BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 246
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Date of Hearing: July 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
SB
246 (Wieckowski) - As Amended July 1, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 26-11
SUBJECT: Climate change adaptation.
SUMMARY: Establishes the Climate Adaptation and Resiliency
Program (Program) to be administered by the Office of Planning
and Research (OPR) to coordinate state, regional, and local
agency efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Alters
the state agencies with the responsibility for updating the
state's climate adaptation strategy and adaptation planning
guide (Guide).
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes 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.
2)Requires, pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions
Act (AB 32), the Air Resources Board (ARB) to adopt a
statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limit equivalent to
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1990 levels by 2020 and to adopt rules and regulations to
achieve maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective
GHG emission reductions.
3)Pursuant to Executive Order S-13-08 (Schwarzenegger), requires
NRA, through the Climate Action Team, to coordinate with
local, regional, state, federal, and private entities to
develop, by 2009, a state Climate Adaptation Strategy.
Requires the strategy to summarize the best known science on
climate change impacts to California, assess California's
vulnerability to the identified impacts, and outline solutions
that can be implemented within and across state agencies to
promote resiliency.
4)Requires OPR and NRA to periodically update the guidelines for
the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions or the effects of
GHG emissions as required by the California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA), including, but not limited to, effects
associated with transportation or energy consumption, and to
incorporate new information or criteria established by ARB
pursuant to AB 32.
5)Pursuant to Executive Order B-30-15 (Brown), in addition to
establishing a 40% GHG emission reduction goal by 2030,
requires several actions on adaptation including:
a) Requires NRA to update every three years the state's
climate adaptation strategy and ensure that its provisions
are fully implemented. Requires the state's climate
adaptation strategy to:
i) Identify vulnerabilities to climate change by sector
and regions, including, at a minimum, the following
sectors: water, energy, transportation, public health,
agriculture, emergency services, forestry, biodiversity
and habitat, and ocean and coastal resources;
ii) Outline primary risks to residents, property,
communities, and natural systems from these
vulnerabilities, and identify priority actions needed to
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reduce these risks; and,
iii) Identify a lead agency or group of agencies to lead
adaptation efforts in each sector.
b) Requires each sector lead to prepare an implementation
plan by September 2015 to outline the actions that will be
taken as identified in state's climate adaptation strategy,
and report back on those actions to the NRA.
c) Requires state agencies to take climate change into
account in their planning and investment decisions, and
employ full life-cycle cost accounting to evaluate and
compare infrastructure investments and alternatives.
d) Requires state agencies' planning and investment to be
guided by the principles of climate preparedness,
flexibility and adaptive approaches for uncertain climate
impacts, protective of vulnerable populations, and
prioritization of natural infrastructure solutions.
e) Requires the state's Five-Year Infrastructure Plan to
take current and future climate change impacts into account
in all infrastructure projects.
f) Requires OPR to establish a technical, advisory group to
help state agencies incorporate climate change impacts into
planning and investment decisions.
g) Requires the state to continue its rigorous climate
change research program focused on understanding the
impacts of climate change and how best to prepare and adapt
to such impacts.
THIS BILL:
1)Establishes, no later than January 1, 2017, the Program to be
administered by OPR to coordinate state, regional, and local
agency efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Requires the Program to include:
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a) Assistance to state agencies in coordinating, planning
and preparation of regular updates to the state's Climate
Adaptation Strategy;
b) Assistance to relevant state agencies and public and
private entities to create regular updates to the Guide;
and,
c) Coordination and maintenance of the state's
clearinghouse for climate adaptation information.
2)Requires, no later than January 1, 2019, and every three years
thereafter, the California Environmental Protection Agency
(CalEPA), NRA, and OPR to update the state's Climate
Adaptation Strategy, for which the first update was titled
Safeguarding California: Reducing Climate Risk, to incorporate
advances in climate science and risk management options
regarding regional and statewide climate change impacts and
vulnerabilities and recommended adaptation strategies.
3)Requires, no later than January 1, 2018, and every three years
thereafter, OPR to update the 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. Requires the Guide updates to
include, at a minimum, all of the following:
a) Information concerning funding opportunities for
adaptation research, planning, and projects;
b) Regionally prioritized best-practice adaptation projects
that, where appropriate, integrate efforts to reduce GHG
emissions across the state;
c) Recommended metrics and indicators to track the progress
and success of adaptation efforts locally, regionally, and
statewide;
d) Adaptation planning templates for use by local
governments and regional collaboratives; and,
e) Guidelines for coordinating adaptation activities among
state and local governments and regional collaboratives.
