(a) The money in the Agriculture and Open Space Mapping Subaccount, upon appropriation by the Legislature to the Department of Conservation, may be used by the Department of Conservation for the purposes of assisting local land-use planning by making available Important Farmland Series maps and Interim Farmland maps, as those terms are defined in Section 65560 of the Government Code. The information provided by the Department of Conservation is intended for local government use in conjunction with floodplain and flood hazard maps developed by the department to protect agricultural land resources coincident with avoidance or reduction of future flood risk and damage to residential or commercial land uses. The use of the funds in that subaccount by the Department of Conservation shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Accelerating production of Important Farmland Series maps and Interim Farmland maps.
(2) Increasing the coverage and availability of soil surveys conducted by the United States Natural Resources Conservation Service.
(3) Increasing topographic, soil, and agricultural crop data collection and enhancing data gathering capability.
(4) Developing integrated mapping that incorporates Important Farmland Series mapping and Interim Farmland mapping data with other relevant information, including, but not limited to, floodplain or flood hazard information, planning designation, and other land and natural resource data.
(b) For the purposes of this article, “maps” and “mapping” may include digital map files.
(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 434, Sec. 12. (SB 732) Effective January 1, 2018.)