Amended in Senate August 17, 2016

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 and repeal Section 71155 of 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, until July 1, 2020, would require state agencies to take into account the begin delete expected end delete begin insert current and future end insert impacts of climate change when planning, designing, building, begin insert operating, maintaining, end insert and investing in state infrastructure. The bill, by July 1, 2017, begin insert and until July 1, 2020, end insert 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 specified relevant expertise from the Department of Transportation, the Department of Water Resources, the Department of General Services, and other relevant state agencies; scientists with specified expertise from the University of California, the California State University, and other institutions; and licensed architects with specified relevant experience. The bill would require the working group, by July 1, 2018, to begin delete recommend end delete begin insert make specified recommendations end insert to the begin delete Legislature a process for integrating scientific knowledge of projected climate change impacts into state infrastructure design and addressing information gaps in a timely manner. end delete begin insert Legislature and the Strategic Growth Council. end insert

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 begin insert practicable end insert 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)  begin delete State end delete begin insert Consistent with this part, state end insert agencies shall
take into account the begin delete expected end delete begin insert current and future end insert impacts of
climate change when planning, designing, building, begin insert operating,
maintaining end insert 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 California, the California
State University, and other institutions who have expertise in
climate change projections and impacts across California.

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

(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.

(4) The working group shall work in coordination with other
begin insert state end insert climate adaptation planning efforts and shall consider and
build upon existing information produced by the state, begin insert including
information from the most recent California Climate Change
Assessment conducted pursuant to Executive Order S-3-05, the
plan, and the State of California Sea-Level Rise Guidance
Document completed pursuant to Executive Order S-13-08, end insert among
other resources.

begin insert

(5) The working group shall work in coordination with other
state agencies that advance sustainability in infrastructure,
including the council and the Government Operations Agency.

end insert

(c) The working group begin delete may wish to end delete begin insert shall end insert consider and begin delete offer
recommendations on end delete begin insert investigate, at a minimum, end insert the following
issues:

(1) The current begin insert informational and institutional end insert barriers to
integrating projected climate change impacts into state
infrastructure design.

begin delete

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

(3)

end delete

begin insert (2) end insert  The begin delete identification of gaps in the end delete critical information that
engineers responsible for infrastructure design and construction
need to address climate change impacts.

begin delete

(4) Consideration of the

end delete

begin insert (3) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert How to select an end insert appropriate engineering design for begin delete multiple
projected scenarios for future climate change. end delete begin insert a range of future
climate scenarios as related to infrastructure planning and
investment. end insert

begin delete

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

end delete

(d)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert By July 1, 2018, the working group shall begin delete recommend end delete
begin insert make recommendations end insert to the Legislature begin delete 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. end delete begin insert that address the issues listed in subdivision (c),
including recommendations end insert begin insert for all of the following: end insert

begin insert

(A) Integrating scientific knowledge of projected climate change
impacts into state infrastructure design.

end insert begin insert

(B) Addressing critical information gaps identified by the
working group.

end insert begin insert

(C) A platform or process to facilitate communication between
climate scientists and infrastructure engineers.

end insert begin insert

(2) By July 1, 2018, the recommendations submitted pursuant
to paragraph (1) also shall be submitted to the council to inform
its review, conducted pursuant to Section 75125, of the five-year
infrastructure plan developed pursuant to Article 2 (commencing
with Section 13100) of Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 3 of Title
2 of the Government Code.

end insert begin delete

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

end delete begin delete

(f)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  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.