BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1482
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1482 (Gordon)
As Amended May 5, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Natural |8-1 |Williams, Dahle, |Harper |
|Resources | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | |Hadley, McCarty, | |
| | |Rendon, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Mark Stone, Wood | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+----------------------|
|Appropriations |12-4 |Gomez, Bonta, |Bigelow, Gallagher, |
| | |Calderon, Daly, |Jones, Wagner |
| | |Eggman, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, | |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
AB 1482
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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 identify
opportunities that increase the ability for state and local
infrastructure, people, and habitat and wildlife to adapt to the
impacts of climate change. Specifically, this bill:
1)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;
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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,
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.
2)Requires NRA, in coordination with SGC and to the extent
feasible, to identify and coordinate opportunities among its
departments to expend funds from the following sources to
implement the objectives above:
a) Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF),
b) The Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement
Act of 2014 (Proposition 1); and,
c) Other state funds.
3)Requires NRA, in coordination with SGC, to 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.
4)Requires SGC to oversee and coordinate state agency actions to
adapt to climate change.
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5)Requires SGC to identify and pursue opportunities for state
agencies to collaborate with federal or local agencies in their
climate adaptation efforts.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Increased cost pressures on GGRF, Proposition 1 Water bond
funds, and other unidentified funds, potentially in the tens of
millions to hundreds of millions of dollars.
2)Increased annual costs of $175,000 for Air Resources Board to
quantify and report on adaptations projects.
COMMENTS: 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 known science on
climate change impacts for California, assess California's
vulnerability to the identified impacts, and outline solutions
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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.
Analysis Prepared by:
Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN:
0000780