Amended in Senate August 2, 2016

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 begin insert and repeal end insert Section 71155 begin delete to end delete begin insert of end insert 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 begin delete bill end delete begin insert bill, until July 1, 2020, end insert 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 registered professional engineers with begin insert specified end insert relevant expertise from the Department of Transportation, the Department of Water Resources, the Department of General Services, and other relevant state begin delete agencies and end delete begin insert agencies; end insert scientists with begin delete certain end delete begin insert specified end insert expertise from the University of begin delete California and end delete begin insert California, end insert the California State begin delete University systems. end delete begin insert University, and other institutions; and licensed architects with specified relevant experience. end insert The bill would require the working group, by July 1, 2018, 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 registered in accordance with Chapter
7 (commencing with Section 6700) of Division 3 of the Business
and Professions Code with relevant expertise in state infrastructure
design from the Department of Transportation, the Department of
Water Resources, the Department of General Services, and other
relevant state agencies, as applicable.

(B) Scientists from the University of begin delete California and end delete begin insert California, end insert
the California State begin delete University systems with end delete begin insert University, and other
institutions who have end insert expertise in climate change begin insert projections and end insert
impacts begin delete in California, including scientists who produce publicly
available climate data concerning California and its regions. end delete begin insert across
California. end insert

begin delete

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

end delete begin insert

(C) Licensed architects with relevant experience in state
infrastructure design, as applicable.

end insert begin insert

(3) The two groups specified in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of
paragraph (2) shall be equitably represented in the membership
of the working group, to the extent reasonable and appropriate.

end insert

(4) 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.

begin insert

(f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2020, and,
as of January 1, 2021, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2021, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

end insert