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<ns0:Id>20250AB__188199INT</ns0:Id>
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<ns0:History>
<ns0:Action>
<ns0:ActionText>INTRODUCED</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2026-02-12</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:LegislativeInfo>
<ns0:SessionYear>2025</ns0:SessionYear>
<ns0:SessionNum>0</ns0:SessionNum>
<ns0:MeasureType>AB</ns0:MeasureType>
<ns0:MeasureNum>1881</ns0:MeasureNum>
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<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Assembly Member Ramos</ns0:AuthorText>
<ns0:Authors>
<ns0:Legislator>
<ns0:Contribution>LEAD_AUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
<ns0:House>ASSEMBLY</ns0:House>
<ns0:Name>Ramos</ns0:Name>
</ns0:Legislator>
</ns0:Authors>
<ns0:Title> An act to amend Section 7930.205 of the Government Code, and to add Chapter 1.79 (commencing with Section 5097.1000) to Division 5 of the Public Resources Code, relating to California Indians. </ns0:Title>
<ns0:RelatingClause>California Indians</ns0:RelatingClause>
<ns0:GeneralSubject>
<ns0:Subject>California Indian Freedom Act of 2026.</ns0:Subject>
</ns0:GeneralSubject>
<ns0:DigestText>
<html:p> Existing law establishes various protections for California Native American tribes, including prohibiting a public agency or private party using or occupying public property or operating on public property from interfering with the free expression or exercise of Native American religion as provided in the United States Constitution and the California Constitution. Existing law also requires a local government to provide formal notification to each California Native American tribe that is traditionally and culturally affiliated with the project site as an invitation to consult on the proposed project, as provided. Existing law requires the local government, during the consultation, to give deference to the tribal information, tribal knowledge and customs, and the significance of the resource to the California Native American tribe. Existing law prohibits any information, as described, that
is submitted by a California Native American tribe during the environmental review process from being included in the environmental document or otherwise disclosed by the lead agency or any other public agency to the public, as specified, without the prior consent of the tribe that provided the information.</html:p>
<html:p>Existing law, the California Public Records Act, requires each state and local agency, as defined, to make its records open to public inspection at all times during office hours, except as specifically exempted from disclosure by law. The act specifically exempts from disclosure records that are exempted or prohibited from disclosure by federal or state law and lists records subject to that exemption, specifying that the listed exemptions are not inclusive of all exemptions under the act. </html:p>
<html:p>This bill, the California Indian Freedom Act of 2026, would prohibit a governmental agency from substantially burdening a California
Indian or California Native American tribe’s exercise of religious beliefs or spiritual practices, including their access to and use of sacred sites and objects, and their ability to perform religious ceremonies and rites, even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, unless the governmental agency demonstrates that application of the burden is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and is in the least restrictive means of furthering that interest. The act would apply to all state and local government actions, including, among others, permitting decisions, land use approvals, and enforcement actions. The bill would authorize a California Indian or tribe to assert a violation of these provisions as a claim or defense in any judicial or administrative proceeding, as specified. Before any governmental agency undertakes, approves, permits, funds, or authorizes a project that may impact a sacred site or cultural landscape, the bill would require the governmental agency to engage
in early, meaningful and good-faith government-to-government consultation with an affected tribe. The bill would require a governmental agency to seek and document free, prior, and informed consent from affected tribes for any project that risks, among other things, physical destruction or alteration of a sacred site. The bill would require a government agency to avoid adverse impacts to sacred sites, as described, and allow California Indians access to sacred sites on public lands for Native American religious, ceremonial, or cultural activities, except as specified. The bill would require information identifying sacred sites, cultural landscapes, or religious practices to be confidential and would exempt this information from public record laws, including the California Public Records Act. The bill would revise the list of exempted records under the California Public Records Act to add the above-described exemption. The bill would define various terms for these purposes and would make related legislative
findings. By imposing additional duties on local governmental agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. </html:p>
<html:p>The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.</html:p>
<html:p>Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of
public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.</html:p>
<html:p>The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.</html:p>
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<ns0:VoteRequired>MAJORITY</ns0:VoteRequired>
<ns0:Appropriation>NO</ns0:Appropriation>
<ns0:FiscalCommittee>YES</ns0:FiscalCommittee>
<ns0:LocalProgram>YES</ns0:LocalProgram>
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<ns0:Election>NO</ns0:Election>
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<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_A9895509-9226-40B3-8AC5-547E5C1D16CF">
<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
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This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
<ns0:DocName>California Indian Freedom Act of 2026</ns0:DocName>
.
