Bill Text: CA SB246 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Climate change adaptation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 606, Statutes of 2015. [SB246 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB246-Amended.html
Bill Title: Climate change adaptation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 606, Statutes of 2015. [SB246 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SB246-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 246 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 13, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wieckowski
FEBRUARY 18, 2015
An act to add Part 4.5 (commencing with Section 71350) to Division
34 of the Public Resources Code, relating to environmental
protection.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 246, as amended, Wieckowski. Climate Action Team.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the
State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with
monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases.
The state board is required to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas
emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions
level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020 and to adopt rules and
regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum,
technologically feasible, and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions
reductions. The act requires all state agencies to consider and
implement strategies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
An executive order establishes a climate action team consisting of
specified ex officio members and requires the team to make a
specified biannual report to the Legislature and Governor.
This bill would create the Climate Action Team, under the
direction of the Secretary for Environmental Protection and
consisting of representatives from specified state agencies,
that and would require the team to
be responsible for coordinating the state's climate policy to achieve
the state's climate change goals, identifying specified
unavoidable climate change impacts, developing and implementing
specified mitigation and adaptation plans, coordinating climate
change policies with specified groups, and identifying and
disseminating information to local governments and regional bodies.
goals. The bill would require the team, no later than
January 1, 2019, and every 5 years thereafter, to update the Climate
Adaptation Strategy and the Safeguarding California Plan, as
specified. The bill also would require the team
and the Office of Planning and Research, no later than January 1,
2017, and every 5 years thereafter, to update the
Adaptation Planning Guide, as specified. The bill would establish an
advisory council, as specified, to the team.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Part 4.5 (commencing with Section 71350) is added to
Division 34 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
PART 4.5. Climate Action Team
71350. The Legislature finds and declares:
(a) The state has been a leader in climate mitigation efforts.
However, the state's efforts alone will not prevent global climate
change from occurring, as noted in the 2014 Safeguarding California
Plan. Due to the inevitability of climate change impacts on the
state, the state must invest in building resiliency and strengthening
adaptation efforts at the state, regional, and local levels using
the best-available science.
(b) Improved coordination of existing adaptation planning efforts
and funding by the state, as well as increased implementation and
support of adaptation programs, can directly protect the state's
infrastructure, communities, environmental quality, public health,
natural resources, and economy from the unavoidable impacts of
climate change for decades to come.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature, therefore, that
adaptation strategies to build resiliency to the risks and impacts
from climate change be integrated in state policies, projects, and
permitting processes.
(c) The
(d) Furthermore, the California
Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with
Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code) directs the Climate
Action Team established by the Governor to coordinate the overall
climate policy as provided in Executive Order S-3-05 and directs all
state agencies to consider and implement strategies to reduce their
greenhouse gas emissions. Given the Climate Action Team's experience
in coordinating climate change research, vulnerability assessments,
and resiliency and adaptation planning documents, it is well-suited
to lead the collaborative efforts across state government to enhance
the state's planning, investment, and implementation of adaptation
and resiliency guidelines and programs.
71352. (a) The Climate Action Team is hereby established in state
government and shall consist of the following members:
(1) The Secretary for Environmental Protection, who shall serve as
the chairperson of the Climate Action Team, who shall coordinate
oversight of the efforts made to meet the greenhouse gas emissions
reduction targets established pursuant to the California Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section
38500) of the Health and Safety Code), and who shall coordinate the
state's adaptation efforts to increase California's resiliency to
climate change impacts.
(2) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency.
(3) The Chair of the State Air Resources Board.
(4) The Chair of the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission.
(5) The President of the Public Utilities Commission.
(6) The Secretary of the Transportation Agency.
Transportation.
(7) The Secretary of Food and Agriculture.
(8) The Secretary of State and Consumer Services.
(9) The Secretary of California Health and Human Services.
(10) The Director of the Office of Planning and Research.
(11) The Secretary for of Labor and
Workforce Development.
(12) The Director of Emergency Services.
(b) Upon the determination of the Secretary for Environmental
Protection, ex officio representatives from other state departments
and representatives from academic research institutions
may be added to the Climate Action Team as necessary to
provide assistance and expertise in particular subject areas.
