Amended in Senate September 1, 2015

Amended in Senate July 9, 2015

Amended in Senate June 16, 2015

Amended in Assembly May 5, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 20, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1482

Introduced by Assembly Member Gordon

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bloom, Rendon, and Mark Stone)

February 27, 2015

An act to amend Section 75125 of, and to add Part 3.7 (commencing with Section 71150) to Division 34 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to climate change.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1482, as amended, Gordon. Climate adaptation.

Existing law establishes the Natural Resources Agency, comprised of departments, boards, conservancies, and commissions responsible for the restoration, protection, and management of the state’s natural and cultural resources.

Existing law establishes the Strategic Growth Council in state government and assigns to the council certain duties, including providing, funding, and distributing data and information to local governments and regional agencies that will assist in the development and planning of sustainable communities.

This bill would require the agency, by July 1, 2017, and every 3 years thereafter, to update the state’s climate adaptation strategy, as provided. begin insert The bill would require the agency, by January 1, 2017, and every 3 years thereafter, to release a draft climate adaptation strategy, as provided. end insert The bill would require begin delete the agency, in coordination with the council, to address the impacts of climate change and climate adaptation by reviewing and coordinating existing grants and programs end delete begin insert state agencies end insert to maximize specified objectives, including, among others, begin delete establishing policy, guidelines, and guidance at the state level end delete begin insert promoting the use of the climate adaptation strategy end insert to inform planning decisions and begin delete ensuring end delete begin insert ensure end insert that state investments consider climate change impacts, as well as promote the use of natural systems and natural infrastructure, begin delete whenever feasible end delete begin insert as defined end insert , when developing physical infrastructure to address adaptation. begin delete The bill would require the Office of Planning and Research, by July 1, 2019, to update the state’s Five-Year Infrastructure Plan to take current and future climate impacts into account in all infrastructure projects. end delete

This bill also would expand the duties of the council to include begin delete aiding the Natural Resources Agency in overseeing and coordinating state agency actions to adapt to climate change and in identifying and pursuing opportunities for state agencies to collaborate with federal or local agencies in their climate adaptation efforts. end delete begin insert identifying and reviewing the activities and funding programs of all state agencies, instead of only the state agencies that are members of the council, to coordinate specified state objectives, including, among others, meeting the goals of the state’s climate adaptation strategy. end insert

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, the economy, and public and
private property in the state. The increasing frequency of extreme
weather events, including floods and heat waves, fires, rising sea
levels, and changes in hydrology, including diminishing snowpacks
and more frequent droughts, among other climate change impacts,
will begin delete touch end delete begin insert affect end insert every part of residents’ lives in the next century
and beyond. 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 safety and causing destructive
property damage.

(c) Climate change poses a threat not just to the lives and health
of residents but also to the state’s economy and to the financial
health of our begin delete state and end delete local governments.

(d) According to the Natural Resources Agency’s report,
“Safeguarding California: Reducing Climate Risk,” state-of-the-art
modeling shows that a single extreme winter storm in California
could cost on the order of $725,000,000,000, including total direct
property losses of nearly $400,000,000,000 and devastating impacts
to residents, the economy, and natural resources.

(e) Adapting to climate change, in addition to reducing the
impacts of climate change on California’s natural resources and
infrastructure, is essential to protecting the state’s environment
and economy over time and will require coordination across all
state departments and agencies.

(f) Given the potential impacts and the long-term nature of
effective planning, California needs to take action now.

SEC. 2.  

Part 3.7 (commencing with Section 71150) is added
to Division 34 of the Public Resources Code, to read:

 

PART 3.7.  Climate Change and Climate
Adaptation

 

71150.  

For purposes of this part, the following terms have the
following meanings:

(a) “Agency” means the Natural Resources Agency.

(b) “Council” means the Strategic Growth Council.

begin insert

(c) “Plan” means the Safeguarding California Plan.

end insert

71152.  

It is the intent of the Legislature to prioritize the state’s
response to the impacts resulting from climate change by ensuring
all state departments and agencies prepare for and are ready to
respond to the impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather
events, the urban heat island effect, habitat loss, wildfire, sea-level
rise, and drought. It also is the intent of the Legislature that the
agency consider developing policies to address the impacts of
climate change and climate adaptation with a focus on people,
places, and water and that actions taken to address climate
adaptation should be consistent with the begin delete Safeguarding California
Plan end delete begin insert plan end insert .

71153.  

