AB 2091 (Chapter 377, Statutes of 2024)

AB 2091 would add PRC Section 21080.28.5 to statutorily exempt from CEQA a change in use to allow public access in an area used exclusively for nonmotorized recreation (e.g., hiking, walking, bike riding, equestrian use, and nature viewing) in areas acquired for open space or park purposes when approved by a public park district or related to conversion of an existing rail line by the Great Redwood Trail Agency. This includes where public access is limited to the following:

• Preexisting paved and natural surface roads

• Preexisting trails

• Preexisting pathways

• Preexisting use of disturbed areas for vehicle parking, such as driveways, involving no new paving or grading, as access points for park and open space

• Rail lines converted by the Great Redwood Trail Agency

The exemption would only apply if all of the following criteria are met:

• The lead agency is a park district or the Great Redwood Trail Agency.

• The area used for nonmotorized recreation is owned or managed by a park district or the Great Redwood Trail Agency.

• The change in use is to provide public access for nonmotorized recreation.

• The change in use is consistent with a plan adopted by the park district or the Great Redwood Trail Agency, as applicable.

• The change in use does not involve a physical alteration of the affected area.

• The change in use is not likely to result in either of the following:

  • Significant adverse impacts on tribal cultural resources

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Summary of Key 2024 CEQA Legislation

Association of Environmental Professionals 2025

• Significant adverse impacts on endangered, threatened, rare, or special-status plant or animal species

Prior to deciding to apply this exemption, a park district would be required to do all the following:

• Hold a public meeting to consider and solicit public input on the change in use under consideration. The lead agency shall offer remote public participation during the meeting in a manner prescribed by the Ralph M. Brown Act.

• Post a written notice of the public meeting on the public agency’s website and at the project site at least 30 days before the public meeting. The written notice shall include a project description and the location and date of the public meeting.

• Make a finding that all of the criteria specified above are met.

A park district invoking this exemption would be required to file a notice of exemption with both the Office of Planning and Research and the County Clerk. This statute would repeal itself January 1, 2030.