BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 367
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 26, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 367
(Wolk) - As Amended August 17, 2015
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Policy |Agriculture |Vote:|7 - 0 |
|Committee: | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| |Natural Resources | |8 - 1 |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill establishes a $25 million grant fund, upon
appropriation by the Legislature from the Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund (GGRF), for projects that reduce greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions from agricultural operations, as specified.
SB 367
Page 2
This bill expands and revises the membership and duties of the
California Department of Food and Agriculture's (CDFA)
Environmental Farming Act Science Advisory Panel (Panel) to
include on-farm practices to reduce GHG emissions and increase
carbon storage in soil. Specifically, this bill:
1)Renames CDFA's Scientific Advisory Panel on Environmental
Farming, the Environmental Farming Act Advisory Panel.
2)Expands CDFA's environmental farming program (Program) to
specifically include activities related to the reduction of
on-farm GHG emissions and increased carbon storage in
agricultural soils and woody biomass.
3)Specifies that incentives provided by the Program may include
grants, loans, research, technical assistance, or educational
materials and outreach.
4)Authorizes CDFA to support on-farm practices and activities by
providing permit assistance and coordination, and by funding
demonstration projects that further the goals of the program.
5)Adds the impact of agriculture on climate change to the list
of issues that may be addressed by the Panel when providing
advice and assistance to government agencies.
6)Revises the membership of the Panel to consist of nine members
as specified
SB 367
Page 3
7)Authorizes a state agency that receives data recommended by
the Panel to adopt and incorporate the data into the
appropriate program. If a state agency does not use the data
recommended, requires the agency to provide the Panel with a
written statement of reasons.
8)Requires the Panel to submit a biennial report on their work
as specified.
9)Requires the Air Resources Board (ARB) to provide guidance on
GGRF expenditures.
10)Requires the Strategic Growth Council (SGC) to establish and
administer a grant program, as part of the Sustainable
Agricultural Lands Conservation (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, and provide other cobenefits on
working agricultural operations. Requires at least 2% of GGRF
proceeds to be appropriated to SGC for the grant program.
11)Requires CDFA to develop and implement a grant program to
reduce GHG emissions and increase carbon storage in
agricultural soils and woody biomass, including:
a) Soil-building and carbon sequestration practices.
SB 367
Page 4
b) Irrigation efficiency and water conservation measures.
c) Alternative energy production and energy efficiency.
d) Wildlife habitat conservation.
12)Specifies that $25 million from the GGRF, upon appropriation
by the Legislature, will be available to CDFA for the above
grant program and to carry out the purposes of the bill.
13)Requires the Secretaries of CDFA and NRA to enter into a
memorandum of agreement among CDFA, the Department of
Conservation, and other relevant state agencies to ensure the
greatest possible coordination and collaboration in
implementing these programs and projects.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Cost pressures of up to $25 million to fund the CDFA grant
program including annual CDFA grant administrative costs of an
estimated $2 million (GGRF).
2)Increased initial ARB costs of $2 million and ongoing annual
costs of $1.2 to $1.6 million to provide guidance, develop
quantification methodologies for grant programs, and evaluate
projects.
3)Additional unknown CDFA costs to expand the membership and
SB 367
Page 5
duties of the Farming Act Science Advisory Panel.
4)Unknown funding shifts within the SGC grant program.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, this bill modernizes the
Environmental Farming Act of 1995 to ensure that California
maximizes its opportunities to achieve voluntary GHG emission
reductions in the state's agriculture sector by developing and
promoting projects and on-farm practices that also have other
environmental and health benefits.
Upon appropriation, this bill will also direct $25 million to
the CDFA for a grant program to support on-farm demonstration
projects, and will direct 2% of the GGRF annual proceeds to
the Strategic Growth Council's Sustainable Agricultural Lands
Conservation Program.
2)Background. The Cannella Environmental Farming Act of 1995
requires CDFA to establish and oversee an environmental
farming program to provide incentives to farmers with
practices that promote the well-being of ecosystems, air
quality, and wildlife and their habitat. The act also created
the Scientific Advisory Panel on Environmental Farming (Panel)
to advise and assist government agencies, provide
recommendations, and conduct scientific data reviews. The
Panel is to identify incentives to encourage agricultural
practices with environmental benefits.
SB 367
Page 6
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32,
Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006), requires ARB 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.
Current law 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 the ARB and any other relevant state agencies,
is required to develop a three-year investment
plan for GGRF proceeds. The investment plan must allocate a
minimum of 25 percent of the funds to projects that benefit
disadvantaged communities and to
allocate 10 percent of the funds to projects located within
disadvantaged communities.
Additionally, ARB, in consultation with CalEPA, is required to
develop funding guidelines
for administering agencies receiving allocations of GGRF funds
that include a component
for how agencies should maximize benefits to disadvantaged n
communities.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
SB 367
Page 7