BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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Date of Hearing: June 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
SB
1386 (Wolk) - As Amended May 2, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 26-7
SUBJECT: Resource conservation: working and natural lands
SUMMARY: Declares it to be the policy of the state that the
protection and management of natural and working lands is a key
strategy in meeting the state's greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction
goals.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires, pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions
Act [AB 32 (Núñez), Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006], the Air
Resources Board (ARB) to adopt a statewide GHG emissions limit
equivalent to 1990 levels by 2020 and to adopt rules and
regulations to achieve maximum technologically feasible and
cost-effective GHG emission reductions.
2)Pursuant to Executive Order S-13-08 (Schwarzenegger), requires
Natural Resources Agency (NRA), through the Climate Action
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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.
3)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 the state's climate adaptation
strategy every three years 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
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,
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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 Office of Planning and Research (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.
4)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
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activities among lead state agencies in each sector.
THIS BILL:
1)Declares it to be the policy of the state that the protection
and management of natural and working lands, as defined, is a
key strategy in meeting the state's GHG reduction goals.
2)Requires all relevant state agencies, departments, boards, and
commissions to consider this policy when revising, adopting,
or establishing policies, regulations, expenditures, or grant
criteria relating to the protection and management of natural
and working lands.
3)Defines "working lands" to mean lands used for farming,
grazing, or forest production purposes.
4)Defines "natural lands" to means lands consisting of wetlands,
watersheds, wildlands, wildlife habitat, or used for
recreational purposes.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, minor and absorbable costs to impacted state
entities.
COMMENTS:
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1)Author's statement:
The conservation and management of natural and working
lands is a key strategy in California's ongoing efforts to
meet its climate change goals given these sectors'
significant potential for removing carbon from the air and
storing-or sequestering-that carbon in above and
below-ground matter. Other strategies include reducing
petroleum use in cars and trucks by up to 50 percent and
reducing short-lived climate pollutants. The California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, California
Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Department of
Food and Agriculture, California Strategic Growth Council,
and other state bodies have programs in place to undertake
carbon sequestration on natural and working lands using
GGRF dollars.
However, despite the enormous sequestration potential, the
protection and management of natural and working lands is
not codified as a state policy that would last beyond this
Administration. Moreover, programs that oversee projects
involving the management of natural and working lands to
reduce carbon emissions struggle to receive appropriations
and attention.
This bill would codify as state policy California's
strategy to protect and manage natural and working lands as
a key part of the effort to achieve our climate change
goals.
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In doing so, SB 1386 will better enable agencies to
prioritize the conservation and management of natural and
working lands to maximize their carbon sequestration value,
including promoting carbon sequestration projects,
furthering California's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and providing important additional public
benefits such as the protection and enhancement of wildlife
habitat, parks and open space; recreational and economic
opportunities; production of food and fiber; improvement of
air and water quality; and flood protection.
2)Natural and Working Lands. Three-quarters of California's
landmass is comprised of biologically diverse landscapes such
as forests, woodlands, shrublands, grasslands and wetlands.
These lands can be a major source of sequestration through
capturing carbon in soils, plants, and trees. They can also
be a source of GHG emissions when drought, disease, wildfires,
soil disturbances, conversion, and harvests occur. Through
preservation and management, natural and working lands can
provide significant GHG reductions. Natural and working lands
are also susceptible to climate change impacts of sea level
rise, drought, and increased temperatures.
ARB has recognized the importance of natural and working lands
in meeting the state's GHG reduction targets. In the 2013
Scoping Plan update, ARB included a sector on natural and
working lands and a sector on agriculture. These sectors lay
out opportunities and challenges for reducing GHG emissions in
those sectors. The Scoping Plan also put forth recommended
actions including the development of the Forest Climate Plan.
The Scoping Plan update identifies funding as critical to
address the needs in the natural and working lands sector.
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Listed below are the GGRF funding that these sectors have
received to date:
a) Agricultural Energy and Operational Efficiency,
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), $75 million;
b) Water-Energy Efficiency, Department of Water Resources
(DWR), $75 million;
c) Wetlands and Watershed Restoration, Department of Fish
and Wildlife (DFW), $27 million;
d) Urban Forestry, Forest Health Restoration, and
Reforestation, Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(CAL FIRE), $42 million; and,
e) Waste Diversion, Department of Resources Recycling and
Recovery (CalRecycle), $31 million.
AB 1482 (Gordon), Chapter 603, Statutes of 2015, requires
state agencies to maximize, where applicable and feasible,
objectives that included promoting the use of natural systems,
natural infrastructure, flood plain and wetlands restoration
or preservation, urban greening, wildlife corridors, and
healthy soils and sustainable agriculture to deal with climate
change impacts and adaptation. However, much needs to be done
to properly manage our natural and working lands to meet our
GHG goals and adapt to climate impacts.
3)This bill. In Governor Brown's 2015 inaugural address, he
noted that the management of natural and working land was one
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of his key strategies to reduce GHG emissions to meet the
state's GHG reduction goals. This bill puts that policy into
statute and directs all relevant state agencies to consider
that policy when doing regulations, policy, or funding
projects. By doing this, the author and sponsor hope to
increase the priority and funding of this policy at the
relevant state agencies. The author and committee may wish to
consider amending the bill to require all state agencies not
just the relevant one to consider these polices and to also
consider the co-benefit the protection and management of
natural and working lands provide. The author and committee
may also wish to consider amending the bill further defining
natural lands and add coauthors.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Defenders of Wildlife (sponsor)
Audubon California
California Central Valley Flood Control Association
California Climate & Agriculture Network
California ReLeaf
California State Parks Foundation
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California Tahoe Alliance
Carbon Cycle Institute
Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
East Bay Regional Park District
Endangered Habitats League
Environment California
Greenbelt Alliance
Institute for Ecological Health
Lutheran Office of Public Policy - California
Mono Lake Committee
Mountain Recreation & Conservation Authority
Ocean Conservancy
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Pacific Forest Trust
San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District
Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority
Save the Redwoods League
Sierra Business Council
Sierra Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Partnership
Sierra Club California
Sierra Foothill Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy
The Trust for Public Land
Yolo County Board of Supervisors
Opposition
California Apartment Association
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California Building Industry Association
California Business Properties Association
Analysis Prepared by:Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092