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<ns0:Act>
<ns0:Preamble/>
<ns0:LawTitle>
California Indian Freedom Act of 2026
</ns0:LawTitle>
</ns0:Act>
</ns0:BillSection>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_D5A4D7BB-B2A5-4812-99DF-7F03B18CB81E">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 2.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
California is home to the greatest number of California Indians living in the United States, approximately 700,000 according to the 2025 United States Census.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
More than 100 Native Nations call California home, each with distinct religions, spiritual traditions, ceremonies, and sacred sites that long predate statehood and continue to be practiced to this day
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
California Indian religions and spiritual beliefs, like many Indigenous religions, are exercised through land-based practices, including sacred sites and ceremonies tied to specific
geographies, and access to cultural landscapes that remain integral to the continued survival of California Indian religions and spiritual practices.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Prior to the annexation of the California territory by the United States of America, the Indigenous people of this land were subjected to systems of conversion and enslavement under Spanish rule until 1821 through the Franciscan mission system.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
During the Mexican administration of the province from 1821 to 1845, the ancestral homelands of California’s Native Nations continued to be carved up by migrating Mexican, United States, British, and Canadian settlers, therefore, losing access to their spiritual sites and the natural resources.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Since the incorporation of California territory into the United States of America in 1849, the relationship between the
state and California Indians was fraught with violence, exploitation, dispossession, and the attempted destruction of tribal communities and criminalization of Native religious and spiritual practices.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(g)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
In 1850, the State of California passed An Act for the Government and Protection of Indians, which facilitated the removal of Indigenous groups from their ancestral lands through family separation and indentured servitude. The act also facilitated the punishment of Indigenous people for minor crimes, and prohibited the religious and spiritual practices of California Indians.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(h)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Between 1850 and 1859, the State of California actively engaged in violent conflicts against its Native population, organizing private militias and calling up the state militia to respond to what officials perceived as “Indian attacks.”
</html:p>
<html:p>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
In 1851, Governor Peter Hardeman Burnett, California’s first governor, declared in his State of the State address that “a war of extermination will continue to be waged between the two races until the Indian race becomes extinct must be expected.”
</html:p>
<html:p>
(j)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Between 1854 and 1859, the state authorized a series of military expeditions against Native communities in Humboldt, Klamath, Modoc, Pit River, San Bernadino, and Tulare. These campaigns generated an estimated cost of $449,605.74. California later submitted the expenses to Congress for reimbursement, but only $229,987.67 was ultimately approved and repaid under the Congressional Appropriations Act of March 2, 1861.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(k)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Between 1892 and 1974, California was home to 13 federal Indian boarding schools that, under a federal mandate to assimilate California Indian children into American culture, forcibly removed
thousands of Native children from their families, subjected them to harsh discipline and cultural suppression, including the loss of language, identity, and spiritual practices, and left a legacy of profound intergenerational trauma that continues to affect the well-being of California Native American tribes.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(
<html:i>l</html:i>
)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Prior to 2022, more than 100 geographic features and places in California carried the term “squaw,” along with other derogatory names assigned to locations within the ancestral homelands of Native Nations. These names reinforced harmful stereotypes, fueled prejudice, and connected to the broader crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(m)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Government‑sanctioned policies and actions that dispossessed California Indian tribes from their lands normalized a broader culture of mistreatment throughout the early 20th century, and the consequences of these
injustices remain visible and deeply felt today.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(n)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
California Indian tribes continue to be separated from cultural items and the ancestral human remains.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(o)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Existing federal protections for Native American religious and spiritual practices, including the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1996) (AIRFA) and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000bb) (RFRA), are limited in scope, underenforced, or inapplicable to state and private actions.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(p)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Existing California laws do not require Indigenous consent to state and local actions that would burden Native American religious freedom or provide comprehensive protection for the free exercise of Native American religious and spiritual practices, sacred sites, or access to cultural landscapes.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(q)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
California has a compelling interest in safeguarding Indigenous religious freedom, ceremonial practices, sacred sites, cultural patrimony, and access to cultural landscapes as a matter of human rights, environmental justice, cultural survival, and compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), including Article 11 (right to practices and revitalize cultural traditions), Article 12 (right to maintain, protect, and access religious and cultural sites), Article 25 (right to maintain spiritual relationships with traditional lands), and Article 32 (right to determine and develop priorities for the use of lands and resources), as endorsed by the United States in 2010.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(r)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
It is therefore necessary to enact comprehensive state-level protections for California Indian religious and spiritual practice freedom protections and sacred site
protections, including enforceable rights, consultation and consent requirements, confidentiality measures, stewardship and comanagement frameworks, and remedies.
