10270.

 Twenty-five or more years from the date of sale of the agricultural conservation easement, the landowner may make a request to the department that the easement be reviewed for possible termination. Upon receipt of a request, the department shall immediately notify the affected local government to initiate a local government inquiry pursuant to Section 10271.

10271.

 (a) To terminate the agricultural conservation easement, the local government in which the subject land is located shall undertake an inquiry to determine the feasibility of profitable farming on the subject land.

(1) The local government inquiry shall include onsite inspection of the subject land, the holding of a public hearing in the county in which the subject land is located, held after adequate public notice of the hearing has been given and the preparation of a report documenting the findings of the local government.

(2) The inquiry shall be concluded and a report submitted to the department within 150 days of the department notifying the local government of the request pursuant to Section 10270.

(b) The department shall make a decision as to the request within 195 days after notifying the local government of the request or within 45 days after receiving the local government report summarizing the results of its inquiry, whichever occurs later.

10273.

 (a) For the department to approve the termination of the agricultural conservation easement, all of the following findings shall be made:

(1) The termination is consistent with the purposes of this division.

(2) The termination is in the public interest.

(3) The termination is not likely to result in the removal of adjacent lands from commercial agricultural production.

(4) The termination is for an alternate use which is consistent with the applicable provisions of the city or county general plan.

(5) The termination will not result in discontiguous patterns of urban development.

(6) The conservation purposes, as defined in the agricultural conservation easement, can no longer be achieved.

(7) There is no land that is available and suitable for the use to which it is proposed that the restricted land be put to, or that development of the restricted land would provide more contiguous patterns of urban development than development of proximate unrestricted land.

(b) As used in subdivision (a), the following terms have the following meaning:

(1) “Proximate unrestricted land” means land that is not restricted by an easement and which is sufficiently close to land that is restricted so that it can serve as a practical alternative for the use that is proposed for the restricted land.

(2) “Suitable for the use” means that the salient features of the proposed use can be served by land not restricted by an easement. The nonrestricted land may be a single parcel or may be a combination of discontiguous parcels.

(c) The department shall request from the easement holder, and shall consider the easement holder’s assessment of, information regarding the continuing value and viability of the subject property for the conservation purposes for which the easement was originally created. The department may consider the easement holder’s investment in, or experience with, the subject property in evaluating the proposed termination.

10274.

 The uneconomic character of existing agricultural use shall not by itself be sufficient reason for termination of the agricultural conservation easement, unless the director determines there is no other reasonable or comparable agricultural use for the land, and the conservation purposes, as defined in the agricultural conservation easement, can no longer be achieved. If the director determines that the existing use is uneconomic, that there is no other reasonable or comparable agricultural use of the land, and the conservation purposes as defined in the agricultural conservation easement can no longer be achieved, termination of the easement may be approved by the secretary without making a finding pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 10273.

10276.

 (a) If the termination of the agricultural conservation easement is approved pursuant to this division or pursuant to a judicial proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction, the landowner shall repurchase the easement by paying to the fund and, if so provided in the easement, to any other contributing parties, the difference, at that time, between the fair market value and the restricted value. That difference shall be determined by an appraisal approved by the state and conducted at the landowner’s expense.

(b) If the landowner fails to complete the termination process by repurchasing the agricultural conservation easement within one year from the date of the department’s approval of the termination of the easement, the termination approval shall lapse and the landowner shall wait at least one year before reapplying to terminate the easement.

(c) Money received from the repurchase of agricultural conservation easements shall be deposited in the fund and shall be available, upon appropriation, for the purposes set forth in this division, except as provided in subdivision (d).

(d) Where an easement was originally purchased with moneys from sources other than the program, the easement may require that moneys received from the repurchase of the easement be divided proportionally between the fund and any other funding source, including nonprofit organizations, in amounts that are proportional to the original contribution made by each party that contributed to that purchase. If provided in an easement, a nonprofit organization that contributed indirect costs and services to the purchase of an easement may recoup the actual amount of its contribution, plus an amount not exceeding 3 percent of the total amount of the contribution for administrative costs of ongoing easement monitoring and enforcement. Those contributions shall be deducted from the total proceeds prior to the proportional division defined herein.

