Summary
May 7, 2024
The Honorable Joaquin Arambula
California State Assembly District 31
1021 O St., Ste 6130
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: AB 2528: Williamson Act contracts: cancellation: energy projects - Oppose
Dear Assemblymember Arambula,
On behalf of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, I write to inform you that our Board respectfully opposes Assembly Bill 2528, which would allow owners of Williamson Act agricultural land to petition their local government to cancel their contracts, if the land meets the bill’s criteria of not having access to sufficient water to support agricultural use – and the owner utilizes the land for specific energy projects.
We recognize that as the bill is written, it would only affect high- and medium- priority groundwater basins, which Marin County does not have. However, we feel it still important to express our opposition to the proposed legislation – because of our broader concern with the new precedent this bill could set for low-barrier Williamson Act contract cancellations.
The Williamson Act has been a critical legal instrument in land preservation, and sustaining Marin County’s long history of small-scale, diversified agriculture, including leadership in organic agriculture. Decades of policymakers in our County have recognized the challenging land use pressures on Marin’s farmers and dairies, located within an hour’s drive of San Francisco – and have utilized tools like the Williamson Act to ensure that these lands can remain in agricultural use.
Preservation for agricultural use is especially important in small-scale economies, which have narrow profit margins and fragile regional economies of scale. For example, there are 17 dairies in Marin, and if just a handful were to close because of future changes to the Williamson Act to financially incentivized cancellations, the others would immediately face higher operating costs – which would, in turn, jeopardize their own ability to stay in business.
Our Board recognizes and wholly supports the state’s goal to reach 100% clean electricity by 2045. However, we also believe we can reach this without compromising land conserved for agricultural use. Land conservation is a central pillar in our state’s fight against climate change – and our renewable energy goals can be achieved without opening the door to large-scale land development projects on land currently protected under the Williamson Act.
For these reasons, the Marin County Board of Supervisors must respectfully oppose AB 2528.
Sincerely,
Dennis Rodoni, President
Marin County Board of Supervisors
Cc: Marin County Board of Supervisors
Senator Mike McGuire
Assemblymember Damon Connolly
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