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4)Establishes an advisory council to OPR. Specifies the advisory
council will be comprised of 15 members from a range of
disciplines in order to provide scientific and technical
support, as well as regional and local perspectives, to
support OPR adaptation work. Specifies five members will be
appointed the Governor, five members will be appointed by the
Speaker of the Assembly, and five members will be appointed by
the Senate Committee on Rules.
5)Requires OPR to establish a clearinghouse for climate
adaptation information for use by state, regional, and local
entities. Requires the clearinghouse to include a collection
of the best-available science, projections, models, and
vulnerability assessments of climate change impacts throughout
the state at statewide, regional, and local levels for both
near-term and longer term timescales, including year 2050 and
year 2100 projections. Requires the clearinghouse to include
tools and a library to provide the best available data and
best adaptation practices.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Adaptation. According to the United States Environmental
Protection Agency, "adaptation is the adjustments that society
or ecosystems make to limit negative effects of climate
change. It can also include taking advantage of opportunities
that a changing climate provides." In 2009, the NRA described
adaptation as a relatively new concept in California policy
and stated the term means, "efforts that respond to the
impacts of climate change - adjustments in natural or human
systems to actual or expected climate changes to minimize harm
or take advantage of beneficial opportunities."
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California's adaptation efforts can be traced back to 2008,
when Governor Schwarzenegger ordered the NRA, through the
Climate Action Team (CAT), to coordinate with local, regional,
state, federal, public and private entities to develop, by
2009, the state's Climate Adaptation Strategy. The Governor
Schwarzenegger's Executive Order required the strategy to
summarize the best known science on climate change impacts for
California, assess California's vulnerability to the
identified impacts, and outline solutions that can be
implemented within and across state agencies to promote
resiliency. As a result, NRA drafted The 2009 California
Climate Adaptation Strategy. The state's Climate Adaptation
Strategy represents the work of seven sector-specific working
groups led by 12 state agencies, boards, and commissions, and
numerous stakeholders. The state's Climate Adaptation
Strategy proposes a comprehensive set of recommendations
designed to inform and guide California decision makers as
they begin to develop policies that will protect the state,
its residents, and its resources from a range of climate
change impacts. In July of 2014, NRA released an update to the
2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy Safeguarding
California: Reducing Climate Risk.
Climate risks in California include sea level rise, changes in
precipitation that increase the risk of both drought and
flooding, and increases in temperatures that can affect air
quality and habitat. California is responding to these risks
through various efforts including the recently passed Water
Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014
(Proposition 1), which has several pots of funding for
responding to drought conditions or flooding brought by
climate change and dealing with sea level rise. Of the over
$7 billion allocated in the bond, $3.6 billion could be spent
on projects that deal in some way with adaptation.
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In addition, the Coastal Commission (Commission) has been
working with coastal zone local governments to update their
local coastal programs to address shoreline hazards and sea
level rise. The Commission has also released a Draft Sea-Level
Rise Policy Guidance document that provides an overview of
best available science on sea-level rise for California and
recommended steps for addressing sea-level rise in Commission
planning and regulatory actions. This will help coastal local
governments to make planning decisions that will take into
account sea level rise and identify infrastructure and
property that is at risk.
2)State Efforts. On February 25, 2015, The Senate Environmental
Quality Committee held an informational hearing entitled,
"California's Adaptation Efforts to Climate Change Impacts of
Environmental Quality and Public Health." In the hearing, four
different cabinet Secretaries presented how climate impacts
affect the work at their agencies. In addition, regional
collaboratives and a representative from local governments
testified. At a subsequent hearing in the Bay Area on May 29,
2015 the committee heard about regional efforts.
During the hearings, regional and local leaders stressed the
importance of the following:
a) Sustainable funding;
b) Actionable, prioritized implementation standards for
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adaptation projects;
c) More guidance from the state on climate adaptation
priorities among state, regional, and local bodies;
d) Improved communication among levels of government and
more opportunities for input at the state level from
regions and locals; and,
e) A centralization/hub of resources and data for use by
all stakeholders to avoid duplication of efforts by
regional and local entities.
