The sum of one hundred seventy-five million dollars ($175,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to fund projects that enhance and protect coastal and ocean resources, as follows:
(a) The sum of thirty-five million dollars ($35,000,000) shall be available for deposit into the California Ocean Protection Trust Fund for grants consistent with Section 35650. Priority shall be given to projects that conserve, protect, and restore marine wildlife and healthy ocean and coastal ecosystems with a focus on the state’s system of marine protected areas and sustainable fisheries.
(b) The sum of thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) shall be available to the State Coastal Conservancy to provide for lower cost coastal accommodation grants and project development to public agencies and nonprofit organizations.
(c) The sum of eighty-five million dollars ($85,000,000) shall be available to the State Coastal Conservancy for the protection of beaches, bays, wetlands, and coastal watershed resources pursuant to Division 21 (commencing with Section 31000). This shall include the acquisition of, or conservation easements on, land in or adjacent to the California coastal zone with open space, recreational, biological, cultural, scenic, or agricultural values, or lands adjacent to marine protected areas, including marine conservation areas, whose preservation will contribute to the ecological quality of those marine protected areas. This shall also include the protection of coastal agricultural resources pursuant to Section 31150 and projects to complete the California Coastal Trail pursuant to Section 31408.
(d) Twenty-five percent of the amount available pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be available to the San Francisco Bay Area Conservancy Program (Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 31160) of Division 21).
(e) The sum of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) shall be available to the State Coastal Conservancy for grants and expenditures for the protection, restoration, and improvement of coastal forest watersheds, including managed forest lands, forest reserve areas, redwood forests, and other forest types. Eligible project types shall include projects that improve water quality and supply, increase coastal watershed storage capacity, reduce fire risk, provide habitat for fish and wildlife, or improve coastal forest health.
(f) The sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000) shall be available to the State Coastal Conservancy for acquisition of parcels that will allow for protection and restoration of coastal dune, wetland, upland, and forest habitat associated with estuarine lagoons and designated wildlife areas.
(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 852, Sec. 3. Approved in Proposition 68 at the June 5, 2018, election.)