BILL NUMBER: AB 1482	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 20, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gordon

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to amend Section 75125  of   of, and
to add Part 3.7 (commencing with Section 71150) to Division 34 of,
 the Public Resources Code, relating to  the Strategic
Growth Council.   climate change. 



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1482, as amended, Gordon.  Strategic Growth Council:
duties.   Climate adaptation.  
   Existing law establishes the Natural Resources Agency, comprised
of departments, boards, conservancies, and commissions responsible
for the restoration, protection, and management of the state's
natural and cultural resources. 
   Existing law establishes the Strategic Growth Council in state
government and assigns to the council certain duties, including
providing, funding, and distributing data and information to local
governments and regional agencies that will assist in the development
and planning of sustainable communities. 
   This bill would require the agency, in coordination with the
council, to address the impacts of climate change and climate
adaptation by reviewing and coordinating existing grants and programs
to maximize specified objectives, including, among others,
establishing policy, guidelines, and guidance at the state level to
inform planning decisions and ensuring that state investments
consider climate change impacts, as well as promote the use of
natural systems, whenever feasible, when developing physical
infrastructure to address adaptation. 
   This bill  also  would expand the duties of the council
to include overseeing and coordinating state agency actions to adapt
to climate change and identifying and pursuing opportunities for
state agencies to collaborate with federal or local agencies in their
climate adaptation efforts.
   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.    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 residents' lives in the next century and beyond. 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 residents but to the financial health of our state and local
governments.  
   (d) According to the Natural Resources Agency's report,
"Safeguarding California: Reducing Climate Risk," state-of-the-art
modeling shows that a single extreme winter storm in California could
cost on the order of $725,000,000,000, including total direct
property losses of nearly $400,000,000,000 and devastating impacts to
residents, the economy, and natural resources.  
   (e) Adapting to climate change in addition to reducing the impacts
of climate change on California's natural resources and
infrastructure is essential to protecting the state's environment and
economy over time and will require coordination across all state
departments and agencies.  
   (f) Given the potential impacts and the long-term nature of
effective planning, California needs to take action now. 
   SEC. 2.    Part 3.7 (commencing with Section 71150)
is added to Division 34 of the   Public Resources Code 
 , to read:  

