BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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SENATE THIRD READING
SCR
83 (Wolk and Galgiani)
As Introduced July 16, 2015
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 38-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Rules |11-0 |Gordon, Chang, Burke, | |
| | |Campos, Cooley, Dodd, | |
| | |Jones, Mayes, Bonta, | |
| | |Waldron, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Declares 2015 as the International Year of Soils, and
recognizes the importance of healthy soils as a critical
resource supplying an abundance of food, diverse habitats, water
storage, and climate resiliency. Specifically, this resolution
makes the following legislative findings:
1)For more than 60 consecutive years, California has been the
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number one agricultural state in the nation, producing more
than 400 crop and livestock products and accounting for
approximately 50% of the nation's supply of fruits,
vegetables, and nuts.
2)Ninety-five percent of our food is directly or indirectly
produced on our soils and the essential nutrients they
contain.
3)California has launched its Healthy Soils Initiative and is
pioneering efforts to incentivize building soil organic matter
and provide research, education, and technical support to
facilitate healthy soils and ensuring interagency coordination
and collaboration.
4)Ensuring healthier soils by increasing the carbon content and
soil organic matter can help enhance the long-term
sustainability of California agriculture and its resiliency to
climate change.
5)Improved soil health increases soil's water holding capacity
and water infiltration rate, which can help optimize the
management of California's scarce water supply.
6)Increasing soil health helps to improve food crop yields, help
to increase soil fertility and the ability to hold plant
nutrients and water, supports beneficial biological microbial
diversity and populations, reduces soil erosion, and can be
used to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gases by sequestering
carbon.
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Analysis Prepared by:
Mukhtar Ali / RLS. / (916) 319-2800 FN: 0001652