(c) Multiagency The Climate Action Team
may establish multiagency staff working groups may be
formed by the Climate Action Team to provide technical support for
the work of the team in administrative domains, including, but not
limited to, public health, environmental quality, agriculture,
biodiversity and habitat, forestry, energy, land use, recycling and
waste management, coastal and delta resources, regional and
international policy development, state operations, water, and
climate change research. groups to provide
technical support for the work of the team.
71354. The Climate Action Team, under the direction of the
Secretary for Environmental Protection, shall coordinate the climate
policy of the state to achieve the state's climate change goals and
all of the following:
(a) The identification of unavoidable climate change impacts to
the state's natural resources, environmental quality, public health,
and infrastructure.
(b) The development and implementation of mitigation and
adaptation plans to protect the public health, environmental quality,
natural resources, and economy of the state.
(c)
(a) The coordination of climate change policies with
state agencies and departments, other states, the federal government,
and other nations to identify the most effective strategies and
methods to reduce greenhouse gases, adapt to ongoing and future
climate change, coordinate climate change research efforts, and
facilitate the development of integrated and cost-effective regional,
national, and international climate change programs.
(d)
(b) The coordination and efficient use of existing
state resources, programs, and funds, as well as the
recommendation of additional policies and investment strategies, to
achieve the requirements of this section part
.
(c) The consideration of climate change impacts and incorporation
of mitigation and adaptation strategies, where appropriate, in state
planning and policies.
(e)
(d) The identification and dissemination of information
to local governments and regional bodies that will assist in meeting
the requirements of this section.
71356. No later than January 1, 2019, and every five years
thereafter, the Climate Action Team, in coordination with relevant
public and private entities, shall update the Climate Adaptation
Strategy and the Safeguarding California Plan to incorporate advances
in climate science and risk management options regarding regional
and statewide climate change impacts and vulnerabilities and
recommended adaptation strategies.
71358. (a) No later than January 1, 2017, and every five years
thereafter, the Climate Action Team and the Office of Planning and
Research, in coordination with all relevant public and private
entities, shall update the Adaptation Planning Guide to provide tools
and guidance to regional and local governments and agencies in
creating and implementing climate adaptation and community resiliency
plans and projects. The Adaptation Planning Guide updates shall be
informed by the scientific assessments and recommendations in the
Climate Adaptation Strategy, updated pursuant to Section 71356. The
Adaptation Planning Guide updates shall include, at a minimum, all of
the following:
(1) Funding opportunities for adaptation research, planning, and
projects.
(2) Regionally prioritized best-practice adaptation projects that,
where appropriate, integrate efforts to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions across the state.
(3) Recommended metrics and indicators to track the progress and
success of adaptation efforts locally, regionally, and statewide.
(4) Adaptation planning templates for use by local governments and
regional collaboratives.
(5) Guidelines for coordinating adaptation activities among state
and local governments and regional collaboratives.
(b) As part of updating the Adaptation Planning Guide, the Climate
Action Team and the advisory council created pursuant to Section
71360 shall hold public meetings and workshops at least annually in
the northern, southern, and central regions of the state to obtain
input from the public and leaders in local and regional climate
preparedness.
71360. (a) An advisory council to the Climate Action Team is
hereby established. The advisory council shall be comprised of 15
members from a range of disciplines within the purview of the Climate
Action Team in order to provide scientific and technical support, as
well as regional and local perspectives, to support the goals of the
Climate Action Team, and to assist the members and working groups in
their research and planning activities.
(b) Members of the advisory council shall be appointed based on
their expertise in the intersection of climate change and areas that
include, but need not be limited to, any of the following:
(1) Public health.
(2) Environmental quality.
(3) Environmental justice.
(4) Agriculture.
(5) Transportation and housing.
(6) Energy.
(7) Natural resources and water.
(8) Planning.
(9) Recycling and waste management.
(10) Local or regional government.
(c) Five members of the advisory council shall be appointed by the
Climate Action Team, five members shall be appointed by the Speaker
of the Assembly, and five members shall be appointed by the Senate
Committee on Rules. All members shall be appointed to four-year terms
with the possibility of reappointment.
(d) The advisory council shall meet with the Climate Action Team
and related working groups and councils as needed but not less than
three times a year.
(e) The members of the advisory council shall serve without
compensation but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred
in the performance of their duties.
