Governor Brown signed RCRC-supported Senate Bill 1353 by Senator Jim Nielsen, which removes the 2016 sunset date of the 2011 law that authorizes counties to revise the term for Williamson Act contracts from 10 years to nine years, or from 20 years to 18 years, a 10 percent reduction in contract length, and a reduction of 10 percent of the property tax relief provided by counties to landowners pursuant to the Williamson Act.
RCRC supported SB 1353 as some member counties had indicated a reluctance to implement the program given the cost to implement combined with the potential for the program to sunset. To date the following counties have opted for the shortened term contract option: Butte, Kings, Lassen, Madera, Mendocino, Merced Shasta, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tulare and Yolo. Imperial County exited the Williamson Act program altogether.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) Advisory Statement on AB 1265 (Nielsen), the 2011 law which created the program, can be accessed here. The Advisory Statement also includes a link to the text of AB 1265.