Bill Text: CA AB715 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Land conservation: subventions to local government:
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-08-12 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB715 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB715-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 715 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 28, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 9, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 10, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 10, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 8, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 30, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Caballero
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Nielsen)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Arambula, Blakeslee, and Fuller)
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act relating to land conservation, and making an appropriation
therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 715, as amended, Caballero. Land conservation: subventions to
local government: funding.
Existing law, known as the California Land Conservation Act of
1965, or the Williamson Act, authorizes a city or county, by
contract, to limit the uses of land to agricultural uses or as an
agricultural preserve in exchange for reduced property taxes.
Existing law provides replacement revenues to local governments by
reason of the reduction of the property tax on open-space lands
assessed under specified provisions of the Revenue and Taxation Code
(subvention payments), including lands enrolled under the Williamson
Act. Existing law continuously appropriates to the Controller from
the General Fund a sum sufficient to make the payments required under
those provisions.
The Disaster Preparedness and Flood Prevention Bond Act of 2006, a
bond act approved by the voters at the November 7, 2006, statewide
general election, makes $290,000,000 available, upon appropriation,
for the protection, creation, and enhancement of flood protection
corridors and bypasses through certain actions, including acquiring
easements and other interests in real property to protect or enhance
flood protection corridors and bypasses while preserving or enhancing
the agricultural use of the real property, and acquiring interests
in, or providing incentives for maintaining agricultural uses of,
real property that is located in a flood plain that cannot reasonably
be made safe from future flooding.
This bill would appropriate $11,000,000 from those bond
moneys $36,000,000 from the General
Fund to the Controller, for subvention payments for those
parcels enrolled under the Williamson Act for purposes
consistent with specified agricultural and flood protection corridor
purposes for which the bond moneys are made available
of making those payments during the 2010- 11
fiscal year .
Vote: majority 2/3 . Appropriation:
yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Ensuring the health and safety of Californians against
flooding is an essential priority for the state.
(2) It is not possible to make all areas in flood plains safe from
future flooding, and in those cases, alternative strategies such as
flood corridors may be the best strategy for minimizing the impact of
flooding on urban populations and the built environment.
(3) In 2006, voters approved the Disaster Preparedness and Flood
Prevention Bond Act of 2006, which includes funding for the
protection, creation, and enhancement of flood protection corridors
and bypasses.
(4) Protecting, creating, and enhancing flood protection corridors
and bypasses can include allowing agricultural and other natural
lands to accommodate seasonal flooding during high water events.
(1) The future of California's agricultural production is in great
danger.
(5)
(2) California's agricultural lands provide many public
benefits, including food supply, water quality, water supply, flood
protection, wildlife habitat, scenic open space, and climate change
benefits.
(6) A significant amount of California's agricultural lands are in
areas designated as flood plains and may provide protection to urban
populations and areas from flooding.
(7) The Department of Water Resources has recognized the value of
agricultural and other natural lands for this purpose and has
previously purchased flood easements, conservation easements, and
land to protect, create, and enhance flood protection corridors.
(3) California continues to burden local governments by taking
away the fiscal support it has provided to them for the conservation
of agricultural lands for decades.
(4) The steady significant reduction in state support to local
governments for these purposes increasingly exacerbates the
tremendous threat of conversion of agricultural lands and open space
to urbanized development.
(8)
(5) The California Land Conservation Act of 1965,
otherwise known as the Williamson Act, has proved to be a very
effective farm and ranch preservation program, protecting over 16.5
million acres.
(9)
(6) Due to the state's budget crisis, counties have
suffered the complete loss of subvention payments for the lands under
contract in their respective counties. Without these funds
counties will begin nonrenewing Williamson Act contracts.
(10)
(7) Approximately 2,048,470 acres lie within the
100-year flood plain in California that are also subject to the
Williamson Act.
(11)
(8) The Imperial County Board of Supervisors has voted
to nonrenew all the Williamson Act contracts in its county
if at least some portion of subvention payments are not restored.
