SACRAMENTO, California — California state lawmakers moved legislation forward to make it easier to turn farmland into solar farms after its author agreed to narrow the bill in a deal with rural counties and some farming groups Wednesday.
What happened: Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D) agreed to amend her AB 1156, which would facilitate the conversion of agricultural land exempted from certain taxes to temporary use as a solar farm, to pass her bill out of the Assembly Agriculture Committee on a 6-1 vote Wednesday.
The changes, which include removing the involvement of the California Energy Commission and allowing local governments to nonrenew a solar easement at the end of the project’s life, are primarily aimed at assuaging the Rural County Representatives of California. RCRC — which holds particular sway with rural lawmakers like Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair Esmeralda Soria (D) — previously opposed the bill because of concerns over losing local control but agreed to drop its opposition Wednesday.
“I heard the word ‘balancing act’ many times, and I think that’s what we’re trying to land here,” said Wicks when presenting her bill.
