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YOUR DUES DOLLARS AT WORK
end of the season
RECAPPING CCA’S LEGISLATIVE VICTORIES IN 2022
by CCA Vice President of Government Affairs Kirk Wilbur
California’s 2021-22 Legislative Session gaveled to a close late on Aug. 31, after which Governor Newsom spent the month of September feverishly signing into law or vetoing hundreds of bills sent to his desk by legislators.
In 2021 – the first year of the session – the California Cattlemen’s Association enjoyed a great deal of success, with CCA-sponsored Assembly Bill 1103 (Dahle) and CCA-sponsored Senate Bill 332 (Dodd) both signed into law, among other significant victories. SB 332 reformed prescribed fire liability laws which had previously disincentivized the application of “good fire,” while AB 1103 established a statewide framework for county “Livestock Pass” programs that give ranchers emergency access to their ranches (programs which more than a dozen counties have adopted in the subsequent year).
CCA built on those successes in the second year of the Legislative Session, with two CCA-sponsored bills being signed into law by Governor Newsom on Aug. 29, the vast majority of CCA-supported bills being signed into law by the end of September and with CCA successfully killing or favorably amending every bill the Association opposed this year.
Below are the details of every bill CCA lobbied in 2022.
CCA-SPONSORED LEGISLATION WIN - SIGNED INTO LAW
AB 2415 (Lackey) – Agricultural vehicle exemption from Basic Inspection of Terminals program
The Basic Inspection of Terminals (BIT) program requires commercial trucking fleets to have their vehicles, maintenance records and driving records inspected by the California Highway Patrol at least once every six years. Even minor violations can result in severe consequences, including suspension of a Motor Carrier Permit. In 2016, CCA-sponsored AB 1960 (Lackey) exempted agricultural vehicles from BIT inspections through Jan. 1, 2023. AB 2415 extends the BIT exemption for agricultural vehicles an additional three years, until Jan. 1, 2026, during which time CCA will seek further extension of the exemption – perhaps permanently.
WIN - SIGNED INTO LAW
In 2015, the Legislature required water rights holders to install a water measurement device on any water diversion greater than 10 acre-feet per year. State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) regulations required these measurement devices to be installed by a “qualified individual,” defined for diversions greater than 100 acre-feet per year as a professional engineer or certified contractor – whose services cost upwards of $1,800$15,000 per diversion. In response, CCA sponsored AB 589 (Bigelow) in 2017, which allowed ranchers to self-certify as a “qualified individual” to install their own measurement device upon successful completion of a UC Cooperative Extension measurement course. AB 589 was set to sunset next year, but SB 880 makes these courses permanently available to water diverters.
OTHER CCA-PRIORITY LEGISLATION WIN - CCA SUPPORTED - SIGNED INTO LAW
AB 267 (Valladares)/AB 211 (Comm. on Budget) – CEQA exemption for fuel reduction projects
Under current law, fuel reduction projects undertaken on federal lands to reduce wildfire risk are exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) analysis when those projects have undergone equivalent review
under the National Environmental Policy Act. AB 267 sought to extend the exemption an additional three years, until Jan. 1, 2026. While AB 267 was ultimately placed on the Senate’s inactive file, its provisions were incorporated into the public resources budget trailer bill, AB 211 (Committee on Budget). AB 211 in fact substantially improves upon AB 267, extending the CEQA exemption through January 1, 2028, and removing several bureaucratic requirements previously tied to the exemption.
WIN - CCA SUPPORTED (AS AMENDED) - SIGNED INTO LAW
AB 558 (Nazarian) – School meals: Child Nutrition Act of 2022
As introduced, AB 558 would have provided financial incentives to local educational agencies to provide “plantbased food options” and “plant-based milk options” over conventional meat and dairy options in school meals. CCA succeeded in getting the plant-based meal provisions amended out of AB 558 in the Senate. As a result, the bill merely allows non-school aged siblings of an enrolled student to receive a breakfast or morning snack through the School Breakfast Program. Given these amendments, CCA moved to a support position on the bill.
CCA SUPPORTED - HELD IN ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
AB 1773 would have appropriated $40 million from the General Fund in the 2022-23 Fiscal Year “to make subvention payments to counties…in proportion to the losses incurred by those counties by reason of the reduction of assessed property taxes.” While one iteration of this year’s budget bill would have appropriated $25 million for Williamson Act subvention payments, those funds were ultimately repurposed for the Department of Conservation’s Sustainable Agricultural Land Conservation program in the version of the Budget signed into law.
WIN - CCA OPPOSED - HELD ON ASSEMBLY FLOOR
AB 2201 (Bennett) – Groundwater extraction permit: verification
AB 2201 would have required a well permitting agency to post a well permit application on its website for at least 30 days prior to approval and would have conditioned permit approval upon a finding that the proposed well is unlikely to interfere with nearby wells. CCA opposed AB 2201 because it would needlessly delay permitting of groundwater wells by at least 30 days, potentially endangering human and animal health when existing wells run dry. While AB 2201 passed both houses, it failed to receive a concurrence vote in the Assembly on the final day of Session.
CCA SUPPORTED - HELD IN ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
AB 2479 (Wood) – Forest restoration and protection: wildfire prevention
AB 2479 sought to hold the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) accountable for promised investments in prescribed fire, requiring CAL FIRE to detail how it would increasingly utilize prescribed fire to treat at least 50,000 acres per year by 2025 and how it would achieve “historic fire frequencies” and maintenance of “desirable fuel loads” by 2030. The bill also sought to prioritize forest restoration investments on lands with “permanent, enforceable mechanisms,” such as lands with conservation easements.
