BILL NUMBER: SB 1217 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 2, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 27, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 7, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 10, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Senator Leno
(Coauthors: Senators Jackson and Pavley)
FEBRUARY 20, 2014
An act to add Section 12805.4 to the Government Code, relating to
climate change.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1217, as amended, Leno. Climate change: preparedness.
Existing law establishes the Natural Resources Agency and requires
the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to develop a strategic
vision for the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Fish and Game
Commission that includes reforms necessary to take on the challenges
of the 21st century, including, among other things, climate change
and adaptation. Existing law establishes the Strategic Growth Council
and requires the council to, among other things, identify and review
activities and funding programs of its member state agencies that
may be coordinated to, among other things, meet the goals of the
California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.
This bill would require the Natural Resources Agency , in
consultation with other appropriate state agencies and departments,
on or before January 1, 2019, July
1, 2018, and every 5 3 years
thereafter, to prepare a climate change strategy that
evaluates climate change risks to the state. The bill would require
the strategy to identify mitigation measures that increase climate
change resiliency. The bill would require the Natural Resources
Agency to identify possible funding for mitigation measures
identified in the strategy. The bill would require the council, on or
before January 1, 2020, and every 5 years thereafter, in
consultation with the Natural Resources Agency, the California
Environmental Protection Agency, and other appropriate state agencies
and departments, to take specified actions with regard to reviewing
the impacts of climate change and identifying capital outlay and
public infrastructure projects. California climate
risk assessment that provides original research on regionally
appropriate climate risk vulnerabilities, risk management options,
and other needed scientific research to support California's
development of informed climate policy and actions to address climate
change. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency, on or
before January 1, 2019, and every 5 years thereafter, to update the
Safeguarding California Plan to reduce risks to California from the
impacts of climate change. The bill would require the Office of
Planning and Research on or before January 1, 2016, and
every 5 years thereafter, to develop Infrastructure Resilience
Guidelines to integrate climate risks into capital outlay and
infrastructure planning and investment. The bill would require
the council Strategic Growth Council to
report its specified findings
and provide a description of major projects relating to
climate change to the appropriate state agencies, departments,
commissions, and boards that make decisions related to capital
funding. The bill would also require the council to report to the
Legislature on those findings so that the Legislature may consider
further action that may be necessary to address climate change in the
state.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) California's climate is changing, posing an escalated threat
to public health, the environment, and public and private property in
the state. The increasing frequency of extreme weather events,
rising sea levels, and changes in hydrology, including diminishing
snowpack, among other climate change impacts, will touch every part
of Californians' lives in the next century and beyond ,
and planning appropriately for these impacts will help us be better
prepared for the future.
(b) The impacts of climate change, including longer droughts,
extended floods, prolonged fire seasons with larger and more intense
fires, heat waves, and sea level rise are already creating challenges
for public health and safet y and causing
destructive property damage.
(c) Climate changes pose a threat not just to the lives and health
of the state's residents, but to the financial health of our state
and local governments.
(d) According to the Natural Resources Agency's draft report,
entitled "Safeguarding California: Reducing Climate Risk,"
state-of-the-art modeling shows that a single extreme weather event
in California could cost approximately $725 billion dollars, with
total direct property losses of nearly $400 billion dollars, the
effects of which could cause devastating impacts on the state's
residents, economy, and natural resources.
(e) Reducing the impacts of climate change on California's natural
and agricultural resources and
infrastructure is essential to building the state's
resiliency protecting the state's environment
and ensuring its capacity to support its economy
over time.
(f) Given the potential impacts and the long-term
nature of effective planning, California needs to consider
and prepare for these climate change impacts take
action now.
(g) Without appropriate planning to make the state more resilient
to the identified impacts of climate change, in addition to
addressing the human and social costs of the effects of climate
change, California could face billions of dollars per year in direct
costs, and expose trillions of dollars of assets in the state to
collateral risk.
(g) California has developed a strong climate science assessment
program, which has built a comprehensive body of information about
the climate risks in California; impacts on specific sectors,
populations, and regions; projected costs of climate risks and
impacts on the economy; and barriers to efforts to prepare for
climate risks. These assessments have served as a basis for the
development of the state's Safeguarding California Plan (2009 Climate
Adaptation Strategy and 2013 Safeguarding California Plan) and other
climate policy documents, including the development of the Assembly
Bill 32 Scoping Plan. The Safeguarding California Plan provides
guidance for state decisionmakers regarding needed actions to reduce
climate risk and ensure greater resilience for California
communities. The climate science assessment and the Safeguarding
California Plan should continue to be updated, on a regular basis, to
ensure that the state has the appropriate information and strategies
as it plans for climate change.
