Amended in Assembly June 21, 2016

Amended in Senate April 19, 2016

Senate Bill No. 1347

Introduced by Senator Nielsen

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(Coauthors: Senators Gaines, Morrell, and Stone)

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Gallagher and Wilk)

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February 19, 2016

An act to amend Section begin delete 4214 of end delete begin insert end insert begin insert 51283 of the Government Code, and to add Section 10247 to end insert the Public Resources Code, relating to begin delete fire prevention. end delete begin insert the Soil Conservation Fund. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1347, as amended, Nielsen. begin delete Fire prevention fee: administration. end delete begin insert Soil Conservation Fund. end insert

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Existing law establishes the California Land Conservation Act of 1965, otherwise known as the Williamson Act, and authorizes a city or county to enter into 10-year contracts with owners of land devoted to agricultural use, whereby the owners agree to continue using the property for that purpose, and the city or county agrees to value the land accordingly for purposes of property taxation, as specified. Existing law provides a procedure to cancel a contract entered into under these provisions, and provides that the landowner and the Department of Conservation may agree on the cancellation value of the land.

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Existing law requires cancellation fees, when they are required to be collected, to be transmitted by the county treasurer to the Controller and deposited in the General Fund, except the first $2,536,000 of revenue paid to the Controller in the 2004-05 fiscal year, and any amount approved in the final Budget Act for each fiscal year thereafter, is required to be deposited in the Soil Conservation Fund, and as otherwise specified. Existing law provides that the money in the Soil Conservation Fund is available, when appropriated by the Legislature, for specified programs and administrative costs.

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This bill would provide that the money in the Soil Conservation Fund is available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, additionally for competitive grants and financial assistance to resource conservation districts to aid in the implementation of state programs or projects that improve soil conservation, carbon sequestration in soil, or moisture retention in soil, or other types of projects that improve the quality of agricultural and related land resources, subject to a specified condition. The bill would require the Department of Conservation to establish this competitive grant program.

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Existing law requires the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to establish a fire prevention fee in an amount not to exceed $150 to be charged on each habitable structure on a parcel that is within a state responsibility area. Existing law requires the fee moneys to be expended, upon appropriation, in specified ways, including to reimburse the State Board of Equalization’s expenses incurred in the collection of the fee and to the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection and to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for administration purposes, with excess money being expended only for specified fire prevention activities, as provided.

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Existing law, until January 31, 2017, requires the board to submit an annual written report to the Legislature on the status of the uses of the fee moneys.

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This bill would continue that requirement until January 31, 2022.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert Section 51283 of the end insert begin insert Government Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

51283.  

(a) Prior to any action by the board or council giving
tentative approval to the cancellation of any contract, the county
assessor of the county in which the land is located shall determine
the current fair market value of the land as though it were free of
the contractual restriction. The assessor shall certify to the board
or council the cancellation valuation of the land for the purpose
of determining the cancellation fee. At the same time, the assessor
shall send a notice to the landowner and the Department of
Conservation indicating the current fair market value of the land
as though it were free of the contractual restriction and advise the
begin delete parties, that end delete begin insert parties that, end insert upon their request, the assessor shall
provide all information relevant to the valuation, excluding
third-party information. If any information is confidential or
otherwise protected from release, the department and the landowner
shall hold begin delete it end delete begin insert that information end insert as confidential and return or destroy
any protected information upon termination of all actions relating
to valuation or cancellation of the contract on the property. The
notice shall also advise the landowner and the department of the
opportunity to request formal review from the assessor.

(b) Prior to giving tentative approval to the cancellation of any
contract, the board or council shall determine and certify to the
county auditor the amount of the cancellation fee that the
landowner shall pay the county treasurer upon cancellation. That
fee shall be an amount equal to 121⁄2 percent of the cancellation
valuation of the property.

(c) If it finds that it is in the public interest to do so, the board
or council may waive any payment or any portion of a payment
by the landowner, or may extend the time for making the payment
or a portion of the payment contingent upon the future use made
of the land and its economic return to the landowner for a period
of time not to exceed the unexpired period of the contract, had it
not been canceled, if all of the following occur:

(1) The cancellation is caused by an involuntary transfer or
change in the use begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert may be made of the land and the land
is not immediately suitable, nor will be immediately used, for a
purpose begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert produces a greater economic return to the
owner.

(2) The board or council has determined that it is in the best
interests of the program to conserve agricultural land use that the
payment be either deferred or is not required.

(3) The waiver or extension of time is approved by the Secretary
of the begin insert Natural end insert Resources Agency. The secretary shall approve a
waiver or extension of time if the secretary finds that the granting
of the waiver or extension of time by the board or council is
consistent with the policies of this chapter and that the board or
council complied with this article. In evaluating a request for a
waiver or extension of time, the secretary shall review the findings
of the board or council, the evidence in the record of the board or
council, and any other evidence the secretary may receive
concerning the cancellation, waiver, or extension of time.

(d) The first two million five hundred thirty-six thousand dollars
($2,536,000) of revenue paid to the Controller pursuant to
subdivision (e) in the 2004-05 fiscal year, and any other amount
as approved in the final Budget Act for each fiscal year thereafter,
shall be deposited in the Soil Conservation Fund, which is
continued in existence. The money in the fund is available, begin delete when
appropriated end delete begin insert upon appropriation end insert by the Legislature, for the support
of all of the following:

(1) The cost of the farmlands mapping and monitoring program
of the Department of Conservation pursuant to Section 65570.

