BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2800|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2800
Author: Quirk (D)
Amended: 8/2/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 7-2, 6/14/16
AYES: Pavley, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson, Monning, Wolk
NOES: Stone, Vidak
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 6-1, 6/29/16
AYES: Wieckowski, Bates, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NOES: Gaines
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 6-1, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
NOES: Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 59-19, 6/1/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Climate change: infrastructure planning
SOURCE: Union of Concerned Scientists
DIGEST: This bill requires the California Natural Resources
Agency to establish a Climate-Safe Infrastructure Working Group
by July 1, 2017 to examine how to integrate scientific data
concerning projected climate change impacts into state
infrastructure engineering.
ANALYSIS:
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Existing law:
1)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.
2)Establishes the Governor's Office of Planning and Research
(OPR) as the comprehensive state planning agency and requires
OPR to assist state, regional, and local agencies in a variety
of research and planning efforts, including climate
adaptation.
a) There is an advisory council to OPR comprised of members
from a range of scientific and technical disciplines with
expertise in the intersection of climate change and various
sectors.
b) The Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program
coordinates regional and local adaptation efforts with
state climate adaptation strategies and programs. This
includes:
i) Working with and coordinating local and regional
efforts for climate adaptation and resilience, and
ii) Coordinating and maintain the state's clearinghouse
of certain climate resources, as specified.
3)Establishes the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) and
requires it, 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,
priority actions needed to reduce the risks in those sectors
and identify a lead agency or group of agencies to lead
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adaptation efforts in each sector. Transportation is among
the specified sectors. Actions taken to implement the
strategy are required to be reported to the CNRA.
4)Establishes the Office of Emergency Services and directs it,
as specified, to update the Adaptation Planning Guide, within
one year of an updated climate adaptation strategy being
released. The guide provides tools and guidance to regional
and local governments and agencies in creating and
implementing climate adaptation and community resiliency plans
and projects.
5)Requires that state agencies work to maximize, where
applicable and feasible, educating the public about the
consequences of climate change; ensuring there is a continuous
repository for scientific data on climate change and
adaptation to help identify climate change risks and
facilitate educated state and local policy decisions.
6)Establishes the Strategic Growth Council and requires it to
identify and review activities and funding programs of state
agencies that may be coordinated to address, among other
goals, the strategies and priorities developed in the climate
adaptation plan.
This bill establishes 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. Specially, this
bill:
1)Requires state agencies to take into account the expected
impacts of climate change when planning, designing, building,
and investing in state infrastructure.
2)Requires, by July 1, 2017, the CNRA establish a Climate-Safe
Infrastructure Working Group (working group) to determine how
to integrate scientific data about projected climate change
impacts into state infrastructure engineering, as specified.
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3)Requires the working group include the following members with
relevant experience and/or expertise, as specified:
a) Professional engineers from Caltrans, the Department of
Water Resources, the Department of General Services and
other state agencies, as applicable.
b) Scientists from the University of California and
California State University and other California-based
institutions.
c) Licensed architects.
4)Specifies the working group membership be equitably
distributed among the membership categories, as specified,
shall work in coordination with other planning efforts and
build upon existing available information.
5)Requires the working should consider and make recommendations
on:
a) Barriers between integrating projected climate change
impacts and state infrastructure design,
b) The development of guidelines for infrastructure
planning and design that are climate-resilient,
c) Identification of relevant critical information gaps,
d) Appropriate engineering design for different climate
scenarios,
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e) The facilitation of communication between climate
scientists and infrastructure engineers.
6)By July 1, 2018 the working group will report back to the
Legislature on a process to integrate climate science and
projected climate change impacts into state infrastructure
design and for addressing information gaps.
7)Sunsets on July 1, 2020, as specified.
8)Makes appropriate and relevant legislative findings.
Background
Administration policies regarding climate change adaptation.
Executive Order S-13-08 (Schwarzenegger), among other things,
requires the 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.
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:
1)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.
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2)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.
3)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.
4)The state's Five-Year Infrastructure Plan will take current
and future climate change impacts into account for all
infrastructure projects.
5) The Office of Planning and Research establish a technical
advisory group to help state agencies incorporate climate
change impacts into planning and investment decisions.
6)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.
The Legislature passed three laws, AB 1482 (Gordon, Chapter 603,
Statutes of 2015), SB 246 (Wieckowski, Chapter 606, Statutes of
2015), and SB 379 (Jackson, Chapter 608, Statutes of 2015) that
build on this Executive Order in various ways to strengthen and
codify several climate adaptation efforts within the state.
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.
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
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strategy with the Safeguarding California reports. 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.
Comments
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 coordination requirement with other climate adaptation
planning efforts should help to avoid duplication of efforts
given the multiple climate adaptation planning efforts currently
underway.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis, the
costs associated with this bill are as follows:
1)Approximately $150,000 to the CNRA (General Fund) for staff
and contracting costs.
2)Unknown costs, likely absorbable, for the state agency members
of the working group (Department of Transportation, Department
of Water Resources, and Department of General Services).
3)Unknown costs, likely absorbable, for the California State
University and University of California to participate on the
working group.
4)Absorbable costs for state agencies to account for the impacts
of climate change when investing in state infrastructure. The
recommendations provided by the working group may provide cost
savings for state agencies' plans and projects.
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SUPPORT: (Verified8/11/16)
Union of Concerned Scientists (source)
American Institute of Architects, California Council
American Society of Civil Engineers, Region 9
California League of Conservation Voters
California Shore and Beach Preservation Association
Climate Resolve
Environment California
Environmental Defense Fund
Local Government Commission
National Audubon Society
National Parks Conservation Association
Natural Resources Defense Council
Professional Engineers in California Government
Sierra Club California
Silicon Valley Leadership Group
University of Southern California Sea Grant Program
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/11/16)
None received
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."
"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
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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."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 59-19, 6/1/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez,
Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman,
Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Levine, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell,
Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,
Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Travis Allen, Bigelow, Brough, Chang, Dahle, Beth Gaines,
Gallagher, Grove, Harper, Jones, Kim, Mathis, Mayes,
Obernolte, Olsen, Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron
NO VOTE RECORDED: Linder, Melendez
Prepared by:Katharine Moore / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
8/15/16 20:50:28
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