Bill Text: CA AB2303 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Resource conservation districts.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-05-05 - Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV. [AB2303 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB2303-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
May 04, 2020 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2303
| Introduced by Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry |
February 14, 2020 |
An act to amend Section 9162 of Sections 23010 and 51283 of the Government Code, and to amend Section 9413 of, to add Sections 616 and 617 to, to add Article 4 (commencing with Section 9045) to Chapter 1 of Division 9 of, to repeal Sections 9016, 9018, 9019, and 9020 of, to repeal Chapter 2 (commencing with 9051) and Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 9751) of Division 9 of, and to repeal and add Section 614 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to resource conservation.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2303, as amended, Aguiar-Curry.
Resource conservation districts.
Existing
(1) Existing law authorizes a resource conservation district to be formed, as provided, for the control of runoff, the prevention or control of soil erosion, the development and distribution of water, and the improvement of land capabilities. Existing law authorizes a proposal to form a resource conservation district by a petition of registered voters or by the adoption of a resolution of application. Existing law requires a proposal to form a new resource conservation district made by petition to do certain things, including propose a name for the district.
Existing law authorizes a county, pursuant to a resolution adopted by a its board of supervisors, to lend any of its available funds to specified districts, including recreation and park districts, as provided.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to the latter provision.
This bill would also authorize a county to lend available funds to a resource conservation district, as provided.
(2) 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 authorizes the cancellation of a Williamson Act contract under certain circumstances, and authorizes the city or county to charge a cancellation fee, as provided. Existing law requires these cancellation fees to be transmitted by the county treasurer to the Controller upon collection, and specifies that those cancellation fees are to be deposited in the General Fund, except for the first $5,000,000 of those cancellation fees in the 2004–05 fiscal year and any other amount as approved in the final Budget Act for each fiscal year thereafter, which are required to be deposited in the Soil Conservation Fund to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature to support, among other things, a specified soil conservation program and the costs to the Department of Conservation for administering specified provisions of the act
pertaining to identifying structures that constitute material breaches of contract and providing an alternate remedy to a contract cancellation petition of the landowner.
Instead of making cancellation fee moneys in that fund available upon appropriation by the Legislature to support that soil conservation program and the costs to the department for administering those provisions pertaining to identifying structures that constitute material breaches of contract and providing an alternative remedy to a contract cancellation petition of the landowner, this bill would make that cancellation fee moneys in that fund available upon appropriation by the Legislature to support costs of the Director of Conservation to carry out certain powers and duties.
(3) Existing law establishes the State Resource Conservation Commission and the Division of Resource Conservation
in the Department of Conservation and prescribes the powers and duties of the commission and the division with regard to the implementation of resource conservation services and programs. Existing law requires the Chief of the Division of Resource Conservation to assist in the formation, organization, and operation of resource conservation districts, as provided.
This bill would, among other things, abolish the State Resource Conservation Commission and the Division of Resource Conservation. The bill would authorize the Director of Conservation to have powers and duties pertaining to resource conservation activities and programs, including providing specified funding. The bill would require a resource conservation district to be certified by the department as meeting specified criteria in order to be eligible for this funding. The bill would require the department to, on or before December 31 of each year, to post on its internet website a list
of resource conservation districts that have been certified. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the bill would authorize a state agency to enter into an interagency agreement with a resource conservation district for the district to provide conservation services, as specified. The bill would provide grants and other forms of local assistance to resource conservation districts meeting certain requirements. The bill would make conforming changes.
(4) Existing law authorizes resource conservation districts to develop districtwide comprehensive annual and long-range work plans to address the full range of soil and related resource problems. Existing law prescribes various requirements for the contents of the plans and reports and when specified plans and reports are required to be adopted or completed, as provided.
This bill would instead authorize each district to develop a long-range work plan,
annual work plan, and annual district report to address the full range of projects that protect, conserve, restore, or enhance natural resources, or improve or enhance adaptation or resilience to climate change, or mitigate or sequester carbon emissions on natural lands and working lands, as defined, as provided. The bill would require districts that prepare long-range work plans and annual work plans to provide, for information purposes only, long-range work plans and annual work plans and updates to these plans to the boards of supervisors of every county with land in the district’s jurisdiction, as provided. The bill would update the dates when specified plans and reports are required to be adopted or completed, as provided, among other things.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 23010 of the Government Code is amended to read:23010.
