Amended in Assembly April 3, 2014

Amended in Assembly March 25, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1961

Introduced by Assembly Member Eggman

(Principal coauthor: Senator Wolk)

February 19, 2014

An act to begin delete amend Section 56668 of, to end delete add Section 65040.15 to, and to add Article 10 (commencing with Section 65550) to Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 7 of, the Government Code, relating to land use.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1961, as amended, Eggman. Land use: planning: sustainable farmland strategy.

(1) Existing law requires the legislative body of each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city with specified elements, including, among others, a land use element that designates the proposed general distribution and general location and extent of the uses of the land for housing, business, industry, open space, including agriculture, natural resources, recreation, and enjoyment of scenic beauty, education, public buildings and grounds, solid and liquid waste disposal facilities, and other categories of public and private uses of land. Existing law authorizes a local agency to charge fees for the funding of purposes that include the preparation and revision of land use plans and policies.

This bill would require each county begin delete with significant agricultural land resources, as defined, end delete to also develop, on or before January 2, 2018, a sustainable farmland strategy. The bill would require the sustainable farmland strategy to include, among other things, a map and inventory of all agriculturally zoned land within the county, a description of the goals, strategies, and related policies and ordinances, to retain agriculturally zoned land where practical and mitigate the loss of agriculturally zoned land to nonagricultural uses or zones, and a page on the county’s Internet Web site with the relevant documentation for the goals, strategies, and related policies and ordinances, as specified. The bill would exempt any county with less than 4% of its land use base in agriculture, as specified. By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2) Existing law establishes in the Office of the Governor the Office of Planning and Research with duties that include developing and adopting guidelines for the preparation of and content of mandatory elements required in city and county general plans.

This bill would require the Office of Planning and Research, when it adopts its next edition of general plan guidelines, to include best practices that support agricultural land retention and mitigation, as specified.

begin delete

(3) Existing law, the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, provides the authority and procedures for the initiation, conduct, and completion of changes of organization and reorganization of cities and districts. The act requires the local agency formation commission to consider various factors in a petition for a change of organization or reorganization, including, among others, the effect of the proposal on maintaining the physical and economic integrity of agricultural lands.

end delete begin delete

This bill would additionally require the local agency formation commission to consider a sustainable farmland strategy, if one has been developed. By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

end delete begin delete

(4)

end delete

begin insert (3) end insert  The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) California is the nation’s leader in food production and
contributes significantly to our food security.

(b) California agricultural production depends on soil, water,
and climate conditions found in one of only five Mediterranean
growing regions on Earth.

(c) California agriculture is vulnerable to the impacts of global
warming, including constrained water resources, increases in
extreme weather events, and rising sea levels.

(d) California agriculture is also positioned to provide climate
benefits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Research funded
by the California Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy
Research (PIER) program found that an acre of urban land emits
70 times more greenhouse gas emissions than an acre of irrigated
crop land.

(e) California’s growing population places additional demands
on both our food supply and on the development of agricultural
land for nonagricultural purposes. Over the past 30 years, an
average of approximately 30,000 acres of California agricultural
land is permanently converted to nonagricultural uses annually.

(f) The conservation of a maximum amount of the limited supply
of California’s agricultural land is necessary for the maintenance
of the agricultural economy of the state, climate change mitigation,
enhancement of the state’s natural resources and the assurance of
an adequate, healthy and nutritious food supply for the residents
of this state and nation.

(g) California’s statewide land use planning priorities include
the goal of protecting, preserving, and enhancing the state’s most
valuable natural resources, including working landscapes such as
farm, range, and forest lands.

(h) Counties have jurisdiction over the majority of the state’s
agricultural land and play a vital role in regulating the use of land,
including the conservation of agricultural lands through appropriate
zoning and planning activities, as well as determinations of the
potential environmental impacts of proposed land use changes.
When farmland is converted to nonagricultural uses, agricultural
conservation easements can constitute feasible mitigation to lessen
impacts on local and regional agricultural resources.

