2005 California Public Resources Code Sections 5090.30-5090.38 Recreation

5090.30.  There is in the department the Division of Off-Highway
Motor Vehicle Recreation.  Whenever any reference is made to the
Office of Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation, it shall be deemed to
be a reference to, and to mean, the division.  Section 507.1 does
not apply to the division.
5090.31.  The division shall be under the direction of a deputy
director appointed by the director.  The deputy director shall have
no responsibilities other than directing and managing the division
and the program.
5090.32.  The division has the following duties and
responsibilities:
   (a) Planning, acquisition, development, conservation, and
restoration of lands in the state vehicular recreation areas.
   (b) Direct management, maintenance, administration, and operation
of lands in the state vehicular recreation areas.
   (c)  Provide for law enforcement and appropriate public safety
activities.
   (d) Implementation of all aspects of the program.
   (e) Ensure program compliance with the California Environmental
Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)) in state
vehicular recreation areas.
   (f) Implement the policies established by the commission.
   (g) Provide staff assistance to the commission.
   (h) Prepare and implement plans for lands in, or proposed to be
included in, state vehicular recreation areas, including new state
vehicular recreation areas.  However, no plan shall be prepared in
any instance specified in subdivision (c) of Section 5002.2.
   (i) Conduct, or cause to be conducted, surveys and prepare, or
cause to be prepared, studies that are necessary or desirable for
implementing the program.
   (j) Recruit and utilize volunteers to further the objectives of
the program.
   (k) Prepare and coordinate safety and education programs.
   (l) Conduct, or cause to be conducted, an annual audit of grants
and cooperative agreements, and the performance of any recipient in
expending a grant or cooperative agreement made pursuant to Article 5
(commencing with Section 5090.50).
   (m) Provide for the enforcement of Division 16.5 (commencing with
Section 38000) of the Vehicle Code and other laws regulating the use
or equipment of off-highway motor vehicles in all areas acquired,
maintained, or operated by funds from the fund; however, the
Department of the California Highway Patrol shall have responsibility
for enforcement on highways.
   (n) Complete by January 1, 2005, a strategic planning process that
will identify future off-highway vehicle recreational needs,
including, but not limited to, potential off-highway vehicle parks in
urban areas to properly direct vehicle operators away from illegal
or environmentally sensitive areas.  This strategic planning process
shall take into consideration, at a minimum, environmental
constraints, infrastructure requirements, demographic limitations,
and local, state, and federal land use planning processes.  The
initial strategic plan shall be updated periodically.
   (o) Prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on or before
January 1, 2005, that examines the effectiveness of the current noise
standard, enforcement efforts, public outreach and education
programs, the feasibility of improving the off-highway vehicle noise
standard, and reassessment of the dates specified in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (h) of Section 38370 of the Vehicle Code.  The report
shall also consider future reporting needs and appropriate reporting
intervals.
5090.34.  Under the direction of the commission, the division shall
publish and update periodically, a guidebook, including the text of
this chapter, other laws and regulations relating to the program, and
detailed maps of areas and trails  in the system.  The guidebook may
include other public areas, trails, and facilities for the use of
off-highway motor vehicles.  The guidebook shall include information
regarding the responsibility of users of the system and shall set
forth pertinent laws, rules, and regulations, including particular
provisions and other information intended to prevent trespass and
damage to public and private property.  The guidebook shall be
prepared at minimal cost to facilitate the broadest possible
distribution and may be offered for sale at a price only sufficient
to meet all costs of preparation, printing, and distribution.
5090.35.  (a) The protection of public safety, the appropriate
utilization of lands, and the conservation of land resources are of
the highest priority in the management of the state vehicular
recreation areas; and, accordingly, the division shall promptly
repair and continuously maintain areas and trails, anticipate and
prevent accelerated and unnatural erosion, and restore lands damaged
by erosion to the extent possible.
   (b) (1) The division, in consultation with the United States
Natural Resource Conservation Service, the United States Geological
Survey, the United States Forest Service, the United States Bureau of
Land Management, and the California Department of Conservation shall
update the 1991 Soil Conservation Guidelines and Standards to
establish a generic and measurable soil conservation standard by
March 1, 2006, at least sufficient to allow restoration of
off-highway motor vehicle areas and trails. The 1991 Soil
Conservation Guidelines and Standards shall remain in effect until
they are updated pursuant to this subdivision.
   (2) Upon a determination that the soil conservation standards and
habitat protection plans are not being met in any portion of any
state vehicular recreation area the division shall temporarily close
the noncompliant portion to repair and prevent accelerated erosion,
until the soil conservation standards are met.
   (3) Upon a determination that the soil conservation standards
cannot be met in any portion of any state vehicular recreation area
the division shall close and restore the noncompliant portion
pursuant to Section 5090.11.
   (c) (1) The division shall make an inventory of wildlife
populations and their habitats in each state vehicular recreation
area and shall prepare a wildlife habitat protection program to
sustain a viable species composition specific to each state vehicular
recreation area by July 1, 1989.
   (2) If the division determines that the habitat protection program
is not being met in any portion of any state vehicular recreation
area, the division shall close the noncompliant portion temporarily
until the habitat protection program is met.
   (3) If the division determines that the habitat protection program
cannot be met in any portion of any state vehicular recreation area,
the division shall close and restore that noncompliant portion
pursuant to Section 5090.11.
   (d) The division shall monitor the condition of soils and wildlife
habitat in each state vehicular recreation area each year in order
to determine whether the soil conservation standards and habitat
protection programs are being met.
   (e) The division shall not fund trail construction unless the
trail is capable of complying with the conservation specifications
prescribed in subdivisions (b) and (c). The division shall not fund
trail construction where conservation is not feasible.
   (f) The division shall monitor and protect cultural and
archaeological resources within the state vehicular recreation areas.
5090.36.  The division may enter into contracts with concessionaires
and grants or cooperative agreements with other public agencies,
pursuant to laws and procedures specified in this division, for the
care and maintenance of lands in the system, including law
enforcement services with public agencies having law enforcement
authority.
5090.37.  Eminent domain shall not be exercised to acquire any
interest in property for a state vehicular recreation area, the
California Statewide Motorized Trail, or any grant program area or
trail by the division or any public agency that has entered into a
grant or cooperative agreement with the division.
5090.38.  No owner or other person having legal control of property
in the vicinity of any lands in the system is liable for any actions
of any type resulting from, or caused by, the user of an off-highway
motor vehicle who is trespassing on property outside the system; and
no owner or other person having legal control of property in the
vicinity of any lands in the system is liable for any one's actions
of any type commenced on, or taking place within, the boundaries of
lands in the system.