I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2202

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to make grants to promote the

voluntary protection of certain lands in portions of Marin and Sonoma

Counties, California, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 15, 1999

Ms. WOOLSEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to make grants

to promote the voluntary protection of certain lands in

portions of Marin and Sonoma Counties, California, and

for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Point Reyes Farmland

5 Protection Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. POINT REYES FARMLAND PROTECTION.

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

8 (1) ELIGIBLE LANDS.—
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘eligible

2 lands’’ means parcels of land in Marin or

3 Sonoma Counties in the State of California that

4 are located wholly or partially in what is known

5 as—

6 (i) the Marin County coastal zone,

7 unit II, per Marin County Agricultural

8 Zoning Map, file designation, MALT9 AGDWG, PLT.HPG, extending from

10 Lagunitas Creek north along the east

11 shore of Tomales Bay to the boundary

12 with Sonoma County; or

13 (ii) the Sonoma County coastal zone,

14 per the Sonoma County Post-Local Coastal

15 Plan Certification Map of January 1981,

16 extending from the boundary with Marin

17 County north to Highway 1 and Doran

18 Beach Road.

19 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term does not in20 clude any lands described in subparagraph (A)

21 that are zoned solely or exclusively for commer22 cial or residential use.

23 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti24 ty’’ means—

25 (A) a State or local government agency; or
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1 (B) a nonprofit organization having sub2 stantial experience in the holding, monitoring,

3 and managing of conservation easements on eli4 gible lands, including the Marin Agricultural

5 Land Trust, the Sonoma County Agricultural

6 Preservation and Open Space District, and the

7 Sonoma Land Trust.

8 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

9 the Secretary of the Interior.

10 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are—

11 (1) to promote the acquisition of conservation

12 easements on eligible lands from willing sellers,

13 which will protect agricultural lands and prevent in14 compatible development, while still maintaining the

15 lands in private ownership;

16 (2) to create a voluntary public/private partner17 ship among the Federal Government, the State of

18 California, local governments, eligible entities, and

19 participating citizens, which can serve as a model for

20 other farmland, watershed, and open space preserva21 tion efforts; and

22 (3) to protect the substantial Federal invest23 ment in the Point Reyes National Seashore by pro24 tecting nearby eligible lands and water resources
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1 that maintain the relatively undeveloped nature of

2 the lands adjacent to Tomales and Bodega Bays.

3 (c) GRANTS FOR PURCHASE OF EASEMENTS.—To

4 promote the purposes of this section, the Secretary may

5 make grants to eligible entities to provide the Federal

6 share of the cost of purchasing permanent conservation

7 easements on eligible lands from willing sellers for the pur8 pose of preserving agricultural lands.

9 (d) NEGOTIATION, ACQUISITION, AND ADMINISTRA10 TION OF EASEMENTS.—

11 (1) ACQUISITION OF PERMANENT EASE12 MENTS.—Easements acquired using funds provided

13 by the Secretary under subsection (c) shall be in

14 perpetuity.

15 (2) NEGOTIATION.—The acquisition of an ease16 ment using funds provided by the Secretary under

17 subsection (c) shall be negotiated and transacted be18 tween the willing seller and the eligible entity.

19 (3) ADMINISTRATION.—Easements acquired by

20 an eligible entity using funds provided by the Sec21 retary under subsection (c) shall be held by the eligi22 ble entity.

23 (4) EXECUTORY LIMITATION.—If an eligible en24 tity holding an easement acquired using funds pro25 vided by the Secretary under subsection (c) ceases to
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1 exist or ceases to be a nonprofit organization, the el2 igible entity’s rights and obligations under the ease3 ment shall vest in the United States.

4 (e) PROTECTION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY.—

5 (1) CONSENT OF OWNER REQUIRED.—No inter6 est in eligible lands may be acquired using funds

7 provided by the Secretary under subsection (c) with8 out the consent of the owner of the eligible lands.

9 (2) PROHIBITION ON LAND PURCHASES.—

10 Funds provided by the Secretary under subsection

11 (c) may not be used, or combined with other funds,

12 to acquire land in fee title.

13 (3) REGULATION.—Nothing in this Act shall be

14 construed to authorize the Secretary or any other

15 Federal agency or official to regulate the use or en16 joyment of privately owned eligible lands, including

17 lands subject to easements held by an eligible entity.

18 (f) MATCHING FUNDS.—

19 (1) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—Subject to

20 paragraph (2), the Federal share of the costs for ac21 quiring a conservation easement in eligible lands

22 may not exceed one half of the total costs of such

23 acquisition. The non-Federal share of the acquisition

24 costs may be provided in the form of property, mon25 ies, services, or in-kind contributions, fairly valued.
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1 (2) RECOGNITION OF PREVIOUS CONSERVATION

2 EFFORTS.—To the extent that an eligible entity

3 holds conservation easements on eligible lands as of

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

5 shall waive the match requirement of paragraph (1)

6 for that eligible entity until such time as Federal

7 funds are provided to that eligible entity under sub8 section (c) in an amount equal to the fair market

9 value of the conservation easements, as determined

10 by the Secretary.

11 (g) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAND PRESERVATION

12 EFFORTS.—The authority provided by this section is in

13 addition to, and shall not preclude the use of, other au14 thorities that may be available to the Federal Government

15 to preserve eligible lands.

16 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

17 authorized to be appropriated $60,000,000 to the Sec18 retary to make grants under this section.

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