CHAPTER 1. General Leasing Law [6501. - 6509.]

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC 1.
in effect

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 6501.1. Section 6501.1.

Lands owned by the state and which are under the jurisdiction of the commission may be leased for such purpose or purposes as the commission deems advisable, including, but not limited to, grazing leases and leases for commercial, industrial, and recreational purposes.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 6501.2. Section 6501.2.

The commission shall prepare forms of leases for use under this chapter for such purposes as the commission deems advisable, including grazing leases and leases for commercial, industrial, and recreational purposes. Each form of lease shall contain such terms and conditions as the commission deems to be for the best interests of the state. The commission shall also prepare forms of applications for each type of lease.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 6501.3. Section 6501.3.

Any interests in lands, or lands in fee simple, acquired by the commission or by any department, board, or other commission, of the State by purchase, donation, lease, condemnation, or otherwise, may, with the approval of the Department of Finance, be made available to any lessee of the State by the commission or the department, board, or other commission of the State, for the purposes contained in this chapter and upon such terms and conditions as may be determined by the state agency acquiring the land. This section does not, however, authorize the commission or any department, board, or other commission of the State to make any interests in lands, or lands in fee simple acquired by the State for beach or park purposes available to any lessee of the State.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 6502. Section 6502.

Any person, firm, or corporation desiring to lease any of the lands owned by the state, or in which the state may have an interest, and which are under the jurisdiction of the commission, for any purpose not prohibited or otherwise provided for by law, may make application therefor to the commission, describing the lands sought to be leased by legal subdivisions, or, if such lands are unsurveyed, by metes and bounds or by such other method as the commission may prescribe. The application shall be accompanied by a reasonable filing fee prescribed by the commission by rule or regulation, but such fee may not exceed the average of the commission’s actual costs of receiving applications and making the initial title review for leases or the permits of the class applied for. All applications to lease lands under this chapter shall be approved or rejected by the commission within 180 days after receipt thereof or within 90 days after completion of the environmental impact report required by Section 6371, whichever shall occur later. In no event shall an application be held more than 270 days after receipt without approval or rejection by the commission.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 6503. Section 6503.

Upon receipt of an application to lease lands under this chapter, the commission shall appraise the lands and fix the annual rent or other consideration therefor.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 6503.5. Section 6503.5.

(a) Consistent with Section 6503, the commission shall charge rent for a private recreational pier constructed on state lands. Rent shall be based on local conditions and local fair annual rental values. (b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to either of the following: (1) A lease in effect on July 1, 2011, for the term of that lease. If a lease in effect on July 1, 2011, expires or is otherwise terminated, the commission shall include fair annual rent provisions pursuant to subdivision (a) in the new lease contract. (2) A lease for which the application and application fees were submitted to the commission prior to March 31, 2011. (c) “Recreational pier” includes a fixed facility for the docking or mooring of boats.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 6504. Section 6504.

(a) As used in this section: (1) “Event” means a competition event that uses lands owned by the state that are under the jurisdiction of the commission. (2) “Prize compensation” includes prize or purse money, other prizes, goods, or other compensation. (b) The commission, for any event that awards prize compensation to competitors in gendered categories, shall require as a condition of a lease that, for any participant level that receives prize compensation, the prize compensation for each gendered category be identical at each participant level. The commission shall not approve a lease for an event that does not comply with this condition.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 6505.5. Section 6505.5.

No grazing or recreational lease shall be for a period longer than 10 years except that when the recreational use is combined and is incidental to residential use on the same parcel, and the lease so recites, the lease shall not exceed 50 years. The lessee shall be notified by mail of the filing of any application to purchase the leased land or any portion thereof. The lease shall terminate as to the whole or the portion of the lands described therein on the date the sale of the whole or of such portion of the leased land is approved by the commission. The lessee shall be notified by registered mail of the termination of the lease as to the whole or portion sold. As to the portion of leased lands not sold, it shall be the option of the lessee to terminate the lease, or to cause the lease to be amended for the unexpired term, at the same annual rental per acre, without the payment of any additional fees.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 6506. Section 6506.

Possession under any lease authorized by this chapter shall not be held to be adverse to that of any person who becomes an actual settler upon any portion of land described in such lease with intent to purchase it in the manner provided by law.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 6507. Section 6507.

Any error in the description of any lease may, with the consent of the holder thereof, be corrected or any description amended by the commission when in its judgment it is to the best interests of the state so to do.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 6508. Section 6508.

Any lease for sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections or any portion thereof which are now or may hereafter be included within the exterior boundaries of a national reservation or of a reserve, or within the exterior boundaries of lands withdrawn from public entry, shall terminate whenever the State designates the lands as bases for indemnity selections as provided by law. The lessee shall be notified by the commission by registered mail whenever the State so designates the land.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 6509. Section 6509.

If a lease is terminated by reason of the sale of the land, or by the designation of land as a base for indemnity selections, the lessee shall surrender the lease to the commission and receive in exchange therefor from the commission a certificate showing the proportionate amount of the annual payment to be refunded to the lessee, for the tract of land that has been disposed of by the State. If the lease has been amended because of the sale of a portion of the lands described therein, the commission shall, at the option of the lessee, credit the lessee with the amount of the prepaid rental applicable to rental due for the remaining term of the lease or issue a certificate to the lessee showing the proportionate amount of the rental to be refunded to the lessee. The State Controller, upon the surrender to him of the certificate, shall issue to the lessee a warrant for the amount payable out of the State School Fund or, if the rentals received under the lease were deposited in the General Fund, then the warrant shall be payable out of any appropriation available for such purpose, and the State Treasurer shall pay the same.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026

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