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SB-1217 Climate change: preparedness.(2013-2014)

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SB1217:v94#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  July 02, 2014
Amended  IN  Senate  May 27, 2014
Amended  IN  Senate  May 07, 2014
Amended  IN  Senate  April 21, 2014
Amended  IN  Senate  April 10, 2014

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2013–2014 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 1217

Introduced by Senator Leno
(Coauthors: Senators Jackson and Pavley)

February 20, 2014

An act to add Section 12805.4 to the Government Code, relating to climate change.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1217, as amended, Leno. Climate change: preparedness.
Existing law establishes the Natural Resources Agency and requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to develop a strategic vision for the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Fish and Game Commission that includes reforms necessary to take on the challenges of the 21st century, including, among other things, climate change and adaptation. Existing law establishes the Strategic Growth Council and requires the council to, among other things, identify and review activities and funding programs of its member state agencies that may be coordinated to, among other things, meet the goals of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.
This bill would require the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with other appropriate state agencies and departments, on or before January 1, 2019, July 1, 2018, and every 5 3 years thereafter, to prepare a climate change strategy that evaluates climate change risks to the state. The bill would require the strategy to identify mitigation measures that increase climate change resiliency. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency to identify possible funding for mitigation measures identified in the strategy. The bill would require the council, on or before January 1, 2020, and every 5 years thereafter, in consultation with the Natural Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and other appropriate state agencies and departments, to take specified actions with regard to reviewing the impacts of climate change and identifying capital outlay and public infrastructure projects. California climate risk assessment that provides original research on regionally appropriate climate risk vulnerabilities, risk management options, and other needed scientific research to support California’s development of informed climate policy and actions to address climate change. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency, on or before January 1, 2019, and every 5 years thereafter, to update the Safeguarding California Plan to reduce risks to California from the impacts of climate change. The bill would require the Office of Planning and Research on or before January 1, 2016, and every 5 years thereafter, to develop Infrastructure Resilience Guidelines to integrate climate risks into capital outlay and infrastructure planning and investment. The bill would require the council Strategic Growth Council to report its specified findings and provide a description of major projects relating to climate change to the appropriate state agencies, departments, commissions, and boards that make decisions related to capital funding. The bill would also require the council to report to the Legislature on those findings so that the Legislature may consider further action that may be necessary to address climate change in the state.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   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 climate is changing, posing an escalated threat to public health, the environment, and public and private property in the state. The increasing frequency of extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and changes in hydrology, including diminishing snowpack, among other climate change impacts, will touch every part of Californians’ lives in the next century and beyond, and planning appropriately for these impacts will help us be better prepared for the future.
(b) The impacts of climate change, including longer droughts, extended floods, prolonged fire seasons with larger and more intense fires, heat waves, and sea level rise are already creating challenges for public health and safety and causing destructive property damage.
(c) Climate changes pose a threat not just to the lives and health of the state’s residents, but to the financial health of our state and local governments.
(d) According to the Natural Resources Agency’s draft report, entitled “Safeguarding California: Reducing Climate Risk,” state-of-the-art modeling shows that a single extreme weather event in California could cost approximately $725 billion dollars, with total direct property losses of nearly $400 billion dollars, the effects of which could cause devastating impacts on the state’s residents, economy, and natural resources.
(e) Reducing the impacts of climate change on California’s natural and agricultural resources and infrastructure is essential to building the state’s resiliency protecting the state’s environment and ensuring its capacity to support its economy over time.
(f) Given the potential impacts and the long-term nature of effective planning, California needs to consider and prepare for these climate change impacts take action now.

(g)Without appropriate planning to make the state more resilient to the identified impacts of climate change, in addition to addressing the human and social costs of the effects of climate change, California could face billions of dollars per year in direct costs, and expose trillions of dollars of assets in the state to collateral risk.

(g) California has developed a strong climate science assessment program, which has built a comprehensive body of information about the climate risks in California; impacts on specific sectors, populations, and regions; projected costs of climate risks and impacts on the economy; and barriers to efforts to prepare for climate risks. These assessments have served as a basis for the development of the state’s Safeguarding California Plan (2009 Climate Adaptation Strategy and 2013 Safeguarding California Plan) and other climate policy documents, including the development of the Assembly Bill 32 Scoping Plan. The Safeguarding California Plan provides guidance for state decisionmakers regarding needed actions to reduce climate risk and ensure greater resilience for California communities. The climate science assessment and the Safeguarding California Plan should continue to be updated, on a regular basis, to ensure that the state has the appropriate information and strategies as it plans for climate change.
(h) It is in the best interest of the state for it to use both the climate science assessment and the Safeguarding California Plan to prepare guidelines that assist state agencies in incorporating climate risk, resiliency, and readiness into the capital outlay and public infrastructure project planning and investment process.