</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
</ns0:BillSection>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_5A4DD47B-95F2-4044-B47F-8C7647020D7F">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 3.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:ActionLine action="IS_AMENDED" ns3:type="locator" ns3:href="urn:caml:codes:GOV:caml#xpointer(%2Fcaml%3ALawDoc%2Fcaml%3ACode%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'TITLE'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'1.'%5D%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'DIVISION'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'10.'%5D%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'PART'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'6.'%5D%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'CHAPTER'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'2.'%5D%2Fcaml%3ALawSection%5Bcaml%3ANum%3D'7930.205.'%5D)" ns3:label="fractionType: LAW_SECTION">
Section 7930.205 of the
<ns0:DocName>Government Code</ns0:DocName>
is amended to read:
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<ns0:LawSection id="id_65772DD3-A7E9-42C3-BBF1-71891688326F">
<ns0:Num>7930.205.</ns0:Num>
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<ns0:Content>
<html:p>The following provisions may operate to exempt certain records, or portions thereof, from disclosure pursuant to this division:</html:p>
<html:p>Information identifying sacred sites, cultural landscapes, or religious practices of California Native American tribes, Section 5097.1002, Public Resources Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Taxpayer information, confidentiality, local taxes, Section 7925.000, this code.</html:p>
<html:p>Tax preparer, disclosure of information obtained in business of preparing tax returns, Section 17530.5, Business and Professions Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Teacher, credential holder or applicant, information provided to
Commission on Teacher Credentialing, confidentiality of, Section 44341, Education Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Teacher, certified school personnel examination results, confidentiality of, Section 44289, Education Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Telephone answering service customer list, trade secret, Section 16606, Business and Professions Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Timber yield tax, disclosure to county assessor, Section 38706, Revenue and Taxation Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Timber yield tax, disclosure of information, Section 38705, Revenue and Taxation Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Title insurers, confidentiality of notice of noncompliance, Section 12414.14, Insurance Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Tobacco products, exemption from disclosure for distribution information provided to the State Department of Public Health, Section 22954, Business and Professions Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Tow truck driver, information in records of the Department of the California Highway Patrol, Department of Motor Vehicles, or other agencies, confidentiality of, Sections 2431 and 2432.3, Vehicle Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Toxic Substances Control, Department of, inspection of records of, Section 25152.5, Health and Safety Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Trade secrets, Section 1060, Evidence Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Trade secrets, confidentiality of, occupational safety and health inspections, Section 6322, Labor Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Trade secrets, disclosure of public records, Section 3426.7, Civil Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Trade secrets, food, drugs, cosmetics, nondisclosure, Sections 110165 and 110370, Health and Safety Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Trade secrets, protection by Director of Pesticide Regulation, Sections 7924.300 to
7924.335, inclusive, this code.</html:p>
<html:p>Trade secrets and proprietary information relating to pesticides, confidentiality of, Sections 14022 and 14023, Food and Agricultural Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Trade secrets, protection by Director of Industrial Relations, Section 6396, Labor Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Trade secrets relating to hazardous substances, disclosure of, Sections 78480 to 78495, inclusive, and Section 78930, Health and Safety Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Traffic violator school licensee records, confidentiality of, Section 11212, Vehicle Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Traffic offense, dismissed for participation in driving school or program, record of, confidentiality of, Section 1808.7, Vehicle Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Transit districts, questionnaire and financial statement information in bids, Section 99154, Public Utilities Code.</html:p>
<html:p>Tribal financial information, Section 8450, this code.</html:p>
<html:p>Tribal-state gaming compacts, exemption from disclosure for records of an Indian tribe relating to securitization of annual payments, Section 63048.63, this code.</html:p>
<html:p>Trust companies, disclosure of private trust confidential information, Section 1602, Financial Code.</html:p>
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<ns0:Num>SEC. 4.</ns0:Num>
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Chapter 1.79 (commencing with Section 5097.1000) is added to Division 5 of the
<ns0:DocName>Public Resources Code</ns0:DocName>
, to read:
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<ns0:Fragment>
