BILL ANALYSIS Ķ
SB 1363
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Date of Hearing: June 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
SB
1363 (Monning) - As Amended May 31, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 27-12
SUBJECT: Ocean Protection Council: Ocean Acidification and
Hypoxia Reduction Program
SUMMARY: Requires, to the extent funds are available, Ocean
Protection Council (OPC), in consultation with the Coastal
Conservancy (Conservancy), to establish and administer the Ocean
Acidification and Hypoxia Reduction Program (Program).
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes OPC, which consists of the Secretary of Natural
Resources Agency (NRA), the Secretary for Environmental
Protection, the Chair of the State Lands Commission, and two
members of the public appointed by the Governor.
2)Requires OPC to support state agencies' use and sharing of
scientific and geospatial information for coastal- and
ocean-relevant decision making relating to coastal and ocean
ecosystems, including the effects of climate change.
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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 a state Climate Adaptation Strategy (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)Pursuant to Executive Order B-30-15 (Brown), in addition to
establishing a 40% Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction
goal by 2030, requires several actions on adaptation,
including:
a) Requires NRA to update the Strategy every three years
and ensure that its provisions are fully implemented.
Requires the Strategy to:
i) Identify vulnerabilities to climate change by sector
and region, 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
reduce these risks; and,
iii) Identify a lead agency or group of agencies to lead
adaptation efforts in each sector.
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b) Requires each sector lead to prepare an implementation
plan by September 2015 to outline the actions that will be
taken as identified in the 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 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.
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5)Requires the NRA to update its climate adaptation strategy,
the Safeguarding California Plan (Plan), by July 1, 2017, and
every three years thereafter by coordinating adaption
activities among lead state agencies in each sector.
THIS BILL:
1)Establishes various findings about ocean acidification,
hypoxia, and the benefits of eelgrass.
2)Requires, to the extent funds are available, OPC, in
consultation with the Conservancy, to establish and administer
the Program to achieve the following goals:
a) Developing demonstration projects to research how
important environmental and ecological factors interact
across space and time to influence how geographically
dispersed eelgrass beds remove carbon dioxide (CO2) and
reduce hypoxia.
b) Generating an inventory of locations where conservation
or restoration of aquatic habitats, including eelgrass, can
mitigate ocean acidification and hypoxia.
c) Incorporating consideration of CO2 removal during the
habitat restoration planning process.
d) Supporting science, monitoring, and coordination to
ensure that ocean and coastal policy and management
reflects the best science on ocean acidification and
hypoxia.
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3)Authorizes OPC to provide grants or loans to be made to
private entities for projects that further public purposes
consistent with the findings in this bill or the Program.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, if funding is made available, this bill will result
in the following costs:
1)Unknown, but significant costs (special fund) to OPC, to
develop and administer the program.
2)Minor costs (special fund) to the Conservancy for
consultation.
COMMENTS:
1)Ocean Acidification. The ocean absorbs about one-third of the
CO2 that is released into the atmosphere each year from the
burning of fossil fuels and other human activities. As the
CO2 levels in the atmosphere increase, so do the levels in the
ocean. This changes the chemistry of the water and threatens
marine ecosystems and coastal communities dependent on the
health of the sea. Ocean acidification is the lowering of the
pH of the ocean and changing of the ocean's chemistry, which
can lead to low dissolved oxygen water (hypoxia) in ocean
ecosystems. Ocean acidification will likely have major
impacts on the fisheries and aquaculture industries in
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California. It could also have a profound effect on marine
ecosystems leading to large-scale die-offs and over the long
term reduced biodiversity. Record hot temperatures in the
Pacific Ocean caused by global warming and a powerful El Niņo
have fueled the worst coral bleaching event ever seen in
portions of Australia's famed Great Barrier Reef. Australia's
National Coral Bleaching Task Force has surveyed 911 coral
reefs by air, and found at least some bleaching on 93 percent
of them
The Plan includes a sector on Oceans and Coastal Resources and
Ecosystems. That sector released a sector plan that discusses
ocean acidification, but there are no specific recommendations
for legislative or executive action. On April 4, 2016, the
West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel
(Panel) released a synthesis of the current state of
scientific knowledge about ocean acidification and hypoxia in
California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. The
Panel's final report included what management options might be
used to address ocean acidification on the west coast. In the
Panel's final report, it stated, "Seagrass beds, kelps and
other macrophytes remove CO2 from seawater and convert it into
living tissue. This CO2 uptake can occur at sufficiently
rapid rates to significantly improve water quality for
organisms sensitive to carbon chemistry changes."
This bill attempts to create demonstration projects for
eelgrass beds to provide a better understanding of their
ability to reduce CO2 and mitigate ocean acidification and
hypoxia. Both this bill and AB 2139 (Williams, 2016) task OPC
with ocean acidification responsibilities. Some of those
responsibilities overlap. The authors have agreed to work
together to address those overlaps.
2)Amendments. This bill authorizes OPC to provide grants for
projects that are consistent with the findings of the bill.
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However, legislative findings are not designed to determine
eligibility for funding. The author and committee may wish to
consider amendments to remove the authorization of funding for
projects consistent with the findings and instead solely
provide that authorization for projects consistent with the
Program. The author and committee may wish to also consider
clarifying which habitat restoration planning processes should
incorporate CO2 reduction.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Audubon California
Azul
Big Sur Land Trust
Black Brant Group
Bolsa Chica Land Trust
California Coastal Protection Network
California League of Conservation Voters
California Waterfowl
Clean Water Action
Defenders of Wildlife
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Monterey Bay Aquarium
Morro Bay Oyster Company
Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association
Peninsula Open Space Trust
Ocean Conservancy
Sierra Club California
Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District
One individual
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092