Bill Text: CA SB1363 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Ocean Protection Council: Ocean Acidification and
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-09-29 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 846, Statutes of 2016. [SB1363 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB1363-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1363 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 846
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 24, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 15, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 29, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 31, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 26, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Monning
(Coauthors: Senators Pavley and Wieckowski)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Gonzalez, Mark Stone, and Williams)
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 35650 of, and to add Chapter 3.1
(commencing with Section 35630) to Division 26.5 of, the Public
Resources Code, relating to coastal resources.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1363, Monning. Ocean Protection Council: Ocean Acidification
and Hypoxia Reduction Program.
The California Ocean Protection Act establishes the Ocean
Protection Council and requires the council, among other things, to
coordinate activities of state agencies that are related to the
protection and conservation of coastal waters and ocean ecosystems,
and to establish policies to coordinate the collection and sharing of
scientific data related to coastal and ocean resources among
agencies. The act creates the California Ocean Protection Trust Fund
in the State Treasury and authorizes moneys deposited in the fund,
upon appropriation by the Legislature, to be expended by the council
for projects and activities authorized by the council consistent with
the purposes of the act.
This bill would require the council, in consultation with the
State Coastal Conservancy and other relevant entities, to establish
and administer the Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Reduction Program
for the purposes of achieving specified goals. The bill would
authorize moneys in the trust fund to be expended for grants or loans
for projects or activities that further public purposes consistent
with the Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Reduction Program.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 3.1 (commencing with Section 35630) is added to
Division 26.5 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
CHAPTER 3.1. OCEAN ACIDIFICATION AND HYPOXIA MITIGATION
35630. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Ocean acidification and hypoxia, an abnormal deficiency of
oxygen in marine environments, are two major threats to ocean and
coastal ecosystems globally, and west coast states are particularly
vulnerable, according to the April 2016 findings of the West Coast
Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel.
(b) The West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel
was a binational collaboration of leading scientists from California,
Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia that was convened at the
request of the council and the California Ocean Science Trust. The
West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel's executive
summary report outlines findings, recommendations, and actions to
address ocean acidification and hypoxia.
(c) Ocean acidification is caused primarily by global carbon
dioxide emissions. Local carbon dioxide emissions and local nutrient
inputs can intensify the effects of ocean acidification.
(d) The West Coast Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel
recommends that California and other west coast states actively
employ strategies that address local factors that can reduce ocean
acidification and hypoxia exposure, including protecting and
restoring critical coastal and aquatic habitats.
(e) Eelgrass ecosystems are among the most diverse and productive
ecosystems in the world, with particular importance to farmed
shellfish aquaculture and other forms of sustainable aquaculture and
to commercially and recreationally valuable species, including
shellfish, crabs, finfish, waterfowl, and shorebirds.
(f) Eelgrass protection and restoration efforts help promote a
healthier ocean for ecosystems and industry.
(g) Since the 1850s, 90 percent of California's eelgrass acreage
has been destroyed, and the remaining 10 percent is continuously
exposed to multiple stressors and threats.
(h) Scientific research has shown that eelgrass habitat provides
multiple benefits, including the following:
(1) Providing essential habitat for salmon, groundfish, and
Pacific herring, providing Dungeness crab nurseries, and supporting
commercial fisheries important to California's coastal economy.
(2) Improving water quality by filtering polluted runoff and by
absorbing excess nutrients.
(3) Helping to mitigate hypoxia.
(4) Sequestering carbon in the underlying sediments.
(5) Protecting the shoreline from erosion by absorbing wave energy
and helping to mitigate the impacts of sea level rise.
(i) Advancing the protection and restoration of eelgrass beds in
California's coastal environments, based on scientific and
evidence-based approaches, is a critical strategy in enhancing
California's ability to cope with ocean acidification and hypoxia.
35632. (a) To the extent funds are available from bonds or other
sources, the council, in consultation with the State Coastal
Conservancy and other relevant entities, shall establish and
administer the Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Reduction Program for
the purpose of achieving the following goals:
(1) Developing demonstration projects to research how important
environmental and ecological factors interact across space and time
to influence how geographically dispersed eelgrass beds function for
carbon dioxide removal and hypoxia reduction.
(2) Generating an inventory of locations where conservation or
restoration of aquatic habitats, including eelgrass, can be
successfully applied to mitigate ocean acidification and hypoxia.
(3) Incorporating consideration of carbon dioxide removal for
eelgrass restoration projects during the habitat restoration planning
process in order to fully account for the benefits of long-term
carbon storage of habitat restoration in addition to the habitat
value.
