Every winter, California legislators introduce approximately 2,500 bills before the bill introduction deadline in mid-February. In March, April, and May, policy committees and advocates review those 2,500 bills and decide which to advance, amend, and block.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CalCAN has taken positions on eight bills so far this spring, summarized below. CalCAN will likely take positions on additional bills as they evolve through the legislative session, which continues through August. If there\u2019s a bill you\u2019ve heard about that you have questions about or want us to consider engaging with, drop us a line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CalCAN is sponsoring two bills this year to advance multi-benefit manure management, sustainable agriculture, and nature-based climate solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The California Department of Food and Agriculture\u2019s (CDFA) Programa alternativo de gesti\u00f3n del esti\u00e9rcol<\/a> (AMMP) provides resources for manure-handling and storage system upgrades that reduce the amount of manure that ends up in liquid, anaerobic environments, where its decomposition produces methane. AMMP has played an important role in progress toward California\u2019s 2030 methane reduction target set by SB 1383<\/a> (Lara, 2016), while also helping many dairies reduce costs, conserve water, and improve soil health. Two-thirds of AMMP projects<\/a> convert manure into valuable compost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Without assistance, many dairies cannot invest in improved manure management, as the industry faces an increasingly challenging economic climate marked by low milk prices that fall well below rising input costs. At the same time, dairies interested in scaling up or starting new compost projects often face barriers, including complicated and redundant approval requirements. Meanwhile, dairies are navigating increasing regulatory pressures on groundwater use<\/a> and on how they manage manure to prevent nitrogen leaching<\/a>. Shifting more manure from liquid to dry management and composting can help dairies comply with regulations by making the manure lighter and easier to transport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Scaling up dairy manure composting can also help meet growing compost demand from farmers and meet other state climate goals, such as targets to increase soil health practices and organic acreage<\/a>. However, relevant state agencies have not yet developed the coordinated assessment and planning needed to achieve these mandates and targets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This bill directs the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to convene an interagency task force to evaluate the role alternative manure management practices will need to play in achieving the state\u2019s methane, water quality, healthy soils, and organic transition goals. The bill also requires the task force to facilitate interagency data sharing, identify research needs, and advise the California Air Resources Board on updates to its quantification methodology for AMMP to ensure the program\u2019s benefits are fully measured, considering the most recent relevant data and research<\/a>. Lastly, the bill directs CDFA to convene relevant agencies to create an efficient and effective process for approving new projects that manage livestock and dairy manure through on-farm composting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n AB 2100 is sponsored by CalCAN and is supported by a coalition of dairy, climate, and conservation organizations. To learn more, read our support letter<\/a> and our recent blog<\/a> about our lobby day with dairy partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This bill aims to address the looming farm and food affordability crisis by allocating $150 million annually from the state\u2019s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) to support farmers in adopting multi-benefit practices, such as healthy soils, irrigation efficiency, and alternative manure management practices, that reduce reliance on costly fossil-fuel-based inputs and increase economic and climate resilience. The bill would also allocate $250 million annually from GGRF to support land stewards across the state in restoring healthy watersheds and ecosystems, which are critical to our state\u2019s water supply and resilience to droughts, floods, and wildfires. <\/p>\n\n\n\n AB 2184 is co-sponsored by CalCAN, The Climate Center<\/a>, y River Partners<\/a>, and is supported by a growing coalition<\/a> of over 40 agricultural, climate, and conservation organizations. To learn more, read our recent blog<\/a> y register for an upcoming webinar<\/a> hosted by our co-sponsor The Climate Center on May 7 from 10:00-11:30am PT. The webinar will include more about the solutions AB 2184 would support and will feature Full Belly Farm co-founder and CalCAN Farmer Advisor Judith Redmond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This bill authorizes the Secretary of CDFA to establish two advisory committees for the purpose of advising the Secretary and the department with respect to their responsibilities under the Farmer Equity Act. Under Secretary Karen Ross\u2019s leadership, CDFA has already established two such committees<\/a>, and this bill would affirm the authority of Secretaries in future administrations to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This bill would exempt Proposition 4 funding from the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. Without this exemption, programs funded by Proposition 4 \u2013 like those for climate smart agriculture, local food system