BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 379|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 379
Author: Jackson (D)
Amended: 5/5/15
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FIN. COMMITTEE: 5-2, 4/15/15
AYES: Hertzberg, Beall, Hernandez, Lara, Pavley
NOES: Nguyen, Bates
SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMITTEE: 5-0, 4/29/15
AYES: Wieckowski, Hill, Jackson, Leno, Pavley
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gaines, Bates
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: Land use: general plan: safety element
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires cities and counties to review and
update their general plans safety elements to address risks
posed by climate change.
ANALYSIS: Existing law requires every county and city to adopt
a general plan with seven mandatory elements: land use,
circulation, housing, conservation, open space, noise, and
safety.
This bill requires cities and counties to review and update
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their general plans' safety elements to address climate
adaptation and resiliency strategies applicable to the city or
county. Local officials must act the next time they revise
their housing elements on or after January 1, 2017.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires cities and counties to consider the Governor's Office
of Planning and Research (OPR) General Plan Guidelines and
expands the required contents of safety elements to include:
a) A vulnerability assessment that identifies what risks
climate change poses to the local jurisdiction and the
geographic areas at risk from climate change impacts.
b) Specified information about climate change risks,
including:
i) Information from the Web-based Cal-Adapt tool;
ii) Information from the most recent version of
the California Adaptation Planning Guide;
iii) Information from local agencies on the types
of assets, resources, and populations that will be
sensitive to various climate change exposures;
iv) Information from local agencies on their
current ability to deal with the impacts of climate
change;
v) Historical data on natural events/hazards,
including locally prepared maps of areas subject to
previous risk, areas that are vulnerable, and sites that
have been repeatedly damaged;
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vi) Existing and planned development in identified
at-risk areas, including structures, roads, utilities,
and essential public facilities; and
vii) Public agencies with responsibility for the
protection of public health, safety, and the
environment.
c) Based on that information, a set of adaptation and
resilience goals, policies, and objectives for the
protection of the community from climate change risks
identified in the vulnerability assessment.
d) To carry out those goals, policies, and objectives, a
set of feasible implementation measures, including:
i) Methods to avoid or minimize climate change impacts
associated with new uses of land.
ii) The location, when feasible, of new essential
public facilities outside of at-risk areas, including
hospitals and health care facilities, emergency shelters,
emergency command centers, and emergency communications
facilities, or identifying construction methods or other
methods to minimize damage if these facilities are
located in at-risk areas.
iii) The designation of adequate infrastructure if a
new development is located in an at-risk area, including
safe access for emergency vehicles.
iv) Guidelines for working cooperatively with
relevant public agencies.
2)Allows a city or county to update its safety element by
attaching or making reference to a plan or document separate
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from the general plan that fulfills commensurate goals and
objectives and contains information required by this bill.
Background
Except for the housing elements, state law does not require
counties and cities to regularly revise their general plans.
Cities and counties' major land use decisions - subdivisions,
zoning, public works projects, use permits - must be consistent
with their general plans. Development decisions must carry out
and not obstruct a general plan's policies.
To help local officials interpret these statutory requirements,
the OPR publishes General Plan Guidelines. OPR's Guidelines
recommend the information that local planners should collect,
suggest goals, policies, and objectives that local general plans
could adopt, and list a wide range of feasible implementation
measures to carry out those local goals. OPR is expected to
release updated General Plan Guidelines later in 2015.
The Planning and Zoning Law says that the safety element's
purpose is to protect the community from unreasonable risks from
geologic hazards, flooding, and wildland and urban fires. In
2007, the Legislature expanded the safety elements' contents for
flood hazards (AB 162, Wolk, Chapter 369, Statutes of 2007).
Similarly, in 2012, the Legislature expanded the safety
elements' contents for fire risks on land classified as state
responsibility areas and very high fire hazard severity zones
(SB 1241, Kehoe, Chapter 311, Statutes of 2012). The Wolk and
Kehoe bills require safety elements to contain:
Specified information about flood hazards and fire hazards.
Based on that information, a set of comprehensive goals,
policies, and objectives to protect against unreasonable flood
risks and fire risks.
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To carry out those goals, a set of feasible implementation
measures.
In recent years, local officials have started to focus more
attention on the risks posed to communities throughout
California by the potential effects of global climate change,
including increased temperatures, sea level rise, a reduced
winter snowpack, altered precipitation patterns, and more
frequent storm events. Some recent state climate change
planning documents have suggested that local general plans
should be amended to incorporate climate change adaptation and
resilience policies.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified5/19/15)
American Planning Association, California Chapter
Audubon California
California Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation
California Fire Chiefs Association
California League of Conservation Voters
Climate Resolve
Environment California
Little Hoover Commission
Local Government Commission
Nature Conservancy
Public Health Institute Center for Climate Change and Health
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
Sierra Club
Tree People
West Marin Environmental Action Committee
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/19/15)
Building Industry Association
California Chamber of Commerce
League of California Cities
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Prepared by:Brian Weinberger / GOV. & F. / (916) 651-4119
5/20/15 15:49:20
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