567.
(a) (1) Upon an appropriation of funds for the purposes of this section, the department, with advice from the Scientific Advisory Panel on Environmental Farming convened pursuant to Section 568, shall establish and administer the California Environmental Farming Incentive Program. The department shall ensure the program complements and does not supplant existing programs in the department. The program shall support on-farm practices seeking to optimize environmental benefits while supporting the economic viability of California agriculture by providing incentives, educational materials, and outreach to farmers whose
or ranchers who want to pursue adopting management practices that contribute to wildlife habitat and result in on-farm activities that provide multiple conservation benefits. The program may also include the funding of on-farm demonstration projects that further the goals of the program.(2) The department, in consultation with the panel, may determine priorities for the program and give priority to projects that occur in and benefit socially disadvantaged communities,
farmers or ranchers, show promise of being replicable in other parts of the state, or provide environmental and agronomic cobenefits, such as improved air and water quality, enhanced groundwater recharge and surface water supplies, and wildlife habitat. For the purpose of improving water supply and water quality conditions for fish and wildlife on private lands, the program may provide incentives to landowners for conservation actions on private lands designed to be appropriately flexible and responsive to the highly variable amounts of water required by fish and wildlife. The program may provide funding for land fallowing to enhance groundwater supplies. supplies and provide wildlife habitat in support of implementation of
the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act pursuant to Part 2.74 (commencing with Section 10720) of Division 6 of the Water Code.
(3) The panel shall also advise the department on scientific findings, program framework, guidelines, grower incentives, and providing technical assistance.
(4) The department, in consultation with the panel, shall review and adopt the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service conservation practices as outlined in the service’s technical guide, except for those practices that are inapplicable to California or California, are in conflict with
state law.
law, or are existing practices being implemented by the department. The department may also adopt additional practices, to create, with the other adopted practices, a suite of practices that are in the best interest of the resources of California to be incentivized through the program.
(5) The panel may advise the department on a simplified and coordinated application process to streamline and improve farmer and rancher access to incentive funding from the California Environmental Farming Incentive Program, Healthy Soils Program, the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program, and other environmental farming incentives.
(5)
(6) If the department elects to fund on-farm demonstration projects described in paragraph (1), the department, in consultation with the panel, shall establish a technical advisory committee to review on-farm demonstration project applications for multiple conservation benefits.
(b) (1) The department may pursue moneys from public and private sources, which shall be deposited in the California Environmental Farming Incentive Program Fund that is hereby created in the State Treasury. Moneys in the fund may be expended by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the program.
(2) (A) The department shall provide funds for incentives to private landowners, nonprofit organizations, the University of California Cooperative Extension, or local agencies, including resource conservation districts, for activities that support the program and implementation of on-farm practices.
(A)
(B) In providing funds for technical assistance, the department shall provide funds directly to a resource conservation district. Funds provided to a resource conservation district may be used for workforce recruitment, training, and equipment purchases for purposes of the program.
district or the University of California Cooperative Extension in accordance with Section 570. The department may award technical assistance grants to a nonprofit organization with relevant and adequate expertise in accordance with Section 570.
(B)The department may provide funds directly to the University of California Cooperative Extension in regions where the department determines that a resource conservation district is not capable of providing technical assistance under the program.
(3) Moneys in the fund shall be expended to prioritize multiple conservation benefits and consistent with existing regulatory compliance
measures and requirements.
(c) For the purposes of the program, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Enhanced groundwater recharge or surface water supplies” means improved surface and groundwater supply the increase in natural or managed infiltration of water into a groundwater aquifer and water dedicated to streamflows or habitat enhancement.
(2) “Incentives” means loans, contracts, grants, voluntary agreements, research, education, outreach, and technical assistance.
(3) “Multiple
conservation benefits” means a project that serves more than one purpose, including, but not limited to, the following purposes:
(A) Flood management.
(B) Water supply.
(C) Water quality improvement.
(D) Environmental enhancement and restoration.
(E) Energy conservation.
(F) Reduction of emission of greenhouse gases.
(G) Fish, waterfowl, and wildlife habitat
improvement.
(H) Control and elimination of invasive species.
(I) Non-lethal wildlife deterrent.
(J) Activities that increase fire resiliency and forest and rangeland health.
(I)
(K) Other plant and wildlife habitat improvement to
increase the natural system value of the property.
(4) “On-farm demonstration projects” means projects that incorporate farm or ranch management practices that result in habitat and environmental benefits across all farming types with the intent to promote conservation and ecosystem services.
(5) “Panel” means the Scientific Advisory Panel on
Environmental Farming established pursuant to Section 568.
(6)“Technical assistance” means assisting applicants in applying for programs, providing technical expertise on project design, providing ongoing technical advice on the implementation of practices and alterations in projects, and creating overall management plans for land and farming and ranching operations.
(6) “Socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher” has the same meaning as provided in Section 512.