BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 618
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Date of Hearing: September 9, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
SB 618 (Wolk) - As Amended: September 8, 2011
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : Local government: solar-use easement
SUMMARY : Authorizes a city or county and a landowner to rescind
a Williamson Act (Act) contract on agricultural lands (Ag land)
of limited agriculture value and enter into a solar-use easement
that restricts the use of land to photovoltaic (PV) solar
facilities.
EXISTING LAW :
1)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.
2)Allows California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to issue
permits allowing for the taking of any covered species whose
conservation and management is provided for in a Natural
Communities Conservation Plan (NCCP) approved by DFG.
THIS BILL:
1)Expands DFG authorization to grant permits to take Fully
Protected Species (FPS) if those species are covered and
conserved in a 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
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purpose to provide for the collection and distribution of
solar energy for electricity generation, as specified.
3)Authorizes the California Department of Conservation (DOC), in
consultation with the California Department of Food and
Agriculture, upon a request from a city or county, to
determine, based on substantial evidence, that a parcel or
parcels is eligible for rescission under the Act for placement
into solar use easement.
4)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 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.
5)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,
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e) Crop and yield information for the past six years.
6)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
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.
7)Allows DOC to establish a fee, to be paid by the landowner, to
recover the estimated cost incurred by DOC in the consultation
described in #3 above.
8)Requires a solar-use easement to be officially recorded with
the county assessor.
9)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.
10)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%.
11)Authorizes DOC to adopt regulations regarding the
implementation of the provisions of this measure.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill will have a significant fiscal impact.
There will be a loss of cancellation fees from landowners that
had would have otherwise had their Act contracts cancelled.
These fees are deposited into the General Fund (GF) and a
portion is used for the support of DOC for administering the
Act. The magnitude of the loss is difficult to estimate, but a
single project in Kern County resulted in the payment of
$800,000 in fees, so the loss is likely to be several million
dollars. In addition, the bill's requirement for a priority
review of solar PV project documents would put cost pressure on
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state agencies.
Local governments could see an increase in property tax revenues
as land that is converted to solar is reassessed, although the
magnitude of the reassessment will be relatively small as the
land will be subject to an easement for solar and the
improvements are exempt from property tax under current law.
This increase in property tax, could lead to a decrease in GF
expenditures used to backfill local property taxes for schools.
DOC will incur costs of approximately $200,000 to implement the
provisions of this bill.
The bill also contains a state reimbursed mandate for
requirements placed on the county assessor. The costs are
likely to be minor, approximately $50,000.
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 agriculture, 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
contracted lands appropriately is essential to maintaining the
statute's constitutional integrity. Approximately 16.6 million
acres are under Act contracts.
At least 33% of retail electricity sales in California must come
from renewable energy resources by December 31, 2020. To meet
this goal, utilities and private investors need locations to
build renewable energy facilities. The California Energy
Commission is tracking 252 solar PV projects spread over 21
counties. Many of these solar PV sites are in counties that
have Act contracts with landowners of thousands of acres of
farms, ranches, and open space.
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
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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.
Supporters state that this bill will provide a significant
alternative mechanism for Act lands of limited agricultural
value that cannot meet the principles of compatibility or the
required findings for contract cancellation. Furthermore,
supporters state this bill will accomplish the goal of ensuring
that solar projects are located appropriately without
undermining the Act and will ensure that solar projects are
implemented in a manner that makes sense and balances multiple
interests.
It should be noted that the last version of the bill contained
an exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA). These provisions have been amended out of the bill;
however, subdivision (d), Section 51191 of the Government Code
was inadvertently left in the bill. This provision states the
following:
"A determination by the Department of Conservation
pursuant to this section related to a project
described in Section 21080.43 of the Public Resources
Code shall not be subject to Division 13of the Public
Resources Code."
Section 21080.43 of the Public Resources Code does not exist in
current law or in this bill. As such, this provision will have
no legal effect. This bill does not create any new CEQA
exemptions.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Farm Bureau Federation
Opposition
SB 618
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092