BILL NUMBER: SB 367 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 6, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wolk
FEBRUARY 24, 2015
An act to amend Sections 566 and 568 of, and to add Sections 562
and 569 to, the Food and Agricultural Code, to amend Section 39719 of
the Health and Safety Code, and to add Section 75217.5 to the Public
Resources Code, relating to agriculture, and making an appropriation
therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 367, as amended, Wolk. Agricultural lands: greenhouse gases.
(1) 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. The act requires the
Secretary of Food and Agriculture to convene a 5-member Scientific
Advisory Panel on Environmental Farming for the purpose of providing
advice and assistance to federal, state, and local government
agencies on issues relating to air, water, and wildlife habitat, as
specified.
This bill would require the environmental farming program to
provide, in addition to incentives, low-interest loans, technical
assistance, educational materials and outreach, or a combination of
these things to farmers whose practices promote the well-being of
ecosystems, air quality, and wildlife and their habitat, and reduce
on-farm greenhouse gas emissions or increase carbon storage in
agricultural soils and woody biomass, or both. The bill would revise
and recast the provisions regarding the panel, including, among other
things, the panel's membership and duties, as specified. The bill
would require the panel to provide a biennial report describing its
work to the Legislature and the Governor, among others.
The bill would provide that $50,000,000 shall be made available to
the department, upon appropriation, from the Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund to support on-farm projects to demonstrate
agricultural management practices and activities that reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon storage in agricultural
soils and woody biomass, as specified.
(2) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates
the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with
monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases.
The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based
compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for
fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or
sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to
be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Existing law
continuously appropriates 20% of the annual proceeds of the fund to
the Strategic Growth Council for the Affordable Housing and
Sustainable Communities Program, as provided.
This bill would require the council, no later than the 2015-16
fiscal year, to establish and administer a grant program, as part of
the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program established
by the council in conjunction with the Affordable Housing and
Sustainable Communities Program, to provide financial incentives for
the adoption and use of land management practices that reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, sequester carbon in solid
soil and woody biomass, and provide other
cobenefits on working agricultural operations, as specified.
The bill would require no less than
continuously appropriate 2% of the annual proceeds of the
fund, from the proceeds appropriated to the council,
fund to the Strategic Growth Council to be
expended for agricultural land protection consistent with the
provisions of that grant program, thereby making an appropriation.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 562 is added to the Food and Agricultural Code,
to read:
562. The Legislature further finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) California's agricultural output is larger and more diverse
than any state in the United States, providing the majority of the
country's fruits, vegetables, nuts, and dairy products.
(b) Dependent on land and natural resources, California
agriculture is uniquely vulnerable to climate change, which poses a
serious threat to California agriculture with rising temperatures,
increases in extreme weather events, constrained water resources,
reduced winter chilling hours, and rising sea levels.
(c) California agriculture also is uniquely positioned to provide
climate benefits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Research
funded by the State Energy Resources and Conservation Development
Commission's Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program finds
that some agricultural practices will not only reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, but they also may help to store carbon in soils and trees.
Carbon storage is an important strategy to help meet the state's
greenhouse gas emissions targets.
(d) Steps taken by those working in California agriculture to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester atmospheric carbon can
provide other important environmental cobenefits, such as improved
air and water quality, water conservation, enhanced wildlife habitat,
and healthier rural communities.
(e) It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature to enhance the
long-term viability of California agriculture by supporting
activities that reduce climate change impacts that may negatively
impact it and the rest of the state.
(f) It is further the intent of the Legislature that the
department, pursuant to this article, support the state's
agricultural sector in pursuing on-farm practices and activities that
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon storage in
agricultural soils and woody biomass.
SEC. 2. Section 566 of the Food and Agricultural Code is amended
to read:
566. (a) (1) The department shall establish and oversee an
environmental farming program. The program shall provide incentives,
low-interest loans, technical assistance, educational materials and
outreach, or a combination of these things to farmers whose practices
promote the well-being of ecosystems, air quality, and wildlife and
their habitat and reduce on-farm greenhouse gas emissions or increase
carbon storage in agricultural soils and woody biomass, or both.
(2) The department may provide support through the program that
may include, but need not be limited to, permit assistance and
coordination and the funding of on-farm demonstration projects in
furtherance of the goals of the program.
(b) The department may assist in the compilation of scientific
data from public and private sources, including the scientific
community, industry, conservation organizations, and federal, state,
and local agencies identifying the net environmental impacts of
agriculture on the environment. The department shall serve as the
depository of this information and provide it to federal, state, and
local governments, as needed.