(4) Supporting science, monitoring, and coordination to ensure
that ocean and coastal policy and management in California reflect
best readily available science on strategies to reduce ocean
acidification and hypoxia to implement this section.
(b) In advancing approaches in the program to remove carbon
dioxide from seawater, the council shall consider approaches that
provide multiple cobenefits, including, but not limited to, providing
essential fish and bird habitat, improving water quality, and
mitigating the impacts of sea level rise.
SEC. 2. Section 35650 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
35650. (a) The California Ocean Protection Trust Fund is
established in the State Treasury.
(b) Moneys deposited in the fund may be expended, upon
appropriation by the Legislature, for both of the following:
(1) Projects and activities authorized by the council consistent
with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 35600).
(2) Upon authorization by the council, for grants or loans to
public agencies, nonprofit corporations, or private entities for, or
direct expenditures on, projects or activities that do one or more of
the following:
(A) Eliminate or reduce threats to coastal and ocean ecosystems,
habitats, and species.
(B) Improve the management of fisheries through grants or loans
for the development and implementation of fishery management plans
pursuant to Part 1.7 (commencing with Section 7050) of Division 6 of
the Fish and Game Code, a part of the Marine Life Management Act of
1998, that promote long-term stewardship and collaboration with
fishery participants to develop strategies that increase
environmental and economic sustainability. Eligible projects and
activities include, but are not limited to, innovative
community-based or cooperative management and allocation strategies
that create incentives for ecosystem improvement. Eligible
expenditures include, but are not limited to, costs related to
activities identified in subdivisions (a), (b), and (d) of Section
7075 of the Fish and Game Code, fishery research, monitoring, data
collection and analysis to support adaptive management, and other
costs related to the development and implementation of a fishery
management plan developed pursuant to this subparagraph.
(C) Foster sustainable fisheries, including grants or loans for
one or more of the following:
(i) Projects that encourage the development and use of more
selective fishing gear.
(ii) The design of community-based or cooperative management
mechanisms that promote long-term stewardship and collaboration with
fishery participants to develop strategies that increase
environmental and economic sustainability.
(iii) Collaborative research and demonstration projects between
fishery participants, scientists, and other interested parties.
(iv) Promotion of value-added wild fisheries to offset economic
losses attributable to reduced fishing opportunities.
(v) The creation of revolving loan programs for the purpose of
implementing sustainable fishery projects.
(D) Improve coastal water quality.
(E) Allow for increased public access to, and enjoyment of, ocean
and coastal resources, consistent with sustainable, long-term
protection and conservation of those resources.
(F) Improve management, conservation, and protection of coastal
waters and ocean ecosystems.
(G) Provide monitoring and scientific data to improve state
efforts to protect and conserve ocean resources.
(H) Protect, conserve, and restore coastal waters and ocean
ecosystems, including any of the following:
(i) Acquisition, installation, and initiation of monitoring and
enforcement systems.
(ii) Acquisition from willing sellers of vessels, equipment,
licenses, harvest rights, permits, and other rights and property, to
reduce threats to ocean ecosystems and resources.
(I) Address coastal water contamination from biological pathogens,
including collaborative projects and activities to identify the
sources of pathogens and develop detection systems and treatment
methods.
(J) (i) Provide funding for adaptive management, planning,
coordination, monitoring, research, and other necessary activities to
minimize the adverse impacts of climate change on California's ocean
ecosystem, including, but not limited to, the effects of sea level
rise, changes in ocean productivity, and ocean acidification on
coastal and ocean habitat, wildlife, fisheries, chemistry, and other
key attributes of ocean ecosystems and to increase the state's
understanding of the ocean's role in carbon sequestration. Adaptive
management strategies, planning, research, monitoring, or other
activities shall be designed to improve the management of coastal and
ocean resources or aid the state to adapt to climate change impacts.
(ii) Information or activities developed under clause (i), to the
extent appropriate, shall provide guidance to the State Air Resources
Board for the adoption of early action measures for the elimination
or reduction of emissions from sources or categories of sources
pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
(Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and
Safety Code).
(c) Grants or loans may be made to a private entity pursuant to
this section only for projects or activities that further public
purposes consistent with Sections 35510, 35515, 35617, and 35632.
(d) Consistent with the purposes specified in Section 35515, and
in furtherance of the findings in Sections 7059 and 7060 of the Fish
and Game Code, the council, in authorizing grants or loans for
projects or expenditures pursuant to this section, shall promote
coordination of state programs and activities that protect and
conserve ocean resources to avoid redundancy and conflicts to ensure
that the state's programs and activities are complementary.
