BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2139 Page 1 ASSEMBLY THIRD READING AB 2139 (Williams) As Amended May 31, 2016 Majority vote ------------------------------------------------------------------ |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 | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ SUMMARY: Requires the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) to coordinate and facilitate research with other relevant public AB 2139 Page 2 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 AB 2139 Page 3 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 AB 2139 Page 4 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. AB 2139 Page 5 Analysis Prepared by: Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0003326