SEC. 2.

 Section 12805.4 is added to the Government Code, to read:

12805.4.
 (a) On On or before July 1, 2018, and every three years thereafter, the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with other appropriate state agencies and departments, shall prepare a California climate risk assessment that provides original research on regionally appropriate climate risk vulnerabilities, risk management options, and other needed scientific research to support California’s development of informed climate policy and actions to address climate change.
(b) On or before January 1, 2019, and every five years thereafter, the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Climate Action Team and other appropriate state agencies and departments, shall prepare a climate change strategy that evaluates climate change risks to the state and in coordination with local, regional, state, and federal public and private entities, shall update the Safeguarding California Plan to reduce risks to California from the impacts of climate change. The plan and updates shall include a summary of the best known science on climate change impacts affecting California, and assess California’s vulnerability to the identified impacts, including, but not limited to, sea level rise, drought and flooding, impacts on wildlife habitats, increasing temperatures, increased occurrence of extreme weather events, and increased wildland fire risk. The strategy plan and updates shall also identify mitigation measures that increase climate resiliency. The Natural Resources Agency shall identify possible funding for mitigation measures identified in the strategy. plan and updates.

(b)(1)On or before January 1, 2020, and every five years thereafter, the Strategic Growth Council shall, in consultation with the Natural Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and other appropriate state agencies and departments, do all of the following:

(A)Review the impacts of climate change in the state with regard to capital outlay and public infrastructure projects, including, but not limited to, the impacts described in subdivision (a).

(B)Identify and prioritize climate resiliency projects of major significance that would benefit essential public infrastructure and that would provide near-term and longer-term climate change resiliency to the state.

(C)Identify possible funding sources for the projects described in subparagraph (B).

(c) (1) On or before January 1, 2016, and every five years thereafter, the Office of Planning and Research, in consultation with the Strategic Growth Council and all state agencies that invest in infrastructure, shall develop guidelines that shall be known as the Infrastructure Resilience Guidelines, to integrate climate risks into capital outlay and public infrastructure planning and investment. The guidelines are not intended to preclude any project, but rather to provide guidance to state agencies on incorporating climate risk, resiliency, and readiness into the infrastructure project planning and investment process. The guidelines shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:
(A) Climate risks to be considered in capital outlay and public infrastructure planning.
(B) Relevant timeframes for considering climate impacts.
(C) Potential climate risks and options for managing and reducing those risks, including, where feasible, both of the following:
(i) The magnitude of expected climate impacts and risks.
(ii) References for finding climate science resources.
(2) The Office of Planning and Research shall conduct public workshops to solicit input on the Infrastructure Resilience Guidelines, and shall consider and incorporate comments received during the public workshops on the guidelines. Before finalization of the guidelines, the Office of Planning and Research shall present the guidelines to the Strategic Growth Council to solicit its comments and recommendations.
(d) State agencies and departments shall use the Infrastructure Resilience Guidelines to inform their capital outlay and public infrastructure planning and investment. State agencies and departments may seek consultation and guidance from the Strategic Growth Council.
(e) (1) The Strategic Growth Council, in consultation with the Office of Planning and Research, and other appropriate state agencies and departments, shall do all of the following:
(A) Use the Infrastructure Resilience Guidelines developed pursuant to subdivision (c) to review the state’s investments in capital outlay and public infrastructure projects with regard to the impacts of climate change, including, but not limited to, the impacts described in subdivision (a).
(B) Identify where capital outlay and infrastructure projects may be needed to further incorporate the Infrastructure Resilience Guidelines and provide recommendations to state agencies responsible for those projects.
(C) Identify any capital outlay and infrastructure projects that should receive priority for implementation because the projects offer the state important protection from the impacts of climate change.
(D) Whenever possible, identify potential funding sources for the projects described in subparagraph (B).
(2) (A) The Strategic Growth Council shall report its findings and provide a description of major projects identified in under paragraph (1) to the appropriate state agencies, departments, commissions, and boards that make decisions related to capital funding.
(B) (i) The Strategic Growth Council shall also report to the Legislature on its findings regarding climate change under paragraph (1) so that the Legislature may consider further action that may be necessary to address climate change in the state.
(ii) A report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to this subparagraph shall comply with Section 9795 of the Government Code.