Today's Law As Amended


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AB-277 Extreme Weather Forecast and Threat Intelligence Integration Center.(2023-2024)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.
 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Extreme weather incidents, including excessive heat and atmospheric rivers, pose an urgent threat to lives, property, and resources in California.
(b) The escalating frequency and devastation caused by extreme weather events, including excessive heat and atmospheric rivers, demand heightened levels of coordination, intelligence sharing, and utilization of technologies among agencies and organizations to monitor weather conditions and assess risk in order to protect lives and property from the effects of extreme weather incidents.
(c) Investor-owned utilities and communications providers are likely to experience a greater frequency of disruptions in service due to extreme weather incidents.
(d) The California Emergency Services Act (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 8550) of Division 1 of Title 2) authorizes the Governor to take actions to prepare for, respond to, and mitigate the effects of natural or human-caused emergencies that endanger life, property, and the state’s resources, and further authorizes the Office of Emergency Services, established within the Governor’s office, and its director to take actions to coordinate emergency planning, preparedness, and response activities.

SEC. 2.

 Section 347.5 is added to the Water Code, to read:

347.5.
 (a) There is within the Department of Water Resources, the State-Federal Flood Operations Center, which may be administered within the department’s divisions, offices, or programs.
(b) The purpose of the center is to function as the focal point for gathering, analyzing, and disseminating flood and water-related information to stakeholders. To achieve this purpose, the center may do, but is not limited to doing, all of the following:
(1) Function during emergency situations to enable the department to centrally coordinate statewide emergency responses.
(2) Coordinate with the National Weather Service to provide river forecasts based on expected precipitation and reservoir operations.
(3) Declare flood alerts and support those activities in coordination with relevant cooperating agencies and academic partners, including the Atmospheric Rivers: Research, Mitigation, and Climate Forecasting Program, or its successor.
(4) Provide timely updates on activities relevant to cooperating agencies.
(c) (1) The department and the Office of Emergency Services, in consultation with cooperating agencies, shall develop and submit a report to the Legislature on or before October 1, 2025, that outlines necessary technological advancements for agile forecasting and
gaps in data that would improve flood response.
(2) (A) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under paragraph (1) is inoperative on June 1, 2026, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
(B) A report submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(d) For the purposes of this section, all of the following definitions apply:
(1) “Center” means the State-Federal Flood Operations Center.
(2) “Cooperating agencies” means federal, state, and local agencies that engage in water and emergency management, including, but not limited to, the University of California, San Diego Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes, the United States Bureau of Reclamation, the State Water Project, the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, the Office of Emergency Services, and the Department of Insurance.
(3) “Department” means the Department of Water Resources.