BILL NUMBER: AB 389 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 928
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 16, 1995
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 14, 1995
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 15, 1995
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 14, 1995
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 6, 1995
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 22, 1995
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 17, 1995
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 15, 1995
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 8, 1995
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 17, 1995
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cannella
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Granlund, McPherson, Setencich,
Thompson, and Woods)
(Coauthors: Senators Johannessen, Kelley, and O'Connell)
FEBRUARY 14, 1995
An act to amend Sections 1777.2 and 1784 of the Fish and Game
Code, and to add Article 8.5 (commencing with Section 560) to Chapter
3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Food and Agricultural Code,
relating to agriculture.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 389, Cannella. Agriculture: environmental farming: wetland
habitat.
(1) The Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Wetlands Mitigation Bank Act
of 1993 defines "bank site" and "mitigation bank site" for the
purposes of that act. Excluded from these definitions is land on
which rice is produced that provides significant wetland habitat
value.
This bill, instead, would provide, among other things, that a
"bank site" or "mitigation bank site" may include any lands on which
rice is grown, as long as those lands are managed as ricelands and
meet other specified criteria.
(2) Existing law sets forth various powers and duties of the
Department of Food and Agriculture.
This bill would enact the Cannella Environmental Farming Act of
1995. The bill would require the department 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 bill would require the Secretary
of Food and Agriculture to convene a Scientific Advisory Panel on
Environmental Farming for the purpose of providing advice and
assistance with respect to various matters.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1777.2 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to
read:
1777.2. "Bank site" or "mitigation bank site" means a publicly or
privately owned and operated site on which wetlands have been or
will be created in accordance with this chapter to compensate for
adverse impacts caused by removal or fill permit activities
authorized pursuant to Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act (33
U.S.C. Sec. 1344 et seq.). "Bank site" or "mitigation bank site"
may include land on which rice is grown as long as those lands are
managed as ricelands and those lands meet the other requirements of
Section 1784.
SEC. 2. Section 1784 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:
1784. (a) The department, in cooperation with those agencies
specified in Section 1786, shall adopt regulations that establish
standards and criteria for the bank site qualification process, for
the evaluation of wetland habitat values created at the bank sites,
and for the operation and evaluation of bank sites, and any other
regulations that are necessary to implement this chapter.
These criteria shall require, at a minimum, that the newly created
wetland provide the hydrologic, vegetative, and wildlife
characteristics, including the food web components, of a naturally
occurring wetland system that is equal to the site being mitigated.
(b) With respect to bank site standards and operator
qualifications, the department shall consider, at a minimum, all of
the following criteria:
(1) A requirement that the bank site have a reliable, adequate,
and available water supply necessary to provide wetland values. For
wetlands dependent only on rainfall, rainfall satisfies this
requirement.
(2) The relative ease or difficulty of converting uplands into
wetlands at the bank site.
(3) The anticipated maintenance necessary to sustain the recreated
and created wetlands at the bank site.
(4) The proximity of the bank site to other established preserves
or natural features historically associated with abundant wildlife
values.
(5) The proximity of the bank site to urban or populated areas
that could reduce the bank site's long-term biological values.
(6) The demonstrated ability of the bank site operator to create,
administer, maintain, and protect the bank site in perpetuity in its
enhanced state, including financial, technical, and management
ability.
(7) The relative abundance or scarcity of the wetland type to be
created at the bank site.
(c) A bank site or mitigation bank site may include any lands on
which rice is grown as long as those lands are managed as ricelands
with the required enhanced wetland values if they otherwise qualify
under this chapter and either of the following conditions exist:
(1) The lands are lands on which rice was grown after January 1,
1996. For purposes of this paragraph, to qualify as new wetland
values, rice shall not have been grown on the lands for 10 years
before the application is submitted pursuant to Section 1785.
