BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2139
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2139 (Williams)
As Amended May 31, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Natural |5-1 |Williams, Cristina |Harper |
|Resources | |Garcia, Gomez, Mark | |
| | |Stone, Wood | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |14-6 |Gonzalez, Bloom, |Bigelow, Chang, |
| | |Bonilla, Bonta, |Gallagher, Jones, |
| | |Calderon, Daly, |Obernolte, Wagner |
| | |Eggman, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Roger | |
| | |Hernández, Holden, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requires the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) to
coordinate and facilitate research with other relevant public
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agencies on the causes, effects, and management of ocean
acidification. Requires, beginning on January 1, 2018, OPC to
annually adopt recommendations for further actions to address
ocean acidification.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires OPC to support state agencies' use and sharing of
scientific and geospatial information for coastal- and
ocean-relevant decision making relating to coastal and ocean
ecosystems, including the effects of climate change.
2)Pursuant to Executive Order B-30-15 (Brown), in addition to
establishing a 40% greenhouse gas emission reduction goal by
2030, requires several actions on adaptation, including:
a) Requires Natural Resources Agency (NRA) to update the
strategy every three years and ensure that its provisions
are fully implemented. Requires the strategy to:
i) Identify vulnerabilities to climate change by sector
and region, including, at a minimum, the following
sectors: water, energy, transportation, public health,
agriculture, emergency services, forestry, biodiversity
and habitat, and ocean and coastal resources;
ii) Outline primary risks to residents, property,
communities, and natural systems from these
vulnerabilities, and identify priority actions needed to
reduce these risks; and,
iii) Identify a lead agency or group of agencies to lead
adaptation efforts in each sector.
b) Requires each sector lead to prepare an implementation
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plan by September 2015 to outline the actions that will be
taken as identified in the strategy, and report back on
those actions to the NRA.
c) Requires state agencies to take climate change into
account in their planning and investment decisions and
employ full life-cycle cost accounting to evaluate and
compare infrastructure investments and alternatives.
d) Requires state agencies' planning and investment to be
guided by the principles of climate preparedness for
uncertain climate impacts, protective of vulnerable
populations, and prioritization of natural infrastructure
solutions.
e) Requires the state's Five-Year Infrastructure Plan to
take current and future climate change impacts into account
in all infrastructure projects.
3)Requires the NRA to update its climate adaptation strategy,
the Safeguarding California Plan (Plan), by July 1, 2017, and
every three years thereafter by coordinating adaption
activities among lead state agencies in each sector.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Unknown, potentially significant cost pressures to implement
any executive or legislative recommendations resulting from
the research and compilation of data.
2)No additional state funds for OPC to conduct research and
compile data. The OPC is currently involved in similar
activities with plans to expend Proposition 84 of 2006 bond
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funds for the research necessary to implement the report.
COMMENTS: The Ocean absorbs about a third of the carbon dioxide
that is released into the atmosphere each year from the burning
of fossil fuels and other human activities. As the carbon
dioxide levels in the atmosphere increase, so do the levels in
the ocean. This changes the chemistry of the water and
threatens marine ecosystems and coastal communities dependent on
the health of the sea. Ocean acidification is the lowering of
the pH of the ocean and changing of the ocean's chemistry, which
can lead to low dissolved oxygen water (hypoxia) in ocean
ecosystems. Ocean acidification will likely have major impacts
on the fisheries and aquaculture industries in California. It
could also have a profound effect on marine ecosystems leading
to large-scale die-offs and over the long term reduced
biodiversity. Record hot temperatures in the Pacific Ocean
caused by global warming and a powerful El Niño have fueled the
worst coral bleaching event ever seen in portions of Australia's
famed Great Barrier Reef. According to the author's office,
"Ocean acidification has cost the oyster industry in the Pacific
Northwest $110 million and jeopardized 3,200 jobs."
The Plan includes a sector on Oceans and Coastal Resources and
Ecosystems. That sector released a sector plan that discusses
ocean acidification, but there are no specific recommendations
for legislative or executive action. On April 4, 2016, the West
Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel (Panel)
released a synthesis of the current state of scientific
knowledge about ocean acidification and hypoxia in California,
Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. The Panel's final
report included what management options might be used to address
ocean acidification on the west coast. This bill would require
OPC to develop California-specific recommendations on how the
state can address ocean acidification.
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Analysis Prepared by:
Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0003326