BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
                             Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:            AB 1482         Hearing Date:    June 23,  
          2015
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          |Author:    |Gordon                 |           |                 |
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          |Version:   |June 16, 2015    Amended                             |
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          |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:    |Yes              |
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          |Consultant:|William Craven                                       |
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                            Subject:  Climate adaptation.


          BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
          1) Pursuant to Executive Order S-13-08 (Schwarzenegger),  
          requires the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), through  
          the Climate Action Team, to coordinate with local, regional,  
          state, federal, and private entities to develop, by 2009, a  
          state Climate Adaptation Strategy. 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.  

          2) 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.

          3) Creates the Strategic Growth Council (SGC), which consists of  
          the Director of OPR, the Secretary of the Natural Resources  
          Agency, 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 three members of the public appointed by the  
          Governor. 

          4) Requires SGC to develop and administer the Affordable Housing  







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          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).


          5) On April 29, 2015, Governor Brown issued Executive Order  
          B-30-15. That order is perhaps better known for its declaration  
          that established an interim greenhouse gas emission reduction  
          target of 40% below 1990 levels to be achieved by 2030. 


          However, that order also made several declarations regarding  
          adaptation to climate change. State agencies are directed to do  
          all of the following: 


               a) Incorporate climate change impacts into the state's  
          five-year infrastructure plan; 


               b) Update the Safeguarding California Plan-the state's  
          climate adaptation strategy-to identify how climate change will  
          affect California infrastructure and industry and what actions  
          the state can take to reduce the risks posed by climate change; 


               c) Factor climate change into state agency's planning and  
          investment decisions; and 


               d) Implement measures under existing agency and  
          departmental authority to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 


          6. In addition, the order directed the CNRA to update the  
          Safeguarding California report every three years and ensure that  
          its provisions are fully implemented. That plan is directed to  
          contain the following: 










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               a) Identify vulnerabilities to climate change by sector and  
          regions, including, at a minimum, the following sectors: water,  
          energy, transportation, public health, agriculture, emergency  
          services, forestry, biodiversity and habitat, and ocean and  
          coastal resources; 


               b) Outline primary risks to residents, property,  
          communities and natural systems from these vulnerabilities and  
          identify priority actions needed to reduce these risks, and


               c) Identify a lead agency or group of agencies to lead  
          adaptation efforts in each sector. Each sector lead will be  
          responsible to prepare an implementation plan by September 2015  
          and report to CNRA and actions taken.


          7. The order requires the following additional steps: 


               a) Each sector lead agency will prepare an implementation  
          plan by 9/2015 and report to the CNRA on actions taken by  
          6/2016. 


               b)  All state agencies shall take climate change into  
          account in planning and investment decisions, and to employ full  
          life-cycle cost accounting to evaluate and compare  
          infrastructure investments and alternatives. 


               c) State agencies' planning and investment will be guided  
          by the following: 


                    1) Priority should be given to actions that both build  
          climate preparedness and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; 


                    2) Where possible, flexible and adaptive approaches  
          should be taken to prepare for uncertain climate impacts; 










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                    3) Actions should protect the state's most vulnerable  
          populations; and 


                    4) Natural infrastructure solutions should be  
          prioritized. 


          8. The Governor directed that the state's five year  
          infrastructure plan will take current and future climate change  
          impacts into account in all infrastructure projects.  


          9. The Governor also directed OPR to establish a technical  
          advisory group to help state agencies incorporate climate change  
          impacts into planning and investment decisions. 


          10. The order concludes by stating it does create and rights or  
          benefits that are enforceable against the State of California or  
          its agencies, officers, or any other person. 


          PROPOSED LAW
          1) This bill codifies verbatim the adaptation provisions of the  
          Executive Order, adds a reporting requirement, and directs OPR  
          to update the infrastructure plan to take into account future  
          climate change impacts into all infrastructure projects. It  
          additionally proposes the following: 

          2) Requires that the CNRA, in coordination with the SGC, review  
          and coordinate existing grants programs to maximize these  
          objectives: 

               a) Educate the public about the consequences of climate  
          change, such as sea level rise, extreme weather events, the  
          urban heat island effect, habitat loss, wildfire, and drought; 
               b) Ensure that there is a repository for scientific data on  
          climate change and climate adaptation in the state to help  
          identify primary risks from climate change to residents,  
          property, communities, and natural systems across the state; 
               c) Establish policy, guidelines, and guidance at the state  
          level, through implementation of the Safeguarding California  
          Plan, to inform planning decisions and ensure that state  








