the legal character of school lands subject to the school land trust under the jurisdiction of the commission pursuant to Division 6 (commencing with Section 6001). 8707. The commission shall accept the conveyances on the part of the state and shall authorize their acknowledgment and recordation. 8708. Until expended for acquisitions in accordance with this division, moneys in the fund shall be deposited in the Pooled Money Investment Fund and the interest deposited in the fund. 8709. In addition to the purchase price to be paid, the costs and expenses attributable to the acquisition may be payable from the fund, provided that those costs shall not exceed 5 percent of the expended funds. 8709.5. Expenses attributable to management and remediation efforts on state school lands are payable from the fund. 8710. An action under this division is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)), the Subdivision Map Act (Division 2 (commencing with Section 66410) of Title 7 of the Government Code), or the Property Acquisition Law (Part 11 (commencing with Section 15850) of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code). 8711. There is in the State Treasury the School Land Bank Fund, which is hereby created. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, all moneys in the fund are appropriated to the commission for expenditure, without regard to fiscal years, for the purposes of this division. When performing the powers and duties set forth in this division, the commission shall be known as the School Land Bank Trustee. 8712. The trustee may acquire real property or any interest in real property with the objective of facilitating management of school lands for the purpose of generating revenue. 8713. The trustee shall act only at an open, scheduled public meeting, subject to all provisions of Division 6 (commencing with Section 6001) relating to meetings of the commission. The trustee may combine its meeting with the meetings of the commission. 8715. The provisions of this division are not intended as exclusive, and shall not restrict the commission in otherwise meeting any other responsibilities and jurisdiction the commission presently has by law. 8716. The trustee may accept gifts of real property or money for the purposes of this division.