The Great Redwood Trail Agency.

Senator McGuire's legislation restructures the Great Redwood Trail Agency as a state subdivision while expanding its operational autonomy and establishing new financial oversight mechanisms. The bill exempts the agency from local building and zoning ordinances for properties it owns or controls directly, while maintaining these requirements for projects on other properties.

The legislation implements comprehensive financial controls, requiring the agency's board to adopt an annual budget and undergo regular audits following generally accepted accounting principles. Any budget increases after adoption must receive two-thirds board approval. The State Coastal Conservancy may distribute legislative appropriations to the agency after verifying expenditures align with the adopted budget and applicable requirements.

For public works contracts above specified thresholds, the bill mandates competitive bidding procedures, including public notices and performance bonds. Exceptions allow direct agency personnel to perform environmental preservation, maintenance, and emergency work. The legislation also authorizes the agency to contract with state or local law enforcement to enforce its regulations and ordinances.

The bill modifies property management provisions, exempting railroad tracks within railbanked rights-of-way from waste designation requirements and allowing third-party use of agency property for trail-related services like campgrounds and recreational facilities without triggering surplus property regulations. It further designates the planned pathway from Larkspur to the Golden Gate Bridge's northern terminus as part of the Great Redwood Trail while clarifying this segment falls outside the agency's environmental review scope.