(a) Pursuant to a resolution adopted by its board of supervisors, a county may lend any of its available funds to any community services district, county waterworks district, mosquito abatement district, pest abatement district, fire protection district, flood control and water conservation district, recreation and park district, resource conservation district, regional park district, regional park and open-space district, regional open-space district, resort improvement district, or public cemetery district located wholly within the county, if its funds are or when available will be in the custody of the county or any officer of the county, in order to enable the district to perform its functions and meet its obligations. The loan shall not exceed 85 percent of the district’s anticipated revenue for the fiscal year in which it is made or for the next ensuing fiscal year, and shall be repaid out of that revenue prior to the payment of any other obligation of the district.(b) (1) Pursuant to a resolution adopted by its board of supervisors, a county may loan any of its available funds to a special district, in order to enable the district to perform its functions and meet its obligations. The loan shall not exceed 85 percent of the special district’s anticipated property tax revenue projected to be generated for the fiscal year in which it is made or for the next ensuing fiscal year within that portion of the district’s territory which is located within the county. The loan shall be
repaid out of any available revenue of the special district prior to the payment of any other obligation of the district.
For
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, “special district” means a special district, as defined in Section 54775, which is located in more than one county.
(c) (1) The board of supervisors may borrow funds from the county or from other garbage disposal districts, not to exceed 85
percent of the district’s anticipated revenue for the fiscal year in which they are borrowed or for the next ensuing fiscal year. In levying taxes or prescribing and collecting fees or charges as authorized by this division, the board of supervisors may raise sufficient revenues to repay the loans.
The
(2) The board of supervisors may lend available district funds to another garbage disposal district, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this section.
Nothing
(3) Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit the board of supervisors from borrowing funds from banks or other financial institutions when the best interests of the district are served thereby.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of
law, funds, when borrowed by a garbage disposal district pursuant to subdivision (c), shall forthwith increase the appropriations of the district for which they are needed. The governing body of the entity from which the funds are borrowed may specify the date and manner in which the funds shall be repaid. The loan shall not exceed 85 percent of the district’s anticipated revenue for the fiscal year in which it is made or for the next ensuing fiscal year, and shall be repaid out of that revenue prior to the payment of any other obligation of the district.
(e) The district shall pay interest on all funds borrowed from the county at the same rate that the county applies to funds of the district on deposit with the county.
SEC. 2.
Section 51283 of the Government Code is amended to read:51283.
(a)(b) Prior to Before 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 which
that may be made of the land and the land is not immediately suitable, nor will be immediately used, for a purpose which that 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 Natural 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 five million dollars ($5,000,000) 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, when appropriated 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.
(2) Program support costs to administer 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.
(6)
(5) When available, after funding the duties of the Department of Conservation pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (5), (4), inclusive, program support costs incurred by the department in carrying out the duties of the department pursuant to Sections 65565 and 66565.1. Section 65565.
(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.
SEC. 3.
Section 614 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.The department shall provide soil conservation advisory services to local governments, land owners, farmers and ranchers, resource conservation districts, and the general public. The services shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(a)State level liaison with the resource conservation districts.
(b)Review of documents prepared under the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)).
(c)Provision of information on the soil conservation components of the federal 1985 Food Security Act.
(d)Assistance
to local governments on the development of soil conservation guidelines for general plans.
(e)Responding to inquiries from the general public.
SEC. 4.
Section 614 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:614.
The director shall do all of the following:(a) Advise a city, county, city and county, special district, including a resource conservation district, state agency, federal agency, tribal agency, and the general public on issues of conservation importance, including, but not limited to, planning activities and documents.
(b) Review and provide comments to documents prepared in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)).
(c) Administer local assistance programs, including grants and contracts.
(d) Serve as a state
level liaison with resource conservation districts.
(e) Provide assistance to resource conservation districts, including, but not limited to, equipment, technology, training, education, and technical assistance.
(f) Provide financial assistance, through grants or direct contracts and agreements, to resource conservation districts who have been certified pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 9045 to support or improve the resource conservation district’s organization or capacity.
(g) Cooperate with and promote coordination of the activities of any federal, state, local, or tribal agency, including cities, counties, special districts, including resource conservation districts, and California Native American tribes, on issues of conservation importance.
(h) Establish a conservation service center for resource conservation districts and other conservation organizations to develop and implement projects and build conservation capacity.
SEC. 5.
Section 616 is added to the Public Resources Code, immediately following Section 615, to read:616.
On or before December 31 of each year, the department shall post on its internet website a list of resource conservation districts that are certified pursuant to Section 9045.SEC. 6.
Section 617 is added to the Public Resources Code, immediately following Section 616, to read:617.
(a) Upon an appropriation by the Legislature, the department may provide grants and other forms of local assistance to resource conservation districts.(b) The director may authorize advance payments from a grant awarded pursuant to this section. The advance payment shall not exceed 25 percent of the total grant award.
SEC. 7.
Section 9016 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.“Commission” means the State Resource Conservation Commission.
SEC. 8.
Section 9018 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.“Director” means the Director of Conservation.
SEC. 9.
Section 9019 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.“Division” means the Division of Resource Conservation of the department.
SEC. 10.
Section 9020 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.“Chief” means the Chief of the Division of Resource Conservation.
SEC. 11.