<ns0:LawHeading type="CHAPTER" id="id_D9367103-8A14-469E-AF3C-194CB1EDBC86">
<ns0:Num>1.79.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawHeadingVersion id="id_05718249-DA2D-4E6E-9764-8582AF72A9D9">
<ns0:LawHeadingText>California Indian Freedom Act of 2026</ns0:LawHeadingText>
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<ns0:LawSection id="id_C18E44BE-D07B-43E0-A916-7CAA177699A8">
<ns0:Num>5097.1000.</ns0:Num>
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<ns0:Content>
<html:p>For purposes of this act, the following definitions apply:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“California Native American tribe” means a Native American tribe located in California that is on the contact list maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission for the purposes of Chapter 905 of the Statutes of 2004.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Consultation” means the meaningful and timely process of seeking, discussing, and considering carefully the views of others, in a manner that is cognizant of all parties’ cultural values and, where feasible, seeking agreement.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Consultation between governmental agencies and Native American tribes shall be conducted
in a way that is mutually respectful of each party’s sovereignty.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Consultation shall also recognize the tribes’ potential needs for confidentiality with respect to places that have traditional tribal cultural significance.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Cultural landscape” means a geographical area that includes cultural and natural resources associated with the spiritual and cultural practices of a California Native American tribe.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Exercise of religious beliefs or spiritual practices” means any practice undertaken as part of California Indian religious, spiritual, or sacred observance, whether or not compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
This term includes California Indian spiritual and religious practices tied to
land, water, and sacred sites, and the use, building, or conversion of real property for religious or sacred purposes.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Governmental agency” means any state agency, department, board, commission, local government, or subdivision thereof.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Least restrictive means” shall be interpreted consistent with strict scrutiny jurisprudence of California.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(g)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Native Nation” or “tribe” means any federally recognized or nonfederally recognized California Native American tribe.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(h)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Substantial burden” means any government action that significantly inhibits, constrains, or otherwise pressures an individual or tribe to violate, abandon, or modify a sincerely held religious belief or practice.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Sacred site” means any specific location, landscape, landform, waterbody, or area that is both of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Historically, culturally, or spiritually significant to a California Indian or tribe.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Used, or has historically been used, for religious, ceremonial, or cultural purposes.
</html:p>
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<ns0:LawSection id="id_903EF2A4-2260-4CE3-A51C-659DB63E934F">
<ns0:Num>5097.1001.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_39A23D32-B614-488F-9445-20A0EA75BC82">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A governmental agency shall not substantially burden a California Indian or California Native American tribe’s exercise of religious beliefs or spiritual practices, including their access to and use of sacred sites and objects, and their ability to perform religious ceremonies and rites, even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, unless the governmental agency demonstrates that application of the burden is both of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
In furtherance of a compelling governmental interest.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The least restrictive means of furthering that interest.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
This section applies to all state and
local government actions, including all of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Permitting decisions.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Land use approvals.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Enforcement actions.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Environmental review.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Contracting, licensing, or regulatory activities.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A California Indian or tribe shall have standing and may assert a violation of this section as a claim or defense in any judicial or administrative proceeding.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A California Indian or tribe may obtain either of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Declaratory relief.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Injunctive relief.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A prevailing party asserting a claim under this act shall be entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, and any other equitable remedies determined by the court.
