2025 Legislative Update

Posted on Tuesday, October 28th, 2025 by Brian Shobe

CalCAN took positions on 13 bills this year, of which 5 were signed, 3 were paused and made into “2-year bills,” and 5 died in the legislative process. The bills that were signed accomplish the following: 

  • Reauthorize the state’s Cap-and-Invest Program and direct how its annual revenue of approximately $4 billion dollars is allocated
  • Reduce on-farm composting regulatory barriers for both farmers and ranchers
  • Increase the flexibility of the Climate Smart Agriculture Technical Assistance Program to better meet farmers’ needs
  • Establish term limits for and expand the membership of the Science Advisory Panel that oversees the state’s Climate Smart Agriculture Programs

Below, we summarize each bill CalCAN engaged with and the fate of the bill.

Bills CalCAN Supported

Passed & Signed

AB 1207 (Irwin) – Cap & Invest Reauthorization

This bill reauthorizes the state’s Cap-and-Invest Program (renamed from Cap-and-Trade) through 2045 and makes some practical reforms to reduce energy costs and keep the state on track to achieve its critically important climate and clean energy goals. The revenue generated by the Cap-and-Invest Program has been a critical source of funding for many of the programs CalCAN has advocated for in the past decade, including the Alternative Manure Management Program, Healthy Soils Program, State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program, Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program, and Climate Smart Agriculture Technical Assistance Program. For more detailed information, check out our blog on the passage of AB 1207 and SB 840.

Outcome: Passed and signed

 

SB 840 (Limón) – Offsets Review & Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Expenditure Plan

This bill requires a reevaluation of offsets in the Cap-and-Invest Program and establishes a framework for Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) appropriations that ensures stable funding of approximately $80 million annually for the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program (SALC) under the umbrella of the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program. SB 840 also expresses the legislature’s intent to direct specific percentages of GGRF to seven categories of climate solutions, including agricultural climate solutions, starting next year, with appropriations for each of those categories to be guided by multiyear spending plans for each category. For more detailed information, check out our blog on the passage of AB 1207 and SB 840.

Outcome: Passed and signed

 

SB 279 (McNerney) – On-Farm Composting Regulations

This bill, which was sponsored by a coalition of agriculture, climate, and compost advocacy organizations, removes a number of longstanding regulatory barriers to increasing the production and sale of compost on farms and ranches, including the following:

  • Increases the volume of on-site feedstock materials allowed from 100 to 200 cubic yards for composting operations which fall under the “excluded tier” (the lowest tier) under CalRecycle regulations (see section 17855 of Title 14 of the CCR) and allows CalRecycle to increase that maximum volume through subsequent regulation
  • Makes the composting of ag materials from a “large-scale biomass management event,” including orchard/vineyard removal and crop rotation, and the blending of those materials with manure an excluded activity under CalRecycle regulations
  • Increases the volume of compost a composting operation may sell from 1,000 to 5,000 cubic yards annually while still remaining in the “excluded tier” (where applicable under section 17855) or “enforcement agency notification tier” (for composting operations on agricultural land per section 17856(d)(1) of Title 14 of CCR)

Outcome: Passed and signed

 

AB 411 (Papan) – Livestock Carcass Composting 

This bill, which is sponsored by the California Cattlemen’s Association, authorizes small-scale on-farm composting of routine livestock mortalities and butcher waste under best management practices (BMPs) adopted by CDFA in consultation with the State Water Resources Control Board and CalRecycle.

Outcome: Passed and signed

 

AB 947 (Connolly) – Technical Assistance and CDFA Science Advisory Panel Update Bill 

CalCAN became the de facto sponsor of this bill to update the Climate Smart Agriculture Technical Assistance Program based on lessons learned from its first 6 years and to update the Environmental Farming Act Science Advisory Panel. The bill: 

  • Expands the definition of technical assistance and list of eligible technical assistance activities to include planning, matching funds coordination, translation, access to equipment, and environmental regulatory compliance
  • Clarifies that technical assistance grants can be used to provide assistance to farmers and ranchers over multiple grant application cycles  if HSP, SWEEP, or AMMP have grant solicitations multiple years in a row
  • Allows CDFA to support training and capacity building within technical assistance provider organizations and coordination between organizations to improve the quality, consistency, and reach of technical assistance to farmers and ranchers across the state and to help farmers and ranchers access all relevant state and federal programs
  • Expands the membership of CDFA’s Science Advisory Panel and institutes terms limits for Panel members to ensure the Panel has the breadth of relevant, timely expertise necessary to advise the Secretary on the implementation of all of CDFA’s Climate Smart Agriculture programs

Outcome: Passed and signed

Two-Year Bills

SJR 5 (Becker) – Enteric Methane Resolution

Enteric methane emissions, which are produced by bacteria in livestock’s rumens, represent over a third of California agriculture’s emissions. A growing body of research has been conducted in recent years on emerging solutions to reduce those emissions, including both natural and synthetic feed additives, vaccines, and breeding. Senator Becker led an effort two years ago to fund research on this issue, and approached CalCAN this year about potential legislation on the topic. CalCAN agreed to work with Senator Becker on a non-binding resolution to establish a principled framework to guide future investments in enteric methane solutions. We worked closely with his staff to incorporate a number of our principles and guardrails in his resolution, including:

  • The need for more assessment of potential long-term impacts of various solutions on animal health and environmental safety
  • That enteric efforts should promote economic sustainability and not impose undue financial burden on producers
  • The need for solutions that work for organic producers
  • That food safety, transparency, and consumer acceptance are necessary before scaling up various solutions
  • There needs to be a diversity of solutions and competitive marketplace so that no single product manufacturer monopolizes future state or federal funding

We are continuing to work with his office on how to best ensure the resolution promotes equitable outcomes, particularly for smaller dairies with less means to access incentive payments or take on new costs. To learn more about this emergent issue area, including CalCAN’s principles and relevant research, read CalCAN Associate Policy Director Colton Fagundes’ blog on the topic. 