infrastructure, and farmworker health and well-being<\/a> \u2013 would be required to go through lengthy regulatory processes that would delay program implementation by over a year and make the programs less flexible and responsive to stakeholder feedback. This bill is supported by a broad coalition of organizations<\/a> that worked to pass Proposition 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This bill would create a fund for healthy school food and require CDFA to establish and maintain an approved vendor program. Under this program, local suppliers, such as food hubs, farms with their own distribution capacity, and regional food distributors, would receive funding to provide K-12 schools with healthy food. Approved vendors would be required to source foods that are California-grown, whole or minimally processed, and produced using verified climate-smart practices, including certified organic management. Vendors would also be required to provide itemized farm-level sourcing information, removing the administrative burden from schools and ensuring transparency. This bill is sponsored by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n This bill would amend the state\u2019s existing Solar-Use Easement program<\/a> to allow any prime, unique, and important agricultural land protected by a Williamson Act contract to exit their contracts solely on the basis of claiming insufficient surface or groundwater available to support agricultural use, without clearly defining \u201cinsufficient water supply.\u201d Additionally, AB 1156 would allow any agricultural land converted to a Solar-Use Easement to avoid paying the cancellation fee. These fees support the California Department of Conservation\u2019s Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program<\/a>. CalCAN and a coalition of agricultural and farmland conservation groups<\/a> are opposing the bill unless it is amended to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This bill would include an end product made from food scraps and biosolids within SB 1383 procurement eligibility, which would expand SB 1383 procurement well beyond its intended scope and create precedent for wastewater residuals (materials that are already diverted through means with established infrastructure and end markets). As such, the bill risks weakening the procurement system and shifting demand away from compost markets that SB 1383 has built and is still actively building across the state. CalCAN joined Californians Against Waste and other climate and environmental groups in opposing the bill unless it is amended<\/a> to clarify that only the food portion of co-processed food and biosolids end products should count towards procurement, and that the biosolids-derived portions must remain ineligible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This bill would have fundamentally and unnecessarily changed the definition of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers to require farmers and ranchers who wish to participate in CDFA\u2019s programs to \u201cdemonstrate limited access to capital or commercial credit, including, but not limited to, financial capacity, collateral limitations, or net worth, excluding the value of the farm or ranch land and essential agricultural equipment.\u201d This would have required farmers and ranchers to share financial records and tax statements with CDFA and technical assistance providers, which would have placed a tremendous paperwork burden on and raised serious privacy concerns for many farmers and ranchers. This also would have undermined the intent of and progress made by the Farmer Equity Act. CalCAN joined a number of other agricultural groups in opposing this bill, which fortunately was withdrawn from its first policy committee and is now dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every winter, California legislators introduce approximately 2,500 bills before the bill introduction deadline in mid-February. In March, April, and May, policy…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":24322,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[680],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-policy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAB 2184<\/strong><\/a> (Wilson) – Nature-Based and Sustainable Ag Climate Solutions – Support<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nNon-sponsored bills CalCAN has taken a position on:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Support<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
AB 52<\/strong><\/a> (Aguiar-Curry) – Farmer Equity Act Advisory Committees – Support<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
AB 35<\/strong><\/a> (Alvarez) – Administrative Procedure Act Exemption for Prop 4 Funds – Support<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
AB 1731<\/strong><\/a> (Wilson) – California Healthy School Food Procurement Fund Program – Support<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Opposed-Unless-Amended<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
AB 1156<\/strong><\/a> (Wicks) – Solar Easements & Termination of Williamson Act Contracts \u2013 Opposed Unless Amended <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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AB 643<\/strong><\/a> (Wilson) – Biosolids Fertilizer Eligibility for SB 1383 Procurement Credits- Opposed Unless Amended<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Opposed<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
SB 1419<\/strong><\/a> (Alvarado-Gil) – Changes to Definition of Socially Disadvantaged Farmer and Rancher – Opposed (and already died in committee)<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n