Other counties are expected to follow in this action .
(12)
(9) A broad coalition of local governments,
agricultural organizations, unions, environmental and conservation
groups, outdoor recreation organizations, including hunters and
fishers, and landowners are working together to find a permanent
solution for funding subvention payments to counties for the
Williamson Act.
(b) The purpose of this act is:
(1) To provide a one-time, partial funding for the continuation of
the Williamson Act subventions in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
(2) To identify the acreage of land in each county that is under
Williamson Act contract and lies within a flood plain that is
eligible for subvention payments pursuant to subdivision (e) of
Section 5096.825 of the Public Resources Code.
SEC. 2. (a) Of the funds made available pursuant to Section
5096.825 of the Public Resources Code, the sum of eleven million
dollars ($11,000,000) is hereby appropriated to
(b) The sum of thirty-six million
dollars ($36,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to
the Controller, for subvention payments pursuant to Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 16140) of Part 1 of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code for those parcels enrolled in a land
conservation program pursuant to the California Land Conservation Act
of 1965 (also known as the Williamson Act)(Chapter 7 (commencing
with Section 51200) of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the
Government Code) for purposes consistent with subdivision
(a) or (e) of Section 5096.825 of the Public Resources Code.
for the 2010-11 fiscal year.
(b) Any funding made available for subventions to counties
pursuant to this act shall be a one-time payment to the county, and
shall not be subject to repayment.
(c) If the appropriated funds are not adequate to provide
the full funding according to the schedule provided by subdivision
(e), full subvention payments to each county, then
each county shall receive an amount calculated as a pro rata
amount of the total funds made available through this act based
on proportion of land under contract in each county pursuant to the
Williamson Act .
(d) For purposes of this act, "real property that is located in a
flood plain that cannot reasonably be made safe from future flooding"
means lands that lie within the 100-year flood plain according to
the designation or mapping by the Department of Water Resources.
(e) Payments shall be made according to the following schedule,
which reflects the acreage within each county that is under a
Williamson Act contract and lies within the 100-year flood plain:
Acres under
Williamson Act
County contract and
located in a
100-year flood
plain
Alameda County 3,055 acres
Alpine County ____ acres
Amador County 4,607 acres
Butte County 65,933 acres
Calaveras County 2,241 acres
Colusa County 66,671 acres
Contra Costa County 5,998 acres
Del Norte County 0 acres
El Dorado County 630 acres
Fresno County 132,313 acres
Glenn County 48,681 acres
Humboldt County 10,102 acres
Imperial County ____ acres
Inyo County 0 acres
Kern County 242,003 acres
Kings County 292,575 acres
Lake County 2,707 acres
Lassen County 12,091 acres
Los Angeles County ____ acres
Madera County 146,149 acres
Marin County 46 acres
Mariposa County 2,835 acres
Mendocino County 16,514 acres
Merced County 82,455 acres
Modoc County 14,338 acres
Mono County 1,638 acres
Monterey County 41,486 acres
Napa County 263 acres
Nevada County 80 acres
Orange County 0 acres
Placer County 8,037 acres
Plumas County 40,546 acres
Riverside County 4,299 acres
Sacramento County 137,895 acres
San Benito County 21,409 acres
San Bernardino ____ acres
County
San Diego County 971 acres
San Francisco County 0 acres
San Joaquin County 201,756 acres
San Luis Obispo 54,488 acres
County
San Mateo County 2,845 acres
Santa Barbara County 25,101 acres
Santa Clara County 12,933 acres
Santa Cruz County 6,721 acres
Shasta County 5,125 acres
Sierra County 938 acres
Siskiyou County 638 acres
Solano County 99,608 acres
Sonoma County 20,789 acres
Stanislaus County 28,833 acres
Sutter County 2,922 acres
Tehama County 38,207 acres
Trinity County 518 acres
Tulare County 110,396 acres
Tuolumne County 865 acres
Ventura County 11 acres
Yolo County 88,416 acres
Yuba County 0 acres
