BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                      



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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                  AB 2680|
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                                 THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 2680
          Author:   Assembly Agriculture Committee 
          Amended:  6/19/12 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE  :  8-0, 6/13/12
          AYES:  Wolk, Dutton, DeSaulnier, Fuller, Hernandez, Kehoe, 
            La Malfa, Liu

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/21/12 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Agricultural land:  Williamson Act:  lot line 
          adjustments:
                      contracts

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill removes the sunset clause from 
          Williamson Act lot line adjustment.  Lot line adjustments 
          are allowed when agreed upon by a city or county and a 
          landowner, to rescind a Williamson Act contract and 
          simultaneously enter into a new contract to facilitate lot 
          line adjustments.

           ANALYSIS  :    Existing law authorizes landowners, subject to 
          the Williamson Act, to seek approval for lot line changes 
          without having to utilize the Act's nonrenewal or 
          cancellation provisions and pay cancellation fees.  The 
          authorization sunsets on January 1, 2013. 

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                                                               AB 2680
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          2

          This bill deletes the January 1, 2013 sunset date.

           Comments  

          According to the author, "�t]he provisions of AB 2680 were 
          originally enacted in 1990 with the intention of validating 
          and opening rules for lot line adjustments involving the 
          Act's contract and non-contract lands when some of the land 
          was being removed from the Act, when there is no other 
          existing statutory authority.  In 1999, these provisions 
          were changed to include all Act lands going through lot 
          line adjustments.  These provisions will expire on January 
          1, 2013.  The Act's use of the phrase, 'to facilitate a lot 
          line adjustment', as it relates to lot line adjustment, led 
          some to believe this section was optional, rather than 
          required even when no non-Act lands were involved.  This 
          issue has been the subject of discussion among stakeholders 
          over the past several years. To date there has been no 
          agreement.  The Act lot line adjustments sunset has been 
          extended four times since 2004.  It may be time to remove 
          the sunset clause as the Legislature has had a chance to 
          review this policy four times."

           Related and Prior Legislation
           
          AB 2351 (Gordon, 2011) requires a landowner wishing to 
          cancel an Act contract to pay a refundable 5% cancellation 
          fee.  

          AB 1965 (Yamada, Chapter 60, Statutes of 2010) extended the 
          automatic termination date from January 1, 2011, to January 
          1, 2013, in the state law that permits local officials to 
          rescind an Act contract to facilitate a lot line 
          adjustment.  

          AB 1441 (Assembly Agriculture Committee, Chapter 148, 
          Statutes of 2009) extended the automatic termination date 
          from January 1, 2010, to January 1, 2011, in the state law 
          that permits local officials to rescind an Act contract to 
          facilitate a lot line adjustment. 

          AB 2921 (Laird, Chapter 503, Statutes of 2008) expanded and 
          clarified statutory procedures for the Department Of 
          Conservation to identify and respond to material breaches 

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                                                               AB 2680
                                                                Page 
          3

          of Act contracts, and made adjustments to provisions of the 
          Act dealing with contract rescissions, open space and 
          agricultural easements.  It also extended the automatic 
          termination date from January 1, 2009, to January 1, 2010, 
          in the state law that permits local officials to rescind an 
          Act contract to facilitate a lot line adjustment. 

          AB 1492 (Laird, Chapter 694, Statutes of 2003), along with 
          other changes to the Act, extended the automatic 
          termination date from January 1, 2004, to January 1, 2009, 
          in the state law that permits local officials to rescind an 
          Act contract to facilitate a lot line adjustment. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  No   
          Local:  No


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  77-0, 5/21/12
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, 
            Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, 
            Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, 
            Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, 
            Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth 
            Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, 
            Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hill, Huber, 
            Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, 
            Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, 
            Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, 
            V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, 
            Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, 
            Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Fletcher, Roger Hern�ndez, Perea


          AGB:m  6/20/12   Senate Floor Analyses 

                       SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  NONE RECEIVED

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