(2) The lands are lands on which rice was grown before January 1,
1996. These lands shall qualify only if there is an increase in
wetland habitat value that is equal to the site being mitigated. For
purposes of this paragraph, a wetland value shall only be provided
for lands on which rice was grown that are proposed for wetlands
mitigation for the period when that land is flooded between the
harvesting of rice and the planting of the next crop. This paragraph
shall apply only to lands that were not flooded after harvest
between January 1, 1982, and January 1, 1992.
(d) Any mitigation site established pursuant to subdivision (c)
may be replaced by a new site of an equal wetland value.
(e) This section shall not be construed to permit waters used to
flood rice fields in order to create wetlands mitigation to be
credited as beneficial to wildlife under federal law.
SEC. 3. Article 8.5 (commencing with Section 560) is added to
Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Food and Agricultural Code,
to read:
Article 8.5. The Cannella Environmental Farming Act of 1995
560. This article shall be known as the Cannella Environmental
Farming Act of 1995.
561. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) California agriculture helps to feed the world and fuel our
economy. Agriculture provides one out of every 10 jobs in
California, and our state has led the nation in total farm production
every year since 1948. During 1993, California's 76,000 farms
generated nearly $20 billion in cash receipts and another $70 billion
in economic activity.
(b) Many farmers engage in practices that contribute to the
well-being of ecosystems, air quality, and wildlife and their
habitat. Agriculture plays a pivotal role in preserving open space
that is vital to the environment. Seventy-five percent of the nation'
s wildlife live on farms and ranches. Freshwater streams and
stockponds on farms and ranches provide habitat to millions of fish.
Corn, wheat, rice, and other field crops provide bountiful food and
habitat for deer, antelope, ducks, geese, and other wildlife.
(c) Environmental laws should be based on the best scientific
evidence gathered from public and private sources.
(d) Best scientific evidence should include the net environmental
impact provided by agriculture.
(e) Additional research is necessary to adequately inventory the
impact that agriculture has on the environment. Recognition should
be afforded to agricultural activities that produce a net benefit for
the environment, which is consistent with the growing trend of
providing incentives for the private sector to undertake economic
activities that benefit the environment.
564. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions govern the construction of this article:
(a) "Agricultural activities" means those activities that generate
products as specified in Section 54004.
(b) "Department" means the Department of Food and Agriculture.
(c) "Panel" means the Scientific Advisory Panel on Environmental
Farming.
(d) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Food and Agriculture.
566. (a) The department shall establish and oversee an
environmental farming program. The program shall provide incentives
to farmers whose practices promote the well-being of ecosystems, air
quality, and wildlife and their habitat.
(b) The department may assist in the compilation of scientific
evidence from public and private sources, including the scientific
community, industry, conservation organizations, and federal, state,
and local agencies identifying the net environmental impacts that
agriculture creates for 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.
568. (a) The secretary shall convene a five-member Scientific
Advisory Panel on Environmental Farming to advise and assist federal,
state, and local government agencies on issues relating to air,
water, and wildlife habitat to do the following:
(1) Review data on the impact that agriculture has on the
environment and recommend to appropriate state agencies data that the
panel approves as 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, it 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 that agriculture creates
for 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.
(b) Members of the panel shall be highly qualified and
professionally active or engaged in the conduct of scientific
research. Of the members first appointed to the panel, two 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. The members shall be appointed
as follows:
(1) Three members shall be appointed by the secretary. At least
one of these members shall have a minimum of five years of training
and experience in the field of agriculture and shall represent
production agriculture.
(2) One member, who has a minimum of five years of training and
experience in the field of human health or environmental science,
shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Environmental Protection
Agency.
(3) One member, who has a minimum of five years of training and
experience in the field of resource management, shall be appointed by
the Secretary of the Resources Agency.
(c) The panel may establish ad hoc committees, which may include
professionals or scientists, to assist it in performing its
functions.
(d) The panel shall be created and maintained with funds made
available from existing resources within the department to the extent
they are available.