</html:p>
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</ns0:LawSection>
<ns0:LawSection id="id_EE5D60DF-6182-45D7-9DD8-FB0A810DC3B1">
<ns0:Num>5097.1002.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_926F0F1D-C76A-4BE3-8B47-FB9E2262672D">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Before any governmental agency undertakes, approves, permits, funds, or authorizes a project that may impact a sacred site or cultural landscape, the governmental agency shall engage in early, meaningful, and good-faith government-to-government consultation with an affected tribe.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Consistent with United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) Articles 11, 12, 25, and 32, a governmental agency shall seek and document free, prior, and informed consent from an affected tribe for any project that risks any of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Physical destruction or alteration of a sacred site.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Loss of access, privacy, or quiet use.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Long-term environmental degradation affecting religious and spiritual practices.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A governmental agency shall avoid adverse impacts to sacred sites to the maximum extent feasible.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
If avoidance is not feasible, a governmental agency shall do all of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Demonstrate that no prudent and feasible alternative exists.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Minimize impacts to the greatest extent possible.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(C)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Adopt mitigation measures approved by the affected tribe.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A governmental agency
shall allow California Indians access to sacred sites on public lands for Native American religious, ceremonial, or cultural activities, except where public safety or resource protection make access impossible.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Information identifying sacred sites, cultural landscapes, or religious practices shall be confidential and exempt from public records laws, including, but not limited to, the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code).
</html:p>
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<ns0:BillSection id="id_1B94500B-9D66-45B4-8853-39D958E3B66A">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 5.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>The provisions of this act are severable. If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
</ns0:BillSection>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_42089E71-727B-4BDA-AB0C-ED172559FD92">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 6.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>The Legislature finds and declares that Sections 3 and 4 of this act, which amend Section 7930.205 of the Government Code and add Chapter 1.79 (commencing with Section 5097.1000) to Division 5 of the Public Resources Code, respectively, impose a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:</html:p>
<html:p>The Legislature recognizes the state’s destructive role in the ability of California Indians to freely and safely
practice their religious and spiritual beliefs through its past legislative actions, and that in order to both protect the privacy of California Indians and California Native American tribes with regard to information they may share with governmental agencies about the location and significance of sacred sites, cultural landscapes, and the practices of profound cultural, religious, and spiritual beliefs, it is necessary that this act limit the public’s right of access to that information and for it to remain confidential.</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
</ns0:BillSection>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_235BF64A-DF46-452C-8DF3-6A6A49668A2C">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 7.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>The Legislature finds and declares that Sections 3 and 4 of this act, which amend Section 7930.205 of the Government Code and adds Chapter 1.79 (commencing with Section 5097.1000) to Division 5 of the Public Resources Code, respectively, further, within the meaning of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution, the purposes of that constitutional section as it relates to the right of public access to the meetings of local public bodies or the writings of local public officials and local agencies. Pursuant to paragraph (7) of subdivision (b) of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution, the Legislature makes the following findings:</html:p>
<html:p>The Legislature recognizes the state’s destructive role in
the ability of California Indians to freely and safely practice their religious and spiritual beliefs through its past legislative actions, and that in order to both protect the privacy of California Indians and California Native American tribes with regard to information they may share with governmental agencies about the location and significance of sacred sites, cultural landscapes, and the practices of profound cultural, religious, and spiritual beliefs, it is necessary that this act limit the public’s right of access to that information and for it to remain confidential.</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
</ns0:BillSection>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_2A5A5F65-AEE4-48C3-B8FC-A80A3E79A7DD">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 8.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Legislature finds and declares that the protection of Native American spiritual practices is a matter of statewide concern and is not a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution for all of the following reasons:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Existing federal protections, including those intended to safeguard access to sacred sites and culturally significant resources, have proven inadequate to ensure the free exercise of Native American spiritual and cultural traditions.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The limited recognition of culturally specific practices and ongoing threats to sacred landscapes have resulted in substantial
and continuing harm to Native American communities.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
California has a compelling interest in affirmatively supporting the survival, dignity, and continuity of Native American spiritual traditions, which constitute an irreplaceable part of the state’s cultural heritage.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Strengthening state-level protections is necessary to remedy historical wrongdoings and ensure that California’s Native American people can practice their religions and spiritual beliefs without undue interference, obstruction, or degradation of sacred places and resources essential to those practices.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Therefore, Sections 3 and 4 of this act amending Section 7930.205 of the Government Code and adding Chapter 1.79 (commencing with Section 5097.1000) to Division 5 of the Public Resources Code, respectively, applies to all cities, including
charter cities.
</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
</ns0:BillSection>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_AB2F25C4-A966-42FC-BB42-9CC1075B5CCD">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 9.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII
<html:span class="ThinSpace"/>
B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.
</html:p>
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