Amended in Senate June 16, 2016

Amended in Assembly April 12, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 18, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2800

Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk

February 19, 2016

An act to add Section 71155 to the Public Resources Code, relating to climate change.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2800, as amended, Quirk. Climate change: infrastructure planning.

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.

This bill would require state agencies to take into account the expected impacts of climate change when planning, designing, building, and investing in state infrastructure. The bill, by July 1, 2017, would require the agency to establish a Climate-Safe Infrastructure Working Group for the purpose of examining how to integrate scientific data concerning projected climate change impacts into state infrastructure engineering, as prescribed. The bill would require the working group to consist of begin insert registered end insert professional engineers with relevant expertise from the Department of Transportation, the Department of Water Resources, begin delete and end delete the Department of General begin delete Services end delete begin insert Services, and other relevant state agencies end insert and scientists with certain expertise from the University of California and the California State University systems. The begin delete bill, by July 1, 2018, end delete begin insert bill end insert would require the working begin delete group end delete begin insert group, by July 1, 2018, end insert to recommend to the Legislature a process for integrating scientific knowledge of projected climate change impacts into state infrastructure design and addressing information gaps in a timely manner.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

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

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) The impacts of climate change are already being felt in
California and include record-breaking drought, wildfires, flooding,
sea level rise, coastal erosion, and heat waves. These impacts are
projected to worsen with a future punctuated by what are now
considered extreme weather events.

(b) As the climate warms, California will need to design and
maintain infrastructure, including, but not limited to, roads, bridges,
buildings, and water systems, to withstand increasingly severe
impacts.

(c) The scientific community is developing sound scientific
understanding of projected impacts from climate change. The
engineers responsible for overseeing, designing, and building state
infrastructure must consider the influence of climate change
impacts on siting and design standards and specifications.

(d) As California spends billions of dollars on infrastructure,
expecting it to last many decades, state engineers should be
provided with information on projected climate change impacts
that they should consider when establishing standards and planning
and designing structures that are critical to California’s economy
and public safety.

(e) Prolonged heat waves, extreme precipitation events, severe
drought, increasing wildfires, and other potentially dangerous
climate change impacts will require significant changes in
designing and building projects, such as roads, bridges, buildings,
and water infrastructure, and require planning for the resilience
and restoration of natural systems.

(f) There is a significant body of climate science being
developed and continually updated to inform decisionmakers and
provide guidance on the predicted impacts. Infrastructure project
planning and design must incorporate design standards and
specifications for climate change impacts.

(g) Due to Executive Order B-30-15, current efforts by state
agencies provide built-in resources, processes, and expertise that
can be utilized to provide coordination between scientists and those
responsible for designing, building, and overseeing critical state
infrastructure.

SEC. 2.  

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

71155.  

(a) State agencies shall take into account the expected
impacts of climate change when planning, designing, building,
and investing in state infrastructure.

(b) (1) By July 1, 2017, the agency shall establish a
Climate-Safe Infrastructure Working Group for the purpose of
examining how to integrate scientific data concerning projected
climate change impacts into state infrastructure engineering,
including oversight, investment, design, and construction.

(2) The working group shall consist of the following:

(A) Professional engineers begin insert registered in accordance with
Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 6700) of Division 3 of the
Business and Professions Code end insert with relevant expertise in state
infrastructure design from the Department of Transportation, the
Department of Water Resources, begin delete and end delete the Department of General

begin delete Services. end delete begin insert Services, and other relevant state agencies, as applicable. end insert

(B) Scientists from the University of California and the
California State University systems with expertise in climate
change impacts in California, including scientists who produce
publicly available climate data concerning California and its
regions.

begin insert

(3) Membership of the working group shall be reasonably and
equitably distributed between the groups specified in paragraph
(2).

end insert begin delete

(3)

end delete

begin insert (4) end insert  The working group shall work in coordination with other
climate adaptation planning efforts and shall consider and build
upon existing information produced by the state, among other
resources.

(c) The working group may wish to consider and offer
recommendations on the following issues:

(1) The current barriers to integrating projected climate change
impacts into state infrastructure design.

(2) The development of practicable guidelines for planning and
designing infrastructure that is more resilient to the expected
impacts of climate change.

(3) The identification of gaps in the critical information that
engineers responsible for infrastructure design and construction
need to address climate change impacts.

(4) Consideration of the appropriate engineering design for
multiple projected scenarios for future climate change.

(5) Consideration of a platform or process to facilitate
communication between climate scientists and infrastructure
engineers.

(d) By July 1, 2018, the working group shall recommend to the
Legislature a process for integrating scientific knowledge of
projected climate change impacts into state infrastructure design
and for addressing the information gaps in a timely manner.

(e) For the purposes of this section, “infrastructure” has the
same meaning as defined in Section 13101 of the Government
Code.