10230. (a) The California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund is hereby created. (b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), 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 […]
10230.2. (a) The California Farmland Conservancy Program is hereby established in the department. (b) The program may offer financial assistance, including grants or contracts, for projects and activities on agricultural lands that support agricultural conservation and sustainable land management, including, but not limited to, any of the following: (1) Acquisition of agricultural conservation easements or fee title to […]
10231. (a) Funding shall be used in accordance with the expenditures and distribution authorized, required, or otherwise provided in the program for grants for the acquisition of agricultural conservation easements or fee title. (b) The department may pay direct costs associated with the acquisition, as determined by the department, for costs incurred during the grant term. (Amended […]
10231.5. The department may accept donations of funds if the department is the designated beneficiary of the donation and it agrees to use the funds for purposes of the program in a county specified by the donor. Any donation made to the department pursuant to this section is subject to the requirements of Sections 11005 […]
10232. The director shall not approve a grant if the local government requesting a grant has acquired, or proposes to acquire, the agricultural conservation easement through the use of eminent domain, unless requested by the owner of the land. (Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 931, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1996.)
10233. Each application for a grant pursuant to this division shall contain a matching funding component, as specified in this section, and may be provided in the form of cash or in-kind services, or any combination thereof, as determined by the department. (a) Each application for a grant for the purchase of an agricultural conservation easement […]
10235. (a) The director shall not disburse any grant funds unless the applicant agrees that the grant funds shall be used by the applicant only for the purpose for which the funds were requested and awarded. For a grant for an agricultural conservation easement, the director shall not disburse any grant funds unless the applicant agrees […]
10235.5. The department may establish a payment system for the purchase of an agricultural conservation easement that is mutually satisfactory to the department and the seller of the easement, provided that full payment for the easement is secured. (Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 503, Sec. 10. Effective January 1, 2000.)
10236. If the funds are used for the acquisition of an agricultural conservation easement or fee title pursuant to a local transfer of development rights program, upon the sale of the easement or fee title and its attendant development rights, the entity that holds the easement shall reimburse the fund by an amount equal to […]
10237. The director shall not disburse any grant funds for easement or fee title acquisitions unless the applicant, and in the case of an easement acquisition grant, the seller, agrees to restrict the use of the land in perpetuity. (Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 502, Sec. 17. (AB 2964) Effective January 1, 2023.)
10238. (a) The director shall not disburse any grant funds to acquire agricultural conservation easements that restrict husbandry practices. (b) The following uses and activities shall be deemed consistent and compatible with any agricultural conservation easement funded under this division and shall not be considered to restrict husbandry practices: (1) Those uses and activities specified in Sections 10246 […]
10239. The director shall disburse funds to an applicant for a grant for the acquisition of fee title to agricultural land only if the applicant agrees to all of the following conditions: (a) Upon acquisition of the property, treat the property as encumbered by an agricultural conservation easement subject to this division and approved by the […]
10240. (a) The department shall adopt rules and regulations for the implementation of this division. (b) Rules or regulations adopted by the department pursuant to this section shall be adopted in accordance with the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of […]
10241. The department shall adopt the criteria necessary for its approval of grant applications. (Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 616, Sec. 14. Effective January 1, 2003.)
10242. The director shall review, and approve or disapprove, all requests for funding under this division. (Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 502, Sec. 19. (AB 2964) Effective January 1, 2023.)
10243. A local governmental entity shall not condition the issuance of an entitlement for use on the applicant’s granting of a conservation easement pursuant to this division. (Repealed and added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 502, Sec. 21. (AB 2964) Effective January 1, 2023.)
10245. The program shall reimburse any school district which requests reimbursement for any net loss of property tax revenues occurring as a result of the program. (Added by Stats. 1995, Ch. 931, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1996.)
10246. Grants may be made for land improvements. Use of these grants shall be limited to the improvement of land protected by a conservation easement or a similar long-term conservation agreement as determined by the director if the improvement will directly benefit the protected land. An application for a land improvement grant shall be evaluated […]
