(a) On or before May 1 of every other year, the Department of Conservation shall report to the Legislature regarding the implementation of this chapter by cities and counties.
(b) The report shall contain, but not be limited to, the number of acres of land under contract in each category and the number of acres of land which were removed from contract through cancellation, eminent domain, annexation, or nonrenewal.
(c) The report shall also contain the following specific information relating to not less than one-third of all cities and counties participating in the Williamson Act program:
(1) The number of contract cancellation requests for which notices of hearings were mailed to the Director of Conservation pursuant to Section 51284 which were approved by boards or councils during the prior two years or for which approval is still pending by boards or councils.
(2) The amount of cancellation fees payable to the county treasurer as deferred taxes and which are required to be transmitted to the Controller pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 51283 which have not been collected or which remain unpaid.
(3) The total number of acres covered by certificates of cancellation of contracts during the previous two years.
(4) The number of nonrenewal and withdrawal of renewal notices received pursuant to Section 51245 and the number of expiration notices received pursuant to Section 51246 during the previous two years.
(5) The number of acres covered by nonrenewal notices that were not withdrawn and expiration notices during the previous two years.
(d) The department may recommend changes to this chapter which would further promote its purposes.
(e) The Legislature may, upon request of the department, appropriate funds from the deferred taxes deposited in the General Fund pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 51283 in an amount sufficient to prepare the report required by this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 745, Sec. 104. Effective October 12, 2001.)