(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, the department may enter into an operating agreement with a qualified nonprofit organization for the development, improvement, restoration, care, maintenance, administration, or operation of a unit or units, or portion of a unit, of the state park system, as agreed to by the director. The prohibition on park closures, pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 541.5, does not limit the department’s authority to enter into an operating agreement pursuant to this section, as provided in subdivision (e) of Section 541.5. The department may only enter into an operating agreement that involves the operation of the entirety of a park unit for no more than 20 park units. An operating agreement with a qualified nonprofit organization shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following conditions:

(1) The district superintendent for the department shall provide liaison with the department, the nonprofit organization, and the public.

(2) The nonprofit organization shall annually submit a written report to the department regarding its operating activities during the prior year and shall make copies of the report available to the public upon request. The report shall be available on the Internet Web sites of both the department and the nonprofit organization. The report shall include a full accounting of all revenues and expenditures for each unit of the state park system that the nonprofit organization operates pursuant to an operating agreement.

(3) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), all revenues that the qualified nonprofit organization receives from a unit shall be expended only for the care, maintenance, operation, administration, improvement, or development of the unit. The qualified nonprofit organization may additionally contribute in-kind services and funds raised from outside entities for the care, maintenance, operation, administration, improvement, or development of the unit.

(B) If the qualified nonprofit organization determines that the revenues it has received from a unit are in excess of the revenues that are needed for the care, maintenance, operation, administration, improvement, or development of that unit, and that these funds are not already specified for or committed to specific purposes pursuant to an existing agreement or contract restricting the use of those funds, the qualified nonprofit organization may dedicate those excess revenues to another state park unit for that unit’s care, maintenance, operation, administration, improvement, or development.

(4) General Fund moneys shall not be provided to a nonprofit organization to subsidize the operation or maintenance of a park unit. This paragraph applies to state parks, the full operation of which are turned over to a nonprofit organization, but does not apply to or preclude the department from entering into agreements with nonprofit organizations to operate a portion of a state park unit, or from entering into comanagement agreements with nonprofit organizations that involve the sharing of operational and financial responsibilities for the park unit and that have the effect of reducing state costs. This paragraph does not apply to park entrance fees, concession revenues, or any other revenues generated within a park operated by a nonprofit organization pursuant to this section.

(5) Jobs maintained under a memorandum of understanding between the state and the represented bargaining units shall not be eliminated pursuant to the agreement and shall continue to be state employment.

(b) An operating agreement entered into pursuant to subdivision (a) shall honor the existing term of a current concession contract for the state park unit subject to the operating agreement.

(c) An operating agreement entered into pursuant to subdivision (a) shall specify the duties that the nonprofit organization shall be responsible for carrying out relative to management and protection of natural, historical, and cultural resources, and shall identify those management duties that shall continue to be conducted by the department, so that all core operations of the park are delineated. Scientific, architectural, and engineering functions that require special expertise or professional training shall only be conducted by or under the supervision of qualified persons with applicable expertise or training and subject to oversight by the department.

(d) This section does not supersede the requirements of Section 5019.53 regarding the protection of natural, scenic, cultural, and ecological values.

(e) The nonprofit organization and the district superintendent for the department shall, following submittal of the annual report pursuant to subdivision (a), hold a joint public meeting for discussion of the report.

(f) If the department intends to enter into an operating agreement for the development, improvement, restoration, care, maintenance, administration, or operation of a unit or units, or a portion of a unit, the department shall notify the Member of the Legislature in whose district the unit is located, the Chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water, the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife, and the chairs of the Assembly and Senate budget committees of that intention. The notification shall include estimated operating costs and revenues and core duties and responsibilities that are likely to be assigned to the nonprofit organization and the department.

(g) For purposes of this section, a qualified nonprofit organization is an organization that is all of the following:

(1) An organization that is exempt from taxation pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(2) An organization that has as its principal purpose and activity to provide visitor services in state parks, facilitate public access to park resources, improve park facilities, provide interpretive and educational services, or provide direct protection or stewardship of natural, cultural, or historical lands, or resources.

(3) An organization that is in compliance with the Supervision of Trustees and Fundraisers for Charitable Purposes Act (Article 7 (commencing with Section 12580) of Chapter 6 of Part 2 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

(h) (1) Notwithstanding § 10231.5 of the Government Code, the department shall provide a report to the Legislature, on a biennial basis, of the status of operating agreements it has entered into pursuant to this section. The report shall include a list of units of the state park system with operating agreements, discussion of the management and operations of each unit subject to an operating agreement, an accounting of the revenues and expenditures incurred under each operating agreement, and an assessment of the benefit to the state from operating agreements entered into pursuant to this section.

(2) A report submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with § 9795 of the Government Code.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 183, Sec. 1. (SB 668) Effective January 1, 2024.)