Bill Text: CA AB823 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Environment: California Farmland Protection Act.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-03 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB823 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB823-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 823 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 23, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 11, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Eggman
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to add Sections 21095.5 , 21095.6, and 21095.7
and 21095.6 to the Public Resources Code,
relating to the environment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 823, as amended, Eggman. Environment: California Farmland
Protection Act.
(1) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a
lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and
certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a
project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a
significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative
declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect.
CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative
declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the
environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that
effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as
revised, would have a significant effect on the environment.
This bill would enact the California Farmland Protection Act,
which would require that an applicant for a
lead agency reviewing a development project, as defined,
that involves the conversion of agricultural land to a
permanent or long-term nonagricultural use, including a residential,
commercial, civic, industrial, infrastructure, or other similar use,
at a minimum, mitigate the identified environmental impacts
associated with the conversion of those lands through the permanent
protection and conservation of land suitable for agricultural uses,
and would require that an adopted mitigation measure providing for
the protection of agricultural land meet specified requirements. The
act would require that any lands identified and proposed for
conservation and protection meet specified criteria. The act would
provide that a project is deemed to have fully mitigated all
identified significant project-level and cumulative impacts on
agricultural resources and no further mitigation is required if
specified conditions are met. The act would require the Office of
Planning and Research, no later than December 31, 2014, to promulgate
regulations covering projects subject to the act.
require that all feasible mitigation of the identified significant
environmental impacts associated with the conversion of agricultural
lands be completed by the project applicant, as prescribed, and would
require the lead agency to consider the permanent protection or
replacement of agricultural land as feasible mitigation for
identified significant effects on agricultural land caused
by a development project. By imposing new duties on a lead
agency with regard to the review and approval of the mitigation
measures required by the act, the bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
California Farmland Protection Act.
SEC. 2. Section 21095.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
21095.5. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) California is the nation's leader in food production and
contributes significantly to both national and global food security.
(2) California agricultural production depends on soil, water, and
climate conditions found in one of only five Mediterranean growing
regions on Earth.
(3) Dependent on land and natural resources, California
agriculture is uniquely vulnerable to global warming. Global warming
poses a serious threat to California agriculture with rising
temperatures, constrained water resources, increases in extreme
weather events, reduced winter chilling hours, and rising sea levels.
(4) California agriculture is also uniquely positioned to provide
climate benefits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Research
funded by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission's Public Interest Energy Research program found that an
acre of irrigated cropland emits 70 times fewer greenhouse gas
emissions than an acre of urban land.
(5) California's growing population places additional demands on
both our food supply and on the development of agricultural land for
nonagricultural purposes. An average of approximately 30,000 acres of
California agricultural land is permanently converted to
nonagricultural uses every year.
(6) The preservation of a maximum amount of the limited supply of
agricultural land is necessary for conservation of the state's
natural resources, the maintenance of the agricultural economy of the
state, and the assurance of an adequate, healthy, and nutritious
food supply for the residents of this state and nation.
(7) California's statewide land use planning priorities include
the goal of protecting, preserving, and enhancing the state's most
valuable natural resources, including working landscapes such as
farm, range, and forest lands as described in Section 65041.1 of the
Government Code.
(8) Through the California Land Conservation Act of 1965 (Article
1 (commencing with Section 51200) of Chapter 7 of Part 1 of Division
1 of Title 5 of the Government Code), California has provided legal
and financial incentives for farmers and ranchers to keep land in
agricultural production, thereby discouraging the premature and
unnecessary conversion of agricultural land to urban uses and
discouraging discontiguous urban development patterns that
unnecessarily increase the costs of community services.
(9) Since 1998, California has invested in the protection of
agricultural lands near urban areas through the California Farmland
Conservancy Program Act (Division 10.2 (commencing with Section
10200)) recognizing that conservation of these lands is necessary due
to increasing development pressures and the effects of urbanization
on farmland close to cities.
(10) This division requires the analysis and adoption of feasible
mitigation for projects with significant effects on agricultural
resources.
