Bill Description: Senate Bill 1133 would impose stricter limits on land use within an agricultural protection area.

Rating: -1

NOTE: The Senate Amendment to Senate Bill 1133 removed the "agricultural protection area fund" which would have been created by the original bill. The analysis has been updated and the rating has changed from (-2) to (-1).

NOTE: Senate Bill 1133 is related to House Bill 233, introduced earlier this session. Both bills deal with agricultural protection areas, which were created by House Bill 608, introduced in 2024.

Does it create, expand, or enlarge any agency, board, program, function, or activity of government? Conversely, does it eliminate or curtail the size or scope of government?

Senate Bill 1133 makes a number of changes to Chapter 97, Title 67, Idaho Code, which is the "Agricultural Protection Area Act."

While most of these changes are minor, one notable change significantly limits the use of land within an agricultural protection area.

Currently, Section 67-9713(4), Idaho Code, says, "Nothing in this section shall prevent a board of county commissioners from regulating … the siting of residential, commercial, manufacturing, industrial, solar energy, or wind energy structures; or other nonagricultural land uses on lands included within an agricultural protection area."

The bill would replace that language with the following: "The siting of residential, commercial, manufacturing, industrial, solar or wind energy structures, or any other non-agricultural land use on lands included within an agricultural protection area shall be prohibited unless such uses are also contributing to agricultural production. Such non-agricultural uses are subject to applicable county planning and zoning ordinances and building codes."

While both current law and this bill allow government to regulate the various named facilities, current law gives this authority to the board of county commissioners, which has broad authority to allow these facilities. The language in the bill, however, prohibits such facilities unless they are "contributing to agricultural production" and even then, they must comply with all "applicable county planning and zoning ordinances and building codes."

This change reduces the potential use of the land within an agricultural protection area.

(-1)