(h) It is in the best interest of the state for it to use both the
climate science assessment and the Safeguarding California Plan to
prepare guidelines that assist state agencies in incorporating
climate risk, resiliency, and readiness into the capital outlay and
public infrastructure project planning and investment process.
SEC. 2. Section 12805.4 is added to the Government Code, to read:
12805.4. (a) On On or before July 1,
2018, and every three years thereafter, the Natural Resources Agency,
in consultation with other appropriate state agencies and
departments, shall prepare a California climate risk assessment that
provides original research on regionally appropriate climate risk
vulnerabilities, risk management options, and other needed scientific
research to support California's development of informed climate
policy and actions to address climate change.
(b) On or before January 1, 2019,
and every five years thereafter, the Natural Resources Agency, in
consultation with the Climate Action Team and other
appropriate state agencies and departments, shall prepare a
climate change strategy that evaluates climate change risks to the
state and in coordination with local, regional, state,
and federal public and private entities, shall update the
Safeguarding California Plan to reduce risks to California from the
impacts of climate change. The plan and updates shall include a
summary of the best known science on climate change
impacts affecting California, and assess California's vulnerability
to the identified impacts , including, but not limited to, sea
level rise, drought and flooding, impacts on wildlife habitats,
increasing temperatures, increased occurrence of extreme weather
events, and increased wildland fire risk. The strategy
plan and updates shall also identify mitigation
measures that increase climate resiliency. The Natural Resources
Agency shall identify possible funding for mitigation measures
identified in the strategy. plan and updates.
(b) (1) On or before January 1, 2020, and every five years
thereafter, the Strategic Growth Council shall, in consultation with
the Natural Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection
Agency, and other appropriate state agencies and departments, do all
of the following:
(A) Review the impacts of climate change in the state with regard
to capital outlay and public infrastructure projects, including, but
not limited to, the impacts described in subdivision (a).
(B) Identify and prioritize climate resiliency projects of major
significance that would benefit essential public infrastructure and
that would provide near-term and longer-term climate change
resiliency to the state.
(C) Identify possible funding sources for the projects described
in subparagraph (B).
(c) (1) On or before January 1, 2016, and every five years
thereafter, the Office of Planning and Research, in consultation with
the Strategic Growth Council and all state agencies that invest in
infrastructure, shall develop guidelines that shall be known as the
Infrastructure Resilience Guidelines, to integrate climate risks into
capital outlay and public infrastructure planning and investment.
The guidelines are not intended to preclude any project, but rather
to provide guidance to state agencies on incorporating climate risk,
resiliency, and readiness into the infrastructure project planning
and investment process. The guidelines shall include, at a minimum,
all of the following:
(A) Climate risks to be considered in capital outlay and public
infrastructure planning.
(B) Relevant timeframes for considering climate impacts.
(C) Potential climate risks and options for managing and reducing
those risks, including, where feasible, both of the following:
(i) The magnitude of expected climate impacts and risks.
(ii) References for finding climate science resources.
(2) The Office of Planning and Research shall conduct public
workshops to solicit input on the Infrastructure Resilience
Guidelines, and shall consider and incorporate comments received
during the public workshops on the guidelines. Before finalization of
the guidelines, the Office of Planning and Research shall present
the guidelines to the Strategic Growth Council to solicit its
comments and recommendations.
(d) State agencies and departments shall use the Infrastructure
Resilience Guidelines to inform their capital outlay and public
infrastructure planning and investment. State agencies and
departments may seek consultation and guidance from the Strategic
Growth Council.
(e) (1) The Strategic Growth Council, in consultation with the
Office of Planning and Research, and other appropriate state agencies
and departments, shall do all of the following:
(A) Use the Infrastructure Resilience Guidelines developed
pursuant to subdivision (c) to review the state's investments in
capital outlay and public infrastructure projects with regard to the
impacts of climate change, including, but not limited to, the impacts
described in subdivision (a).
(B) Identify where capital outlay and infrastructure projects may
be needed to further incorporate the Infrastructure Resilience
Guidelines and provide recommendations to state agencies responsible
for those projects.
(C) Identify any capital outlay and infrastructure projects that
should receive priority for implementation because the projects offer
the state important protection from the impacts of climate change.
(D) Whenever possible, identify potential funding sources for the
projects described in subparagraph (B).
(2) (A) The Strategic Growth Council shall report its findings
and provide a description of major projects identified in
under paragraph (1) to the appropriate state
agencies, departments, commissions, and boards that make decisions
related to capital funding.
(B) (i) The Strategic Growth Council shall also report to the
Legislature on its findings regarding climate change under paragraph
(1) so that the Legislature may consider further action that may be
necessary to address climate change in the state.
(ii) A report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to this
subparagraph shall comply with Section 9795 of the Government Code.