BILL NUMBER: AB 1764	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER  136
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  JULY 17, 2008
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  JULY 17, 2008
	PASSED THE SENATE  JUNE 30, 2008
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  APRIL 24, 2008
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 24, 2008

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Blakeslee

                        JANUARY 8, 2008

   An act to amend Section 51201 of the Government Code, relating to
land use.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1764, Blakeslee. Land use: agricultural use.
   Existing law, for purposes of the Williamson Act, defines
agricultural commodity to mean any and all plant and animal products
produced in this state for commercial purposes.
   This bill would include in the definition of agricultural
commodity plant products used for producing biofuels.
   Existing law, for purposes of the Williamson Act, defines
open-space use to mean the use of land in a manner that preserves its
natural characteristics, beauty, or openness for the benefit and
enjoyment of the public, to provide essential habitat for wildlife,
or for the solar evaporation of seawater within the course of salt
production for commercial purposes, if the land is within, among
other things, a wildlife habitat area or a managed wetland area, as
defined.
   This bill would include land that is within an area enrolled in
the United States Department of Agriculture's Conservation Reserve
Program or Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 51201 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   51201.  As used in this chapter, unless otherwise apparent from
the context:
   (a) "Agricultural commodity" means any and all plant and animal
products produced in this state for commercial purposes including,
but not limited to, plant products used for producing biofuels.
   (b) "Agricultural use" means use of land, including but not
limited to greenhouses, for the purpose of producing an agricultural
commodity for commercial purposes.
   (c) "Prime agricultural land" means any of the following:
   (1) All land that qualifies for rating as class I or class II in
the Natural Resource Conservation Service land use capability
classifications.
   (2) Land which qualifies for rating 80 through 100 in the Storie
Index Rating.
   (3) Land which supports livestock used for the production of food
and fiber and which has an annual carrying capacity equivalent to at
least one animal unit per acre as defined by the United States
Department of Agriculture.
   (4) Land planted with fruit- or nut-bearing trees, vines, bushes
or crops which have a nonbearing period of less than five years and
which will normally return during the commercial bearing period on an
annual basis from the production of unprocessed agricultural plant
production not less than two hundred dollars ($200) per acre.
   (5) Land which has returned from the production of unprocessed
agricultural plant products an annual gross value of not less than
two hundred dollars ($200) per acre for three of the previous five
years.
   (d) "Agricultural preserve" means an area devoted to either
agricultural use, as defined in subdivision (b), recreational use as
defined in subdivision (n), or open-space use as defined in
subdivision (o), or any combination of those uses and which is
established in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
   (e) "Compatible use" is any use determined by the county or city
administering the preserve pursuant to Section 51231, 51238, or
51238.1 or by this act to be compatible with the agricultural,
recreational, or open-space use of land within the preserve and
subject to contract. "Compatible use" includes agricultural use,
recreational use or open-space use unless the board or council finds
after notice and hearing that the use is not compatible with the
agricultural, recreational or open-space use to which the land is
restricted by contract pursuant to this chapter.
   (f) "Board" means the board of supervisors of a county which
establishes or proposes to establish an agricultural preserve or
which enters or proposes to enter into a contract on land within an
agricultural preserve pursuant to this chapter.
   (g) "Council" means the city council of a city which establishes
or proposes to establish an agricultural preserve or which enters or
proposes to enter into a contract on land within an agricultural
preserve pursuant to this chapter.
   (h) Except where it is otherwise apparent from the context,
"county" or "city" means the county or city having jurisdiction over
the land.
   (i) A "scenic highway corridor" is an area adjacent to, and within
view of, the right-of-way of:
   (1) An existing or proposed state scenic highway in the state
scenic highway system established by the Legislature pursuant to
Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 260) of Chapter 2 of Division 1
of the Streets and Highways Code and which has been officially
designated by the Department of Transportation as an official state
scenic highway; or
   (2) A county scenic highway established pursuant to Article 2.5
(commencing with Section 260) of Chapter 2 of Division 1 of the
Streets and Highways Code, if each of the following conditions have
been met:
   (A) The scenic highway is included in an adopted general plan of
the county or city; and
   (B) The scenic highway corridor is included in an adopted specific
plan of the county or city; and
   (C) Specific proposals for implementing the plan, including
regulation of land use, have been approved by the Advisory Committee
on a Master Plan for Scenic Highways, and the county or city highway
has been officially designated by the Department of Transportation as
an official county scenic highway.
   (j) A "wildlife habitat area" is a land or water area designated
by a board or council, after consulting with and considering the
recommendation of the Department of Fish and Game, as an area of
great importance for the protection or enhancement of the wildlife
resources of the state.
   (k) A "saltpond" is an area which, for at least three consecutive
years immediately prior to being placed within an agricultural
preserve pursuant to this chapter, has been used for the solar
evaporation of seawater in the course of salt production for
commercial purposes.
   () A "managed wetland area" is an area, which may be an area diked
off from the ocean or any bay, river or stream to which water is
occasionally admitted, and which, for at least three consecutive
years immediately prior to being placed within an agricultural
preserve pursuant to this chapter, was used and maintained as a
waterfowl hunting preserve or game refuge or for agricultural
purposes.
   (m) A "submerged area" is any land determined by the board or
council to be submerged or subject to tidal action and found by the
board or council to be of great value to the state as open space.
   (n) "Recreational use" is the use of land in its agricultural or
natural state by the public, with or without charge, for any of the
following: walking, hiking, picnicking, camping, swimming, boating,
fishing, hunting, or other outdoor games or sports for which
facilities are provided for public participation. Any fee charged for
the recreational use of land as defined in this subdivision shall be
in a reasonable amount and shall not have the effect of unduly
limiting its use by the public. Any ancillary structures necessary
for a recreational use shall comply with the provisions of Section
51238.1.
   (o) "Open-space use" is the use or maintenance of land in a manner
that preserves its natural characteristics, beauty, or openness for
the benefit and enjoyment of the public, to provide essential habitat
for wildlife, or for the solar evaporation of seawater in the course
of salt production for commercial purposes, if the land is within:
   (1) A scenic highway corridor, as defined in subdivision (i).
   (2) A wildlife habitat area, as defined in subdivision (j).
   (3) A saltpond, as defined in subdivision (k).
   (4) A managed wetland area, as defined in subdivision ().
   (5) A submerged area, as defined in subdivision (m).
   (6) An area enrolled in the United States Department of
Agriculture's Conservation Reserve Program or Conservation Reserve
Enhancement Program.