(c) The department shall conduct the activities specified in this
article with existing resources, to the extent they are available.
SEC. 3. Section 568 of the Food and Agricultural Code is amended
to read:
568. (a) The secretary shall convene a Scientific Advisory Panel
on Environmental Farming to advise and assist federal, state, and
local government agencies on issues relating to air, water, climate
change, and wildlife habitat.
(b) (1) The panel shall consist of the following members:
(A) The secretary, or his or her designee.
(B) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, or his or her
designee.
(C) The Secretary for Environmental Protection, or his or her
designee.
(D) One member, appointed by the Secretary for Environmental
Protection, who shall be a member of a nonprofit organization with
expertise in climate change and its impacts on California
agriculture.
(E) One member, appointed by the Secretary of the Natural
Resources Agency, who shall be affiliated with the California
Association of Resource Conservation Districts.
(F) Four members appointed by the secretary, according to the
following:
(i) Three members who are agricultural producers in the state with
at least five years of training and experience in the field of
agriculture. At least one of these members shall be registered as a
producer pursuant to the California Organic Products Act of 2003
(Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 46000) of Division 17).
(ii) One member who is affiliated with the University of
California Cooperative Extension.
(2) The secretary may appoint nonvoting ex officio members to the
panel after consulting with the panel.
(3) The secretary shall serve as the chair of the panel.
(4) Members of the panel shall be highly qualified and
professionally active in their chosen field or engaged in the conduct
of scientific research.
(5) The members of the panel identified in subparagraphs (A) to
(C), inclusive, of paragraph (1) shall serve as voting ex officio
members of the panel. Of the members first appointed to the panel
pursuant to subparagraphs (D) to (F), inclusive, of paragraph (1),
three shall serve for a term of two years and three shall serve for a
term of three years, as determined by lot. Thereafter, members shall
be appointed for a term of three years.
(c) The panel, at a minimum and as necessary, shall do all of the
following:
(1) Review data on the impact that agriculture has on the
environment and recommend to appropriate state agencies data that the
panel determines is scientifically valid. A state agency that
receives data recommended by the panel may adopt and incorporate the
data into the appropriate program. If a state agency does not utilize
the data recommended by the panel, the state agency shall provide
the panel with a written statement of reasons for not utilizing the
data. The reasons, at a minimum, shall specify the scientific basis
for not utilizing the data. The reasons shall be provided within 180
days of receiving the data from the panel.
(2) Compile the net environmental impacts of agriculture on the
environment, identified pursuant to paragraph (1).
(3) Research, review, and comment on data upon which proposed
environmental policies and regulatory programs are based to ensure
that the environmental impacts of agricultural activities are
accurately portrayed and to identify incentives that may be provided
to encourage agricultural practices with environmental benefits.
(4) Assist government agencies to incorporate benefits identified
pursuant to paragraph (1) into environmental regulatory programs.
(5) Review and advise the secretary and the State Board of Food
and Agriculture on proposed programs and projects, including, but not
limited to, competitive grants, that provide technical, educational,
and financial assistance to agricultural producers that will result
in multiple environmental and health benefits, including, but not
limited to, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, increased carbon
storage in soils and woody biomass, improved air and water quality,
enhanced wildlife habitat, and improved local health outcomes.
(6) Review and recommend to the secretary and relevant state
agencies the appropriate uses of available tools to demonstrate and
quantify greenhouse gas emissions reductions, including, but not
limited, to the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Conservation
Practice Standards and COMET-Farm and other quantification tools
submitted by, among others, state agricultural commodity groups and
academic institutions.
(d) The panel may establish ad hoc committees, which may include
professionals or scientists, to assist it in performing its
functions.
(e) (1) The panel shall submit a biennial report to the
Legislature, the Governor, the agencies represented on the panel, and
the State Board of Food and Agriculture that includes all of the
following:
(A) A description of the work conducted by the panel during the
prior two-year period.
(B) The panel's action plan for the next two years, including
goals and performance measures.
(2) The first report shall be submitted two years after the panel'
s first meeting or January 1, 2019, whichever occurs first.
(3) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(f) The panel shall be created and maintained with funds made
available from existing resources within the department to the extent
they are available.
SEC. 4. Section 569 is added to the Food and Agricultural Code, to
read:
569. (a) The sum of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) shall be
available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, from the
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created pursuant to Section
16428.8 of the Government Code, to the department to support
on-farm projects to demonstrate agricultural management practices and
activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon
storage in agricultural soils and woody biomass, including, but not
limited to, all of the following:
(1) Soil-building and carbon-sequestration practices, including
the increased use of compost and biochar, cover crops, and low- and
no-till practices.