(a) By July 1, 2017, and every three years thereafter,
the agency shall update the state’s climate adaptation strategy,
begin insert known as end insert the begin delete Safeguarding California Plan. end delete begin insert plan. end insert As part of the
update, the agency shall coordinate with other state agencies to
identify a lead agency or group of agencies to lead adaptation
efforts in each sector. The updates to the begin delete Safeguarding California
Plan end delete begin insert plan end insert shall include all of the following:

(1) Vulnerabilities to climate change by sector, as identified by
the lead agency or group of agencies, and regions, including, at a
minimum, the following sectors:

(A) Water.

(B) Energy.

(C) Transportation.

(D) Public health.

(E) Agriculture.

(F) Emergency services.

(G) Forestry.

(H) Biodiversity and habitat.

(I) Ocean and coastal resources.

(2) Priority actions needed to reduce risks in those sectors, as
identified by the lead agency or group of agencies.

begin insert

(b) By January 1, 2017, and every three years thereafter, the
agency shall release a draft plan. Between the release of the draft
plan and the publication of the final update of the plan, the agency
shall hold at least three public hearings for the purpose of
providing an opportunity for the public to review and provide
written and oral comments on the draft plan. The public hearings
shall be held in northern California, the central valley of
California, and southern California.

end insert begin delete

(b)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  The agency shall begin insert annually end insert report to the Legislature, begin delete pursuant
to end delete begin insert consistent with end insert Section 9795 of the Government Code, on actions
taken begin insert by each applicable end insert begin insert agency end insert to implement the begin delete Safeguarding
California Plan. end delete begin insert plan. end insert

begin delete

(c) By July 1, 2019, the Office of Planning and Research shall
update the state’s Five-Year Infrastructure Plan to take current and
future climate change impacts into account in all infrastructure
projects.

end delete

begin delete

71154.  

To address the impacts of climate change and climate
adaptation, the agency, in coordination with the council, shall
review and coordinate existing grants and programs to maximize
the following objectives:

end delete

begin insert

begin insert 71154. end insert   

end insert begin insert

To address the vulnerabilities identified in the plan,
state agencies shall work to maximize, where applicable and
feasible, the following objectives:

end insert

(a) Educating the public about the consequences of climate
change, such as sea-level rise, extreme weather events, the urban
heat island effect, habitat loss, wildfire, begin delete and end delete drought begin insert , threats to
infrastructure and agriculture, worsening air and water quality,
and public health impacts end insert .

(b) Ensuring there is a continued repository for scientific data
on climate change and climate adaptation in the state in order to
facilitate educated state and local policy decisions and to help
identify primary risks from climate change to residents, property,
communities, and natural systems across the state.

begin delete

(c) Establishing policy, guidelines, and guidance at the state
level, through the implementation of the Safeguarding California
Plan, to inform planning decisions and ensure that state investments
consider climate change impacts, as well as promote the use of
natural systems and natural infrastructure, whenever feasible, when
developing physical infrastructure to address adaptation.

end delete begin insert

(c) (1) Promoting the use of the plan to inform planning
decisions and ensure that state investments consider climate change
impacts, as well as promote the use of natural systems and natural
infrastructure, when developing physical infrastructure to address
adaptation.

end insert begin insert

(2) When developing infrastructure to address adaptation, where
feasible, a project alternative should be developed that utilizes
existing natural features and ecosystem processes or the restoration
of natural features and ecosystem processes to meet the project’s
goals.

end insert begin insert

(3) For purposes of this subdivision, “natural infrastructure”
means the preservation or restoration of ecological systems or the
utilization of engineered systems that use ecological processes to
increase resiliency to climate change, manage other environmental
hazards, or both. This may include, but need not be limited to,
flood plain and wetlands restoration or preservation, combining
levees with restored natural systems to reduce flood risk, and urban
tree planting to mitigate high heat days.

end insert

(d) Encouraging regional collaborative planning efforts to
address regional climate change impacts and adaptation strategies.

(e) Promoting begin delete a end delete begin insert drought resiliency through an integrated end insert water
supply, delivery, and capture system that is coordinated and begin insert that end insert
can begin delete withstand end delete begin insert be resilient to end insert a multiyear drought scenario begin insert while
protecting water quality and the public health end insert . Establishing both
drought preparation programs, which will help create sustainable
water systems in the future, and immediate drought response
programs, which will reduce water demand or increase supply
within one to five years of any declared drought.