(11) Local entities play a vital role in regulating the use of
land under their jurisdiction, including the conservation of
agricultural lands through appropriate zoning and planning
activities, as well as determinations of the potential environmental
impacts of proposed land use changes.
(12) Despite the analysis and mitigation requirements of this
division with respect to projects that result in agricultural land
conversion, lead agencies do not consistently require feasible
mitigation for agricultural land conversion impacts.
(13) The conversion of agricultural land, as defined in Section
56016 of the Government Code, to nonagricultural uses without
appropriate mitigation negatively affects California's economic
development, natural resources, social and economic equity, and
environmental quality.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to adopt minimum
statewide mitigation standards for projects that result in the
conversion of agricultural land to nonagricultural uses including
residential, commercial, civic, industrial, subdivision,
infrastructure, or similar land development projects. The conversion
of agricultural land to nonagricultural uses is an issue of statewide
concern. It is therefore the policy of the state that each lead
agency comply with the requirements of this section when approving
projects that convert agricultural lands to nonagricultural uses
reaffirm the state's intention, under this division,
that a lead agency should impose all feasible mitigation measures to
address the significant impacts on agricultural lands or resources
from development and provide for the permanent protection of
replacement agricultural land or resources through permanent
agricultural conservation easements, which may constitute feasible
mitigation under this division .
SEC. 3. Section 21095.6 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
21095.6. (a) (1) For purposes of this
section, Sections 21095.6, and Section 21095.7
"development project" means a project, as defined in Section
21065, that involves residential, commercial, civic, industrial, or
other infrastructure construction, or the use of property if the
construction or use of land is unrelated to the agricultural use, is
incompatible with either an agricultural or open-space use of the
property, or substantially impairs the agricultural, open-space, or
both uses of the property. Agricultural use, open-space
use, or the acquisition of land or an interest in land is not a
"development project."
(2) For a "qualified entity"
means a land trust, city, county, nonprofit organization, resource
conservation district, special district, or regional park or
open-space district or regional park or open-space authority that has
the conservation of farmland among its stated purposes.
(b) An applicant for a project, as defined in Section 21065, that
involves the conversion of agricultural land to a permanent or
long-term nonagricultural use, including residential, commercial,
civic, industrial, infrastructure, or other similar land development
projects shall, at a minimum, mitigate the identified environmental
impacts associated with the conversion of those lands through
thepermanent protection and conservation of land suitable for
agricultural uses.
(b) A lead agency reviewing a development project pursuant to this
division shall require that all feasible mitigation of the
identified significant environmental impacts associated with the
conversion of agricultural land be completed by the project
applicant.
(c) The lead agency shall consider the permanent protection or
replacement agricultural land as feasible mitigation for identified
significant effects on agricultural land caused by a development
project.
(c)
(d) An adopted mitigation measure that
provides for the requires mitigation in the form of
the permanent protection of agricultural land shall require at
least one of the following:
(1) A grant in perpetuity to a qualified entity of an agricultural
conservation easement that limits development that is inconsistent
with agricultural uses and related activities to ensure the
protection and stewardship of the agricultural productive capacity of
the mitigation land.
(2) The project applicant to pay, or cause to be paid, a fee to
the lead agency sufficient to acquire a perpetual agricultural
conservation easement that meets all the requirements of this
section. The lead agency may secure an easement through a payment to
a qualified entity or to the Department of Conservation for the
California Farmland Conservancy Program through a deposit to either
the California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund, created pursuant to
Section 10230, or the Farm, Ranch, and Watershed Account, created
pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 10252.5, for
the purposes of acquiring a perpetual agricultural conservation
easement that meets all the requirements of this section.
(3) The project applicant to enter into a fee agreement with a
qualified entity to acquire an agricultural conservation easement
that meets all the requirements of this section.
(d)
(e) Any fees paid by a project applicant pursuant to
paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (c) to comply with this section
shall include the purchase price of an agricultural conservation
easement, all transaction costs, and funding for a reasonable
endowment for the purpose of monitoring, administering, legal
defense, and all other services provided by the qualified entity to
acquire, manage, and monitor the easement in perpetuity.
