California Assembly Bill AB761 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 761AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 15, 2015 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Levine FEBRUARY 25, 2015 An act to add Division 10.1 (commencing with Section 10100) to the Public Resources Code, relating to resource conservation. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 761, as amended, Levine. Carbon  farm planning.   sequestration: working lands.   Existing law creates the Department of Conservation and imposes powers and duties on the department with regard to resource conservation.   Existing law, the Cannella Environmental Farming Act of 1995, requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to establish and oversee an environmental farming program to provide incentives to farmers whose practices promote the well-being of ecosystems, air quality, and wildlife and their habitat.  This bill would declare that $50,000,000 shall be available, upon appropriation, to the department to establish a grant program to fund projects that increase carbon sequestration  in agricultural soils, improve soil water retention, and increase the resilience of   and greenhouse gas emissions reductions on  working  lands to climate change and drought.   lands, as defined.  The bill would require the department, in  coordination   consultation  with  the Department of Conservation,  the Department of Resources Recycling and  Recovery   Recovery, the State Air Resources Board,  and the Department of Water Resources, to develop and adopt project solicitation and evaluation guidelines for the program, as specified. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Robust, peer-reviewed, published data strongly support the hypothesis that soil and vegetation management can significantly enhance soil carbon sequestration, resulting in a wide range of environmental and agricultural cobenefits, including increased water retention in soils; improved water quality, soil health, and forage quantity and quality; reductions in greenhouse gases; and climate adaptation and resilience. (b) Numerous soil and vegetation management strategies exist and can be employed on farms, ranches, and working lands to sequester significant amounts of carbon in agricultural soils and vegetation, thus playing an important role in helping the state meet its 2020 goal in the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code) and 2050 goal in Executive Order S-3-05 for climate change mitigation and greenhouse gas reduction. These management strategies include, but are not limited to, climate beneficial practices, such as riparian restoration, prescribed grazing, windbreaks, and compost application. (c) California's agricultural  lands  and rangelands account for nearly 50 percent of the state's land area, and  the 54,000,000 acres of rangelands alone  hold the potential to sequester millions of metric tons of carbon, resulting in enhanced agricultural production and increased resilience to climate change and drought. SEC. 2. Division 10.1 (commencing with Section 10100) is added to the Public Resources Code, to read: DIVISION 10.1. Carbon  Farm Planning   Sequestration on Working Lands  10100. For purposes of this division, the following terms have the following meanings: (a) "Carbon farm planning" means a landscape-level conservation planning process designed to identify greenhouse gas  capture   emissions reduction and sequestration  and mitigation opportunities on working lands and to quantify those greenhouse gas benefits using the United States Department of Agriculture's COMET-Planner, COMET-Farm, and other quantification tools. (b) "Department" means the Department of  Conservation.   Food and Agriculture.  (c) "Working lands" means privately-owned agricultural lands, ranches, and rangelands. 10101. (a) The sum of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department to establish a grant program to fund projects that increase carbon sequestration  in agricultural soils, improve soil water retention, and increase the resilience of working lands to climate change and drought.   and greenhouse gas emissions reductions on working lands consistent with subdivision (b).   (b) (1) A project shall be eligible for funding pursuant to this division if both of the following criteria are met:   (A) Is located on working lands.   (B) Assists the state in meeting its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals.   (2) The department shall prioritize funding for projects pursuant to this division that provide the greatest level of the following benefits:   (A) Demonstrate carbon farm planning.   (B) Sequester carbon in agricultural soils.   (C) Reduce irrigation demand.   (D) Increase yield and productivity on working lands.   (E) Enhance habitat.   (F) Reduce water quality impacts from agricultural lands.   (b)   (c)  The department, in  coordination   consultation  with  the Department of Conservation,  the Department of Resources Recycling and  Recovery   Recovery, the State Air Resources Board,  and the Department of Water Resources, shall develop and adopt project solicitation and evaluation guidelines to implement this division.  To be eligible for a grant under the program, a project shall do one or more of the following:   (1) Assist the state in meeting greenhouse gas emission goals.   (2) Improve soil water retention and reduce irrigation demand.   (3) Protect and enhance habitat, including the hydrological function of watersheds.   (4) Improve the economic and ecological viability of working lands.   (5) Improve rural community sustainability and health.   (6) Include local water agency participation.   (7) Comply with a regional climate action plan, if appropriate.   (8) Address the nutrient pollution of surface water and groundwater.   (9) Enhance the organic carbon content of the ecosystems of working lands generally and the soils of working lands particularly, as determined through a carbon farm planning or similar planning process.   (10) Repurpose organic material waste streams for soil quality enhancement or other beneficial reuse.   (d) The department shall quantify the benefits of each project funded pursuant to this division and shall post that information on the department's Internet Web site.