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.