BILL NUMBER: AB 761	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 15, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Levine
    (   Coauthor:   Assembly Member  
Chiu   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2015

   An act to add Division 10.1 (commencing with Section 10100) to the
Public Resources Code, relating to resource conservation.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 761, as amended, Levine. Carbon sequestration: working lands.
   Existing 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.
   This bill would declare that $50,000,000 shall be available, upon
appropriation, to the department to establish a grant program to fund
 voluntary  projects that increase carbon sequestration and
greenhouse gas emissions reductions on working lands, as defined.
The bill would require the department, in consultation with the
Department of Conservation, the Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery, the State Air Resources Board, 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:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Robust, peer-reviewed, published data strongly support the
hypothesis that soil and vegetation management can significantly
enhance soil carbon sequestration, resulting in a wide range of
environmental and agricultural cobenefits, including increased water
retention in soils; improved water quality, soil health, and forage
quantity and quality; reductions in greenhouse gases; and climate
adaptation and resilience.
   (b) Numerous soil and vegetation management strategies exist and
can be employed on farms, ranches, and working lands to sequester
significant amounts of carbon in agricultural soils and vegetation,
thus playing an important role in helping the state meet its 2020
goal in the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division
25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code)
and 2050 goal in Executive Order S-3-05 for climate change mitigation
and greenhouse gas reduction. These management strategies include,
but are not limited to, climate beneficial practices, such as
riparian restoration, prescribed grazing, windbreaks, and compost
application.
   (c) California's agricultural lands and rangelands account for
nearly 50 percent of the state's land area, and hold the potential to
sequester millions of metric tons of carbon, resulting in enhanced
agricultural production and increased resilience to climate change
and drought.
  SEC. 2.  Division 10.1 (commencing with Section 10100) is added to
the Public Resources Code, to read:

      DIVISION 10.1.  Carbon Sequestration on Working Lands


   10100.  For purposes of this division, the following terms have
the following meanings:
   (a) "Carbon farm planning" means a landscape-level conservation
planning process designed to identify greenhouse gas emissions
reduction and sequestration and mitigation opportunities on working
lands and to quantify those greenhouse gas benefits using the United
States Department of Agriculture's COMET-Planner, COMET-Farm, and
other quantification tools.
   (b) "Department" means the Department of Food and Agriculture.
   (c) "Working lands" means privately-owned agricultural lands,
ranches, and rangelands.
   10101.  (a) The sum of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) shall
be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the
department to establish a grant program to fund  voluntary 
projects that increase carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas
emissions reductions on working lands consistent with subdivision
(b).
   (b) (1) A project shall be eligible for funding pursuant to this
division if both of the following criteria are met:
   (A) Is located on working lands.
   (B) Assists the state in meeting its greenhouse gas emissions
reduction goals.
   (2) The department shall prioritize funding for projects pursuant
to this division that provide the greatest level of the following
benefits:
   (A) Demonstrate carbon farm planning.
   (B) Sequester carbon in agricultural soils.
   (C) Reduce irrigation demand.
   (D) Increase yield and productivity on working lands.
   (E) Enhance habitat.
   (F) Reduce water quality impacts from agricultural lands.
   (c) The department, in consultation with the Department of
Conservation, the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, the
State Air Resources Board, and the Department of Water Resources,
shall develop and adopt project solicitation and evaluation
guidelines to implement this division.
   (d) The department shall quantify the benefits of each project
funded pursuant to this division and shall post that information on
the department's Internet Web site.