402.1.

 (a) In the assessment of land, the assessor shall consider the effect upon value of any enforceable restrictions to which the use of the land may be subjected. These restrictions shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(1) Zoning.

(2) Recorded contracts with governmental agencies other than those provided in Sections 422 and 422.5.

(3) Permit authority of, and permits issued by, governmental agencies exercising land use powers concurrently with local governments, including the California Coastal Commission and regional coastal commissions, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

(4) Development controls of a local government in accordance with any local coastal program certified pursuant to Division 20 (commencing with Section 30000) of the Public Resources Code.

(5) Development controls of a local government in accordance with a local protection program, or any component thereof, certified pursuant to Division 19 (commencing with Section 29000) of the Public Resources Code.

(6) Environmental constraints applied to the use of land pursuant to provisions of statutes.

(7) Hazardous waste land use restriction pursuant to Section 25240 of the Health and Safety Code.

(8) A recorded conservation, trail, or scenic easement, as described in Section 815.1 of the Civil Code, that is granted in favor of a public agency, or in favor of a nonprofit corporation organized pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code that has as its primary purpose the preservation, protection, or enhancement of land in its natural, scenic, historical, agricultural, forested, or open-space condition or use.

(b) There is a rebuttable presumption that restrictions will not be removed or substantially modified in the predictable future and that they will substantially equate the value of the land to the value attributable to the legally permissible use or uses.

(c) Grounds for rebutting the presumption may include, but are not necessarily limited to, the past history of like use restrictions in the jurisdiction in question and the similarity of sales prices for restricted and unrestricted land. The possible expiration of a restriction at a time certain shall not be conclusive evidence of the future removal or modification of the restriction unless there is no opportunity or likelihood of the continuation or renewal of the restriction, or unless a necessary party to the restriction has indicated an intent to permit its expiration at that time.

(d) In assessing land with respect to which the presumption is unrebutted, the assessor shall not consider sales of otherwise comparable land not similarly restricted as to use as indicative of value of land under restriction, unless the restrictions have a demonstrably minimal effect upon value.

(e) In assessing land under an enforceable use restriction wherein the presumption of no predictable removal or substantial modification of the restriction has been rebutted, but where the restriction nevertheless retains some future life and has some effect on present value, the assessor may consider, in addition to all other legally permissible information, representative sales of comparable lands that are not under restriction but upon which natural limitations have substantially the same effect as restrictions.

(f) For the purposes of this section the following definitions apply:

(1) “Comparable lands” are lands that are similar to the land being valued in respect to legally permissible uses and physical attributes.

(2) “Representative sales information” is information from sales of a sufficient number of comparable lands to give an accurate indication of the full cash value of the land being valued.

(g) It is hereby declared that the purpose and intent of the Legislature in enacting this section is to provide for a method of determining whether a sufficient amount of representative sales information is available for land under use restriction in order to ensure the accurate assessment of that land. It is also hereby declared that the further purpose and intent of the Legislature in enacting this section and Section 1630 is to avoid an assessment policy which, in the absence of special circumstances, considers uses for land that legally are not available to the owner and not contemplated by government, and that these sections are necessary to implement the public policy of encouraging and maintaining effective land use planning. Nothing in this statute shall be construed as requiring the assessment of any land at a value less than as required by Section 401 or as prohibiting the use of representative comparable sales information on land under similar restrictions when this information is available.

421.5.

 For purposes of this article, the following terms have the following meaning:

(a) “Agricultural conservation easement” shall have the same meaning as defined in Section 10211 of the Public Resources Code.

(b) “Open-space land” includes land subject to an agricultural conservation easement.

423.4.

 Land subject to a farmland security zone contract specified in Section 51296.1 of the Government Code shall be valued for assessment purposes at 65 percent of the value under Section 423 or 65 percent of the value under Section 110.1, whichever is lower.