CCA SUPPORTED - HELD IN ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
AB 2613 (R. Rivas) – Solid waste cleanup grants for farmers and ranchers
CalRecycle operates the Farm and Ranch Solid Waste Cleanup and Abatement Grant Program to assist in the cleanup of illegal dumping on agricultural lands. However, the program is oversubscribed and program funds may be used by cities, counties and other public entities to cleanup parcels zoned for agriculture but which are not actively used for agricultural purposes. AB 2613 would have created a pilot program enabling farmers and ranchers to directly access cleanup funds via grants distributed to cities, counties and resource conservation districts and would have prioritized funding for cleanup of active agricultural operations.
WIN - CCA OPPOSED - HELD IN SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
AB 2649 (C. Garcia) – Natural Carbon Sequestration and Resilience Act of 2022
AB 2649 would have established a goal of sequestering 60 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent on
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natural and working lands by 2030 and 75 million metric tons by 2035. The bill did not detail a path to achieve those rigid benchmarks, though, opening the door to onerous regulations and financial impacts California’s working lands stewards. Instead of AB 2649, AB 1757 (C. Garcia) was signed into law, requiring the Natural Resources Agency to establish “an ambitious range of targets for natural carbon sequestration” through 2045 – targets which will be vetted through a stakeholder process to better ensure that they are practical and achievable.
WIN - CCA OPPOSED - HELD IN ASSEMBLY AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE
AB 2764 (Nazarian) – Moratorium on Commercial Animal Feeding Operations
Sponsored by radical animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (or “DxE”), AB 2764 would have prohibited the creation or expansion of “commercial animal feeding operations” with annual revenues over $100,000 – effectively an outright moratorium on such operations (as originally introduced, the bill sought to similarly prohibit development and expansion of slaughter facilities). The bill was contrary to state and federal efforts to strengthen and expand the beef supplychain, and CCA was able to ensure that the legislation did not so much as receive a policy hearing in the California Legislature.
WIN - CCA-SUPPORTED (AS AMENDED) - SIGNED INTO LAW
SB 856 (Dodd) – Wild pigs: validations
SB 856 seeks to reduce the state’s population of wild pigs by implementing an annual hunting validation authorizing the take of any number of wild pigs. Unfortunately, as originally introduced, SB 856 severely limited private property rights, prompting CCA to oppose the bill. For instance, the bill initially limited farmers’ and ranchers’ ability to take property damaging pigs at nighttime, when pigs are most active. The legislation also initially sought to outlaw enclosed hunting preserves – businesses some ranchers utilize to supplement ranch income, and which serve wounded warriors and others unable to engage in conventional hunting activities. CCA negotiated amendments ensuring that landowners may immediately take propertydamaging pigs at any time and “grandfathering” existing hunting preserve operations, allowing CCA to support the bill.
WIN - CCA -SUPPORTED - SIGNED INTO LAW
SB 926 (Dodd) – Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Program: Prescribed Fire Claims Fund
Last year, CCA supported the appropriation of $20 million in the Budget Act of 2021 to fund a prescribed fire claims fund administered by CAL FIRE. This year’s SB 926 implements and operationalizes the Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Program to administer the claims fund, detailing how prescribed burners and landowners may apply for – and be awarded – coverage for losses resulting from permitted prescribed fires. The legislation complements last year’s CCA-Sponsored SB 332 (Dodd), which immunized prescribed fire practitioners and landowners from liability for costs incurred by CAL FIRE in suppressing escaped prescribed fires.
CCA-SUPPORTED HELD IN ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
SB 977 (Laird) - California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program
A follow-up to last year’s CCA-supported SB 322 (Laird), which failed to advance out of the Senate Appropriations Committee, SB 977 would have established the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program. This program would have provided block grants to government agencies, nonprofit organizations and other “eligible entities” to support landowners’ efforts to enhance, restore and preserve California rangelands.
OTHER BILLS OF INTEREST NO CCA POSITION - SIGNED INTO LAW
SB 54 (Allen) – Solid waste: reporting, packaging and plastic food service ware.
This bill seeks to reduce the amount of plastic used in single-use packaging and food service ware, and to ensure that such products sold in California are recyclable or compostable. While CCA took no position on SB 54, the Association worked with the author’s office to ensure that the bill does not conflict with packaging requirements under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and other federal laws and that there is a “health and safety” exemption for packaging which come into direct contact with raw meat products. Passage of SB 54 prevented a plastics recycling ballot initiative from appearing on the November 2022 ballot.
LOOKING AHEAD
While it is worth reflecting on the substantial CCA victories of the 2021-22 Legislative Session, the nature of California politics – and a full-time Legislature – means that CCA cannot rest on its laurels.
This month’s election will see at least 35 new legislators elected to the Legislature’s 120 total seats, and CCA will have to hit the ground running educating those new members about California ranching and CCA’s priorities.
On Dec. 5 the Legislature will convene for an organizing session, during which legislators will be sworn in and elect legislative leaders. Additionally, Governor Newsom last month announced that he will also call a special session of the Legislature on Dec. 5 with the purpose of considering a windfall profit tax on oil companies in response to high oil prices the Governor calls “price gouging.”
Early in January the 2023-24 Legislative Session will begin in earnest – throughout which CCA will work tirelessly to advance the priorities of California’s cattle producers.
