CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 462

Introduced by Senator Cortese
(Coauthor: Senator Hurtado)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Kalra)

February 19, 2025

An act to amend Section 10230 of the Public Resources Code, relating to agricultural land, and making an appropriation therefor.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 462, as introduced, Cortese. California Farmland Conservancy Program: conservation easements: funding.
Existing law establishes the California Farmland Conservancy Program in the Department of Conservation and authorizes the program to offer financial assistance, including grants or contracts, for projects and activities on agricultural lands that support agricultural conservation and sustainable land management. Existing law creates the California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund and requires moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, to be used for purposes of the program. Notwithstanding that provision, existing law continuously appropriates moneys in the fund from federal grants and gifts and donations to the department for purposes of the program.
This bill would require the Controller to transfer $20,000,000 on July 1 of each fiscal year, commencing with the 2025–26 fiscal year, from the General Fund to the California Farmland Conservancy Program Funding Account, which the bill would create within the California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund. The bill would continuously appropriate moneys in the account to the department to allocate to entities that meet specified criteria, thereby making an appropriation, and would require those entities to use the moneys solely to acquire conservation easements that result in the permanent preservation of agricultural lands.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: YES   Fiscal Committee: YES   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) The State of California loses 40,000 acres of agricultural land every year to development.
(b) The benefits of conserving farmland include preserving ecosystems, preserving wildlife habitat, maintaining a significant sector of California’s economy, protecting a major source of food production for the world, sequestering carbon, and reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases. For areas of the same size, farmland emits 70 times less greenhouse gases than urban areas.
(c) The State of California aspires to conserve 30 percent of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030. This goal, known as 30x30, is an international movement to combat climate change and protect biodiversity.
(d) “Pathways to 30x30 California,” a plan developed by the Natural Resources Agency to promote nature-based conservation solutions, named voluntary conservation easements as 1 of 10 pathways.
(e) Conservation easements promote the preservation of critical ecosystems, such as wetlands, agricultural lands, grasslands, and forests, by providing financial incentives to landowners. Easements bring California closer to its 30x30 goals.
(f) Historically available funding for conservation easements has not met the high demand.
(g) Local governments throughout California have been taking action to permanently preserve agricultural lands through local land use planning, partnering with land trusts, acquiring agricultural lands, and holding both temporary and permanent conservation easements. Their connections to landowners in their communities are critical to building trust.
(h) This work is exemplified by counties, like the County of Santa Clara, that incorporate the preservation of agricultural land into their local planning processes.
(i) Efforts by local governments to pursue conservation easements require reliable revenue sources. The voters of the County of Sonoma established the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District. They passed and renewed a local tax to fund the purchase of agricultural and open-space easements.
(j) It is imperative that the state take action to support local governments in their efforts to preserve agricultural land for the future of California’s environment, economy, food security, and natural landscapes.

SEC. 2.

 Section 10230 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

10230.
 (a) The California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund is hereby created.
(b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), paragraphs (2) and (3), the moneys in the fund shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, be used for the purposes of the program.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), moneys may be deposited into the fund from federal grants, and gifts and donations, including interest earned, that are designated and required by the donor to be used exclusively for the purposes of the program, and notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, those moneys are hereby continuously appropriated to the department for expenditure for the purposes of this the program.
(3) (A) The Controller shall transfer the sum of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) on July 1 of each fiscal year, commencing with the 2025–26 fiscal year, from the General Fund to the California Farmland Conservancy Program Funding Account, which is hereby created within the California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund. Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code and paragraph (1), moneys in the account are hereby continuously appropriated without regard to fiscal year to the department for expenditure for the purposes described in this paragraph and consistent with this division.
(B) The department shall allocate the moneys appropriated pursuant to subparagraph (A) to entities that meet at least two of the following criteria:
(i) The entity is a city or city and county that has a population of at least 250,000, a county that has a population of at least 1,500,000, or a special district, land trust, nonprofit organization, or tribe that is within, or has a jurisdictional overlap with, such a city or county.
(ii) The entity is a city or county that has developed an agricultural land component of the city’s or county’s open-space element or a separate agricultural land element pursuant to Section 65565 of the Government Code, or is a special district, land trust, nonprofit organization, or tribe that is within, or has a jurisdictional overlap with, such a city or county.
(iii) The entity is a county that has at least three hundred fifty million dollars ($350,000,000) in gross value of agricultural production, or is a city, special district, land trust, nonprofit organization, or tribe that is within, or has a jurisdictional overlap with, such a county.
(iv) The entity intends to use the moneys to acquire a conservation easement that results in the permanent preservation of agricultural lands that are determined by the Department of Fish and Wildlife to be irreplaceable and essential corridors for wildlife.
(v) The entity intends to use the moneys to acquire a conservation easement that results in the permanent preservation of agricultural lands that achieve any of the following cobenefits:
(I) Support of the establishment, restoration, or enhancement of wildlife crossings, including overpasses, underpasses, and corridors, to ensure connectivity for wildlife while preserving agricultural operations.
(II) Inclusion of practices that enhance carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change impacts.
(III) Integration of water conservation systems, including advanced irrigation methods, rainwater harvesting, or constructed wetlands for water reuse and storage.
(C) The department may, in its discretion, first allocate the moneys to entities that meet three or more of the criteria described in subparagraph (B).
(D) An entity that is allocated moneys pursuant to this paragraph shall use the moneys solely to acquire a conservation easement that results in the permanent preservation of agricultural lands.
(c) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Agricultural land” means land that is flat and produces crops.
(2) “Tribe” means an entity described in subdivision (c) of Section 815.3 of the Civil Code.