Climate change: Resilient Merced County Incentive Pilot Program.

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include in its regulation of greenhouse gas emissions the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. Existing law continuously appropriates 20% of the annual proceeds of the fund to the Strategic Growth Council for the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program, as provided. Under its authority, the council has established the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program as a component of the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program to provide incentives for conservation of agricultural lands. This bill would, until ____, require the council, in consultation with the Department of Conservation and the state board, to develop and implement the Resilient Merced County Incentive Pilot Program (pilot program) to assist the County of Merced to use scenario-planning tools to estimate and account for the countywide greenhouse gas reduction and carbon sequestration potential of different land management, restoration, and conservation activities and for the council to provide financial assistance to private landowners to voluntarily implement activities resulting from the use of the scenario-planning tools used by the county. The bill would require the council to implement the pilot program as a component of the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program and consistent with the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program. The bill would require the council, in collaboration with the department and the state board, to estimate and monitor the greenhouse gas reductions, carbon sequestration, and other benefits associated with the County of Merced's scenario planning and the land management, restoration, and conservation activities implemented pursuant to the pilot program. The bill would require the department, by ____, to submit to the Legislature a report on the results of the pilot program and a recommendation as to whether the pilot program should be expanded to other areas of the state. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Merced.