BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER Senator Fran Pavley, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 2800 Hearing Date: June 14, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Quirk | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Version: |April 12, 2016 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant:|Katharine Moore | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Climate change: infrastructure planning BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW 1)Executive Order S-13-08 (Schwarzenegger), among other things, requires the Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), through the Climate Action Team, to coordinate with local, regional, state, federal and private entities to develop a state Climate Adaptation Strategy. This strategy is required to summarize the best known science on climate change impacts to the state, assess the state's vulnerability to these impacts and outline solutions to be implemented by or across state agencies to promote resiliency to these impacts. 2)Executive Order B-30-15 (Brown), in addition to establishing a 40% greenhouse gas emission reduction goal by 2030, also updated and revised the state's strategy for climate adaptation. These include, among others, that: a) The CNRA update the state's climate adaptation strategy every three years and ensure that its provisions are fully implemented. The state's strategy must identify vulnerabilities to climate change by sector and regions, as specified, outline primary risks to residents, property, communities and natural systems, identify priority actions needed to reduce these risks and identify a lead agency or group of agencies to lead adaptation efforts in each designated sector. AB 2800 (Quirk) Page 2 of ? b) Each sector's lead prepare an implementation plan by September 2015 to outline the adaptation actions taken as identified in the strategy and report back to the CNRA on these actions. c) State agencies take climate change into account in their planning and investment decisions, and use full life-cycle cost accounting to evaluate and compare infrastructure investments and alternatives. In addition, state agencies' planning and investments shall be guided by the principles of preparedness for climate change, provide flexibility and adaptive approaches for uncertain climate impacts, be protective of vulnerable populations and prioritize natural infrastructure solutions for climate change. d) The state's Five-Year Infrastructure Plan will take current and future climate change impacts into account for all infrastructure projects. e) The Office of Planning and Research establish a technical advisory group to help state agencies incorporate climate change impacts into planning and investment decisions. f) The state continues its climate change research program to understand the impacts of climate change and how best to prepare and adapt to these impacts. 3)The existing Caltrans Highway Design Manual (dated July 1, 2015) recognizes that the typical assumption for infrastructure design, which was that previously-experienced hydrology and climatology will be a good predictor of the hydrology and climatology the project experiences over its lifetime, may no longer be a valid assumption, although there is no apparent consensus on an alternative. 4)Existing law (AB 1482, Gordon, c. 603, Statutes of 2015) requires the Natural Resources Agency (CNRA), by July 1, 2017, and every three 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. Transportation is among the specified sectors. AB 2800 (Quirk) Page 3 of ? 5)Existing law (SB 246, Wieckowski, c. 606, Statutes of 2015) establishes the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program through the Office of Planning and Research to coordinate regional and local adaptation efforts with state climate adaptation strategies. This includes working with and coordinating local and regional efforts for climate adaptation and resilience. Additionally, within one year of an updated climate adaptation strategy being released, the Office of Emergency Services is directed, as specified, to update the Adaptation Planning Guide to provide tools and guidance to regional and local governments and agencies in creating and implementing climate adaptation and community resiliency plans and projects. (Public Resources Code section 71356). 6)Existing law defines infrastructure as real property, including land and improvements to the land, structures and equipment integral to the operation of structures, easements, rights-of-way and other forms of interest in property, roadways, and water conveyances. (Government Code section 13101) PROPOSED LAW This bill would establish a Climate-Safe Infrastructure Working Group (working group) with specified tasks to address how to integrate scientific data regarding projected climate change impacts into state infrastructure engineering. Specifically, 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. Require the CNRA to establish the working group by July 1, 2017 to examine how best to integrate scientific data regarding projected climate change impacts into state infrastructure engineering. Require that working group members meet one of two criteria: o Be professional engineers with relevant expertise in state infrastructure design from the Department of Water Resources, the Department of Transportation and the AB 2800 (Quirk) Page 4 of ? Department of General Resources. o Be scientists from the University of California and the California State University Systems with expertise in the impacts of climate change in the state. Require the working group to coordinate with other climate adaptation planning efforts, as specified. Ask the working group to consider and offer recommendations on the following issues: o Current barriers to the integration of projected climate change impacts to state infrastructure design, o The development of practicable guidelines for infrastructure planning and design to provide resiliency, as specified, o The identification of gaps in needed critical engineering information, as specified, o Consideration of design for multiple projected climate scenarios, and o Consideration of a platform or process to facilitate communication between infrastructure engineers and climate scientists. Require by July 1, 2018 that the working group recommend to the Legislature a process for integrating scientific knowledge of projected climate change impacts in state infrastructure design and for addressing the information gaps in a timely manner. Make appropriate and relevant findings and definitions. ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT According to the author, "[w]hile California is at the cutting edge of understanding how climate change will impact our state's population and natural systems, there is a disconnect with efforts to address these climate changes in our state's infrastructure engineering, design, and construction." AB 2800 (Quirk) Page 5 of ? "Simply put, California cannot afford to spend billions of dollars on new and upgraded infrastructure that will not be able to withstand anticipated changes to California's climate and natural systems." "To ensure that California's public infrastructure can withstand the impacts of future climate change, state engineers need to engage with climate scientists to identify the gaps in practical information that are necessary to help state employees design and construct climate-resilient infrastructure. Unfortunately, no such process currently exists to bring together state engineers and climate scientists." "AB 2800 establishes a working group composed of state professional engineers and climate scientists to develop recommendations for integrating climate change impacts into state infrastructure design and construction. [?] The working group will include state professional engineers from state agencies involved in infrastructure planning and construction, and scientists from state universities with expertise in climate change impacts." "AB 2800 will build on other adaptation efforts to begin to ensure that the state identifies and incorporates climate-safe specifications into state infrastructure in order to save lives, property, and investments." ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION None received COMMENTS This bill is double-referred to the Senate Environmental Quality Committee . Elements of the bill subject to that Committee's jurisdiction will be discussed there. There is a role for the working group . Addressing state infrastructure-specific engineering design challenges for climate change adaptation appears to be a gap in the current statutory state planning process for climate change adaptation. The author's office continues to engage with stakeholders to ensure the working group is appropriately inclusive. Technical amendments . There is some existing lack of specificity in the bill's language that may hinder the author's AB 2800 (Quirk) Page 6 of ? intent for this legislation. For example, while the bill's language refers to "professional engineers," it is unclear if that means someone employed as an engineer or an engineer holding specific technical certification. The Committee may wish to clarify this and make other similar technical and clarifying amendments regarding working group composition to the bill. [Amendment 1] The state's reports on climate adaptation strategy . Pursuant to the existing Executive Order, a California Climate Adaptation Strategy was released in 2009. The CNRA recently updated this strategy with the "Safeguarding California" report. According to the CNRA's web-site, an early 2017 update to Safeguarding California is anticipated. Information on other related state-level climate change assessments, planning tools and other activities is available on the CNRA's web-site. SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS AMENDMENT 1 On page 3, line 23: require that the working group's membership be "reasonably equitably distributed" between the two identified membership categories. On page 3, line 24: specify that "professional engineers" are those that are registered as such pursuant to Chapter 7 of Division 3 (commencing with Section 6700) of the Business and Professions Code. On page 3, line 27: add "and other relevant state agencies, as applicable" SUPPORT Union of Concerned Scientists (sponsor) American Society of Civil Engineers, Region 9 California League of Conservation Voters California Shore and Beach Preservation Association AB 2800 (Quirk) Page 7 of ? Climate Resolve Local Government Commission National Audubon Society National Parks Conservation Association Silicon Valley Leadership Group University of Southern California Sea Grant Program OPPOSITION None Received -- END --