The SALC Program is a component of the California Strategic Growth Council's Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program. The AHSC Program aims “to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through projects that implement land use, housing, transportation, and agricultural land preservation practices to support infill and compact development…” The SALC Program complements investments made in urban areas with the purchase of agricultural conservation easements, development of agricultural land strategy plans, and other mechanisms that result in greenhouse gas reductions and a more resilient agricultural sector. The SALC Program invests in agricultural land conservation with revenue from the California Climate Investments Fund.  
  
BALT seeks to acquire an agricultural conservation easement on a 520.7-acre portion of the 1,122-acre property owned by the Cecchini family located at 17000 State Route 4 (see Attachment A). The California Department of Conservation has approved BALT’s application for grant funding to acquire the easement. However, per State requirements, before the funding is made available the County must certify that the proposed easement meets the eligibility criteria set forth in Public Resources Code Section 10251 and the easement proposal has been approved by the governing body, i.e., the Board of Supervisors.   
  
The Department of Conservation's Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program has designated the Cecchini property as Prime Farmland and Farmland of Statewide Importance. As the property is located inside the County's Urban Limit Line, it could potentially be converted to urban uses. In 2006 an application was submitted for a General Plan amendment to convert the property to a master planned community of up to 6,000 residential units along with commercial/light industrial, public/civic, and recreational uses. The application was withdrawn in 2010, but the possibility of a future effort to convert the property remains.   
The easement proposal meets the eligibility requirements set forth in Public Resources Code Section 10251, to wit:  
  
a) The Cecchini property is expected to continue to be used for, and is large enough to sustain, commercial agricultural production. The land is also in an area that possesses the necessary market, infrastructure, and agricultural support services, and the surrounding parcel sizes and land uses will support long-term commercial agricultural production.  
  
b) The Contra Costa County General Plan demonstrates a long-term commitment to agricultural land conservation. This commitment is reflected in the goals, policies, and implementation measures of the General Plan, as they relate to the area of Contra Costa County where the easement acquisition is proposed.  
  
c) The land proposed for protection is located inside the County's Urban Limit Line and thus, without conservation, it is likely to be converted to nonagricultural use in the foreseeable future.