According to the author, SB 246 attempts to capture that
feedback and provide a coordinated, comprehensive approach for
adapting to the impacts of climate change. However, the
approach SB 246 takes differs from the Governor's executive
order by moving some responsibilities from NRA to OPR and by
spreading the responsibilities to other agencies such as for
the update for California Climate Adaptation Strategy.
According to the author's office:
The NRA has successfully worked with multiple agencies
and coordination bodies, including the CAT and
Strategic Growth Council (SGC), to coordinate the
Safeguarding California Plan. While there has been
extensive research and guidance preparation, there
have been concerns that much still remains to be done
in aligning and implementing adaptation
recommendations across the state. As well, regional
and local stakeholders have expressed concern that the
state agencies and document preparation processes are
very insular. OPR is a noted exception, often engaged
by local entities and established in statute as the
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comprehensive state planning agency that shall engage
in the formulation, evaluation, and updating of
long-range goals, assisting state, regional, and local
agencies in a variety of research and planning
efforts. By specifying that OPR help coordinate the
Safeguarding Plan and tasking the office with more
responsibility for coordinating adaptation activities
that connect state, regional, and local efforts, SB
246 works to address issues beyond state agency
coordination to establish a comprehensive adaptation
planning effort across levels of government.
It is important to consider that adapting to changing
climate may go beyond the scope of NRA's expertise when
the impacts from climate change fall out of the
jurisdiction of the Agency or when they manifest on the
local or regional level. The most common impacts that
come to mind when thinking of climate change are drought,
flooding, fires, and sea level rise, which are in NRA's
scope of expertise. However, impacts to air quality,
water quality, public health, and agriculture are not.
OPR is part of the Governor's Office that oversees all
the different state government agencies, and through its
role in CEQA, deals with local governments on a constant
basis. At this committee's April 27 hearing, AB 1482 was
heard. AB 1482 has a different, but overlapping approach
to developing the state's adaptation policy. The authors
of these measures have agreed to attempt to reconcile
their legislation. A path forward could be to recognize
the importance of adaptation to NRA while enhancing the
role of OPR to assist overseeing the state's role and
provide guidance and assistance to local and regional
entities. In addition, the SGC could be utilized to
provide assistance and funding to improve adaptation
efforts.
3)Safeguarding California Plan. Safeguarding California
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Plan is the 343-page update to The 2009 California
Climate Adaptation Strategy. The update states it,
"presents a call to action to address climate risks that
threaten the state's people, economy, infrastructure and
natural resources. Climate impacts are already
manifesting in California, and strong state leadership is
critical in order to safeguard our communities." However,
it is unclear what risks California is most vulnerable to
and which risks should be prioritized because they pose
the greatest threat to the state. This bill, AB 1482, and
the Governor's executive order all call for updates to
state's Climate Adaptation Strategy every three years.
This bill requires CalEPA , OPR and NRA to be all be the
lead on this update. AB 1482 and the executive order both
place the responsibility with NRA. It may be appropriate
to direct whomever is leading the update to prioritize
what risks and vulnerabilities the state is least
prepared for and poses the greatest threat to help focus
attention on those areas.
4)Related legislation.
AB 1482 (Gordon) codifies a portion of Governor Brown's
Executive Order. The bill also requires the NRA to assess and
coordinate across all state departments and agencies identify
opportunities that increase the ability for state and local
infrastructure, people, and habitat, and wildlife to adapt to
the impacts of climate change. This bill is awaiting hearing in
the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 317 (De Leon) enacts the Safe Neighborhood Parks, Rivers, and
Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2016, which among other things
would allocate $100 million to the SGC for grants to develop or
implement a regional or local greenprint or climate adaptation
plan, or add climate adaption to a general plan, and for the
protection of agricultural and open-space resources that support
adopted sustainable communities strategies. This bill is on
third reading on the Senate Floor.
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SB 379 (Jackson) requires cities and counties to review and
update their general plans' safety elements to address risks
posed by climate change. This bill is awaiting hearing in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Audubon California
California Climate & Agricultural Network
California League of Conservation Voters
Capitol Region Climate Readiness Collaborative
Center for Climate Change and Health
Center for Climate Protection
Climate Resolve
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Coalition for Clean Air
Defenders of Wildlife
Environment California
Friends of the River
Little Hoover Commission
Local Government Commission
Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California
Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District
Sierra Business Council
Sierra Club California
The Nature Conservancy
TreePeople
Opposition
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092