BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 367
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Date of Hearing: July 1, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Henry Perea, Chair
SB
367 (Wolk) - As Amended June 24, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 35-3
SUBJECT: Agricultural lands: greenhouse gases.
SUMMARY: This bill recasts and expands the membership and
duties of the California Department of Food and Agriculture's
(CDFA) Environmental Farming Act Science Advisory Panel
(Advisory Panel) to include on-farm practices to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon storage in soil.
This bill appropriates $25 million from the Greenhouse Gas (GHG)
Reduction Fund (GGRF) to CDFA for the establishment of a new
grant program to support these activities. This bill also
appropriates 2% of the proceeds from this fund to the Strategic
Growth Council's Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation
Program (SALC) to also address on-farm reductions of greenhouse
gas and increased carbon storage. Specifically, this bill:
1) Makes findings and declarations in regard to California
agricultural productivity and agriculture's contribution to
the environment and reduction of GHGs.
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2) Adds the definition of "fund" to mean the GGRF.
3) Renames CDFA's Scientific Advisory Panel on Environmental
Farming to the Environmental Farming Act Advisory Panel
(Panel).
4) Expands the duties of CDFA's Environmental Farming program
(program) to specifically include activities related to the
reduction of on-farm GHG emissions and increases carbon
storage in agricultural soils and woody biomass, and allows
for the program to provide incentives, as specified.
5) Authorizes CDFA to support these on-farm practices and
activities by providing permit assistance and coordination
and the funding of on-farm demonstration projects, which
further the goals of the program.
6) Adds "climate change" to the list of issues that may be
addressed by CDFA's newly termed Panel when providing advice
and assistance to government agencies.
7) Expands the Panel from five to nine members; modifies the
background requirements of the appointees, as specified; and,
establishes term of appointments.
8) Provides $25 million, upon appropriation by the Legislature,
to CDFA to support on-farm projects to demonstrate
agricultural management practices and activities that reduce
GHG emissions and increase carbon storage in soils and woody
biomass. Projects may include, but are not limited to,
soil-building and carbon-sequestration practices, irrigation
efficiency and water conservation measures,
alternative-energy production from agricultural waste from a
farm or at a processing facility and improve on-farm
efficiency, and wildlife habitat conservation.
9) Requires CDFA, in consultation with the Advisory Panel, to
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develop and implement a grant program to support the
activities listed above.
10)Requires the Secretaries of CDFA and the Natural Resources
Agency to enter into a memorandum of agreement, including
other relevant state agencies, to ensure the greatest
possible coordination and collaboration in implementing these
programs and projects.
11)Requires that no less than 2% of GGRF proceeds be
appropriated to the Strategic Growth Council (Council) to be
expended for agricultural land protection within the grant
program described in item 12, below.
12)Requires the Council to establish and administer a grant
program, as part of the SALC Program, to provide incentives
for the adoption and use of land management practices that
would reduce GHG emissions and sequester carbon in soils and
woody biomass.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires the CDFA, through the Cannella Environmental Farming
Act of 1995, (ACT) to establish and oversee an environmental
farming program that provides incentives to farmers whose
practices promote the well-being of ecosystems, air quality,
and wildlife and their habitat.
2)Establishes the Scientific Advisory Panel on Environmental
Farming to assist in the compilation and depository of
scientific data from public and private sources, identifying
the net environmental impacts of agriculture on the
environment; to advise and assist government agencies on the
above issues by conducting scientific data reviews and
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approving and recommending scientifically valid data.
3)Establishes the Council as a cabinet-level committee that is
tasked with coordinating the activities of member state
agencies to, among other things, improve air and water
quality, protect natural resources and agricultural lands, and
assist state and local entities in the planning of sustainable
communities and meeting the California Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32), goals.
4)Establishes the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities
(AHSC) Program, administered by the Council, to GHG emissions
though projects that implement land use, housing,
transportation, and agricultural land preservation practices.
5)Establishes SALC as one component of AHSC and is implemented
by the California Department of Conservation (DOC). The
council is responsible for overseeing SALC and coordinating
DOC with other agencies to develop program guidelines.
