Amended in Assembly March 18, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2800

Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk

February 19, 2016

begin delete An act to add Division 33 (commencing with Section 56000) to the Health and Safety Code, relating to building standards. end delete begin insert An act to add Section 71155 to the Public Resources Code, relating to climate change. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2800, as amended, Quirk. begin delete Building standards: climate change effects. end delete begin insert Climate change: infrastructure planning. end insert

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Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency, by July 1, 2017, and every 3 years thereafter, to update the state’s climate adaptation strategy to identify vulnerabilities to climate change by sectors and priority actions needed to reduce the risks in those sectors.

end insert begin insert

This bill would require the Natural Resources Agency, by July 1, 2020, and every 5 years thereafter, to establish and update guidelines for effectively incorporating the effects of climate change into state infrastructure planning and investment decisions. The bill would require the agency to establish a science advisory panel with expertise in climate change impacts in California and state infrastructure engineering.

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Existing law, the California Building Standards Law, requires the California Building Standards Commission to promulgate and publish updated building standards adopted in the California Building Standards Code every 3 years. The commission receives proposed building standards from state agencies in the course of the adoption cycle. These proposed standards are then made available for public inspection and hearings and are reviewed by technical advisory bodies appointed by the commission.

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This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would require the California Environmental Protection Agency, in coordination with other state agencies, to establish appropriate standards for the development, design, and construction of infrastructure projects that will withstand the effects of climate change.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

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begin insert Section 71155 is added to the end insert begin insert Public Resources
Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

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begin insert 71155. end insert   

(a) (1) By July 1, 2020, the agency shall establish
guidelines for effectively incorporating the effects of climate change
into state infrastructure planning and investment decisions. The
agency shall coordinate with the California Environmental
Protection Agency, the Transportation Agency, the Office of
Emergency Services, the Office of Planning and Research, and
other relevant state agencies to develop guidelines for each sector
specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 71153.

(2) The agency shall update the guidelines every five years
thereafter.

(b) By January 1, 2020, and every five years thereafter, the
agency shall release the draft guidelines or draft updates, as
appropriate. Between the release of the draft and the establishment
of the guidelines or updates pursuant to subdivision (a), the agency
shall hold public hearings for purposes of providing an opportunity
for the public to review and provide written and oral comments
on the guidelines or updates, as appropriate.

(c) In developing the guidelines and the updates, the agency
shall establish a science advisory panel that, at a minimum, has
expertise in climate change impacts in California and state
infrastructure engineering.

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SECTION 1.  

Division 33 (commencing with Section 56000)
is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

 

Division 33.  Climate Change Building
Standards

 

56000.  

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that there exist
throughout the state many buildings and infrastructure projects
which are not capable of withstanding the effects of climate change,
that adequate standards do not exist for the development, design,
and construction of infrastructure projects that will withstand the
effects of climate change, and that it is within the public interest
to establish appropriate standards for infrastructure projects that
will withstand the effects of climate change.

(b) It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would require the California Environmental
Protection Agency, in coordination with other state agencies, to
establish appropriate standards for the development, design and
construction of infrastructure projects that will allow these projects
to withstand the effects of climate change, utilize the most
up-to-date climate science, and ensure the state’s infrastructure is
developed with an understanding of the impacts that climate change
will have on proposed projects.

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