BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 761


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          Date of Hearing:  April 28, 2015


                  ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS, AND WILDLIFE


                                 Marc Levine, Chair


          AB 761  
          (Levine) - As Amended April 21, 2015


          SUBJECT:  Carbon sequestration:  working lands


          SUMMARY:  Declares that $50 million shall be available upon  
          appropriation by the Legislature to the Department of Food and  
          Agriculture (CDFA) to establish a grant program to fund projects  
          that increase carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas (GHG)  
          emissions reduction on working lands.  Specifically, this bill:   



          1)States legislative findings and declarations regarding data  
            showing soil and vegetation management practices can enhance  
            soil carbon sequestration and produce environmental and  
            agricultural co-benefits, and the existence of specific  
            management strategies with potential to sequester carbon and  
            help meet state GHG emission reduction goals.  Further finds  
            California's agricultural lands and rangelands account for  
            nearly 50% of the state's land area and hold potential to  
            sequester millions of tons of carbon, enhance agricultural  
            productivity, and increase resilience to climate change and  
            drought.


          2)Declares that $50 million shall be available, upon  
            appropriation by the Legislature, to CDFA to establish a grant  








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            program to fund voluntary projects that increase carbon  
            sequestration and GHG emissions reductions on working lands.


          3)Provides that a project shall be eligible for grant funding if  
            the project is both on working lands and assists the state in  
            meeting its GHG emission reduction goals.


          4)Requires CDFA to prioritize funding for projects 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.


          5)Requires CDFA, in consultation with the Department of  
            Conservation (DOC), the Department of Resources Recycling and  
            Recovery, the State Air Resources Board (ARB), and the  
            Department of Water Resources (DWR), to develop and adopt  
            project solicitation and evaluation guidelines to implement  
            the grant program.









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          6)Requires CDFA to quantify the benefits of each project funded  
            and post the evaluation information on their Internet Web  
            site.


          7)Defines Carbon Farm Planning for purposes of this bill to mean  
            a landscape-level conservation planning process designed to  
            identify GHG emissions reducation and sequestration and  
            mitigation opportunities on working lands and to quantify  
            those GHG benefits using the United States Department of  
            Agriculture's COMET-Planner, COMET-Farm, and other  
            quantification tools.


          8)Defines Working Lands for purposes of this bill to mean  
            privately-owned agricultural lands, ranches, and rangelands. 


          EXISTING LAW:  


          1)Requires CDFA 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 habitats.


          2)Requires, pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions  
            Act (AB 32), ARB to adopt a statewide GHG emissions limit  
            equivalent to 1990 levels by 2020 and to adopt rules and  
            regulations to achieve maximum technologically feasible and  
            cost-effective GHG emission reductions.


          3)Requires a 20% reduction in urban per capita water use by  
            2020, and requires agricultural water management plans and  
            efficient water management practices for agricultural water  
            suppliers.








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          4)Authorizes the DOC's Division of Resource Conservation to work  
            with Resource Conservation Districts on soil and water  
            conservation objectives.


          5)Requires generators of organic waste to arrange recycling  
            services for the organic waste material.


          6)Proposition 1, the Water Bond approved by the voters in  
            November 2014, makes $7.5 billion in general obligation bond  
            funds available for, among other things, programs to increase  
            water conservation and efficiency, and for ecosystem and  
            watershed protection and restoration.  $35 million is  
            authorized to be used by DWR for loans to local agencies to  
            aid in the acquisition and construction of agricultural water  
            conservation projects.  Requires DWR to determine if there  
            will be a net saving of water as a result of each project and  
            if the project is determined by DWR to be cost effective. 


          FISCAL EFFECT:  Specifies that $50 million shall be available  
          upon appropriation of the Legislature from an unspecified fund  
          source.


          COMMENTS: 


           1) Author's Statement:  This bill seeks to fund studies to  
             examine what agricultural practices will best enhance the  
             inherent carbon sequestration associated with working lands,  
             as well as reduce agricultural water needs through water  
             retention.  AB 761 establishes a $50 million grant program to  
             fund pilot projects to expand use of composting and other  
             best agricultural management practices on working lands.   
             Research shows these practices are expected to increase soil  








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             carbon sequestration (reduce GHG emissions), improve water  
             retention, and make agricultural land more resilient to  
             climate change and drought.  There is an opportunity based on  
             research conducted by the University of California at  
             Berkeley (UC Berkeley) in Marin and Yuba counties to see  
             great benefits from improved agricultural practices.  This  
             bill is needed to explore if that opportunity exists in  
             settings outside of what was studied in Marin and Yuba  
             counties.  That research specifically called for further  
             evaluation.


