BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1482
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 27, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
AB 1482
Gordon - As Amended April 20, 2015
SUBJECT: Strategic Growth Council: duties
SUMMARY: Requires the Natural Resource Agency (NRA), in
coordination with the Strategic Growth Council (SGC), to assess
and coordinate across all state departments and agencies to
ensure that funding programs maximize prescribed objectives
related to climate change adaptation.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires, pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions
Act (AB 32), the Air Resources Board (ARB) to adopt a
statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limit equivalent to
1990 levels by 2020 and to adopt rules and regulations to
achieve maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective
GHG emission reductions.
2)Pursuant to Executive Order S-13-08 (Schwarzenegger), requires
NRA, through the Climate Action Team, to coordinate with
local, regional, state, federal, and private entities to
develop, by 2009, a state Climate Adaptation Strategy.
AB 1482
Page 2
Requires the strategy to summarize the best known science on
climate change impacts to California, assess California's
vulnerability to the identified impacts, and outline solutions
that can be implemented within and across state agencies to
promote resiliency.
3)Creates the Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to serve the
Governor and his or her Cabinet as staff for long-range
planning and research, and to constitute the comprehensive
state planning agency.
4)Creates SGC, which consists of the Director of OPR, the
Secretary of NRA, the Secretary of the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), the Secretary of Transportation, the
Secretary of California Health and Human Services, the
Secretary of Business, Consumer Services, and Housing, the
Secretary of Food and Agriculture, and one member of the
public to be appointed by the Governor.
5)Requires SGC to develop and administer the Affordable Housing
and Sustainable Communities Program to reduce GHG emissions
through projects that implement land use, housing,
transportation, and agricultural land preservation practices
to support infill and compact development and that support
other related and coordinated public policy objectives.
Continuously appropriates to the SGC 20% of the annual
proceeds of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).
THIS BILL:
1)Establishes numerous findings on the impacts of climate
change, the importance of adaptation, and declares that
California needs to take action now.
2)Declares it is the intent of the Legislature to prioritize the
state's response to the unavoidable impacts from climate
AB 1482
Page 3
change by ensuring all state departments and agencies prepare
for and are ready to respond to the impact of climate change
and that actions be consistent with the Safeguarding
California Plan.
3)Requires NRA, in coordination with SGC, to review and
coordinate existing grants and programs to maximize the
following objectives:
a) Educating the public about the consequences of climate
change;
b) Ensuring there is continued repository for scientific
data on climate change and climate adaptation;
c) Establishing policy, guidelines, and guidance at the
state level to inform planning decisions and ensure that
state investments consider climate change impacts, as well
as promote the use of natural systems;
d) Encouraging regional collaborative planning efforts to
address regional climate impacts;
e) Promoting a water supply, delivery, and capture system
that is coordinated and can withstand a multi-year drought
scenario;
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 vehicle miles traveled; and,
AB 1482
Page 4
g) Protecting and enhancing habitat and species'
strongholds that are critical to the preservation of
species that are at risk from the consequences of climate
change.
4)Requires NRA, in coordination with SGC, to identify and
coordinate opportunities among its departments to expend funds
from the following sources to implement the objectives above:
a) GGRF,
b) The Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure
Improvement Act of 2014 (Proposition 1); and,
c) Other state funds.
5)Requires NRA, in coordination with SGC, to assess and
coordinate across all state departments and agencies to ensure
that funding programs maximize the ability for state and local
infrastructure, people, habitat, and wildlife to cope with the
consequences of climate change.
6)Requires SGC to oversee and coordinate state agency actions to
adapt to climate change.
7)Requires SGC to identify and pursue opportunities for state
agencies to collaborate with federal or local agencies in
their climate adaptation efforts.
AB 1482
Page 5
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's statement.
Current law does not create a comprehensive state
climate adaptation policy. There is no single state
entity statutorily tasked with ensuring that the
state's response to climate change is focused and
consistent across agencies in order to best protect
California's residents, resources, and infrastructure
from the effects of climate change. As the state
deals with deepening drought, warmer temperatures,
increased forest fires, continued loss of habitat and
biodiversity, and the threat of sea-level rise along
approximately 1,100 miles of California coastline,
state investments in infrastructure and greenhouse gas
reduction should, where possible, further the goals of
climate adaptation.
In addition, as the impacts of climate change continue
to be felt in California, local governments will need
assistance in risk assessment of public and private
infrastructure, as well as planning assistance and
prioritization signals from the state on climate
adaptation.
AB 1482
Page 6
In 2014, the Natural Resources Agency adopted the
Safeguarding California Plan (an update to the 2009
California Climate Adaptation Strategy), which begins
to lay out a statewide plan for climate adaptation.
However, there is no mechanism for enforcing this plan
or ensuring that state agency or department actions
are consistent with the Safeguarding California Plan.
Further, while the Strategic Growth Council is tasked
with implementing the Sustainable Communities Strategy
and other planning programs to combat climate change
and reduce greenhouse gases, it does not have the
authority to also plan for climate adaptation. These
two existing state agencies are ideal to oversee and
coordinate California's climate adaptation efforts.
