Bill Text: CA AB1482 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Enrolled

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Climate adaptation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 603, Statutes of 2015. [AB1482 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB1482-Enrolled.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1482	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  SEPTEMBER 8, 2015
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  SEPTEMBER 9, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 9, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 16, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 5, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 20, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gordon
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bloom, Rendon, and Mark Stone)

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to amend Section 75125 of, and to add Part 3.7 (commencing
with Section 71150) to Division 34 of, the Public Resources Code,
relating to climate change.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1482, Gordon.  Climate adaptation.
   Existing law establishes the Natural Resources Agency, comprised
of departments, boards, conservancies, and commissions responsible
for the restoration, protection, and management of the state's
natural and cultural resources.
   Existing law establishes the Strategic Growth Council in state
government and assigns to the council certain duties, including
providing, funding, and distributing data and information to local
governments and regional agencies that will assist in the development
and planning of sustainable communities.
   This bill would require the agency, by July 1, 2017, and every 3
years thereafter, to update the state's climate adaptation strategy,
as provided. The bill would require the agency, by January 1, 2017,
and every 3 years thereafter, to release a draft climate adaptation
strategy, as provided. The bill would require state agencies to
maximize specified objectives, including, among others, promoting the
use of the climate adaptation strategy to inform planning decisions
and ensure that state investments consider climate change impacts, as
well as promote the use of natural systems and natural
infrastructure, as defined, when developing physical infrastructure
to address adaptation.
   This bill also would expand the duties of the council to include
identifying and reviewing the activities and funding programs of all
state agencies, instead of only the state agencies that are members
of the council, to coordinate specified state objectives, including,
among others, meeting the goals of the state's climate adaptation
strategy.


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

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) California's climate is changing, posing an escalated threat
to public health, the environment, the economy, and public and
private property in the state. The increasing frequency of extreme
weather events, including floods and heat waves, fires, rising sea
levels, and changes in hydrology, including diminishing snowpacks and
more frequent droughts, among other climate change impacts, will
affect every part of residents' lives in the next century and beyond.
Planning appropriately for these impacts will help us be better
prepared for the future.
   (b) The impacts of climate change, including longer droughts,
extended floods, prolonged fire seasons with larger and more intense
fires, heat waves, and sea level rise, are already creating
challenges for public health and safety and causing destructive
property damage.
   (c) Climate change poses a threat not just to the lives and health
of residents but also to the state's economy and to the financial
health of our local governments.
   (d) According to the Natural Resources Agency's report,
"Safeguarding California: Reducing Climate Risk," state-of-the-art
modeling shows that a single extreme winter storm in California could
cost on the order of $725,000,000,000, including total direct
property losses of nearly $400,000,000,000 and devastating impacts to
residents, the economy, and natural resources.
   (e) Adapting to climate change, in addition to reducing the
impacts of climate change on California's natural resources and
infrastructure, is essential to protecting the state's environment
and economy over time and will require coordination across all state
departments and agencies.
   (f) Given the potential impacts and the long-term nature of
effective planning, California needs to take action now.
  SEC. 2.  Part 3.7 (commencing with Section 71150) is added to
Division 34 of the Public Resources Code, to read:

