Education Code section 81033
(a)
The governing board of a community college district, prior to acquiring any site on which it proposes to construct any school building as defined in Section 81130.5, shall have the site, or sites, under consideration investigated by competent personnel to ensure that the final site selection is determined by an evaluation of all factors affecting the public interest and is not limited to selection on the basis of raw land cost only. If the prospective college site is located within the boundaries of any special studies zone or within an area designated as geologically hazardous in the safety element of the local general plan as provided in subdivision (a) of Section 65302 of the Government Code, the investigation shall include any geological and soil engineering studies by competent personnel needed to provide an assessment of the nature of the site and potential for earthquake or other geological hazard damage.(b)
Geological and soil engineering studies as described in subdivision (a) shall be made, within the boundaries of any special studies zone, for the construction of any school building as defined in Section 81130.5 or, if the estimated cost exceeds twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), for the reconstruction or alteration of or addition to that building for work which alters structural elements. The Department of General Services may require similar geological and soil engineering studies for the construction or alteration of any building on a site located outside of the boundaries of any special studies zone. These studies need not be made if the site under consideration has been the subject of adequate prior studies.(c)
To promote the safety of students, comprehensive community planning, and greater educational usefulness of community college sites, the governing board of each community college district, if the proposed site is within two miles, measured by air line, of that point on an airport runway, or runway proposed by an airport master plan, which is nearest the site and excluding them if the property is not so located, before acquiring title to property for a new community college site or for an addition to a present site, shall give the board of governors notice in writing of the proposed acquisition and shall submit any information required by the board of governors.(d)
If, with respect to a proposed site located within two miles of an operative airport runway, the report of the board of governors submitted to a community college district governing board under subdivision (c) does not favor the acquisition of the site on the sole or partial basis of the unfavorable recommendation of the Division of Aeronautics of the Department of Transportation, no state agency or officer shall grant, apportion, or allow to that community college district for expenditure in connection with that site, any state funds otherwise made available under any state law whatever for community college site acquisition or college building construction, or for expansion of existing sites and buildings, and no funds of the community college district or of the county in which the district lies shall be expended for those purposes. However, this section shall not be applicable to sites acquired prior to January 1, 1966, or to any additions or extensions to those sites.(e)
No action undertaken by the board of governors or by any other state agency or by any political subdivision pursuant to this chapter, or in compliance with this chapter, shall be construed to affect any rights arising under Section 19 of Article I of the California Constitution.
Source:
Section 81033, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=EDC§ionNum=81033.
(updated Jan. 1, 1996; accessed Jun. 30, 2025).