BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 618 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 618 (Wolk) As Amended September 2, 2011 Majority vote SENATE VOTE : 39-0 LOCAL GOVERNMENT 9-0 AGRICULTURE 9-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Smyth, Skinner, Bradford, |Ayes:|Galgiani, Valadao, Bill | | |Campos, Davis, Gordon, | |Berryhill, Hill, Ma, | | |Hueso, Knight, Norby | |Mendoza, Olsen, Perea, | | | | |Yamada | ----------------------------------------------------------------- APPROPRIATIONS 17-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, | | | | |Blumenfield, Bradford, | | | | |Charles Calderon, Campos, | | | | |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, | | | | |Hall, Hill, Lara, | | | | |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, | | | | |Solorio, Wagner | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This bill allows a city or county and a landowner to rescind a Williamson Act (Act) contract on agricultural lands (Ag land) of limited agriculture or wildlife habitat value and enter into a solar-use easement that restricts the use of land to photovoltaic (PV) solar facilities. This bill exempts PV solar energy systems (PV systems) from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) when placed on specific lands, including some classes of unproductive Ag land. Specifically this bill : 1)Expands the California Department of Fish and Game's (DFG) authorization to grant permits to take Fully Protected Species (FPS) if those species are covered and conserved in a Natural Communities Conservation Plan (NCCP). 2)Defines solar-use easement as any rights or interests acquired by a city or county in perpetuity or a term of years that restricts the use of land to a solar facility, with the SB 618 Page 2 purpose to provide for the collection and distribution of solar energy for electricity generation, as specified. 3)Defines land eligible for a solar-use easement under the Act, as meeting the following criteria: a) The land meets either of the following: i) Land consisting predominately of soil with significantly reduced agriculture productivity for agriculture activities, as specified; and, ii) Land that has severely adverse soil conditions that are detrimental to agricultural activities and production, as specified. b) Requires the parcel to not be located on prime farmland, unique farmland, or land of statewide importance as determined by the Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program of the California Natural Resources Agency (NRA), unless the California Department of Conservation (DOC) determines that the parcel is eligible for a PV easement based on circumstances that cause limited agricultural use for the parcel. Requires lands designated as important farmland not to be reclassified due to irrigation status. 4)Requires the landowners requesting a PV easement to provide DOC with the following information, if applicable: a) A written explanation why the land, even under best management practices, is agriculturally unproductive; b) A recent soil test showing characteristics that make the land agriculturally unproductive; c) An analysis showing water availability on the land; d) An analysis of water quality on the land; and, e) Crop and yield information for the past six years. 5)Requires the landowner to provide to DOC a proposed management plan for the life of the PV easement describing soil management, minimizing impact on adjacent agriculture operations, and plans to restore the land to its previous SB 618 Page 3 condition when the easement ends. Requires the landowner, when a local government approves a solar easement, to implement the management plan if the land is deemed eligible by DOC, as specified. 6)Allows DOC to establish a fee, to be paid by the landowner, to recover the estimated cost incurred by DOC in the consultation a solar easement. 7)Requires a solar-use easement to be officially recorded with the county assessor. 8)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 20 years, unless the landowner request a shorter term, that may not be less than 10 years. 9)Requires the landowner to pay an Act cancellation fee equal to 6.25% of the fair market valuation of the land when placing Act land into a solar-use easement, unless the land is designated as a Farmland Security Zone (FSZ). FSZ land must pay a cancellation fee of 12.5%. 10)Authorizes DOC to adopt regulations regarding the implementation of the provisions of this measure. 11)Exempts PV system from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) on the following lands: a) Abandoned surface mines, as specified; b) Land with active, idle, abandoned or closed oil wells; c) Solid waste landfills that have been closed, as specified; d) National Priorities List sites (Superfund sites) and sites that were remediated and removed from the Superfund sites list, or sites where corrective action has been ordered, is underway or is complete; e) Hazards substance release site where remediation or corrective action has occurred; SB 618 Page 4 f) Right of way owned by the California Department of Transportation, as specified; g) Land designated a hazardous air space in an airport land use zone; h) Industrial zoned land that has been mechanically disturbed at least five years prior to the PV system project application, as specified; and, i) Agricultural land as determined by DOC, as specified. 12)Defines a PV system to include all parts and materials that enable the generation and use of solar electricity; any monitoring, control, safety, conversion and emergency responder equipment, equipment to connect to electrical services, and equipment to connect to the electric grid. 13)Requires reclamation, closure, remediation, or corrective action required in previous permits, mitigation plans, or as a condition of a previous project approval related to this project site, to be carried out and determined to be complete by the responsible agency prior to implementation of a PV system project approval. 