Bill Text: CA SB1320 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Climate change: California Climate Change Assessment.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Passed) 2020-09-24 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 136, Statutes of 2020. [SB1320 Detail]

Download: California-2019-SB1320-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  July 27, 2020

Amended  IN  Senate  June 18, 2020

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 1320

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Introduced by Senator Stern

February 21, 2020

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An act to add Part 4.6 (commencing with Section 71362) to Division 34 of the Public Resources Code, relating to climate change.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 1320, as amended, Stern. Climate change: California Climate Change Assessment.

Existing law requires the Director of State Planning and Research to establish the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program under the administration of the Office of Planning and Research to coordinate regional and local efforts with state climate adaptation strategies to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Existing law requires the office, in coordination with appropriate entities, to establish a clearinghouse for climate adaptation information for use by state, regional, and local entities.

This bill would require the office office, through the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program, to develop the California Climate Change Assessment, in coordination with the Natural Resources Agency, the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, and the Strategic Growth Council, and in consultation with partner public agencies designated by the office. The bill would require the office to conduct the assessment no less frequently than every 5 years. The bill would require the assessment to assess and provide an integrated suite of products that report the impacts and risks of climate change change, based on the best available science, and identify potential solutions to inform legislative policy, as provided. The bill would require the assessment products to include sector-specific liability include, among other things, downscaled climate projections that assess the impacts of climate change under varied emissions scenarios for the years 2025, 2030, 2050, and 2100. The bill would require the office to engage with regional and local governments, tribes, and members of the public in determining the scope of the assessment and would require all final assessment products to be posted on or accessible through a state internet website. The bill would make the implementation of these provisions contingent upon an appropriation of funds by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute for these purposes.

Digest Key

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

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 Part 4.6 (commencing with Section 71362) is added to Division 34 of the Public Resources Code, to read:

PART 4.6. California Climate Change Assessment

71362.

 (a) The Office of Planning and Research Research, through the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program established pursuant to Part 4.5 (commencing with Section 71354), shall develop the California Climate Change Assessment, in coordination with the Natural Resources Agency, the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, and the Strategic Growth Council, and in consultation with partner public agencies designated by the Office of Planning and Research. The Office of Planning and Research may also contract with outside entities, including public universities, research institutions, and other technical experts to produce the assessment.

(b) The Office of Planning and Research shall conduct the assessment no less frequently than every five years. years, and may release components of the assessment on a rolling basis as they become available.

71363.

 The California Climate Change Assessment shall assess and provide an integrated suite of products that report the impacts and risks of climate change change, based on the best available science, and identify potential solutions to inform legislative policy. These impacts products shall include include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(a)Economic and infrastructure liabilities, including all of the following:

(1)Damages to infrastructure and property from sea level rise and the corresponding economic impacts.

(2)Damages to infrastructure and property from wildfires and the corresponding economic impacts.

(3)Damages to infrastructure and property from drought and the corresponding economic impacts.

(4)Damages to infrastructure and property from other climate-related phenomena adversely affected by a rise in greenhouse gas emissions and the corresponding economic impacts.

(5)Long-term devaluation of property and assets that operate in vulnerable areas.

(6)Damages to local natural resources and climate conditions that contribute to economic growth, including agriculture, tourism, and fisheries.

(7)Costs of disruptions in energy supply.

(8)Costs to California enterprises conducting business and trade with international companies affected by climate change, including disruptions in export and import operations and supply chains.

(9)Impacts of extreme heat on labor productivity.

(10)Impacts of climate liabilities on the financial sector.

(11)Damages related to population displacement and migration and impacts on the economies of net-emigration communities.

(b)Natural environment and ecosystem services, including all of the following:

(1)Damages related to changes in the availability of water resources.

(2)Damages related to changes in the quality of water resources.

(3)Damages related to changes in tourism, outdoor recreation, and subsistence activities.

(4)Damages related to reductions in biodiversity and changes in natural ecosystems, including the spread of invasive species and the growing asymmetry between species and the availability of resources on which they survive.

(5)Damages related to ocean warming and acidification.

(c)Human health and well-being, including all of the following:

(1)Damages related to rising temperatures, including the impact of increased incidence of illness and death.

(2)Damages related to rising temperatures, including the impact of the reduction of electricity generation capacity.

(3)Damages related to rising temperatures, including the impact of the increase in energy demand and cost.

(4)Temperature and precipitation impacts on air quality risks from wildfires and smog.

(5)Increased exposure to waterborne and foodborne diseases, as well as the spread of disease-carrying insects and pests.

(6)Mental health and trauma impacts related to increases in overall temperatures and natural disasters.

(7)Health and cultural damages for indigenous communities with relationships to ancestral lands, ecosystems, and culturally important species.

(8)Damages related to increases in the incidence of crime and conflict.

(9)Overall impact of increases in morbidity and mortality on the health care system.

(10)Impacts of projected declines in cognitive ability associated with increases in air pollution.

(a) Downscaled climate projections that assess the impacts of climate change under varied emissions scenarios, as decided by the Office of Planning and Research, on the State of California for the years 2030, 2050, and 2100, and later years as appropriate and supported by available data.

(b) A set of state-funded research reports that examine, but need not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) How climate change will affect built systems, natural systems, and social systems, and, to the extent data is available, the economic costs of these impacts.

(2) Identification of potential climate adaptation and mitigation responses, and, to the extent data is available, the financial costs and the economic benefits of these projects.

(3) Other California-specific policy questions.

(c) Regionally specific reports that can inform regional and local vulnerability assessments, adaptation planning, and community resilience efforts.

(d) Reports on issues of statewide significance, including, but not limited to, environmental justice considerations and the unique risks posed to, and research and monitoring approaches used by, tribal communities.

(e) Decision-support tools for planners and decisionmakers that allow for actionable application of assessment research findings. To the extent data is available, this shall include guidance regarding assessment of the financial and economic costs and benefits of adaptation decisions.

(f) Examples of best practices for planning for future climate conditions and approaches to building adaptation and resilience, while also meeting established greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.

71364.

(a)The California Climate Change Assessment shall include sector-specific liability projections that assess the impacts of climate change under varied emissions scenarios, as decided by the Office of Planning and Research, on the State of California for the years 2025, 2030, 2050, and 2100, including, but not limited to, the projection of economic impacts and costs to human health and well-being. These assessments may be developed on a sector-by-sector basis if appropriate. Where useful, the assessment may rely on existing literature to inform its projections.

(b)The assessment shall also consider regional impacts and impacts specifically borne by underserved communities.

(c)Although the assessment includes sectoral projections and research, it is the intent of the Legislature that over the long term the Office of Planning and Research will, internally or in conjunction with other public agencies or outside researchers, develop an integrated assessment of climate liabilities that can produce estimates of total liabilities to the state.

71364.

 (a) The Office of Planning and Research shall engage with regional and local governments, tribes, and members of the public in determining the scope of the assessment.

(b) All final assessment products shall be posted on or accessible through a state internet website in an accessible format.

(c) Upon completion of the assessment, the Office of Planning and Research shall conduct outreach to regional and local governments on the contents and application of the assessment, including the downscaled projections specified in subdivision (a) of Section 71363 and the decision-support tools specified in subdivision (e) of Section 71363.

(d) Development of the assessment shall not be subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

71365.

 The implementation of this part is contingent upon an appropriation of funds by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute for purposes of this part.