California Assembly Bill AB715 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 715AMENDED 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