California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 761


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 introduced, Levine. Carbon farm planning.

Existing law creates the Department of Conservation and imposes powers and duties on the department with regard to resource conservation.

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 working lands to climate change and drought. The bill would require the department, in coordination with the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery 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:

P1    1

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:

3(a) Robust, peer-reviewed, published data strongly support the
4hypothesis that soil and vegetation management can significantly
P2    1enhance soil carbon sequestration, resulting in a wide range of
2environmental and agricultural cobenefits, including increased
3water retention in soils; improved water quality, soil health, and
4forage quantity and quality; reductions in greenhouse gases; and
5climate adaptation and resilience.

6(b) Numerous soil and vegetation management strategies exist
7and can be employed on farms, ranches, and working lands to
8sequester significant amounts of carbon in agricultural soils and
9vegetation, thus playing an important role in helping the state meet
10its 2020 goal in the California Global Warming Solutions Act of
112006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the
12Health and Safety Code) and 2050 goal in Executive Order S-3-05
13for climate change mitigation and greenhouse gas reduction. These
14management strategies include, but are not limited to, climate
15beneficial practices, such as riparian restoration, prescribed grazing,
16windbreaks, and compost application.

17(c) California’s agricultural and rangelands account for nearly
1850 percent of the state’s land area, and the 54,000,000 acres of
19rangelands alone hold the potential to sequester millions of metric
20tons of carbon, resulting in enhanced agricultural production and
21increased resilience to climate change and drought.

22

SEC. 2.  

Division 10.1 (commencing with Section 10100) is
23added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

24 

25Division 10.1.  Carbon Farm Planning

26

 

27

10100.  

For purposes of this division, the following terms have
28the following meanings:

29(a) “Carbon farm planning” means a landscape-level
30conservation planning process designed to identify greenhouse
31gas capture and mitigation opportunities on working lands and to
32quantify those greenhouse gas benefits using the United States
33Department of Agriculture’s COMET-Planner, COMET-Farm,
34and other quantification tools.

35(b) “Department” means the Department of Conservation.

36(c) “Working lands” means privately-owned agricultural lands,
37ranches, and rangelands.

38

10101.  

(a) The sum of fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) shall
39be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the
40department to establish a grant program to fund projects that
P3    1increase carbon sequestration in agricultural soils, improve soil
2water retention, and increase the resilience of working lands to
3climate change and drought.

4(b) The department, in coordination with the Department of
5Resources Recycling and Recovery and the Department of Water
6Resources, shall develop and adopt project solicitation and
7evaluation guidelines to implement this division. To be eligible
8for a grant under the program, a project shall do one or more of
9the following:

10(1) Assist the state in meeting greenhouse gas emission goals.

11(2) Improve soil water retention and reduce irrigation demand.

12(3) Protect and enhance habitat, including the hydrological
13function of watersheds.

14(4) Improve the economic and ecological viability of working
15lands.

16(5) Improve rural community sustainability and health.

17(6) Include local water agency participation.

18(7) Comply with a regional climate action plan, if appropriate.

19(8) Address the nutrient pollution of surface water and
20groundwater.

21(9) Enhance the organic carbon content of the ecosystems of
22working lands generally and the soils of working lands particularly,
23as determined through a carbon farm planning or similar planning
24process.

25(10) Repurpose organic material waste streams for soil quality
26enhancement or other beneficial reuse.



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