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SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2758
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Passed Legislature - 2002 Regular Session
State of Washington 57th Legislature 2002
Regular Session
By
Read first time 02/08/2002. Referred to
Committee on .
Establishing the
agricultural conservation easements program.
AN ACT Relating to
establishing the agricultural conservation easements program; adding new
sections to chapter 89.08 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec.
1. Among the rising costs
that are increasingly driving Washington farmers out of business is the cost of
land. Many of our oldest, well-established farms, often on the fringes of
established communities, are under growing pressure to be sold for uses other
than agriculture. In the face of these rising land costs, new farmers are
finding it increasingly difficult to be able to afford to purchase farmland.
At the same time, the
conversion of these prime farmlands to development costs our communities open
and green space, reduces our access to local quality food, diminishes our
cultural and historic roots, often represents a fiscal loss for governments,
and frequently results in environmental costs including reduced flood
detention, loss of surface water filtration, diminished aquifer recharge, loss
of habitat and connective wildlife migration corridors, and loss of
opportunities to protect riparian lands.
These concerns, among
others, are leading the federal government and local jurisdictions around our
state to provide funding for local programs to purchase agricultural
conservation easements that help keep farmers in farming and farmland in
agriculture. It is the intent of the legislature to create a Washington
purchase of agricultural conservation easements program that will facilitate
the use of federal funds, ease the burdens of local governments launching
similar programs at the local level, and help local governments fight the
conversion of agricultural lands they have not otherwise protected through
their planning processes.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
2. A new section is added
to chapter 89.08 RCW to read as follows:
(1) The agricultural
conservation easements program is created. The state conservation commission
shall manage the program and adopt rules as necessary to implement the
legislature's intent.
(2) The commission
shall report to the legislature on an on-going basis regarding potential
funding sources for the purchase of agricultural conservation easements under
the program and recommend changes to existing funding authorized by the
legislature.
(3) All funding for the
program shall be deposited into the agricultural conservation easements account
created in section 3 of this act. Expenditures from the account shall be made
to local governments and private nonprofits on a match or no match required
basis at the discretion of the commission.
(4) Easements purchased
with money from the agricultural conservation easements account run with the
land.
NEW SECTION. Sec.
3. A new section is added
to chapter 89.08 RCW to read as follows:
(1) The agricultural
conservation easements account is created in the custody of the state
treasurer. All receipts from legislative appropriations, other sources as
directed by the legislature, and gifts, grants, or endowments from public or
private sources must be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the
account may be used only for the purchase of easements under the agricultural
conservation easements program. Only the state conservation commission, or the
executive director of the commission on the commission's behalf, may authorize
expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures
under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.
(2) The
commission is authorized to receive and expend gifts, grants, or endowments
from public or private sources that are made available, in trust or otherwise,
for the use and benefit of the agricultural conservation easements program.