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          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. 
               d) Encourage regional collaborative planning to address  
          regional climate change impacts and adaptation strategies; 
               e) Promote water supply, delivery, and capture system that  
          is coordinated to withstand a multiyear drought scenario. This  
          involves both drought preparation programs and immediate drought  
          response programs. 
               f) Build 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 mile traveled. 
               g) protect and enhance habitat strongholds and wildlife  
          corridors that are critical to the preservation of species that  
          are risk from the consequences of climate change. 

          3) The bill further directs the agency, in coordination with the  
          council, to identify and coordinate opportunities among its  
          departments in expending money from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction  
          Fund ,Proposition 1, and other state funds. 

          4) The SGC is directed in the bill to aid the CNRA in overseeing  
          and coordinating state agency actions to adapt to climate change  
          and identifying and pursuing opportunities for state agencies to  
          collaborate with federal or local agencies in their climate  
          adaptation efforts. 

          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
          According to the author, 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.









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          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. 

          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.


          The author's statement is endorsed in the letters from the  
          bill's supporters. 


          ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
          None received. 

          COMMENTS
          1) This bill is still a work in progress especially regarding  
          the issue of which agency should be the designated lead for  
          climate adaptation and enforcement of the bill's provisions. The  
          Committee may well want to preserve the CNRA role in developing  
          the future Safeguarding California reports including the  
          cross-agency work required to do so. The Committee may also want  
          to preserve the other additions to the Safeguarding California  
          aspects of the executive order which would identify a lead  
          agency for each sector and to direct OPR update future  
          infrastructure plans to include current and future climate  
          change impacts into account in all infrastructure projects. 

          2) The next question involves the implementation measures  








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          contained in the bill that direct CNRA to take various actions.  
          Section 71153 directs the CNRA to "ensure the provisions" of the  
          plan are implemented. Section 71154 directs CNRA to "coordinate  
          existing grants and programs to maximize specified objectives,  
          one of which is "implementation of the Safeguarding California  
          Plan. In Section 71156, CNRA is directed to "assess and  
          coordinate" funding opportunities from specific funds. And in  
          Section 71158, the agency is directed to "assess and coordinate  
          across all state departments and agencies to identify  
          opportunities for state and local infrastructure, people and  
          wildlife to adapt to the impacts of climate change. It is not  
          known whether these objectives and these new roles, especially  
          the role of ensuring implementation of the plan, are acceptable  
          to CNRA or the administration as a whole. 

          Whether the bill ultimately retains that designation for CNRA,  
          or whether that designation is shifted to the SGC or OPR, or  
          whether the bill more surgically divides the workload among  
          those entities is the most open question still unresolved. The  
          author plans further discussions with the administration and  
          other interested parties. 

          3) As the bill moves forward, the author should consider adding  
          definitions for terms that are used in the bill but are not  
          currently defined in state law. These include terms such as  
          urban greening and natural infrastructure.

          4) Staff notes that the reference to "coordinating" expenditures  
          from auction revenues and Prop 1 could be interpreted to mean  
          that climate adaptation is an eligible use for the entirety of  
          those funding sources, which is not the author's intent. It  
          instead should make reference to "appropriate" funding for  
          climate adaptation from those sources where such funding makes  
          adaptation eligible and where such funding satisfies other legal  
          requirements for the expenditure of regulatory fees in the case  
          of auction revenues.  

           Double-Referral.  The Rules Committee referred this bill to both  
          the Committee on Natural Resources and Water and to the  
          Committee Environmental Quality. Therefore, if this bill passes  
          this committee, it will be referred to the Committee on  
          Environmental Quality, which will consider the issues within  
          their jurisdiction.









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           Related legislation  : SB 246 (Wieckowski) proposes also to codify  
          the Safeguarding California reports and would also establish an  
          advisory council within OPR to focus on climate adaptation. 
          

          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


          ReLeaf California
          The Nature Conservancy
          The Trust for Public Land
          TreePeople
          Wholly H2O

          OPPOSITION
          None Received

          
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