BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Senator Dave Cox, Chair
BILL NO: SB 1142 HEARING: 4/19/10
AUTHOR: Wiggins FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 2/18/10 CONSULTANT: Detwiler
AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATION EASEMENTS
Background and Existing Law
The California Farmland Conservancy Act allows the State
Department of Conservation to give grants to acquire
agricultural conservation easements and fee title interests
to preserve farmland (SB 1864, Costa, 2002). These
perpetual easements keep agricultural land in private
ownership while the owners voluntarily avoid development
for anything but agricultural production.
The Department has provided more than $62 million in grants
through the California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund
(CFCPF) for more than 125 agricultural conservation
easements covering over 41,000 acres. Among the many
requirements that apply to these grants, state law
prohibits grants funded through the CFCPF from imposing any
restrictions on commercial agricultural activities.
Some observers say that farm and ranch properties could be
used for multiple purposes, including flood corridors or
habitat preservation, but the statutory limits on
agricultural conservation easements makes the property
ineligible for CFCPF money. They want state officials to
have more flexibility in the rules that govern the
agricultural conservation easements that the Department of
Conservation funds.
Proposed Law
Senate Bill 1142 authorizes the Director of the California
Department of Conservation to make grants, from a source
other than the California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund
(CFCPF), for the acquisition of agricultural conservation
easements, upon legislative appropriation.
SB 1142 requires the Director to determine that those
grants are consistent with the purposes of the California
SB 1142 -- 2/18/10 -- Page 2
Farmland Conservancy Act and requires that agricultural
conservation easements funded by those grants meet the
following requirements:
The easement's primary purpose must be consistent
with the property's continuing agricultural use.
The easement cannot substantially prevent
agricultural uses on the property.
Any restriction on the property's current or
foreseeable agricultural use must only be imposed to
restrict the property's uncultivated areas.
If the property's characteristics or qualities meet
the original purpose of the funding source as
cultivated land, the property may continue to be
commercially cultivated with the minimum restrictions
necessary to meet the original funding source
requirements.
The nonagricultural qualities that will be
protected by the easement must be inherent to the
property.
The easement must require that a subsequent
easement or deed restriction will be subordinate to
the agricultural conservation easement and require the
Director's approval.
The bill creates the Farm, Ranch, and Watershed Account in
the Soil and Conservation Fund to make grants that
implement its provisions.
Comment
More flexible farmland protection . Agricultural
conservation easements can't restrict commercial
agricultural activities. As a result, the Department of
Conservation cannot use CFCPF money to protect other
resource values on agricultural land if that protection
limits the property's agricultural use. By contrast, SB
1142 allows the Department to use non-CFCPF funds as grants
to protect riparian zones, wildlife habitat, or flood
corridors while simultaneously keeping the farmed portions
in agricultural use. This more flexible approach to
agricultural conservation easements is similar to AB 1180
(Blakeslee, 2007) and AB 929 (Blakeslee, 2010), both of
which passed the Senate Local Government Committee, but
died on the Senate Appropriations Committee's suspense
file.
SB 1142 -- 2/18/10 -- Page 3
SB 1142 -- 2/18/10 -- Page 4
Support and Opposition (4/15/10)
Support : California Council of Land Trusts, American Land
Conservancy, Amigo de los Rios, Audubon California, Bay
Area Open Space Council, Big Sur Land Trust, Bolsa Chica
Land Trust, California Coastal Coalition, California League
of Conservation Voters, California Rangelands Trust,
Catalina Island Conservancy, Central Valley Land Trust
Council, Defenders of Wildlife, Eastern Sierra Land Trust,
Feather River Land Trust, General Valley Land Trust
Council, Lake County Land Trust, Land Conservancy of San
Luis Obispo County, Land Trust of Napa County, Land Trust
for Santa Barbara County, Land Trust of Santa Cruz County,
Lassen Land & Trails Trust, Marin Agricultural Land Trust,
Mendocino Land Trust, Mountain Meadows Conservancy, Muir
Heritage Land Trust, Natural Resources Defense Council,
Pacific Forest Trust, Peninsula Open Space Trust, Placer
Land Trust, Preserve Calavera, Save Mt. Diablo, Planning
and Conservation League, Sacramento Area Flood Control
Agency, Sanctuary Forest, Inc., San Diego River Park
Foundation, San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation
Trust, Sempirvirens Fund, Sequoia Riverlands Trust, Shasta
Land Trust, Sierra-Cascade Land Trust Council, Sierra
Foothills Conservancy, Solano Land Trust, Sonoma Land
Trust, Tri-Valley Conservancy, Truckee Donner Land Trust,
Trust for Public Land, Tulare Basin Wildlife Partners.
Opposition : Unknown.