BILL ANALYSIS Ķ
SB 1363
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
1363 (Monning)
As Amended August 15, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 27-12
------------------------------------------------------------------
|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Natural |8-0 |Williams, Cristina | |
|Resources | |Garcia, Gomez, | |
| | |Hadley, Harper, | |
| | |McCarty, Mark Stone, | |
| | |Wood | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |11-2 |Gonzalez, Bloom, |Chang, Obernolte |
| | |Bonilla, Bonta, | |
| | |Eggman, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Weber, Wood, McCarty | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
SB 1363
Page 2
------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Requires, to the extent funds are available, the Ocean
Protection Council (OPC), in consultation with the Coastal
Conservancy (Conservancy), to establish and administer the Ocean
Acidification and Hypoxia Reduction Program (Program).
Specifically, this bill:
1)Establishes various findings about ocean acidification,
hypoxia, and the benefits of eelgrass.
2)Requires, to the extent funds are available, 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 for
eelgrass restoration projects 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.
SB 1363
Page 3
3)Authorizes OPC to provide grants or loans to be made to
private entities for projects that further public purposes
consistent with the 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.
3)Requires the Natural Resource Agency 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.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Unknown, significant cost pressures, likely in the tens of
millions of dollars or more, to fund the goals of the program
and provide grants or loans to private entities (General Fund
(GF) or special fund).
SB 1363
Page 4
2)Unknown, potentially significant costs for OPC to develop and
administer the program (GF or special fund.) However, OPC is
only required to develop and administer the program to the
extent funds are available.
3)Minor costs to the Conservancy (special fund) for
consultation.
COMMENTS: 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 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% 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
SB 1363
Page 5
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."
Analysis Prepared by:
Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0004084