BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 618
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 618 (Wolk)
As Amended August 30, 2011
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :39-0
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 9-0 AGRICULTURE 9-0
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|Ayes:|Smyth, Skinner, Bradford, |Ayes:|Galgiani, Valadao, Bill |
| |Campos, Davis, Gordon, | |Berryhill, Hill, Ma, |
| |Hueso, Knight, Norby | |Mendoza, Olsen, Perea, |
| | | |Yamada |
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APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, | | |
| |Blumenfield, Bradford, | | |
| |Charles Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, | | |
| |Hall, Hill, Lara, | | |
| |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, | | |
| |Solorio, Wagner | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : This bill allows a city or county and a landowner to
concurrently rescind a Williamson Act (Act) contract on marginally
productive or physically impaired lands and enter into a solar-use
easement that restricts the use of land to photovoltaic (PV) solar
facilities. Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes any county or city to enter into an agreement with a
landowner to hold marginally productive or physically impaired
land in a solar-use easement for a term of not less than 10 years.
2)Requires a solar-use easement to be officially recorded with the
county assessor.
3)Authorizes the Department of Conservation (DOC) to adopt
regulations regarding the implementation of the provisions of this
measure.
SB 618
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4)Requires every lead agency and responsible agency to expedite its
review for issuing any necessary permits for solar photovoltaic
facilities located on marginally productive or physically
impaired, or disturbed land.
5)Requires a parcel be designated as marginally productive or
physically impaired under this subdivision based on substantial
evidence in the public record, and requires the designation be
approved by DOC.
6)Requires the landowner to pay an Act cancellation fee equal to
6.25% of the property's nonrestricted value when placing Act land
into a solar-use easement, as specified.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Creates the Act, also known as the California Land Conservation
Act of 1965, which authorizes cities and counties to enter into
agricultural land preservation contracts with landowners who agree
to restrict the use of their land for a minimum of 10 years in
exchange for lower-assessed valuations for property tax purposes.
2)Allows a landowner or a county to not renew an Act contract. The
Act contract then runs out in nine years. After nonrenewal, a
county will increase the property's assessed value to its market
value by the end of the contract period when the land use
restrictions also end.
3)Allows for a cancellation of an Act contract at the request of the
landowner. Cancellation immediately ends the contract and allows
the landowner to use the property for another specified use. If
the cancellation is approved by the county supervisor, the
landowner must pay a cancellation fee equal to 12.5% of the
property's nonrestricted value. The revenues go to the state
General Fund (GF).
4)Allows for the rescission of an Act contract. Rescission occurs
when the county supervisors cancel an Act contract, but the
landowner simultaneously puts an agricultural conservation
easement on other land of equal or greater value.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
this bill may cost the GF several million dollars in lost Act
SB 618
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cancellation fees. Other minor costs would include approximately
$200,000 to DOC for implementation of the provisions of this bill
and approximately $50,000 to reimburse mandate for requirements
placed on the county assessor.
COMMENTS : The Act conserves agricultural and open space land by
allowing private property owners to sign voluntary contracts with
counties and cities, restricting their land to agricultural, open
space, and compatible uses. In return, county assessors must lower
the assessed value of the contracted lands to reflect their use as
agricultural or open space instead of the market value. Making sure
that private property owners use their Act land appropriately is
essential to maintaining the statute's constitutional integrity.
Approximately 16.6 million acres are under Act contracts.
Although the Act recognizes the construction of electric facilities
as a compatible use, opinions differ over whether a solar PV
facility qualifies as a compatible use. To avoid lawsuits,
landowners and county officials prefer to terminate their Act
contracts before building solar PV facilities. Some county
supervisors have made the public interest findings and cancelled Act
contracts so that investors can build solar PV facilities. Others
want to find a different method to terminate Act contracts before
building solar PV facilities.
According to the author, this bill offers incentives to solar PV
developers who choose to develop on lands that are less suited for
agricultural use or have a lower habitat value. The bill defines
"marginally productive and physically impaired lands" to be those
lands which have significantly reduced agricultural value due to
chemical or physical limitations and are unusable for agricultural
purposes.
Analysis Prepared by : Victor Francovich / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084
FN: 0002325