423.8.

 (a) Notwithstanding the acreage requirement specified in subdivision (f) of Section 421, both of the following apply with respect to enrollment in a wildlife habitat contract:

(1) Any open-space land that has been restricted as wildlife or endangered species habitat by a political subdivision of the state or entity of state government shall, upon the request of the owner of that land, be enrolled in a wildlife habitat contract with the political subdivision of the state or entity of state government that has so restricted the subject open-space land.

(2) Any open-space land that has been restricted as wildlife or endangered species habitat by an agency of the federal government shall, upon the request of the landowner, be enrolled in a wildlife habitat contract with the city or county having jurisdiction over the restricted open-space land.

For any open-space land eligible for valuation under Section 422.5, 423, 423.3, 423.5, 426, or 435, that has also been enrolled in a wildlife habitat contract pursuant to this section, the controlling value of the land shall, except as otherwise provided in the following sentence, be the lower of the values determined for that land pursuant to those sections or Section 402.1. Other lands enrolled in a wildlife habitat contract pursuant to this section shall be assessed at the value determined as provided in Section 402.1.

(b) In no event shall this section or Section 421 be construed to authorize a political subdivision or any entity of the state or federal government to restrict the otherwise lawful use of property by designating all or part of that property as wildlife habitat or endangered species habitat without the consent of the owner of that property.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature in adding this section to establish a nonexclusive alternative method of recognizing, for purposes of property taxation, the existence of certain governmental restrictions on the use of property. Neither this section nor Section 402.1 shall be construed or applied to require the existence of a wildlife habitat contract, as described in this section, as a necessary condition for recognizing the effect upon the taxable value of property of any enforceable restriction that is recognized under Section 422, 422.5, or 402.1 and is legally established by statute, regulation, or any action or classification by a governmental entity, for the benefit of wildlife, endangered species, or their habitats.

426.

 Notwithstanding any provision of Section 423 to the contrary, if either the county, city, or nonprofit organization or the owner of land subject to contract, agreement, scenic restriction, or open-space easement has served notice of nonrenewal as provided in Section 51091, 51245, or 51296.9 of the Government Code, and the county assessors shall, unless the parties shall have subsequently rescinded the contract pursuant to Section 51254 or 51255 of the Government Code, value the land as provided in this section.

(a) If the owner of land serves notice of nonrenewal or the county, city, or nonprofit organization serves notice of nonrenewal and the owner fails to protest as provided in Section 51091, 51245, or 51296.9 of the Government Code, subdivision (b) shall apply immediately. If the county, city, or nonprofit organization serves notice of nonrenewal and the owner does protest as provided in Section 51091, 51245, or 51296 of the Government Code, subdivision (b) shall apply when less than six years remain until the termination of the period for which the land is enforceably restricted.

(b) Where any of the conditions in subdivision (a) apply, the board or assessor in each year until the termination of the period for which the land is enforceably restricted shall do all of the following:

(1) Determine the value of the land pursuant to Section 110.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code. If the land is not subject to Section 110.1 of the Revenue and Taxation Code when the restriction expires, the value shall be determined pursuant to Section 110 of the Revenue and Taxation Code as if it were free of contractual restriction. If the land will be subject to a use for which the Revenue and Taxation Code provides a special restricted assessment, the value shall be determined as if it were subject to the new restriction.

(2) Determine the value of the land by capitalization of income as provided in Section 423 and without regard to the existence of any of the conditions in subdivision (a).

(3) Subtract the value determined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b). by capitalization of income from the full value determined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b).

(4) Using the rate announced by the board pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 423, discount the amount obtained in paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) for the number of years remaining until the termination of the contract, agreement, scenic restriction, or open-space easement.

(5) Determine the value of the land by adding the value determined by capitalization of income as provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) and the value obtained in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b).

(6) Apply the ratio prescribed in Section 401 to the value of the land determined in paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) to obtain its assessed value.