           2) Marin Study highlights:  A report published in 2014 on  
             research conducted by UC Berkeley over 7 years on 540 acres  
             in Marin County found that use of compost on rangeland could  
             sequester up to 3 year's worth of California's total annual  
             GHG emissions.  This was based on a one-time only dusting of  
             compost.  This and other studies show that a one-time dusting  
             of compost will allow the land to sequester carbon for at  
             least 30 years and maybe for as much as a century.  The  
             research also indicated that water needs for rangeland can be  
             reduced by 25 percent while creating healthier rangeland that  
             has more native grasses.  This bill seeks to determine  
             whether these remarkable results can be replicated on  
             rangeland and other agricultural settings throughout  
             California.  The grant program could thus lead to a  
             significant increase in the capacity of the agricultural  
             sector to reduce overall GHG emissions.  Additionally, these  
             practices hold promise to make agricultural lands more  
             drought resistant, and to reduce overall water irrigation  
             needs for agriculture.


           3) Double-referral to Assembly Natural Resources Committee:   
             This bill was double-referred to the Assembly Natural  
             Resources Committee which heard this bill on April 13, 2015,  
             and passed it on a vote of 8-1.  










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           4) Potential water saving benefits in line with state goals:   
             The Assembly Natural Resources Committee analysis further  
             discusses the state's goals for GHG emissions reductions, and  
             the carbon sequestration potential of compost applications  
             and other working lands management practices.  Of particular  
             interest to this committee, is the additional potential for  
             carbon farming and other management practices to increase  
             water retention.  Specifically, this bill includes within the  
             categories of projects that would be eligible for grant  
             funding those that not only increase carbon sequestration and  
             GHG emissions reductions, but also produce the co-benefits of  
             reducing agricultural irrigation demand and making rangelands  
             more resilient to drought.  As indicated above, the studies  
             in Marin and Yuba counties showed that applying compost to  
             rangelands improves soil water retention and can reduce water  
             needs by 25%.  The Governor in his 2015-16 budget presents a  
             new "Healthy Soils" initiative, and similarly notes that  
             increasing carbon in soils has the benefit of increasing the  
             soil's water holding capacity.



           The California Water Action Plan, developed by the California  
             Natural Resources Agency with CalEPA and CDFA, and approved  
             by the Governor in January 2014, states that water  
             conservation must become a way of life for all Californians,  
             and calls for expanding agricultural and urban water  
             conservation and efficiency.  The Plan indicates that the  
             Administration will work with local and regional entities to  
             develop performance measures to evaluate agricultural water  
             management practices.  The Plan further states that the  
             Administration will work with the Legislature to expand  
             funding for urban and agricultural water use efficiency, and  
             encourages the state to focus on multiple-benefit projects.
           5) Prior and related legislation: AB 1826 (Chesbro), Chapter  
             727, Statutes of 2014, requires generators of specified  
             amounts of organic waste to arrange recycling services for  
             the organic waste matter.  









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             AB 2636 (Gatto), Chapter 825, Statutes of 2014, among other  
             things, required the proceeds of bonds authorized in  
             Proposition 1 to be issued and available for purposes of  
             loans for agricultural water conservation projects to be  
             transferred to the CalConserve Water Use Efficiency Revolving  
             Fund and used by DWR to acquire and construct agricultural  
             water conservation projects.


          Support Arguments:  Supporters emphasize that land managers of  
          working landscapes can dramatically increase carbon storage in  
          soils by employing a number of practices that are climate  
          beneficial, including compost application, riparian restoration,  
          no-till farming, windbreaks, agroforestry, and other practices.   
          They also note that in addition to increasing carbon  
          sequestration in soils and plant materials, these practices  
          offer additional water, habitat, and economic benefits for  
          farmers and other working land managers.  They also emphasize  
          that if California is to meet its GHG reduction goals, it must  
          seek GHG reductions in all sectors.  Working lands in California  
          have enormous untapped potential to contribute to achieving  
          these goals.


          Opposition Arguments:  The Center for Biological Diversity  
          opposed a prior version of this bill, unless amended because it  
          believed the bill assumes livestock rangelands are the best  
          possible end use of compost and would directly only fund  
          livestock rangelands.  It should be noted that, as now amended,  
          this bill applies to voluntary projects on all privately owned  
          agricultural lands, not just rangelands, and includes a number  
          of types of eligible projects that may reduce GHG emissions and  
          sequester carbon, in addition to composting.


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:










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          Support


          Carbon Cycle Institute


          Audubon California


          California Cattlemen's Association


          California Trout


          Central Coast Forest Association (in concept)


          Land Trust of Santa Cruz County




          Opposition


          Center for Biological Diversity (prior version; unless amended)




          Analysis Prepared by:Diane Colborn / W., P., & W. / (916)  
          319-2096












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