Good news from Sacramento!

Over the weekend Governor Jerry Brown signed a host of bills related to conservation.  Click here to read a synopsis from the California Council of Land Trusts.  Highlights from CCLT include: 

 

AB 703 (Gordon) - Extension of Property Tax Exemption for Nonprofit-Held Lands.  This bill extends for the property tax exemption for nonprofit-owned lands that are held for habitat, open space and recreational uses.  This exemption is extended for another ten years and will become inoperative on 1/1/2022 and repealed on 1/1/2023.  Click here for the complete, final bill. 

SB 328 (Kehoe) - Rules of the Road for Condemning Conservation Easements.  Contrary to popular belief, properties protected by conservation easements can be condemned.  SB 328 is a carefully crafted law that gives easement holders and any public funders early notice in the condemnation process, ensures their ability to appear in early proceedings, recognizes the public value of most conservation easements, and identifies specific appraisal techniques depending on whether the easement is condemned, damaged, or remains intact while the underlying fee is condemned.  Click here for the complete, final bill.

SB 436 (Kehoe) - Mitigation Endowments.  SB 436 solves the seemingly intractable problem of who can hold mitigation endowments.  The subject of five bills since 2006, SB 436 establishes strong protections, standards and reporting requirements for mitigation endowments, and directs that in most cases endowments will be held by the agency that imposes the mitigation requirement or by the entity that holds the mitigation land or conservation easement.  It gives additional direction for the protection of mitigation properties, including that easements must be permanent.  Click here for the complete, final bill. 

 SB 618 (Wolk) - Williamson Act and Renewable Energy Projects.  This bill authorizes parties to a Williamson Act contract to rescind the contract and enter into a solar-use easement that requires the land be used for solar photovoltaic failities for no more than 20 years, except as specified.  The Department of Contract must approve the rescission and the landonwer must pay a fee.  The solar-use easement is renewed annually, and additional conditions and restrictions apply to easement including what happens in the event of non-renewal.  Click here for the complete, final bill.

AB 565 (Monning) - Dam Removal by State Coastal Conservancy (signed 10/6/11).  In furtherance of the Conservancy's project to remove the San Clemente Dam, AB 565 authorizes the Conservancy to award a grant to a for-profit entity to remove or alter the Dam.  The bill caps the expenditure to not more than $25million for this purpose.  Click here for the complete, final bill.  

 AB 982 (Skinner) - Energy: Land exchange for renewable energy-related projects (signed 10/6/11).  For those of you with renewable energy projects or state school lands in your area, AB 982 will require the State Lands Commission, contingent upon the cooperation of the US Secretary of the Interior, to facilitate land exchanges that will consolidate school land parcels into contiguous holdings that are suitable for renewable energy-related projects.  The bill has further detail regarding revenues from the energy leases and reporting requirements.  Click here for the complete, final bill.

To learn more about any of these bills, such as earlier versions, committee analyses, or voting history, click here.  To get lists of all bills the Governor has signed or vetoed, click here.

Thanks to CCLT for these highlights from their Breaking News email over the weekend!