California Code, Public Resources Code - PRC § 36850

Designation guidelines based on the classification goals adopted for the state system of MMAs shall be developed jointly by the appropriate managing agencies in cooperation with the committee on or before January 1, 2002. These guidelines shall be used to provide a general sense of requirements for designating a site in any particular classification, and may include characteristics such as uniqueness of the area or resource, biological productivity, special habitats, cultural or recreational values, and human impacts to the area. These designation guidelines shall be provided on a standard set of instructions for each classification.