Bill Text: CA SB1077 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended


Bill Title: Coastal resources: Climate Ready Program: grants: nonnative and invasive plants: removal and restoration.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-08-11 - August 11 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. [SB1077 Detail]

Download: California-2021-SB1077-Amended.html

Amended  IN  Senate  May 19, 2022
Amended  IN  Senate  March 23, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 1077


Introduced by Senator Bates

February 15, 2022


An act to amend Section 31113 of the Public Resources Code, relating to coastal resources, and making an appropriation therefor. resources.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1077, as amended, Bates. Coastal resources: Climate Ready Program: grants: nonnative and invasive plants: removal and restoration.
Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the State Coastal Conservancy. Existing law establishes the Climate Ready Program, administered by the conservancy, in order to address the impacts and potential impacts of climate change on resources within the conservancy’s jurisdiction. As part of the program, existing law authorizes the conservancy to award grants to public agencies and nonprofit organizations for specified activities, including those that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Existing law requires the conservancy, in awarding the grants, to prioritize projects that maximize public benefits and that accomplish certain things, including that the project reduces emissions of greenhouse gases, reduces hazards to harbors and ports, preserves and enhance coastal wetlands and natural lands, conserves biodiversity, and provides recreational opportunities.
This bill would specifically authorize the conservancy to award grants to public agencies and nonprofit organizations that increase resilience of habitat and natural lands. The bill would require the conservancy, in awarding grants, as part of the prioritization of projects described above, to include those projects that accomplish the removal of nonnative and invasive plants from coastal features, habitats, and ecosystems, and their replacement with native species. plant species, upon appropriation. The bill would authorize the conservancy to consult, as needed, with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Invasive Species Council of California, and other entities in determining the invasive status of any species. The bill would appropriate $7,000,000 from the General Fund to the conservancy for purposes of providing grants through the program for the removal of nonnative and invasive plants and restoration of native plants, as provided.
Vote: TWO_THIRDSMAJORITY   Appropriation: YESNO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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 coast faces many challenges.
(b) The resilience of the coast and coastal habitat in response to climate change depends, in part, upon healthy coastal ecosystems, which are threatened by the spread and persistence of nonnative and invasive species.
(c) Widespread nonnative and invasive species can impair and alter coastal ecosystems by outcompeting and dominating native species, and putting the state’s coastal biodiversity at risk.
(d) Nonnative and invasive plants may, among other factors, contribute to a decline or change in the integrity of physical coastal features such as bluffs and sand dunes, while native plants can help to retain and enhance physical coastal features. Many species of nonnative and invasive plants were introduced and, in some instances, widely planted before all of the associated risks were known.
(e) The removal of nonnative and invasive plants and their replacement with native plants helps to provide resilience through the restoration of coastal features, habitat, and ecosystems and other natural resources. Much more needs to be accomplished.

SEC. 2.

 Section 31113 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

31113.
 (a) The Climate Ready Program is hereby established and shall be administered by the conservancy to address the impacts and potential impacts of climate change on resources within the conservancy’s jurisdiction.
(b) In implementing this division, the conservancy may undertake projects within its jurisdiction, including, but not limited to, those that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase resilience of habitat and natural lands, and address extreme weather events, sea level rise, storm surge, beach and bluff erosion, salt water intrusion, flooding, and other coastal hazards that threaten coastal communities, infrastructure, and natural resources.
(c) Pursuant to the Climate Ready Program, the conservancy may award grants to public agencies and nonprofit organizations for activities authorized pursuant to subdivision (b). In awarding the grants, the conservancy shall, to the extent allowed, prioritize projects that maximize public benefits and that accomplish either of the following:
(1) Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, reduce hazards to harbors and ports, preserve and enhance coastal wetlands and natural lands, conserve biodiversity, or provide recreational opportunities, including projects that remove nonnative and invasive plants from coastal features, habitats, and ecosystems, and their replacement with native plant species. Any grant made for a project for the removal of nonnative and invasive plants and their replacement with native plant species shall be contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature with priority given to those projects where the nonnative plant species threatens coastal bluffs.
(2) Reduce flood risk and enhance fish and wildlife habitat, including projects with multiple benefits that remove sediment where the excavated material can be used to enhance shorelines or ecosystems.
(d) (1) When allocating funds made available pursuant to Section 80133, the conservancy shall do all of the following:
(A) Prioritize projects that use natural infrastructure in coastal communities to help adapt to climate change.
(B) Prioritize projects that provide multiple public benefits, including, but not limited to, protection of communities, natural resources, and recreational opportunities.
(C) Give consideration to projects in a variety of ecosystems along the state’s coastline, including, but not limited to, the protection and expansion of coastal estuaries and lagoons that provide critical feeding and nursery habitat for juvenile fish species and foraging habitat for migratory waterfowl and other waterbirds, including eelgrass habitat.
(2) The conservancy shall provide information to the Office of Planning and Research on any projects funded pursuant to this subdivision to be considered for inclusion into the clearinghouse for climate adaption information, established pursuant to Section 71360.
(3) The conservancy may provide technical assistance to coastal communities to better assist them with their projects that use natural infrastructure.
(4) For purposes of this subdivision, “natural infrastructure” means using natural ecological systems or processes to reduce vulnerability to climate change related hazards, or other related climate change effects, while increasing the long-term adaptive capacity of coastal and inland areas by perpetuating or restoring ecosystem services. This includes, but is not limited to, the conservation, preservation, or sustainable management of any form of aquatic or terrestrial vegetated open space, such as beaches, dunes, tidal marshes, reefs, seagrass, parks, rain gardens, and urban tree canopies. It also includes systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes, such as permeable pavements, bioswales, and other engineered systems, such as levees that are combined with restored natural systems, to provide clean water, conserve ecosystem values and functions, and provide a wide array of benefits to people and wildlife.
(e) The conservancy may consult, as needed, with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Invasive Species Council of California, and other entities in determining the invasive status of any species.

SEC. 3.

The sum of seven million dollars ($7,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the State Coastal Conservancy for purposes of providing grants through the Climate Ready Program, established pursuant to Section 31113 of the Public Resources Code, for the removal of nonnative and invasive plants and restoration of native plants, with priority given to those projects where the nonnative plant species threatens coastal bluffs.

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