      PART 3.7.  Climate Change and Climate Adaptation


   71150.  For purposes of this part, the following terms have the
following meanings:
   (a) "Agency" means the Natural Resources Agency.
   (b) "Council" means the Strategic Growth Council.
   71152.  It is the intent of the Legislature to prioritize the
state's response to the unavoidable impacts resulting from climate
change by ensuring all state departments and agencies prepare for and
are ready to respond to the impacts of climate change, such as
extreme weather events, the urban heat island effect, habitat loss,
wildfire, sea-level rise, and drought. It also is the intent of the
Legislature that the agency consider developing policies to address
the impacts of climate change and climate adaptation with a focus on
people, places, and water and that actions taken to address climate
adaptation should be consistent with the Safeguarding California
Plan.
   71154.  To address the impacts of climate change and climate
adaptation, the agency, in coordination with the council, shall
review and coordinate existing grants and programs to maximize the
following objectives:
   (a) Educating the public about the consequences of climate change,
such as sea-level rise, extreme weather events, the urban heat
island effect, habitat loss, wildfire, and drought.
   (b) Ensuring there is a continued repository for scientific data
on climate change and climate adaptation in the state in order to
facilitate educated state and local policy decisions.
   (c) Establishing policy, guidelines, and guidance at the state
level to inform planning decisions and ensure that state investments
consider climate change impacts, as well as promote the use of
natural systems, whenever feasible, when developing physical
infrastructure to address adaptation.
   (d) Encouraging regional collaborative planning efforts to address
regional climate change impacts and adaptation strategies.
   (e) Promoting a water supply, delivery, and capture system that is
coordinated and can withstand a multiyear drought scenario.
Establishing both drought preparation programs, which will help
create sustainable water systems in the future, and immediate drought
response programs, which will reduce water demand or increase supply
within one to five years of any declared drought.
   (f) Building resilient communities by developing urban greening
projects that reduce air pollution and heat reflection in urban areas
and create livable, sustainable communities in urban cores to
promote infill development and reduce vehicle miles traveled.
   (g) Protecting and enhancing habitat and species strongholds that
are critical to the preservation of species that are at risk from the
consequences of climate change.
   71156.  For the purposes of implementing the objectives of this
part, the agency, in coordination with the council, shall identify
and coordinate opportunities among its departments in expending
moneys from all of the following:
   (a) The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created pursuant to Section
16428.8 of the Government Code.
   (b) The Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act
of 2014, approved by the voters as Proposition 1 at the November 4,
2014, statewide general election.
   (c) Other state funds.
   71158.  The agency, in coordination with the council, shall assess
and coordinate across all state departments and agencies to ensure
that funding programs maximize the ability for state and local
infrastructure, people, and habitat and wildlife to cope with the
consequences of climate change. 
   SECTION 1.  SEC. 3.   Section 75125 of
the Public Resources Code is amended to read:
   75125.  The council shall do all of the following:
   (a) Identify and review activities and funding programs of member
state agencies that may be coordinated to improve air and water
quality, improve natural resource protection, increase the
availability of affordable housing, improve transportation, meet the
goals of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
(Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and
Safety Code), encourage sustainable land use planning, and revitalize
urban and community centers in a sustainable manner. At a minimum,
the council shall review and comment on the five-year infrastructure
plan developed pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 13100)
of Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code and the State Environmental Goals and Policy Report developed
pursuant to Section 65041 of the Government Code.
   (b) Recommend policies and investment strategies and priorities to
the Governor, the Legislature, and to appropriate state agencies to
encourage the development of sustainable communities, such as those
communities that promote equity, strengthen the economy, protect the
environment, and promote public health and safety, consistent with
subdivisions (a) and (c) of Section 75065.
   (c) Provide, fund, and distribute data and information to local
governments and regional agencies that will assist in developing and
planning sustainable communities.
   (d) Manage and award grants and loans to support the planning and
development of sustainable communities, pursuant to Sections 75127,
75128, and 75129. To implement this subdivision, the council may do
all of the following:
   (1) Develop guidelines for awarding financial assistance,
including criteria for eligibility and additional consideration.
   (2) Develop criteria for determining the amount of financial
assistance to be awarded. The council shall award a revolving loan to
an applicant for a planning project, unless the council determines
that the applicant lacks the fiscal capacity to carry out the project
without a grant. The council may establish criteria that would allow
the applicant to illustrate an ongoing commitment of financial
resources to ensure the completion of the proposed plan or project.
   (3) Provide for payments of interest on loans made pursuant to
this article. The rate of interest shall not exceed the rate earned
by the Pooled Money Investment Board.
   (4) Provide for the time period for repaying a loan made pursuant
to this article.
   (5) Provide for the recovery of funds from an applicant that fails
to complete the project for which financial assistance was awarded.
The council shall direct the Controller to recover funds by any
available means.
   (6) Provide technical assistance for application preparation.
   (7) Designate a state agency or department to administer technical
and financial assistance programs for the disbursing of grants and
loans to support the planning and development of sustainable
communities, pursuant to Sections 75127, 75128, and 75129.
   (e) Provide an annual report to the Legislature that shall
include, but need not be limited to, all of the following:
   (1) A list of applicants for financial assistance.
   (2) Identification of which applications were approved.
   (3) The amounts awarded for each approved application.
   (4) The remaining balance of available funds.
   (5) A report on the proposed or ongoing management of each funded
project.
   (6) Any additional minimum requirements and priorities for a
project or plan proposed in a grant or loan application developed and
adopted by the council pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 75126.

   (f) Oversee and coordinate state agency actions to adapt to
climate change.
   (g) Identify and pursue opportunities for state agencies to
collaborate with federal or local agencies in their climate
adaptation efforts.