BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                     AB 761


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          Date of Hearing:  May 20, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          AB  
          761 (Levine) - As Amended April 21, 2015


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:    
          No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill requires $50 million to be available, upon  
          appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of Food and  
          Agriculture (CDFA) to establish a grant program for projects  








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          that increase carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas  
          (GHG) emissions on working lands.  Specifically, this bill:  


          1)Requires CDFA, in consultation with the Department of  
            Conservation (DOC), CalRecyle, Air Resources Board (ARB), and  
            the Department of Water Resources (DWR), to develop and adopt  
            project solicitation and evaluation guidelines to implement  
            the grant program.


          2)Defines Working Lands as privately-owned agricultural lands,  
            ranches, and rangelands. 


          3)Defines Carbon Farm Planning  as a landscape-level  
            conservation planning process designed to: 1)  identify GHG  
            emissions reduction, sequestration and mitigation  
            opportunities on working lands;  and 2) quantify those GHG  
            benefits using the US Department of Agriculture's  
            COMET-Planner, COMET-Farm, and other quantification tools.


          4)Requires CDFA to quantify the benefits of each project funded  
            and post the evaluation information on their Internet Web  
            site.


          FISCAL EFFECT:


          1)Cost pressures of $50 million (unspecified fund) to fund the  
            grant program.


          2)Increased initial and ongoing costs for CDFA, in the range of  
            $2 million (unspecified fund) to develop and administer the  
            program (based on a $50 million program).   









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          3)Absorbable costs for DOC, Cal Recycle, ARB and DWR.


          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose.  According to the author, this bill will fund  
            15-20 pilot projects to expand the use of sustainable  
            agricultural practices, including compost application, on  
            rangelands and other agricultural lands. The author  
            states research shows that these pilots are expected to  
            increase soil carbon sequestration (reduce greenhouse  
            gasses), improve soil water retention, and make  
            agricultural land more resilient to climate change and  
            drought. 


          2)Healthy Soils.   Increased carbon is soils produces multiple  
            benefits, including increased water holding capacity,  
            increased crop yields and decreased sediment erosion.  

            The Governor's May Revision proposes to spend $20 million from  
            AB 32 cap and trade revenues (Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund)  
            to fund demonstration projects that increase carbon in soils.   
             
          
            The author may wish to align this bill with the Governor's  
          proposal.
          
          


          Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081












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