Gov. Code, § 11019.82

(a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the Tribal Cogovernance and Comanagement of Ancestral Lands and Waters Act.

(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Ancestral lands and waters” means lands, resources, and waters within a federally recognized tribe’s ancestral territory.

(2) “Cogovernance” is governance that emphasizes collaboration and shared decisionmaking on a government-to-government level.

(3) “Comanagement” means a collaborative effort established through an agreement in which two or more sovereigns mutually negotiate, define, and allocate amongst themselves the sharing of management functions and responsibilities for a given territory, area, or set of natural resources.

(4) “Federally recognized tribe” means a tribe located in the state and acknowledged by the federal government pursuant to the annual list published under the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. Sec. 5131) in the Federal Register.

(5) “Natural Resources Agency” means the Natural Resources Agency and each of its departments, boards, conservancies, and commissions identified in Section 12805.

(c) The Legislature encourages the Natural Resources Agency to enter into cogovernance and comanagement agreements with federally recognized tribes.

(1) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency or a delegate shall be the signatory, and may enter into cogovernance and comanagement agreements with federally recognized tribes for the purposes of shared responsibility, decisionmaking, and partnership in resource management and conservation within a tribe’s ancestral lands and waters.

(2) The scope of cogovernance and comanagement agreements shall be limited to those areas under the jurisdiction of the Natural Resources Agency. The Natural Resources Agency may enter into a cogovernance or comanagement agreement with a federally recognized tribe without further specific legislative authorization.

(d) At the request of a federally recognized tribe, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency or a delegate at the appropriate department, board, conservancy, or commission may, to the extent feasible within existing staffing and budget, within 90 days of the request, begin government-to-government negotiations on cogovernance and comanagement agreements with the tribe.