(f) Building resilient communities by developing urban greening
projects that reduce air pollution and heat reflection in urban areas
and create livable, sustainable communities in urban cores to
promote infill development and reduce begin delete vehicle miles traveled end delete
begin insert greenhouse gas emissions end insert .

(g) Protecting and enhancing habitat, species strongholds, and
wildlife corridors that are critical to the preservation of species
that are at risk from the consequences of climate change.

begin insert

(h) Promoting actions to ensure healthy soils and sustainable
agriculture; inform reliable transportation planning; improve
emergency management response across sectors; ensure sufficient,
reliable, and safe energy; improve capacity to reduce and respond
to public health threats; address the impacts of climate change on
disadvantaged communities; and protect cultural resources from
the impacts of climate change.

end insert

begin delete

71156.  

For the purposes of implementing the objectives of this
part, the agency, to the extent feasible and in coordination with
the council, shall identify and coordinate opportunities among its
departments in expending moneys from all of the following:

(a) The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created pursuant to
Section 16428.8 of the Government Code.

(b) The Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement
Act of 2014, approved by the voters as Proposition 1 at the
November 4, 2014, statewide general election.

(c) Other state funds.

71158.  

The agency shall assess and coordinate across all state
departments and agencies to identify opportunities that increase
the ability for state and local infrastructure, people, and habitat
and wildlife to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

end delete

SEC. 3.  

Section 75125 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:

75125.  

The council shall do all of the following:

(a) Identify and review activities and funding programs of
begin delete member end delete state agencies that may be coordinated to improve air and
water quality, improve natural resource protection, increase the
availability of affordable housing, improve transportation, meet
the goals of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
(Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health
and Safety Code) begin delete , end delete begin insert and the strategies and priorities developed in
the state’s climate adaptation strategy known as the Safeguarding
California Plan adopted pursuant to Section 71152, end insert encourage
sustainable land use planning, and revitalize urban and community
centers in a sustainable manner. At a minimum, the council shall
review and comment on the five-year infrastructure plan developed
pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 13100) of Chapter
2 of Part 3 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code and
the State Environmental Goals and Policy Report developed
pursuant to Section 65041 of the Government Code.

(b) Recommend policies and investment strategies and priorities
to the Governor, the Legislature, and to appropriate state agencies
to encourage the development of sustainable communities, such
as those communities that promote equity, strengthen the economy,
protect the environment, and promote public health and safety,
consistent with subdivisions (a) and (c) of Section 75065.

(c) Provide, fund, and distribute data and information to local
governments and regional agencies that will assist in developing
and planning sustainable communities.

(d) Manage and award grants and loans to support the planning
and development of sustainable communities, pursuant to Sections
75127, 75128, and 75129. To implement this subdivision, the
council may do all of the following:

(1) Develop guidelines for awarding financial assistance,
including criteria for eligibility and additional consideration.

(2) Develop criteria for determining the amount of financial
assistance to be awarded. The council shall award a revolving loan
to an applicant for a planning project, unless the council determines
that the applicant lacks the fiscal capacity to carry out the project
without a grant. The council may establish criteria that would allow
the applicant to illustrate an ongoing commitment of financial
resources to ensure the completion of the proposed plan or project.

(3) Provide for payments of interest on loans made pursuant to
this article. The rate of interest shall not exceed the rate earned by
the Pooled Money Investment Board.

(4) Provide for the time period for repaying a loan made
pursuant to this article.

(5) Provide for the recovery of funds from an applicant that fails
to complete the project for which financial assistance was awarded.
The council shall direct the Controller to recover funds by any
available means.

(6) Provide technical assistance for application preparation.

(7) Designate a state agency or department to administer
technical and financial assistance programs for the disbursing of
grants and loans to support the planning and development of
sustainable communities, pursuant to Sections 75127, 75128, and
75129.

(e) Provide an annual report to the Legislature that shall include,
but need not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) A list of applicants for financial assistance.

(2) Identification of which applications were approved.

(3) The amounts awarded for each approved application.

(4) The remaining balance of available funds.

(5) A report on the proposed or ongoing management of each
funded project.

(6) Any additional minimum requirements and priorities for a
project or plan proposed in a grant or loan application developed
and adopted by the council pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
75126.

begin delete

(f) Aid the Natural Resources Agency in overseeing and
coordinating state agency actions to adapt to climate change.

end delete begin delete

(g) Aid the Natural Resources Agency in identifying and
pursuing opportunities for state agencies to collaborate with federal
or local agencies in their climate adaptation efforts.

end delete