(e) Any lands identified and proposed for conservation and
protection pursuant to subdivision (c) shall, at a minimum, meet all
of the following criteria:
(1) The mitigation acreage of conserved lands is at least equal to
the acreage of the agricultural land converted to nonagricultural
uses.
(2) The soil quality of the conserved agricultural land is
comparable to, or better than, the land that is converted to a
nonagricultural use.
(3) The conserved agricultural land has an adequate water supply
for the purposes of producing irrigated crops, watering of livestock,
or other agricultural purposes for which the conserved agricultural
land is suited.
(4) The conserved agricultural land is located as close to the
project site as the lead agency determines is feasible or is part of
an area designed as a priority agricultural mitigation or protection
area in an adopted general plan, regional advance mitigation plan,
greenprint, sustainable communities strategy prepared pursuant to the
Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008 (Chapter
728 of the Statutes of 2008), or other local or statewide plan that
promotes agricultural land protection.
(5) The conserved agricultural land has not been previously
encumbered by another conservation easement that restricts the
landowner's development rights.
(6) The environmental document and other relevant project approval
documents specify that the mitigation land shall be protected
through a legal agreement meeting the requirements of paragraph (1)
of subdivision (c) prior to commencement of any construction
activity. This requirement does not apply to mitigation measures
meeting the requirements of either paragraph (2) or (3) of
subdivision (c).
(f) The appropriate fee for purchase of suitable mitigation lands
under paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (c) shall be based on an
approved nexus study or an appraisal by an independent real estate
appraiser that indicates the fee value necessary to purchase suitable
mitigation lands meeting the standards of this subdivision.
(g) Compliance with an existing adopted mitigation ordinance for
the conversion of agricultural land that meets the minimum standards
in paragraphs (2), (3), (4), and (5) of subdivision (e) shall be
deemed to satisfy the requirements of this section. To the extent
that these locally adopted requirements exceed the minimum standards
set forth in this section, this subdivision does not supersede those
requirements.
(h) Compliance with the minimum mitigation standards set forth in
this section does not constitute compliance with the "full mitigation"
provisions set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section
21095.7.
SEC. 4. Section 21095.7 is added to the Public
Resources Code, to read:
21095.7. (a) (1) A project is deemed to have fully mitigated all
identified significant project-level and cumulative impacts on
agricultural resources and no further mitigation shall be required
for those impacts if one of the following conditions is met:
(A) The mitigation ratio of conserved land to converted land is
two acres for every one acre of converted land.
(B) For a project located within an existing city's jurisdictional
limits, the mitigation acreage of conserved lands is at least equal
to the acreage of the agricultural land converted to nonagricultural
uses, and meets at least one of the following criteria:
(i) The project is a residential housing project that has a
density of at least two times the statewide average of
persons-per-acre (PPA) development ratios.
(ii) The project is a commercial development with a minimum of at
least two times the statewide floor-to-area ratio (FAR).
(iii) The project is a mixed-use development that meets the PPA
and FAR formulas in subparagraphs (A) and (B).
(2) In order to rely on this section, the lead agency must make
findings supported by substantial evidence in the record
demonstrating that each applicable factor is satisfied.
(b) The Office of Planning and Research shall promulgate
regulations consistent with the findings and declarations set forth
in Section 21095.5 and the requirements of this section with regard
to the identification of additional categories of mitigation that
fully mitigate project-level and cumulative impacts of projects that
convert agricultural land. Those regulations shall be promulgated by
December 31, 2014. The categories of mitigation described by the
Office of Planning and Research in those regulations shall do all of
the following:
(1) Meet the minimum mitigation standards described in subdivision
(c) of Section 21095.6.
(2) Address one or more of the findings in Section 21095.5.
(3) Reasonably mitigate both project-level and cumulative-level
impacts associated with a project's conversion of agricultural land.
In this regard, the location and quality of agricultural land to be
protected may be relevant.
SEC. 5. SEC. 4. No reimbursement is
required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution because a local agency or school district has
the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments
sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by
this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.