2)Adaptation. According to the United States Environmental
Protection Agency, "adaptation is the adjustments that society
or ecosystems make to limit negative effects of climate
change. It can also include taking advantage of opportunities
that a changing climate provides." In 2009, the NRA described
adaptation as a relatively new concept in California policy
and stated the term means "efforts that respond to the impacts
of climate change - adjustments in natural or human systems to
actual or expected climate changes to minimize harm or take
advantage of beneficial opportunities."
California's adaptation efforts can be traced back to 2008,
when Governor Schwarzenegger ordered the NRA, through the
Climate Action Team, to coordinate with local, regional,
state, and federal public and private entities to develop, by
2009, a state Climate Adaptation Strategy. The Governor's
executive order required the strategy to summarize the best
AB 1482
Page 7
known science on climate change impacts for California, assess
California's vulnerability to the identified impacts, and
outline solutions that can be implemented within and across
state agencies to promote resiliency. As a result, NRA
drafted The 2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy. The
strategy represents the work of seven sector-specific working
groups led by 12 state agencies, boards, and commissions, and
numerous stakeholders. The strategy proposes a comprehensive
set of recommendations designed to inform and guide California
decision makers as they begin to develop policies that will
protect the state, its residents and its resources from a
range of climate change impacts. In July of 2014, NRA released
an update to the 2009 state Climate Adaptation Strategy
Safeguarding California: Reducing Climate Risk.
Climate risks in California include sea level rise, changes in
precipitation that increase the risk of both drought and
flooding, and increases in temperatures that can affect air
quality and habitat. California is responding to these risks
through various efforts including the recently passed Water
Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014
(Proposition 1), which has several pots of funding for
responding to drought conditions or flooding brought by
climate change and dealing with sea level rise. Of the over
$7 billion allocated in the bond, $3.6 billion could be spent
on projects that deal in some way with adaptation.
In addition, the Coastal Commission (Commission) has been
working with coastal zone local governments to update their
local coastal programs to address shoreline hazards and sea
level rise. The Commission has also released a Draft Sea-Level
AB 1482
Page 8
Rise Policy Guidance document that provides an overview of
best available science on sea-level rise for California and
recommended steps for addressing sea-level rise in Commission
planning and regulatory actions. This will help coastal local
governments to make planning decisions that will take into
account sea level rise and identify infrastructure and
property that is at risk.
3)Unavoidable. Some climate change impacts are unavoidable
because of GHG emissions that have already been emitted.
However, the severity of climate change impacts depends
greatly on the level and extent the world cuts its GHG
emissions. California is a leader in the world on its efforts
to reduce GHG emissions. The Governor and various members of
the Legislature have laid out an ambitious agenda of further
goals and reductions. When allocating resources, it is
important to prioritize avoiding climate change impacts
through emission reductions. Funding from GGRF is required to
do so. AB 1482 has intent language that states the impacts of
climate change are unavoidable. The author and committee may
wish to consider an amendment to remove the word "unavoidable"
from the findings.
4)Suggested amendments. AB 1482 requires the NRA to review its
own departments to identify opportunities to expend their
funding on the climate change adaptation objectives outlined
in the bill. However, a department may have funds that are
inappropriate for these purposes or it would infeasible to use
their resources for the objectives in this bill. The author
and committee may wish to consider an amendment to require NRA
to implement this provision to the extent feasible. AB 1482
requires NRA to ensure all state departments' and agencies'
funding maximizes the ability for state and local
AB 1482
Page 9
infrastructure, people, habitat, and wildlife to cope with the
consequences of climate change. It would be difficult, and in
some cases counterproductive, for NRA to ensure how other
agencies and departments outside its agency fund their
programs. The author and committee may wish to consider
amendments to require NRA to identify opportunities for other
state departments and agencies that increase the ability for
state and local infrastructure, people, habitat, and wildlife
to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
5)Related legislation.
SB 317 (De Leon) enacts the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Rivers, and
Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2016, which among other things
would allocate $100 million to the SGC for grants to develop or
implement a regional or local greenprint or climate adaptation
plan, or update or develop a climate adaptation element for a
general plan, and for the protection of agricultural and
open-space resources that support adopted sustainable
communities strategies. This bill is awaiting hearing in the
Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.
SB 379 (Jackson) requires cities and counties to review and
update their general plans' safety elements to address risks
posed by climate change. This bill will be heard in the Senate
Environmental Quality Committee on April 29.
SB 246 (Wieckowski) codifies the Climate Action Team, under the
direction of the Secretary for Environmental Protection and
consists of representatives from specified state agencies. SB
246 requires the team to be responsible for coordinating the
AB 1482
Page 10
state's climate policy to achieve the state's climate change.
The bill also requires the team to periodically update the
Climate Adaptation Strategy, the Safeguarding California Plan,
and the Adaptation Planning Guide. This bill will be heard in
the Senate Environmental Quality Committee on April 29.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Audubon California (sponsor)
California Climate & Agriculture Network
California League of Conservation Voters
California ReLeaf
Center for Climate Change and Health
Climate Resolve
Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation
Defenders of Wildlife
Little Hoover Commission
Local Government Commission
National Parks Conservation Association
The Nature Conservancy
The Trust for Public Land
TreePeople
Wholly H2O
Opposition
AB 1482
Page 11
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092