Pub. Resources Code, § 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.