6)Requires the California Air Resources Board (ARB), through AB
32, to determine the 1990 statewide GHG emissions level, to
approve a statewide GHG emissions limit equivalent to that
level that will be achieved by 2020, and to adopt GHG
emissions reductions measures by regulation. ARB is
authorized to include the use of market-based mechanisms to
comply with the regulations. All monies, except for fines and
penalties collected pursuant to a market-based mechanism, are
deposited in the GGRF.
7)Requires that the GGRF only be used to facilitate the
achievement of reductions of GHG emissions consistent with AB
32. To this end, the Department of Finance, in consultation
with ARB and any other relevant state agencies, is required to
develop, as specified, a three-year investment plan for the
moneys deposited in the GGRF. The investment plan must
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allocate a minimum of 25% of the funds to projects that
benefit disadvantaged communities and to allocate 10% of the
funds to projects located within disadvantaged communities.
Additionally, ARB, in consultation with the California
Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), is required to
develop funding guidelines for administering agencies
receiving allocations of the GGRF funds that include a
component for how agencies should maximize benefits to
disadvantaged communities.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill would specify that $25 million shall be
available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to support
three specific programs at CDFA.
COMMENTS: According to the author, SB 367 provides an update to
the 20 year-old Cannella Environmental Farming Act by adding
current issues, terms and research needs that expand and direct
newly available funds to the needs of California's ever changing
environment. This bill is intended to provide California
agriculture opportunities to deal with and participate in the AB
32 goal of addressing climate change.
Supporters of SB 367 state that California agriculture is
uniquely positioned to provide climate benefits by reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. Research suggests some agricultural
practices will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but can
also help to store atmospheric carbon in soils, trees, and other
plants.
They further state: "Growers around the state have already begun
to see the effects of drought, decreased chilling hours and
extreme heat on their productivity and profitability. At the
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same time, growers and scientists recognize the tremendous
potential for agriculture and agricultural lands to not only
reduce existing greenhouse gas emissions, but also to draw down
atmospheric carbon into soils and woody biomass."
The opposition states that they have long held that CARB lacks
the authority to raise revenues by the auctioning of
"allowances" to meet the goals of AB 32." Further, they
"support the cost- effective implementation of AB 32 and that
"auctioning runs contrary to the expressed goals of AB 32 for
maximizing the benefits and minimizing leakage risks and costs."
When the Act was created in 1995, agriculture was beginning to
realize the impacts of various regulations from non-CDFA
agencies. It was the intent of Assembly Member Cannella to give
CDFA and agriculture the ability to better inform other state
agencies and departments about how agriculture operates and the
impacts of new regulations on them. Prior administrations have
not used this tool but with the implementation of AB 32, new
funding sources, and the changes provided by SB 367, CDFA can
use the Act to assist agriculture and processors in meeting the
challenges of change and compliance.
The requirements of two appointees having been engaged in
research related to "environmentally sustainable agriculture
raises several questions. There is no statutory definition for
"environmentally sustainable agriculture," making the selection
of these appointees potentially difficult. The intent of the
Cannella Environmental Farming Act is clearly stated in Food and
Agriculture Code Section 566 of current law and with that
section's expansion within SB 367. The committee may wish to
consider deleting the term "environmentally sustainable
agriculture" from the two references for appointees research
background, (page 5, lines 38, and page 6, line 9), and replace
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it with a reference to section 566, which reflects the intent of
the Act. It would read: "... member who is engaged in the
conduct of scientific research related to the purpose or
purposes described in Section 566 of this chapter." This would
clearly provide the type of research background needed to
qualify for Panel appointees.
SB 367 is in conflict with SB 400 (Lara); both bills make
changes to Health and Safety Code Section 39719 in a different
manner. The committee may wish to ask the author how this
conflict will be resolved.
