BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1961
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Date of Hearing: April 30, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1961 (Eggman) - As Amended: April 22, 2014
Policy Committee: AgricultureVote:5
- 1
Local Government 5 -2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires counties to develop a sustainable farmland
strategy. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the board of supervisors of any county, other than a
county with less than 4% of its land base in agriculture, to
develop a Sustainable Farmland Strategy (SFS), on or before
January 1, 2018.
2)Requires the SFS to include a map and inventory of all
agriculturally zoned lands within the county, a description of
the goals, strategies, and related policies and ordinances to
retain agriculturally zoned land, and a page on the county's
Internet Web site that assembles all of the relevant
documentation.
3)Declares the adoption of a Sustainable Farmland Strategy could
be considered an action not subject to CEQA.
4)Requires the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR),
when it adopts its next edition of general plan guidelines, to
include best practices that support agricultural land
retention and mitigation, including seven specified categories
of information.
5)Provides that no reimbursement is required by the bill's
provisions 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.
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FISCAL EFFECT
Significant costs, likely several hundred thousand dollars (GF),
to the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR).
Significant costs to counties, likely in the hundreds of
thousands to millions of dollars, statewide. Although the bill
contains language stating that no state mandate reimbursement is
required, it is not clear that the standard fee disclaimer is
applicable in this case.
COMMENTS
1.Purpose . Over the past 30 years, an average of approximately
30,000 acres of California agricultural land was permanently
converted to non-agricultural uses annually. 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 development and conservations of agricultural
lands through appropriate zoning and planning activities, as
well as determinations of the potential environmental impacts
of proposed land use changes.
This bill requires counties to develop a Sustainable Farmland
Stratey, which includes maps of agriculturally-zoned lands and
a description of local goals, policies and ordinances for the
retention and mitigation of agriculturally-zoned lands. The
author states, "SFS creates opportunities at the county level
to discuss and plan for the long-term retention of farmland,
while maintaining flexibility and local control of land use
planning decisions."
2.City and county general plans and OPR's general plan
guidelines . Existing law requires that each city and county
in California prepare a comprehensive, long term general plan
to guide its future. General plans include seven mandatory
elements, including housing, conservation, circulation, open
space, noise, safety and land use. A city or county may also
include optional elements in a general plan - including an
optional "ag element."
To that end, OPR provides advice to local governments and the
public on application of the state's general plan law and
periodically revises and publishes the general plan
guidelines. OPR, since the start of this year, has been
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working on the update of the next general plan guidelines.
This bill requires counties, outside of the general plan, to
develop a sustainable farmland strategy. Additionally, the
bill requires OPR, upon its next update of the general plan
guidelines, to include best practices that support
agricultural land retention and mitigation.
3.Unfunded Mandate . This bill contains a routine mandate
disclaimer saying the state does not have to reimburse a local
agency for the local mandates in the bill because the local
agency has sufficient authority to levy a service charge, fee
or assessment to pay for the required activities.
However, it is not clear that the language added to the State
Constitution by Proposition 26 would allow a county to charge
a fee that this bill would require to eliminate the state's
responsibility for reimbursement.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081