AB 761,
as amended, Levine. Carbonbegin delete farm planning.end deletebegin insert sequestration: working lands.end insert
Existing law creates the Department of Conservation and imposes powers and duties on the department with regard to resource conservation.
end deleteExisting law, the Cannella Environmental Farming Act of 1995, requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to establish and oversee an environmental farming program to provide incentives to farmers whose practices promote the well-being of ecosystems, air quality, and wildlife and their habitat.
end insertThis bill would declare that $50,000,000 shall be available, upon appropriation, to the department to establish a grant program to fund
projects that increase carbon sequestrationbegin delete in agricultural soils, improve soil water retention, and increase the resilience ofend deletebegin insert
and greenhouse gas emissions reductions onend insert workingbegin delete lands to climate change and drought.end deletebegin insert lands, as defined.end insert The bill would require the department, inbegin delete coordinationend deletebegin insert consultationend insert withbegin insert the Department of Conservation,end insert the Department of Resources Recycling andbegin delete Recoveryend deletebegin insert Recovery, the State Air Resources Board,end insert
and the Department of Water Resources, to develop and adopt project solicitation and evaluation guidelines for the program, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:
3(a) Robust, peer-reviewed, published data strongly support the
4hypothesis that soil and vegetation management can significantly
5enhance soil carbon sequestration, resulting in a wide range of
6environmental and agricultural cobenefits, including increased
7water retention in soils; improved water quality, soil health, and
8forage quantity and quality; reductions in greenhouse gases; and
9climate adaptation and resilience.
10(b) Numerous soil and vegetation management strategies exist
11and can be employed on farms, ranches, and
working lands to
12sequester significant amounts of carbon in agricultural soils and
13vegetation, thus playing an important role in helping the state meet
14its 2020 goal in the California Global Warming Solutions Act of
152006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the
16Health and Safety Code) and 2050 goal in Executive Order S-3-05
17for climate change mitigation and greenhouse gas reduction. These
18management strategies include, but are not limited to, climate
19beneficial practices, such as riparian restoration, prescribed grazing,
20windbreaks, and compost application.
21(c) California’s agriculturalbegin insert landsend insert and rangelands account for
22nearly 50 percent of the state’s land area, andbegin delete the 54,000,000 acres
hold the potential to sequester millions of
23of rangelands aloneend delete
24metric tons of carbon, resulting in enhanced agricultural production
25and increased resilience to climate change and drought.
Division 10.1 (commencing with Section 10100) is
27added to the Public Resources Code, to read:
28
For purposes of this division, the following terms have
33the following meanings:
P3 1(a) “Carbon farm planning” means a landscape-level
2conservation planning process designed to identify greenhouse
3gasbegin delete captureend deletebegin insert emissions reduction and sequestrationend insert and mitigation
4opportunities on working lands and to quantify those greenhouse
5gas benefits using the United States Department of Agriculture’s
6COMET-Planner, COMET-Farm, and other quantification tools.
7(b) “Department” means the Department ofbegin delete Conservation.end deletebegin insert Food
8and Agriculture.end insert
9(c) “Working lands” means privately-owned agricultural lands,
10ranches, and rangelands.
(a) The sum of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) shall
12be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the
13department to establish a grant program to fund projects that
14increase carbon sequestrationbegin delete in agricultural soils, improve soil begin insert and greenhouse gas emissions
15water retention, and increase the resilience of working lands to
16climate change and drought.end delete
17reductions on working lands consistent with subdivision (b).end insert
18(b) (1) A project shall be eligible for funding pursuant to this
19division if both of the following criteria are met:
20(A) Is located on working lands.
end insertbegin insert
21(B) Assists the state in meeting its greenhouse gas emissions
22reduction goals.
23(2) The department shall prioritize funding for projects pursuant
24to this division that provide the greatest level of the following
25benefits:
26(A) Demonstrate carbon farm planning.
end insertbegin insert27(B) Sequester carbon in agricultural soils.
end insertbegin insert28(C) Reduce irrigation demand.
end insertbegin insert29(D) Increase yield and productivity on working lands.
end insertbegin insert30(E) Enhance habitat.
end insertbegin insert31(F) Reduce water quality impacts from agricultural lands.
end insert32(b)
end delete
33begin insert(c)end insert The department, inbegin delete coordinationend deletebegin insert consultationend insert withbegin insert the
34Department of Conservation,end insert the Department of Resources
35
Recycling andbegin delete Recoveryend deletebegin insert
Recovery, the State Air Resources Board,end insert
36 and the Department of Water Resources, shall develop and adopt
37project solicitation and evaluation guidelines to implement this
38division.begin delete To be eligible for a grant under the program, a project
39shall do one or more of the following:end delete
40(1) Assist the state in meeting greenhouse gas emission goals.
P4 1(2) Improve soil water retention and reduce irrigation demand.
2(3) Protect and enhance habitat, including the hydrological
3function of watersheds.
4(4) Improve the economic and ecological viability of working
5lands.
6(5) Improve rural community sustainability and health.
7(6) Include local water agency participation.
8(7) Comply with a regional climate action plan, if appropriate.
9(8) Address the nutrient pollution of surface water and
10groundwater.
11(9) Enhance the
organic carbon content of the ecosystems of
12working lands generally and the soils of working lands particularly,
13as determined through a carbon farm planning or similar planning
14process.
15(10) Repurpose organic material waste streams for soil quality
16enhancement or other beneficial reuse.
17(d) The department shall quantify the benefits of each project
18funded pursuant to this division and shall post that information
19on the department’s Internet Web site.
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