Background:
The Act requires CDFA to establish and oversee an environmental
farming program that provides incentives to farmers whose
practices promote the well-being of ecosystems, air quality, and
wildlife and their habitat. The Act also created the Science
Panel to, among other responsibilities, advise and assist
government agencies on these issues by conducting scientific
data reviews and approving and recommending scientifically valid
data. The Science Panel is also authorized to research, review,
and comment on data used as the base for proposed environmental
policies and regulatory programs so that agricultural activities
are accurately portrayed and to identify incentives to encourage
agricultural practices with environmental benefits.
The Council was created in 2008 as a cabinet-level committee
that is tasked with coordinating the activities of member state
agencies to improve air and water quality, protect natural
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resources and agricultural lands, increase the availability of
affordable housing, promote public health, improve
transportation, encourage greater infill and compact
development, revitalize community and urban centers, and assist
state and local entities in the planning of sustainable
communities and meeting AB 32 goals.
The AHSC Program, administered by the Council, was created in
2014 to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions though projects
that implement land use, housing, transportation, and
agricultural land preservation practices. The AHSC Program
receives 20% of the annual proceeds from the Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund to achieve these goals (SB 862 of 2014; Health
and Safety Code § 39719).
The SALC Program is one component of AHSC and is implemented by
DOC. The Council is responsible for overseeing SALC and
coordinating DOC with other agencies to develop program
guidelines.
Guidelines for the SALC Program were approved by the Council on
January 20, 2015, and include three major elements: 1)
sustainable agricultural land strategy plans, which would
provide grants to develop local strategies to ensure long-term
protection of highly productive and critically threatened
agricultural land; 2) agricultural conservation easements; and
3) financial incentives for adoption and use of land management
practices. The guidelines specifically state that the third
element is not included in the 2014 request for grant
applications, but will be addressed in future years.
Background on Cap-and-Trade Funds. ARB has conducted ten
cap-and-trade auctions, generating almost $1.6 billion in
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proceeds to the state.
Budget allocations. The 2014-15 Budget allocates $832 million
in GGRF revenues to a variety of transportation, energy, and
resource programs aimed at reducing GHG emissions. Various
agencies are in the process of implementing this funding. The
budget agreement specifies how the state will allocate most
cap-and-trade auction revenues in 2015-16 and beyond. For all
future revenues, the legislation appropriates 25% for the
state's high-speed rail project, 20% for affordable housing and
sustainable communities grants, 10% to intercity capital rail
projects, and 5% for low-carbon transit operations. The
remaining 40% is available for annual appropriation by the
Legislature. (According to the Senate Environmental Quality
Committee analysis).
Related Legislation: AB 761 (Levine), currently in the Senate
Committee on Agriculture, requires, upon appropriation of
funding by the Legislature, CDFA to establish a grant program to
fund projects that increase carbon sequestration and GHG
emissions reduction on agricultural lands, ranches and
rangelands.
SB 862 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 36,
Statutes of 2014. Among other provisions, establishes the
Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program,
administered by the Council, to reduce GHG emissions though
projects that implement land use, housing, transportation, and
agricultural land preservation practices.
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SB 732 (Steinberg), Chapter 729, Statutes of 2008. Establishes
the Council to coordinate member state agencies implementing
projects to improve air and water quality, affordable housing,
natural resource protection, transportation, and sustainable
land use planning; and to meet the goals of AB 32.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Climate & Agriculture
Network (Co-Sponsor)
Community Alliance with Family Farmers
(Co-Sponsor)
Alameda County Resource Conservation
District
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American Farmland Trust
Association of Compost Producers
Big Sur Land Trust
California Association of Resource
Conservation Districts
California Certified Organic Farmers
California Compost Coalition
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Farm Link
Californians Against Waste
Community Environmental Council
Ecological Farming Association
Environmental Defense Center
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Land Trust of Santa Cruz County
Marin Resource Conservation District
National Hmong American Farmers
Open Space Authority Santa Clara County
Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association
Peninsula Open Space Trust
Resource Conservation District of Santa
Cruz County
Roots of Change
Sonoma Resource Conservation District
Sustainable Agriculture Education
Sustainable Conservation
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Valley Land Alliance
Wild Farm Alliance
1 individual
Opposition
California Chamber of Commerce
Analysis Prepared by:Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916)
319-2084