(2) Irrigation efficiency and water conservation measures,
including soil-moisture monitoring, irrigation scheduling,
high-efficiency water delivery technologies, dry farming, and on-farm
water catchment.
(3) On-farm alternative-energy production and energy efficiency,
including on-farm bioenergy production from agricultural waste and
improved on-farm operational efficiencies.
(4) Wildlife habitat conservation, including hedgerow planting,
native grass planting and restoration, agroforestry, and managed
grazing for enhanced habitat.
(b) The department, in consultation with the Scientific Advisory
Panel on Environmental Farming, established pursuant to Section 568,
shall develop and implement a grant program to carry out the purposes
of this article.
(c) The secretary and the Secretary of the Natural Resources
Agency shall enter into a memorandum of agreement among the
department, the Department of Conservation, and other relevant state
agencies to ensure the greatest possible coordination and
collaboration in implementing the programs and projects funded
pursuant to this section.
SEC. 5. Section 39719 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
39719. (a) The Legislature shall appropriate the annual proceeds
of the fund for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in
this state in accordance with the requirements of Section 39712.
(b) To carry out a portion of the requirements of subdivision (a),
annual proceeds are continuously appropriated for the following:
(1) Beginning in the 2015-16 fiscal year, and notwithstanding
Section 13340 of the Government Code, 35 percent of annual proceeds
are continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, for
transit, affordable housing, and sustainable communities programs as
following: follows:
(A) Ten percent of the annual proceeds of the fund is hereby
continuously appropriated to the Transportation Agency for the
Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program created by Part 2
(commencing with Section 75220) of Division 44 of the Public
Resources Code.
(B) Five percent of the annual proceeds of the fund is hereby
continuously appropriated to the Low Carbon Transit Operations
Program created by Part 3 (commencing with Section 75230) of Division
44 of the Public Resources Code. Moneys shall be allocated by the
Controller, according to requirements of the program, and pursuant to
the distribution formula in subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 99312
of, and Sections 99313 and 99314 of, the Public Utilities Code.
(C) Twenty percent of the annual proceeds of the fund is hereby
continuously appropriated to the Strategic Growth Council for the
Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program created by
Part 1 (commencing with Section 75200) of Division 44 of the Public
Resources Code. Of the amount appropriated in this subparagraph, no
less than 10 percent of the annual proceeds of the fund
shall be expended for affordable housing, consistent with the
provisions of that program and no less than two percent of the annual
proceeds of the fund shall be expended for agricultural
land protection consistent with Section 75217.5 of the Public
Resources Code.
(2) Beginning in the 2015-16 fiscal year, notwithstanding Section
13340 of the Government Code, 25 percent of the annual proceeds of
the fund is hereby continuously appropriated to the High-Speed Rail
Authority for the following components of the initial operating
segment and Phase I Blended System as described in the 2012 business
plan adopted pursuant to Section 185033 of the Public Utilities Code:
(A) Acquisition and construction costs of the project.
(B) Environmental review and design costs of the project.
(C) Other capital costs of the project.
(D) Repayment of any loans made to the authority to fund the
project.
(c) In determining the amount of annual proceeds of the fund for
purposes of the calculation in subdivision (b), the moneys subject to
Section 39719.1 shall not be included.
SEC. 6. Section 75217.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
75217.5. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) It is in the interest of the state to provide incentives for
the use of agricultural land management practices that will reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, sequester carbon in soils and woody
biomass, and provide other cobenefits on working agricultural
operations.
(2) The council's Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation
Program, established pursuant to this chapter, has three elements,
including financial incentives for the adoption and use of land
management practices that achieve these goals.
(3) The 2014 program guidelines establish grant programs for the
2014-15 fiscal year to promote agricultural lands strategic planning
and agricultural land conservation easements, but the guidelines do
not establish a grant program to provide incentives for agricultural
land management practices.
(b) (1) The council, no later than the 2015-16 fiscal year, shall
establish and administer a grant program, as part of the Sustainable
Agricultural Lands Conservation Program, to provide financial
incentives for the adoption and use of land management practices that
reduce greenhouse gas emissions, sequester carbon in solid
soil and woody biomass, and provide other
cobenefits on working agricultural operations. The council shall
consult with the Department of Food and Agriculture and the
Scientific Advisory Panel on Environmental Farming, established
pursuant to Section 568 of the Food and Agricultural Code, when
developing the grant program and guidelines.
(2) The council, as part of the grant program established pursuant
to this subdivsion, subdivision, shall
give priority to working agricultural operations that adopt land
management practices that achieve the goals described in paragraph
(1).