Off-highway vehicle recreation: City of Needles.

Existing law authorizes an off-highway motor vehicle that has been issued a plate or device to be operated or driven upon a highway under certain circumstances. Existing law authorizes various public entities, and the Director of Parks and Recreation, to designate a highway, or portion thereof, for the combined use of regular vehicular traffic and off-highway motor vehicles if certain requirements are met, including a prohibition on a designation of greater than 3 miles. Existing law, until January 1, 2028, authorizes the City of Needles to operate a pilot project that exempts specified combined-use highways in the City of Needles from this prohibition to link together existing trails and trailheads on federal Bureau of Land Management or United States Forest Service lands and to link off-highway motor vehicle recreational-use areas with necessary service and lodging facilities in order to provide a unified linkage of trail systems for off-highway motor vehicles, as prescribed. Existing law requires the City of Needles to prepare and submit to the Legislature reports evaluating the effectiveness and environmental impacts of the pilot project, as specified. This bill would extend the operation of the above-described pilot program to January 1, 2033, and would make other technical changes. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Needles.