(i) It is the intent of the Legislature to begin delete assure end delete begin insert ensure end insert that counties
recognize that farmland is a limited and valuable resource which
must be conserved wherever possible. It is also the intent of the
Legislature to begin delete assure end delete begin insert ensure end insert that counties with significant
agricultural land resources prepare and carry out a sustainable
farmland strategy, which along with state and regional programs,
will protect, preserve, and enhance the state’s agricultural lands.

(j) Certain actions by begin delete local end delete begin insert lead end insert agencies, including those to
protect natural resources and the environment, have been identified
by the Office of Planning and Research as classes of projects that
do not have a significant effect on the environment, and are
therefore not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act.
The adoption of a sustainable farmland strategy would be
considered to be an action to protect natural resources or the
environment.

begin delete

SEC. 2.  

Section 56668 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

56668.  

Factors to be considered in the review of a proposal
shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(a) Population and population density; land area and land use;
per capita assessed valuation; topography, natural boundaries, and
drainage basins; proximity to other populated areas; the likelihood
of significant growth in the area, and in adjacent incorporated and
unincorporated areas, during the next 10 years.

(b) The need for organized community services; the present
cost and adequacy of governmental services and controls in the
area; probable future needs for those services and controls; probable
effect of the proposed incorporation, formation, annexation, or
exclusion and of alternative courses of action on the cost and
adequacy of services and controls in the area and adjacent areas.

“Services,” as used in this subdivision, refers to governmental
services whether or not the services are services which would be
provided by local agencies subject to this division, and includes
the public facilities necessary to provide those services.

(c) The effect of the proposed action and of alternative actions,
on adjacent areas, on mutual social and economic interests, and
on the local governmental structure of the county.

(d) The conformity of both the proposal and its anticipated
effects with both the adopted commission policies on providing
planned, orderly, efficient patterns of urban development, and the
policies and priorities in Section 56377.

(e) The effect of the proposal on maintaining the physical and
economic integrity of agricultural lands, as defined by Section
56016.

(f) The definiteness and certainty of the boundaries of the
territory, the nonconformance of proposed boundaries with lines
of assessment or ownership, the creation of islands or corridors of
unincorporated territory, and other similar matters affecting the
proposed boundaries.

(g) A regional transportation plan adopted pursuant to Section
65080, and its consistency with city or county general and specific
plans.

(h) The sphere of influence of any local agency which may be
applicable to the proposal being reviewed.

(i) The comments of any affected local agency or other public
agency.

(j) The ability of the newly formed or receiving entity to provide
the services which are the subject of the application to the area,
including the sufficiency of revenues for those services following
the proposed boundary change.

(k) Timely availability of water supplies adequate for projected
needs as specified in Section 65352.5.

(l) The extent to which the proposal will affect a city or cities
and the county in achieving their respective fair shares of the
regional housing needs as determined by the appropriate council
of governments consistent with Article 10.6 (commencing with
Section 65580) of Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 7.

(m) Any information or comments from the landowner or
owners, voters, or residents of the affected territory.

(n) Any information relating to existing land use designations.

(o) The extent to which the proposal will promote environmental
justice. As used in this subdivision, “environmental justice” means
the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and incomes with
respect to the location of public facilities and the provision of
public services.

(p) A sustainable farmland strategy, if one has been developed
pursuant to Section 65551.

end delete

begin delete SEC. 3. end delete
begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

Section 65040.15 is added to the Government Code,
to read:

65040.15.  

begin delete (a) end delete begin delete   end delete The Office of Planning and Research, when it
adopts its next edition of general plan guidelines pursuant to
Section 65040.2, shall include best practices that support
agricultural land retention and mitigation, including, but not limited
to, the following:

begin delete

(1)

end delete

begin insert (a) end insert  Right to farm ordinances with real estate disclosure.

begin delete

(2)

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert  Farmland mitigation ordinances.

begin delete

(3)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  Conservation easement purchase programs.

begin delete

(4)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  Economic incentives to promote local agriculture.

begin delete

(5)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  Use of zoning to prevent nuisances and land use conflicts,
and to promote commercial agriculture by limiting parcelization
of agricultural lands.

