(a) Under the grant program, a local government entity, nonprofit organization, authority, or joint powers authority may apply to the department for a planning grant to be used for the protection of agricultural lands and grazing lands, including oak woodlands and grasslands. In addition to any requirements established by the department, to be eligible for a grant under the grant program, an applicant shall do all of the following:
(1) Identify and map, utilizing the designations in the farmlands mapping and monitoring program of the Department of Conservation pursuant to Section 65570 of the Government Code, existing or potential agricultural lands in its jurisdiction.
(2) Specify its existing goals, objectives, policies, or programs that support the long-term protection of agricultural land.
(3) Specify the proposed changes to its existing goals, objectives, policies, or programs that support the long-term protection of agricultural land.
(4) Specify how the planning grant would be used to improve the long-term protection of agricultural land within its jurisdiction.
(b) A grant awarded by the department under the grant program shall not exceed five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) to any applicant, or seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) if the department determines that a grant application is for collaborative planning activities proposed to include two or more adjacent counties, cities, or city and county.
(c) In granting funds pursuant to this division, the department shall give priority to proposals that include matching funds from local sources.
(d) A grant proposal by a park or open-space district, resource conservation district, other special district, authority, or joint powers authority shall be approved by resolution of the city, county, or city and county, or multiple cities and counties, whose jurisdiction the proposal is intended to benefit. The city, county, or city and county shall provide evidence that it is willing to implement some of the planning process funded by the grant.
(e) The purposes for which a grant made pursuant to this division for agricultural protection may include, but need not be limited to, the following:
(1) To update the general plan of a city, county, or city and county to improve protection of agricultural land, or a zoning ordinance designed to improve protection of agricultural land.
(2) To develop multicounty strategies to protect agricultural land.
(3) To develop city-county agreements to protect agricultural land.
(4) To develop strategies to implement existing general plan provisions, city-county agreements, or multicounty agreements to protect agricultural land, including technical assistance.
(5) To develop public-private partnerships for the long-term protection and stewardship of agricultural lands.
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 434, Sec. 11. (SB 732) Effective January 1, 2018.)