14)Requires the proposed PV system project land to be determined by a qualified biologist to have no significant habitat value as detailed in a complete biological resource survey consistence with survey protocols recommended by DFG. The CEQA exemption would not apply if the project would otherwise require one of the following: a) A new individual federal permit under the Federal Clean Water Act or a new individual water discard permit under the porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act; b) A new individual take permit for species under the federal or California Endangered Species Act; or, c) A streambed alteration permit. 15)Allows DOC, in consultation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, to determine if agricultural land is suitable for a CEQA exemption for a PV system project, if it meets the requirements detailed in section 3 through 6 above. SB 618 Page 5 16)Allows the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to further refine and limit the categories of lands allowed a CEQA exemption for PV system projects. 17)Requires PV system project to be on 320 acres or less. Prohibits successive applications for proposed PV systems on adjacent parcels subject to common ownership and control. 18)States that landowners are not exempt from obligation imposed by other laws. 19)Repeals the CEQA exemptions for PV systems on January 1, 2018. EXISTING LAW : 1)Requires lead agencies with the principal responsibility for carrying out or approving a proposed project to prepare a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or environmental impact report (EIR) for this action, unless the project is exempt from CEQA. 2)Creates the Act, also known as the California Land Conservation Act of 1965, which authorizes cities and counties to enter into Ag 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. Allows for 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. When a cancellation is approved, 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. 3)Allows DFG to issue permits allowing for the taking of any covered species whose conservation and management is provided for in a NCCP approved by DFG. FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : The Act conserves agricultural and open space land by allowing private property owners to sign voluntary contracts SB 618 Page 6 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. CEQA provides a process for evaluating the environmental effects of projects undertaken or approved by public agencies. Projects not exempt from CEQA undergo an initial study to determine whether the project may have a significant effect on the environment. Depending on if the initial study shows that there would or would not be a significant effect on the environment, the lead agency must prepare an EIR or a negative declaration. A lead agency must base its determination of significant effects on substantial evidence. According to the author, as the state strives to meet its new, ambitious, 33% Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS), counties and landowners are left struggling to balance the competing needs of large-scale solar PV development and protecting critical habitat and farmland. The state has invested for decades in protecting important farmland through subvention payments under the Act. Now those lands are being targeted for development. Meanwhile, there are millions of acres of degraded and economically unproductive lands that are better suited for PV energy production and have fewer environmental impacts. The author states this bill establishes clear policy directions to bring projects proposed for degraded lands on line faster and cheaper. These policies will lead to greater job creation, help the state reach its RPS goals, and ensure that California continues to feed the nation by protected our most valuable agricultural lands. This bill accomplishes this goal by allowing landowners to rescind an Act contract by placing the land into a new solar-use easement and a limited and precisely written exemption for appropriately sited PV system projects from CEQA. Recent amendments to this bill define Ag lands that would be suitable for a solar use easement. The land needs to limited values for agricultural production and not be prime farmland, unique farmland or farmland that is of statewide importance (important farmland). DOC may determine that some important SB 618 Page 7 farmland is eligible for a solar-use easement if it can be shown that the land has limited use for agricultural activities. According to the author, this gives landowners a clear path to terminate their contracts, while ensuring the state retains an interest in the lands taxpayers have invested in for decades through subvention payments. Recent amendments to this bill define new CEQA exemptions for PV system projects. The exemptions apply to lands that are degraded and economically unproductive, such as clean-up superfund sites, land near airports and specified Ag land. Ag land eligible for this exemption have the same limitation as land open to solar use easement, with the added restriction that the Ag land has limited habitat value. The exemptions only apply for PV system projects on a maximum of 320 acres. The author states that this policy will encourage solar companies to seek out more degraded lands to locate PV system projects. According to the author, this is another tool that allows PV system projects to opt to be part of NCCP. The author states that the expanded DFG authorization to grant permits to take FPS, if those species are covered and conserved in a NCCP, finds the elusive middle ground between important land use protections and unreasonable bureaucratic impediments in existing programs. The expansion of authorization to take FPS is not limited to PV system projects. Analysis Prepared by : Victor Francovich / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084 FN: 0002679