BILL NUMBER: AB 501 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 25, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Levine
FEBRUARY 23, 2015
An act to add Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 85285) to Part 3
of Division 35 of the Water Code, relating to resources.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 501, as amended, Levine. Resources: Delta research.
Existing law, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Reform Act of 2009,
requires the Delta Stewardship Council to develop, adopt, and
commence implementation of a comprehensive management plan for the
Delta, meeting specified requirements. The act requires the Delta
Independent Science Board to develop a scientific program relating to
the management of the Delta.
This bill would require a person conducting Delta research, as
defined, whose research is funded, in whole or in part, by the state,
to take specified actions with regard to the sharing of the primary
data, samples, physical collections,
metadata, and other supporting materials created or gathered in
the course of that research. The bill would make a researcher
ineligible for state funding if the researcher does not substantially
comply with these requirements within 6 months of completing the
Delta research project, until the researcher complies with those
requirements. The bill would authorize the Delta Independent
Science Board to adopt guidelines to provide adjustments to, and,
where essential, exceptions from, these requirements and would exempt
the adoption of these guidelines from the procedural requirements
for the adoption of regulations. The bill would require a
state agency that funds or participates in Delta research to
implement policies to disseminate and share Delta research results,
including, but not limited to, making (1) make
it a condition of a Delta research grant that the grantee
implement a data management plan that specifies how the grantee
will share research data, collections,
metadata, and findings with other researchers.
researchers and (2) adopt policies and programs to
disseminate and share Delta research results, unless the agency
determines that sufficient funds are not available for that purpose.
The bill would authorize the requirement to adopt policies and
programs to be met by an interagency group adopting coordinated
guidelines to provide consistent procedural and technical
requirements for Delta research and adjustments to, and, where
essential, exceptions from, the bill's requirements and would exempt
the adoption of these coordinated guidelines from the procedural
requirements for the adoption of regulations.
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. Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 85285) is added to
Part 3 of Division 35 of the Water Code, to read:
CHAPTER 6. DISSEMINATION AND SHARING OF STATE-FUNDED DELTA
RESEARCH DATA
85285. For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
shall apply:
(a) "Delta research" means scientific inquiry that meets one or
both of the following conditions:
(1) The San Francisco Bay or the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is,
in whole or in part, the locus of the research.
(2) The research addresses environmental factors relevant to this
division, including, but not limited to, hydrodynamics, salinity,
geomorphology, studies related to aquatic species, and water quality,
including mercury contamination, in the Sacramento River, the San
Joaquin River, or any tributary, including any impoundment on any
tributary, of the Sacramento or San Joaquin Rivers.
(b) "Machine readable" means data encoded on an appropriate medium
and in a form suitable for processing by computer.
(b)
( c) "Researcher" means a person who
conducts Delta research and whose research is funded, in whole or in
part, by the state, including, but not limited to, by a research
grant.
85285.5. It is the intent of the Legislature that
persons a person conducting Delta research
have has a responsibility, as
members a member of the scientific community, to
share results and findings with other researchers for the public
benefit, including, but not limited to, data, samples, and
other material collected while conducting the research.
benefit.
85286. (a) Except as provided in
Section 85286.5, coordinated guidelines adopted
pursuant to Section 85287, if any, a researcher shall do all of
the following:
(1) Implement a data management plan that specifies how the
researcher will share research data, metadata, and findings with
other researchers in a form that is machine readable.
(a)
(2) Provide the Delta Science Program with access to
all primary data created for conducting Delta research.
(b)
(3) Promptly prepare and submit for publication, with
authorship that accurately reflects the contributions of those
involved, all significant findings from Delta research.
(c)
(4) Permit and encourage the publication of Delta
research by those actually performing Delta research, unless a state
funding recipient intends to publish or disseminate those findings by
itself.
(d)
(5) Share with other researchers, at no more than
incremental cost and within a reasonable time, the primary data,
samples, physical collections, metadata,
and other supporting materials created or gathered in the
course of conducting Delta research.
(e)
(6) Encourage and facilitate the sharing of the primary
data, samples, physical collections,
metadata, and other supporting materials created or gathered in
the course of conducting Delta research.
(f)
(7) Release privileged or confidential information only
in a form that protects the privacy of individuals and subjects
involved.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that this section provide
the Delta Science Program, as described in Section 85280, with the
authority to request data when the Delta Science Program deems, at
its discretion, that data is relevant, but that this section not
create an obligation or duty upon the Delta Science Program to
request or manage data.
85286.5. The Delta Independent Science Board established pursuant
to Section 85280 may adopt guidelines to provide adjustments to,
and, where essential, exceptions from, the requirements of this
chapter, for the purposes of safeguarding the rights of individuals
and subjects, or the validity of the results, and the integrity of
collections, or accommodating legitimate research interests. The
guidelines adopted pursuant to this section are not regulations for
purposes of, and shall not be subject to, Chapter 3.5 (commencing
with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code.
85287. (a) A state agency that funds or
participates in Delta research shall implement policies to
disseminate and share Delta research results, including, but not
limited to, making make it a condition of a
Delta research grant that the grantee share research
data, collections, and findings with other researchers.
implement a data management plan, as required by paragraph (1)
of subdivision (a) of Section 85286.
(b) (1) A state agency that funds or participates in Delta
research shall adopt policies and programs to disseminate and share
Delta research results, unless the agency determines that sufficient
funds are not available for that purpose.
(2) The requirements of this subdivision may be met by an
interagency group that includes, but need not be limited to, the
department, the State Water Resources Control Board, the Department
of Fish and Wildlife, the Delta Stewardship Council, and the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy adopting coordinated
guidelines to provide consistent procedural and technical
requirements for Delta research, including, but not limited to,
standardized types of information, and adjustments to, and, where
essential, exceptions from, the requirements of this chapter, for the
purposes of safeguarding the rights of individuals and subjects, or
the validity of the results, or accommodating legitimate research
interests. Coordinated guidelines adopted pursuant to this paragraph
are not regulations for purposes of, and shall not be subject to,
Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(c) To the extent permitted by federal law, a state agency that
funds or participates in Delta research may accept any funds,
services, equipment, or grants to further the purpose of this
section.
85287.5. A researcher that does not substantially comply with the
requirements of Section 85286 within six months of completing the
Delta research project is not eligible for state funding until the
researcher complies with those requirements.