(2) The soil conservation program identified in Section 614 of
the Public Resources Code.

(3) Program support costs of this chapter as administered by
the Department of Conservation.

(4) Program support costs incurred by the Department of
Conservation in administering the open-space subvention program
(Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 16140) of Part 1 of Division
4 of Title 2).

(5) The costs to the Department of Conservation for
administering Section 51250.

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(6) Competitive grants and financial assistance to resource
conservation districts pursuant to Section 10247 of the Public
Resources Code, subject to the condition specified in subdivision
(b) of Section 10247 of the Public Resources Code.

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(e)  When cancellation fees required by this section are collected,
they shall be transmitted by the county treasurer to the Controller
and deposited in the General Fund, except as provided in
subdivision (d) of this section and subdivision (b) of Section 51203.
The funds collected by the county treasurer with respect to each
cancellation of a contract shall be transmitted to the Controller
within 30 days of the execution of a certificate of cancellation of
contract by the board or council, as specified in subdivision (b) of
Section 51283.4.

(f)  It is the intent of the Legislature that fees paid to cancel a
contract do not constitute taxes but are payments that, when made,
provide a private benefit that tends to increase the value of the
property.

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begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

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begin insert Section 10247 is added to the end insert begin insert Public Resources Code end insert begin insert ,
to read: end insert

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begin insert 10247. end insert   

(a) The department shall establish a competitive grant
program to provide grants and financial assistance to resource
conservation districts to aid in the implementation of state
programs or projects that improve soil conservation, carbon
sequestration in soil, or moisture retention in soil, or other types
of projects that improve the quality of agricultural and related
land resources.

(b) Funding pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (d) of
Section 51283 of the Government Code shall not be available for
purposes of subdivision (a) unless the programs and costs specified
in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (d) of Section
51283 of the Government Code first receive all necessary funding.

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SECTION 1.  

Section 4214 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

4214.  

(a) Fire prevention fees collected pursuant to this chapter
shall be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, as
follows:

(1) The State Board of Equalization shall retain moneys
necessary for the payment of refunds pursuant to Section 4228 and
reimbursement of the State Board of Equalization for expenses
incurred in the collection of the fee.

(2) The moneys collected, other than those retained by the State
Board of Equalization pursuant to paragraph (1), shall be deposited
into the State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund, which is
hereby created in the State Treasury, and shall be available to the
board and the department to expend for fire prevention activities
specified in subdivision (d) that benefit the owners of habitable
structures within a state responsibility area who are required to
pay the fire prevention fee. The amount expended to benefit the
owners of habitable structures within a state responsibility area
shall be commensurate with the amount collected from the owners
within that state responsibility area. All moneys in excess of the
costs of administration of the board and the department shall be
expended only for fire prevention activities in counties with state
responsibility areas.

(b) The fund may also be used to cover the costs of
administering this chapter.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the moneys in this fund
be fully appropriated to the board and the department each year
in order to effectuate the purposes of this chapter.

(d) Moneys in the fund shall be used only for the following fire
prevention activities, which shall benefit owners of habitable
structures within the state responsibility areas who are required to
pay the annual fire prevention fee pursuant to this chapter:

(1) Local assistance grants pursuant to subdivision (e).

(2) Grants to Fire Safe Councils, the California Conservation
Corps, or certified local conservation corps for fire prevention
projects and activities in the state responsibility areas.

(3) Grants to a qualified nonprofit organization with a
demonstrated ability to satisfactorily plan, implement, and complete
a fire prevention project applicable to the state responsibility areas.
The department may establish other qualifying criteria.

(4) Inspections by the department for compliance with defensible
space requirements around habitable structures in state
responsibility areas as required by Section 4291.

(5) Public education to reduce fire risk in the state responsibility
areas.

(6) Fire severity and fire hazard mapping by the department in
the state responsibility areas.

(7) Other fire prevention projects in the state responsibility
areas, authorized by the board.

(e) (1) The board shall establish a local assistance grant program
for fire prevention activities designed to benefit habitable structures
within state responsibility areas, including public education, that
are provided by counties and other local agencies, including special
districts, with state responsibility areas within their jurisdictions.

(2) In order to ensure an equitable distribution of funds, the
amount of each grant shall be based on the number of habitable
structures in state responsibility areas for which the applicant is
legally responsible and the amount of moneys made available in
the annual Budget Act for this local assistance grant program.

(f) By January 31, 2015, and annually thereafter, the board shall
submit to the Legislature a written report on the status and uses of
the fund pursuant to this chapter. The written report shall also
include an evaluation of the benefits received by counties based
on the number of habitable structures in state responsibility areas
within their jurisdictions, the effectiveness of the board’s grant
programs, the number of defensible space inspections in the
reporting period, the degree of compliance with defensible space
requirements, measures to increase compliance, if any, and any
recommendations to the Legislature.

(g) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under
subdivision (f) is inoperative on January 31, 2022.

(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (f) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
Code.

(h) It is essential that this article be implemented without delay.
To permit timely implementation, the department may contract
for services related to the establishment of the fire prevention fee
collection process. For this purpose only, and for a period not to
exceed 24 months, the provisions of the Public Contract Code or
any other provision of law related to public contracting shall not
apply.

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