Back in January, InsiderAdvantage profiled the work of the Georgia Conservancy and their legislative priorities for this year’s session. As we close in on Sine Die, it’s worth a quick look back, especially in light of one notable piece of legislation that has already passed both chambers in the General Assembly and will head to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk.
The Georgia Farmland Conservation Act (Senate Bill 220) unanimously passed the House on Thursday, after receiving only two No votes in the Senate, bringing the total votes for the bill in the General Assembly to 219-2. The overwhelming support for the bill illustrates the widespread recognition of development pressure on existing agricultural land across the state. From the suburbs of Chattanooga to Athens to metro Atlanta, what have historically been far flung farms are now facing developers looking for opportunities.
Sponsored by Sen. Russ Goodman (R-8 Cogdell), the bill establishes the Georgia Farmland Conservation Fund, Georgia Farmland Conservation Fund Program and Georgia Farmland Advisory Council. As the Georgia Conservancy noted, the program is an example of a PACE program (Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement).
Basically, farmers that would like to restrict their own right to develop farmland can create an easement that ensures the farmland will stay that way. Funds raised from annual appropriations by the state legislature, as well as public or private grants, dedicated gifts and donations, and proceeds from the sale of bonds or mitigation funds would go towards qualified easement holders or to the acquisition of new easements approved by the program. Priority will be given to land that is particularly susceptible to development or fragmentation, funding potential or conservation objectives like habitat or watershed protection.
Besides the simple parcel by parcel shrinking of farmland, there is some economies of scale as well regarding the issue. As farms get bought up and turned into subdivisions, not only is that land now not available for farming in the future but the change means that a grain processor or combine harvester repairer has one less client. In an industry that has always operated on somewhat thin margins, for those businesses whose clients are farmers, it makes it that much more difficult.
Another bill the Conservancy is following is House Bill 31, the Dedication of Certain Fees to Hazardous Waste Trust Fund. Astute readers may remember House Bill 511 from the 2021 legislative session, which was meant to ensure that all the fees collected by the state for a specific fund – such as the Hazardous Waste Trust Fund – gets where it is supposed to go. These funds collect money from various sources, such as the sale of a tire, and that money is supposed to go towards cleaning up dump sites or the related fund goal. Alas, for many years that money went into the general fund and a lot of it never quite found its way back out again, resulting in much less funding for some of these programs than anticipated.
HB 511 helped this problem tremendously but some money, such as fines for violations, was still not going to the dedicated funds. HB 31 closes this loophole. It passed the House unanimously and may get a hearing in the Senate before Sine Die.