begin delete

(6)

end delete

begin insert (f) end insert  Urban growth boundaries in coordination with incorporated
jurisdictions.

begin delete

(7)

end delete

begin insert (g) end insert  Locally adopted thresholds of significance for California
Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000) of the Public Resources Code) review for conservation of
grazing lands and farmland of local importance, in addition to
existing thresholds for conversion of prime farmland, unique
farmland, and farmland of statewide importance.

begin delete

(b) The Office of Planning and Research shall include in their
next update of the General Plan Guidelines recommendations on
the role of local agency formation commissions in the preservation
of agriculturally zoned lands when considering annexations of
agriculturally zoned lands into cities and service extensions onto
agriculturally zoned lands.

end delete

begin delete SEC. 4. end delete
begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

Article 10 (commencing with Section 65550) is added
to Chapter 3 of Division 1 of Title 7 of the Government Code, to
read:

 

Article 10.  Sustainable Farmland Strategy

 

65550.  

For the purposes of this article, the term “agriculturally
zoned land” means land that is determined by a county to be
designated in agriculture as the primary purpose or use of the zone.

65551.  

(a) The board of supervisors of any county other than
a county described in subdivision (e), shall develop a sustainable
farmland strategy.

(b) (1) The sustainable farmland strategy shall include all of
the following:

(A) A map and inventory of all agriculturally zoned lands within
the county as of February 21, 2014. A county may use the
county-level maps of agricultural land developed by the Farmland
Mapping and Monitoring Program of the Department of
Conservation, general plan maps, or other available local and state
maps and resources.

(B) A description of the goals, strategies, and related policies
and ordinances to retain agriculturally zoned land, where practical,
and mitigate the loss of agriculturally zoned lands to
nonagricultural uses or nonagricultural zones.

(C) A page on the county’s Internet Web site that assembles all
of the relevant documentation for the goals, strategies and related
policies, and ordinances, as described in subparagraphs (A) and
(B), as well as reporting on the manner of compliance with this
article as required by subdivision (f). The board of supervisors
shall also include, on the Internet Web site, a table and map
showing the location of lands enrolled in the California Land
Conservation Act of 1965, also known as the Williamson Act
(Article 1 (commencing with Section 51200) of Chapter 7 of Part
1 of Division 1 of Title 5).

(2) The board of supervisors of each county shall consult with
begin delete cities located within their boundaries, and with their end delete begin insert the end insert local
agency formation begin delete commission, end delete begin insert commission and end insert begin insert the cities within
county boundaries end insert on the development of the sustainable farmland
strategy for that county to begin delete assure end delete begin insert ensure end insert that the plans and policies
of the cities and begin insert the end insert local agency formation commission are taken
into consideration and are begin delete compatible to the maximum extent
feasible. end delete begin insert compatible. end insert

(c) A county may comply with begin delete the requirements of end delete this article
by relying on existing inventories and maps of agricultural lands,
and existing goals, strategies, and related policies and ordinances
that substantially comply with begin delete the provisions of end delete subdivision (b).
Any county complying under this subdivision shall summarize
and incorporate by reference on the county’s Internet Web begin delete site, end delete
begin insert site end insert a description of how each requirement of this subdivision has
been met.

(d) The board of supervisors shall update the sustainable
farmland strategy as determined to be necessary by the board of
supervisors.

(e) Any county with less than 4 percent of its land base in
agriculture, as determined by the most recent Census of Agriculture
by the United States Department of Agriculture, is exempt from
this article.

(f) On or before January 1, 2018, each county shall affirm
compliance with this article by one of the following means:

(1) Developing and adopting a sustainable farmland strategy
consistent with subdivision (b).

(2) Adopting a resolution finding that the existing county goals,
policies and ordinances have a functionally equivalent strategy
that meets the requirements of subdivision (b), pursuant to
subdivision (c).

(3) Adopting a resolution finding that the county’s agricultural
land resources do not meet the threshold described in subdivision
(e), and that the county is not required to develop a sustainable
farmland strategy.

begin delete SEC. 5. end delete
begin insert SEC. 4. end insert   

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code.