Article 4 (commencing with Section 9045) is added to Chapter 1 of Division 9 of the Public Resources Code, to read:Article 4. State Funding
9045.
(a) To be eligible for any funding that may be available pursuant to Section 614, a resource conservation district shall be certified by the department as having met all of the following criteria:(1) An adopted annual work plan and an adopted long-range work plan and prepared an annual district report pursuant to Section 9413.
(2) Compliance with Section 9528.
(3) An adopted annual budget on or before June 30 of the calendar year for the next fiscal year.
(4) Compliance with the requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act pursuant to Chapter 9
(commencing with section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code.
(5) Have valid liability insurance.
(b) Upon an appropriation of the Legislature, and consistent with the requirements of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 11250) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code and the Department of General Service’s State Contracting Manual, a district certified pursuant to subdivision (a) may enter into an interagency agreement with any state agency for services in accordance with this division.
(c) A district that receives funding from a state agency pursuant to an interagency agreement entered into pursuant to subdivision (b) shall regularly report to that state agency, in a frequency and format determined by that state agency, on how the funding was spent in accordance with the
purposes and conditions of the funding.
9046.
All equipment and machinery acquired by a district pursuant to this article is subject to call for emergency use by the federal government, the state, or any county, city, or city and county of this state.SEC. 12.
Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 9051) of Division 9 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.SEC. 13.
Section 9413 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:9413.
(a) Each district may develop(b) The long-range work plans may shall be adopted and updated every five years, in accordance with a standard statewide format which shall be established by the commission. years. Districts may amend the long-range plan prior to
before the five-year update in order to address substantive changes occurring since the adoption of the most recent long-range work plan. A district that prepares long-range work plans shall provide, for information purposes only, long-range work plans and updates to these plans to the boards of supervisors of every county with land in the district’s jurisdiction. The long-range plans shall serve the following functions:
(1) Identification of resource issues within the district for purposes of local, state, and federal resource conservation planning.
(2) Establishment of long-range district goals.
(3) Provision of a framework for directors to identify priorities for
annual district activities.
(4) Provision of information to federal, state, and local governments and the public concerning district programs and goals.
(5) Setting forth a basis for evaluating annual work plan achievements and allocating available state funding to the district.
(6) Involvement of other agencies and organizations in the district planning process in order to help ensure support in implementing district plans.
(c) The annual work plans may
shall be adopted on or before March 1
June 30 of each year in a format which that
shall be consistent with the district’s long-range work plan. A district that prepare annual work plans shall provide, for information purposes only, annual work plans to the boards of supervisors of every county with land in the district’s jurisdiction. The annual work plans shall serve the following functions:
(1) Identification of high priority actions to be undertaken by the district during the year covered by the plan.
(2) Identification of the person or persons responsible for undertaking each planned task, how it will be performed, when it will be completed, what constitutes completion, and the cost.
(3) Demonstration of the relationship of annual tasks to the long-range district goals
identified in the long-range work plan.
(4) Provision of assistance to the local field office of the Soil Conservation Service
Natural Resource Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture Agriculture, the California Conservation Corps, and to the University of California Cooperative Extension, if applicable, in adjusting staff and program priorities to match district goals.
(5) Informing the public of the district’s goals for the year. year and the anticipated schedule of public meetings.
(6) Involvement of other agencies and organizations in the district
planning process in order to help ensure support in implementing district plans.
(7) Provision of a basis for assisting the commission state in determining district eligibility for state funding under this division.
(d) A district may prepare an annual district report. The annual district report shall be completed on or before September 1 June 30 of each year in a format consistent with the long-range and annual plans, so
that progress made during the reporting period towards district goals can be readily determined. The annual report shall serve the following functions:
(1) To report on the district’s achievements during the reporting period to the commission, the department, the board of supervisors of any county in which the district is located, and any agency that reviews district requests for funding assistance. provides financial assistance.
(2) To increase public awareness of district activities.
(3) To compare district accomplishments during the reporting
period with annual work plan objectives for that period and to identify potential objectives for the next annual work plan.
(e) For purposes of this section, the terms “natural lands” and “working lands” shall have the same meaning as used in Section 9001.5.
SEC. 14.
Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 9751) of Division 9 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.A proposal to form a new resource conservation district may be made by petition, which shall do all of the following:
(a)State that the proposal is made and request that proceedings be taken for the formation of the district pursuant to this chapter.
(b)Set forth a description of the boundaries of the territory to be included in the district.
(c)Set forth the methods by which the district will be financed.
(d)State the reasons for forming the district.
(e)Propose a name for the district.
(f)Designate not more than three persons as chief petitioners, setting forth their names and mailing addresses.
(g)State whether the formation of the district is consistent with the sphere of influence of an affected city or affected district.
(h)Specify the number of members, whether five, seven, or nine, of the initial board of directors and the method of their selection, as provided by Article 4 (commencing with Section 9201).