      PART 3.7.  Climate Change and Climate Adaptation


   71150.  For purposes of this part, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (a) "Agency" means the Natural Resources Agency.
   (b) "Council" means the Strategic Growth Council.
   (c) "Plan" means the Safeguarding California Plan.
   71152.  It is the intent of the Legislature to prioritize the
state's response to the impacts resulting from climate change by
ensuring all state departments and agencies prepare for and are ready
to respond to the impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather
events, the urban heat island effect, habitat loss, wildfire,
sea-level rise, and drought. It also is the intent of the Legislature
that the agency consider developing policies to address the impacts
of climate change and climate adaptation with a focus on people,
places, and water and that actions taken to address climate
adaptation should be consistent with the plan.
   71153.  (a) By July 1, 2017, and every three years thereafter, the
agency shall update the state's climate adaptation strategy, known
as the plan. As part of the update, the agency shall coordinate with
other state agencies to identify a lead agency or group of agencies
to lead adaptation efforts in each sector. The updates to the plan
shall include all of the following:
   (1) Vulnerabilities to climate change by sector, as identified by
the lead agency or group of agencies, and regions, including, at a
minimum, the following sectors:
   (A) Water.
   (B) Energy.
   (C) Transportation.
   (D) Public health.
   (E) Agriculture.
   (F) Emergency services.
   (G) Forestry.
   (H) Biodiversity and habitat.
   (I) Ocean and coastal resources.
   (2) Priority actions needed to reduce risks in those sectors, as
identified by the lead agency or group of agencies.
   (b) By January 1, 2017, and every three years thereafter, the
agency shall release a draft plan. Between the release of the draft
plan and the publication of the final update of the plan, the agency
shall hold at least three public hearings for the purpose of
providing an opportunity for the public to review and provide written
and oral comments on the draft plan. The public hearings shall be
held in northern California, the central valley of California, and
southern California.
    (c) The agency shall annually report to the Legislature,
consistent with Section 9795 of the Government Code, on actions taken
by each applicable agency to implement the plan.
   71154.  To address the vulnerabilities identified in the plan,
state agencies shall work to maximize, where applicable and feasible,
the following objectives:
   (a) Educating the public about the consequences of climate change,
such as sea-level rise, extreme weather events, the urban heat
island effect, habitat loss, wildfire, drought, threats to
infrastructure and agriculture, worsening air and water quality, and
public health impacts.
   (b) Ensuring there is a continued repository for scientific data
on climate change and climate adaptation in the state in order to
facilitate educated state and local policy decisions and to help
identify primary risks from climate change to residents, property,
communities, and natural systems across the state.
   (c) (1) Promoting the use of the plan to inform planning decisions
and ensure that state investments consider climate change impacts,
as well as promote the use of natural systems and natural
infrastructure, when developing physical infrastructure to address
adaptation.
   (2) When developing infrastructure to address adaptation, where
feasible, a project alternative should be developed that utilizes
existing natural features and ecosystem processes or the restoration
of natural features and ecosystem processes to meet the project's
goals.
   (3) For purposes of this subdivision, "natural infrastructure"
means the preservation or restoration of ecological systems or the
utilization of engineered systems that use ecological processes to
increase resiliency to climate change, manage other environmental
hazards, or both. This may include, but need not be limited to, flood
plain and wetlands restoration or preservation, combining levees
with restored natural systems to reduce flood risk, and urban tree
planting to mitigate high heat days.
   (d) Encouraging regional collaborative planning efforts to address
regional climate change impacts and adaptation strategies.
   (e) Promoting drought resiliency through an integrated water
supply, delivery, and capture system that is coordinated and that can
be resilient to a multiyear drought scenario while protecting water
quality and the public health. Establishing both drought preparation
programs, which will help create sustainable water systems in the
future, and immediate drought response programs, which will reduce
water demand or increase supply within one to five years of any
declared drought.
   (f) Building resilient communities by developing urban greening
projects that reduce air pollution and heat reflection in urban areas
and create livable, sustainable communities in urban cores to
promote infill development and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
   (g) Protecting and enhancing habitat, species strongholds, and
wildlife corridors that are critical to the preservation of species
that are at risk from the consequences of climate change.
   (h) Promoting actions to ensure healthy soils and sustainable
agriculture; inform reliable transportation planning; improve
emergency management response across sectors; ensure sufficient,
reliable, and safe energy; improve capacity to reduce and respond to
public health threats; address the impacts of climate change on
disadvantaged communities; and protect cultural resources from the
impacts of climate change.
  SEC. 3.  Section 75125 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   75125.  The council shall do all of the following:
   (a) Identify and review activities and funding programs of state
agencies that may be coordinated to improve air and water quality,
improve natural resource protection, increase the availability of
affordable housing, improve transportation, meet the goals of the
California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5
(commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code) and
the strategies and priorities developed in the state's climate
adaptation strategy known as the Safeguarding California Plan adopted
pursuant to Section 71152, encourage sustainable land use planning,
and revitalize urban and community centers in a sustainable manner.
At a minimum, the council shall review and comment on the five-year
infrastructure plan developed pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with
Section 13100) of Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code and the State Environmental Goals and Policy Report
developed pursuant to Section 65041 of the Government Code.
   (b) Recommend policies and investment strategies and priorities to
the Governor, the Legislature, and to appropriate state agencies to
encourage the development of sustainable communities, such as those
communities that promote equity, strengthen the economy, protect the
environment, and promote public health and safety, consistent with
subdivisions (a) and (c) of Section 75065.
   (c) Provide, fund, and distribute data and information to local
governments and regional agencies that will assist in developing and
planning sustainable communities.
   (d) Manage and award grants and loans to support the planning and
development of sustainable communities, pursuant to Sections 75127,
75128, and 75129. To implement this subdivision, the council may do
all of the following:
   (1) Develop guidelines for awarding financial assistance,
including criteria for eligibility and additional consideration.
   (2) Develop criteria for determining the amount of financial
assistance to be awarded. The council shall award a revolving loan to
an applicant for a planning project, unless the council determines
that the applicant lacks the fiscal capacity to carry out the project
without a grant. The council may establish criteria that would allow
the applicant to illustrate an ongoing commitment of financial
resources to ensure the completion of the proposed plan or project.
   (3) Provide for payments of interest on loans made pursuant to
this article. The rate of interest shall not exceed the rate earned
by the Pooled Money Investment Board.
   (4) Provide for the time period for repaying a loan made pursuant
to this article.
   (5) Provide for the recovery of funds from an applicant that fails
to complete the project for which financial assistance was awarded.
The council shall direct the Controller to recover funds by any
available means.
   (6) Provide technical assistance for application preparation.
   (7) Designate a state agency or department to administer technical
and financial assistance programs for the disbursing of grants and
loans to support the planning and development of sustainable
communities, pursuant to Sections 75127, 75128, and 75129.
   (e) Provide an annual report to the Legislature that shall
include, but need not be limited to, all of the following:
   (1) A list of applicants for financial assistance.
   (2) Identification of which applications were approved.
   (3) The amounts awarded for each approved application.
   (4) The remaining balance of available funds.
   (5) A report on the proposed or ongoing management of each funded
project.
   (6) Any additional minimum requirements and priorities for a
project or plan proposed in a grant or loan application developed and
adopted by the council pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 75126.