BILL NUMBER: SB 1363	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Monning

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2016

   An act to add Sections 35630 and 35631 to the Public Resources
Code, relating to coastal resources.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1363, as introduced, Monning. Coastal resources: eelgrass
habitat.
   Existing law establishes the Ocean Protection Council and requires
the council, among other things, to coordinate activities of state
agencies that are related to the protection and conservation of
coastal waters and ocean ecosystems, and to establish policies to
coordinate the collection and sharing of scientific data related to
coastal and ocean resources among agencies.
   This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to promote restoration of eelgrass habitat in California'
s coastal environments, bays, and estuaries, based on scientific- and
evidence-based approaches.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 35630 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
   35630.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
   (a) Eelgrass ecosystems are among the most diverse and productive
ecosystems in the world, with particular importance to commercially
and recreationally valuable species like shellfish, crabs, finfish,
waterfowl, and migratory birds.
   (b) Since the 1850s, 90 percent of California's eelgrass acreage
has been destroyed, and the remaining 10 percent is continuously
exposed to multiple stressors and threats.
   (c) Scientific research has shown that eelgrass habitat provides
multiple benefits including the following:
   (1) Providing essential fish habitat for recovering salmon
populations and supporting commercial fisheries important to
California's coastal economy.
   (2) Improving water clarity by filtering polluted runoff and by
absorbing excess nutrients.
   (3) Helping to mitigate hypoxia, an abnormal deficiency of oxygen
in marine environments.
   (4) Sequestering carbon in the underlying sediments.
   (5) Protecting the shoreline from erosion by absorbing wave energy
and helping to mitigate sea level rise.
  SEC. 2.  Section 35631 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
   35631.  It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation
to promote restoration of eelgrass habitat in California's coastal
environments, bays, and estuaries, based on scientific- and
evidence-based approaches.