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. Yesterday, the legislature started its weeklong spring recess, which gives legislators, their staff, and advocates a brief moment to regroup before entering another month of bill and budget hearings, lobbying, and negotiations.

Mid-Season Bill Update

CalCAN has taken positions on six bills so far this spring. These bills, if enacted, would enshrine recently developed targets for natural and working lands climate solutions in law, expand technical assistance for farmers adopting climate smart practices, support farmers in transitioning to organic systems, remove regulatory barriers to on-farm composting, and increase funding for farmland conservation.

The bills below are just a handful of the nearly 100 bills CalCAN staff are tracking in some way, and CalCAN will likely take positions on a number of other bills before spring is over. If there’s a bill you’ve heard about that you have questions about or want us to consider engaging with, drop us a line.

Bills CalCAN Supports:

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

This bill, which is sponsored by Pacific Forest Trust, puts 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 some 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

AB 947 (Connolly) – Climate Smart Ag Technical Assistance

This bill would make a number of changes to the Climate Smart Agriculture Technical Assistance Program, initially established by AB 2377 (Irwin, 2018) that have been proposed by stakeholders based on their experience with the Program over the past seven years, including the following:

• Expands the definition of technical assistance and list of eligible technical assistance activities to include conservation planning, matching funds coordination, translation, access to equipment, and environmental compliance.
• Clarifies that technical assistance grants can be used to provide assistance to farmers and ranchers over multiple grant application cycles (e.g. if the Healthy Soils Program, State Water Efficiency & Enhancement Program, or Alternative Manure Management Program have grant solicitations multiple years in a row).
• Allows the California Department of Food and Agriculture (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.

AB 937 (Connolly) – Organic Transition Program 

This bill, which is sponsored by CalCAN member California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), will 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. 

SB 279 (McNerney) – On-Farm Composting Regulations

This bill, which is co-sponsored by several advocacy and commodity groups, 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 500 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)
• 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)

AB 411 (Papan) – Livestock Carcass Composting 

This bill, which is sponsored by the California Cattlemen’s Association, would authorize 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.

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Bill CalCAN Supports – If Amended:

SB 462 (Cortese) – California Farmland Conservancy Program 

This bill, which is 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 appreciate Senator Cortese’s leadership to uplift farmland conservation by attempting to create an on-going funding source for the program and would support the bill if amended to remove the exclusion of grazing lands. 

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Earlier this year on our blog, we wrote about:

• the Governor’s proposed FY 25-26 budget and the critical role Proposition 4 is playing in funding a number of programs, including the Healthy Soils Program and SWEEP
• the legislature’s early discussions on reauthorizing the Cap-and-Trade Program and reallocating the resulting revenue 
• our lobby day to support our campaign to secure 15% of the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) for a portfolio of agricultural climate solutions

We have a few updates on those topics. 

AMMP Funding: 

First, CalCAN submitted a budget letter to the legislature supporting the administration’s proposed Proposition 4 expenditure plan and calling for the legislature to increase funding for the Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) from $7 million to $50 million in FY 25-26, citing four arguments:

• Reducing dairy methane is critical to achieving climate targets and climate resilience 
• AMMP is one of GGRF’s most cost-effective programs and a preliminary analysis shows that the cost-effectiveness is higher than previously estimated 
• AMMP projects produce compost needed to reduce reliance on fossil fuel-based fertilizers
• AMMP is oversubscribed and is the primary source of funding for methane-reducing technologies on small and mid-scale dairies 

GGRF Campaign:

We also submitted a letter on behalf of a growing coalition of agricultural and food system organizations to legislators leading Cap-and-Trade negotiations to make the case for investing 15% of the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) in a portfolio of agricultural climate solutions. That case centers on a few key arguments:

• California has agricultural climate targets but is not on track to meet them
• Existing programs can help us meet those targets, but need consistent funding
• Agricultural climate solutions are some of the most cost-effective GHG reduction solutions and offer a multitude of economic, environmental, food security, public health, and climate resilience co-benefits 
• Agriculture has been underfunded relative to its GHG emissions and GHG reduction potential

Want to sign your organization onto that letter? Send Brian a note.

ICYMI: The Sacramento Bee published an op-ed earlier this week amplifying our GGRF ask and rationale, and we encourage you to check it out and share it on your social media: “California has a golden opportunity to fund climate smart agriculture.”

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As we move into the second half of the legislative session, we’ll continue tracking and weighing in on these key issues. Stay tuned for more updates, and as always, we welcome your input and collaboration.

📬 Questions about a bill or want us to consider engaging with a bill/issue not listed above? Drop us a line — we’d love to hear from you.