Outcome: Passed the Senate and is awaiting action in the Assembly in 2026 (i.e. “2-year bill”).

Died

AB 491 (Connolly) – Natural & Working Lands Climate Targets

This bill, which is sponsored by Pacific Forest Trust, would put the state’s nature-based climate solutions targets, which were established last year by the Newsom administration as required by AB 1757 (C. Garcia, 2022), in statute so they have staying power after Governor Newsom terms out in 2026. As a reminder, those targets include the following:

  • Increase certified organic acreage to 10% by 2030, 15% by 2038, and 20% by 2045
  • Increase healthy soils practice adoption on 140,000 additional acres/year by 2030; 190,000 additional acres/year by 2038; and 190,000 additional acres/year by 2040
  • Conserve 12,000 additional acres/year of croplands by 2030; 16,000 additional acres/year by 2038; and 19,500 additional acres/year by 2045
  • Conserve 33,000 additional acres/year of grasslands by 2030 & sustain that rate through 2045

Outcome: Died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

 

AB 524 (Wilson) – Land Access Program

In 2024, CalCAN and a coalition of other agricultural organizations successfully advocated for the inclusion of $30 million to support land access for beginning and historically underserved farmers. AB 524, which was sponsored by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, was intended to establish a statutory framework for the allocation of Prop 4’s land access funding. The bill would have established the Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities Program, which would fund activities related to acquiring land for the purpose of increasing land access for beginning and historically underserved farmers. 

Outcome: Vetoed

 

AB 694 (McKinnor) – CalOSHA Study

Farmworkers are experiencing increasingly dangerous working conditions as a result of climate change, including more frequent and severe heat waves and wildfires. The State health and safety enforcement division, Cal/OSHA, which is supposed to ensure farmworkers have safe working conditions, has suffered from chronic understaffing for decades. One of the reasons for this ongoing staffing shortage is the Department’s current minimum qualifications that require college or graduate degrees, which excludes many otherwise qualified candidates with direct field experience in agriculture. This bill, which was sponsored by the California Farmworker Coalition, would address these issues by creating an advisory committee to develop recommendations to increase Cal/OSHA’s field inspector workforce and career pathways for farmworkers without college degrees who have direct agricultural experience, relevant cultural and language competencies, and a dedication to worker health and safety.

Outcome: Died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

 

AB 937 (Connolly) – Organic Transition Program 

This bill, which was sponsored by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), would make a number of changes to the state’s Organic Transition Pilot Program based on experience with the program to-date, including the following:

  • Increases the amount allowed for administrative costs to 25% to account for the complexity of providing comprehensive support to farmers, including one-on-one technical assistance and business planning.
  • Allows for more comprehensive organic transition support by combining the organic transition components of the Conservation Agriculture Planning Grant Program into the Organic Transition Pilot Program.
  • Builds capacity for organic technical assistance providers to ensure robust backbone support for farmers transitioning to organic. 

Outcome: Died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Bill CalCAN Supported If Amended:

Died

SB 462 (Cortese) – California Farmland Conservancy Program 

This bill, which was sponsored by the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority, would require the state to allocate $20 million per year from the General Fund for the California Farmland Conservancy Program but would permanently exclude grazing lands from this fund. As we wrote about in our support-if-amended letter, we appreciated Senator Cortese’s leadership to uplift farmland conservation by attempting to create an on-going funding source for the program and would have supported the bill if amended to remove the exclusion of grazing lands.

Outcome: Died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Bills CalCAN Opposed Unless Amended:

Two-Year Bills

AB 1156 (Wicks) – Solar Conversion of Land Under Williamson Act Contracts

CalCAN opposed-unless-amended AB 1156, which would allow farmers to cancel their Williamson Act contracts without paying the existing exit fee if they were converting their farmland to solar. Assemblymember Wicks’ stated intention for the bill was to reduce a financial barrier for solar developers to convert farmland that is no longer viable due to groundwater restrictions. In practice, the bill’s language was so broad that it would have allowed almost any farmland that has experienced a water shortage at some point to be converted, including prime farmland. We worked with a number of groundwater experts in the San Joaquin Valley to develop and propose amendments that would have narrowed the bill language to apply only to farmland that is legitimately no longer commercially viable due to limited groundwater, but our proposed amendments were never included. The bill passed both houses in the legislature but was ultimately parked on the “inactive file” at the direction of Speaker Rivas and Governor Newsom, meaning the bill is currently paused but can restart anytime next year. We will continue to advocate for our proposed amendments this fall.

Outcome: Paused on the Assembly floor and is now a 2-year bill.

 

AB 942 (Calderon) – Net Energy Metering

This bill would have changed the contract terms signed by farmers and food processors who invested in on-site solar generation by switching a customer-generator on Net Energy Metering 1.0 or Net Energy Metering 2.0 to the current tariff if they have been on the previous tariff for longer than 10 years. Growers and processors invested in on-site solar based on contracts that would be valid for 20 years. AB 942 would have undermined those contracts by transitioning them to the latest applicable tariff after only 10 years. Thankfully, the author of the bill removed this portion of the bill in response to opposition from CalCAN and other agricultural organizations.

Outcome: Amended to remove our concerns and opposition. CalCAN is now neutral on the 2-year bill.

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