Bill Text: CA AB2287 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Bill 2287 (Prior Session Legislation)

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

Bill Title: California Ocean Resources Stewardship Act of 2000.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-08-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 208, Statutes of 2022. [AB2287 Detail]

Download: California-2021-AB2287-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2287

Introduced by Assembly Member Stone
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Ting)
(Coauthor: Senator Laird)

February 16, 2022

An act to amend Sections 36971, 36972, and 36990 of the Public Resources Code, relating to ocean resources.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2287, as introduced, Stone. California Ocean Resources Stewardship Act of 2000.

Existing law, the California Ocean Resources Stewardship Act of 2000, authorizes the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to enter into an agreement with an existing nonprofit corporation to establish a trust to be known as the California Ocean Trust to seek and provide funding for ocean resource science projects and to encourage coordinated, multiagency, multiinstitution approaches to ocean resource science. Existing law requires the secretary to report on the steps taken to ensure the coordination of ocean resource management science.

This bill would authorize the trust to administer grants and expenditures of the trust for specified purposes from private and public fund sources, including, but not limited to, direct appropriations from the annual Budget Act and block grants from other state agencies with relevant need for coordination and engagement with the trust. The bill would exempt contracts with the trust for the sole purpose of delivering contracted science services to state agencies with relevant need, including, but not limited to, peer reviews, technical guidance, and scientific reports and analyses from state contracting requirements, as specified.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 36971 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

36971.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) The Pacific Ocean and its rich and varied resources provide great environmental, economic, aesthetic, recreational, health, educational, and scientific benefits to the people of California and the nation. The state’s ocean resources contribute greatly to the economy and the quality of life of its residents, and California’s growing population increasingly lives, works, and recreates on or near the coast. Ocean and coast-dependent industries contributed over $17 billion to the state’s economy and supported over 500,000 jobs in 1999, and ocean and coastal tourism and recreational activities, which are increasing rapidly in popularity and economic value, contributed nearly $10 billion to the state’s economy. Port activity and ship building also contributed an additional $6 billion, and recreational and commercial fishing and marine aquaculture added nearly $1 billion to the state’s economy. In addition, activities of the United States Department of the Navy that depend on continued access to California’s coastal resources add a direct annual economic contribution of more than $19 billion. The 840-mile coastline and ocean enriches us through a marine economy of over $44 billion annually.

(b) Much of the quality of life and economic vibrancy supported by the state’s ocean resources depends on successful management of those resources, and successful management depends on an adequate understanding of the natural, ecological, oceanographic, and coastal processes and their interactions with varied human ~~activities.~~ activities, including the impacts of climate change.

(c) The state is working to maintain and increase the benefits of its ocean resources to the public; a goal that increases the need for sound management and greater practical understanding of the state’s ocean and coastal resources.

(d) Although California is making progress in ocean management efforts, unsolved existing challenges also point to the need for greater improvements in management and the basic information needed for sound management. Examples of existing challenges include depressed populations of many species that are the targets of state and federally managed fisheries, pollution that results in beach and fishery closures, dredging and dredge spoils disposal necessary to keep the state’s ports competitive, changing ocean chemistry and ecological impacts resulting from climate change, and coastal erosion that threatens structures and reduces the quality of beaches.

(e) Beginning in 2006, California has developed and periodically updated California Climate Change Assessments that assess the impacts and risks from climate change and identify potential solutions focused on integrated action by California.
(f) As direct and indirect social, cultural, and economic impacts of climate change continue to amplify and worsen, governance across multiple government sectors, such as infrastructure, natural ecosystem protection, agriculture and aquaculture, and many others, will require a higher degree of coordination relative to developing new research and approaches for effective action.
~~(e)~~

(g) State and federal agencies with ocean and coastal resource management responsibility often lack basic information on which to base decisions, and many management issues are broader than the mandates of individual agencies, and existing means for coordinating agency efforts need to be improved. The result can be ad hoc, short-term management decisions based on inadequate information.

~~(f)~~

(h) California has a wealth of outstanding public and private marine science institutions that have increased their commitments to excellence in applied ocean resource science. Approximately one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in current, recent, or planned marine science projects funded by the federal government, foundations, the University of California and California State University systems, and private institutions could be of great benefit to the state’s coastal and ocean resource management agencies.

~~(g)~~

(i) The obstacles to collaborative efforts involving those institutions and agencies include all of the following:

(1) Inadequate coordination among marine science institutions.

(2) Inadequate guidance from management agencies about information needs for management.

(3) Important gaps in information, duplication of effort, missed opportunities, and unusable information due to the lack of standardized and coordinated information management techniques. The circumstances and needs identified in the findings in this section are among those recognized in this chapter and in the 1997 report prepared by the Resources Agency entitled “California’s Ocean Resources: An Agenda for the Future.” This chapter is intended to address some of the basic objectives of that report.

SEC. 2.

Section 36972 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

36972.

The Legislature further finds that it is the policy of the state to do all of the following:

(a) Ensure adequate coordination of ocean resources management science among state, regional, and federal agencies and marine science ~~institutions.~~ institutions, including, but not limited to, science related to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

(b) Ensure the most efficient and effective use of state resources devoted to ocean resource management science and encourage the contribution of federal and nongovernmental resources.

(c) Advance applied ocean science, graduate-level education, and technology development to meet current and future California ocean resource management needs.

SEC. 3.

Section 36990 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

36990.

(a) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency may enter into an agreement with an existing nonprofit corporation with broad experience as the trustee of public funds, court-ordered mitigation funds, or other funds used to assist public agencies in carrying out their responsibilities to establish a nongovernmental trust, to be known as the California Ocean Trust.

(b) The purposes of the trust shall be all of the following:

(1) To seek funds for California ocean resource science projects, emphasizing the development of new funding sources.

(2) To fund California ocean resource science projects that help fulfill the missions of the state’s ocean resource management agencies.

(3) To encourage coordinated, multiagency, multiinstitution approaches to ocean resource ~~science.~~ science to deliver actionable science solutions that accelerate equitable climate change adaptation.

(4) To encourage graduate education ~~programs~~ programs, training, and workforce development opportunities in management-oriented ocean resource science in public and private universities and colleges in California.

(5) To encourage new technologies that reduce the cost, increase the amount, or improve the quality of ocean resource management information.

(6) To promote more effective coordination of California ocean resource science useful to management agencies.

(c) The trust may administer grants and expenditures of the trust for purposes consistent with this chapter from private and public fund sources, including, but not limited to, direct appropriations from the annual Budget Act and block grants from other state agencies with relevant need for coordination and engagement with the trust.
(d) (1) Contracts with the trust for the sole purpose of delivering contracted science services to state agencies with relevant need, including, but not limited to, peer reviews, technical guidance, and scientific reports and analyses, shall be exempt from state contracting requirements, as provided in paragraph (2).
(2) Notwithstanding any other law, contracts or grants awarded to the trust shall be exempt from both of the following:
(A) The personal services contracting requirements of Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(B) The Public Contract Code and the State Contracting Manual.
(3) Notwithstanding any other law, contracts or grants awarded to the trust pursuant to this chapter shall not be subject to the approval of the Department of General Services.