39735.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500)) requires the state board to do all of the following:
(1) Establish a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit to be achieved by 2020, pursuant to Section 38550.
(2) Adopt rules and regulations to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions, pursuant to Section 38560.
(3) Ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40 percent below the
statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit no later than December 31, 2030, pursuant to Section 38566.
(b) The state board has adopted its 2017 scoping plan, pursuant to Section 38561, to identify how the state will reach the 2030 target and substantially advance toward a 2050 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below the 1990 level.
(c) Scientists agree that, in order to avoid the worst impacts from climate change, carbon neutrality, the point at which the removal of carbon pollution from the atmosphere meets or exceeds emissions, must be achieved by midcentury.
(d) The achievement of carbon neutrality will require both significant reductions in carbon pollution and the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, including sequestration in forest, soils, and other natural and working
landscapes.
(e) The climate resilience of the state’s natural and working lands is critical for human health and safety, clean water and air, food security, fish and wildlife habitat, biodiversity, recreation, jobs, and carbon sequestration.
39736.
For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:(a) “Agency” means the Natural Resources Agency.
(b) “Natural lands” has the same meaning as in subdivision (d) of section 9001.5 of the Public Resources Code.
(c) “Working lands” has the same meaning as in subdivision (d) of section 9001.5 of the Public Resources Code.
39737.
(a) (1) Notwithstanding the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500)) and no later than July 1, 2021, the state board shall adopt a comprehensive strategy to achieve carbon neutrality in the state by no later than December 31, 2045.(2) In developing the comprehensive strategy, the state board shall do all of the following:
(A) Define carbon neutrality and develop standardized methodologies and accounting mechanisms to quantify the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through sequestration in the state’s natural and working lands, and, to the extent necessary, other sectors and technologies.
(B) Identify the strategies and methods that would need to be implemented to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide from the state’s natural and working lands to the greatest extent feasible.
(C) Establish numeric goals for the removals and reductions to be achieved by the strategies and methods identified pursuant to subparagraph (B) while also ensuring emissions are reduced in other industrial sectors to the maximum extent feasible.
(D) Prioritize the development of strategies and methods that offer cobenefits by improving water quality, reducing other air pollutants, increasing biodiversity, preserving fish and wildlife habitat, providing food security, and improving the resilience of the state’s natural and working lands to the impacts of a changing climate.
(E) Develop standardized metrics and reporting to quantify the state’s progress towards attaining carbon neutrality and capturing the cobenefits described in subparagraph (D).
(F) Coordinate with other state agencies, including the agency and Office of Planning and Research.
(b) Before adopting the comprehensive strategy required by subdivision (a), the state board shall conduct at least three public workshops in consultation with the agency and incorporate peer-reviewed data and models to identify the full extent to which the state’s natural and working lands can help contribute to carbon neutrality, taking into account the potential impacts of climate change and the state’s goals to foster those lands’ resilience and biodiversity.
(c) The state board
shall update the comprehensive strategy adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) at least once every five years to track the state’s progress toward achieving the goal established by subdivision (a) and reflect the best available scientific evidence and methods for removing and accounting for the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
(d) (1) The state board shall deliver a copy of the comprehensive strategy adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) and any update adopted pursuant to subdivision (c) to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature.
(2) The state board also shall make recommendations to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature for additional statutory authority to effectuate the goals of this section.
(e) This section does not affect the
existing laws to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or the authority of a state agency to adopt and implement rules and regulations that result in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to the extent authorized or required by law.