Part 3.7 - Climate Change and Climate Adaptation

California Public Resources Code — §§ 71150-71160

Sections (7)

§ 71150

Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 338, Sec. 3. (AB 1384) Effective January 1, 2023.

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.

(c)“Office” means the Office of Planning and Research.

(d)“Plan” means the Safeguarding California Plan.

(e)“Vulnerable communities” has the same meaning as provided in subdivision (d) of Section 71340.

§ 71152

Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 338, Sec. 4. (AB 1384) Effective January 1, 2023.

(a)It is the intent of the Legislature to prioritize the most vulnerable communities, ecosystems, and economic sectors in the state’s climate adaptation and resilience strategy set forth in the Safeguarding California Plan by ensuring that all state departments and agencies accurately identify, collaboratively prepare for, and are sufficiently resourced to adequately 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.

(b)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 equity and that actions taken to address climate adaptation should be consistent with the plan. In developing these policies and taking these actions, all of the following shall occur:

(1)The creation of planning processes that are transparent, fair, and inclusive in the development phases.

(2)The prioritization of

resources and investments for vulnerable communities and populations.

(3)The adoption of strategies that seek to address and, at a minimum, avoid worsening social and racial inequities.

§ 71153

Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 338, Sec. 5. (AB 1384) Effective January 1, 2023.

(a)By July 1, 2024, and every three years thereafter, the agency shall update the state’s climate adaptation strategy, known as the plan. As part of the update, the agency shall coordinate with the office and other state agencies to identify a lead agency or group of agencies to lead adaptation efforts in each sector. The updates to the plan shall include all of the following:

(1)Vulnerabilities to climate change by sector, as identified by the lead agency or group of agencies, and regions, including, at a minimum,

the following sectors:

(A)Water.

(B)Energy.

(C)Transportation.

(D)Public health.

(E)Agriculture.

(F)Emergency services.

(G)Forestry.

(H)Biodiversity and habitat.

(I)Ocean and coastal resources.

(J)Financial

resources.

(2)Vulnerabilities to climate change for vulnerable communities, as identified by the office, through the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resilience Program.

(3)An operational definition of “climate resilience” for each sector and for vulnerable communities, as identified by the lead agency or group of agencies, so that total costs, funding plans, and other strategies to adequately prepare for disruptions, recover from shocks and stresses, and adapt and grow from various disruptions, especially in the most vulnerable communities, are analyzed and reported.

(4)Priority actions needed to reduce

risks and achieve climate resilience in those sectors and vulnerable communities,

as identified by the lead agency or group of agencies, with an emphasis on maximizing risk mitigation for the greatest number of people living in vulnerable communities.

(5)Special protections of vulnerable communities and industries that are disproportionately impacted by climate change.

(6)Opportunities to improve policy and budget coordination across jurisdictions, including federal and local jurisdictions.

(7)Timetables for

near-term, medium-term, and long-term timescales, and specific metrics to measure and evaluate the state’s progress in implementing the plan, as identified by the agency or the office. Metrics to evaluate progress toward meeting the goals may be modeled for the years 2030, 2050, 2080, 2100, and beyond.

(b)(1) By January 1,

2024, and every three years thereafter, the agency shall release a draft plan. Between the release of the draft plan and the publication of the final update of the plan, the agency shall hold at least three public hearings for the purpose of providing an opportunity for the public to review and provide written and oral comments on the draft plan. The public hearings shall be held in northern California, the central valley of California, and southern California.

(2)In preparing the draft plan, the agency shall engage with local and regional entities, including local agencies and communities, to enhance policy and funding coordination and promote regional solutions and implementation.

(c)In identifying

the vulnerabilities pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a), each lead agency or group of agencies shall, at a minimum, be informed by the most recent California Climate Change Assessment, the climate science research programs administered by the council and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the Climate Change and Health Vulnerability Indicators for California as produced by the Climate Change and Health Equity Section of the State Department of Public Health, and other peer-reviewed climate science research relevant to California.

(d)The agency shall annually report to the

Legislature, consistent with Section 9795 of the Government Code, on actions taken by each applicable agency to implement the plan.

§ 71154

Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 51, Sec. 23. (SB 122) Effective July 10, 2023.

To address the vulnerabilities identified in the plan, state agencies shall work to maximize, where applicable and feasible, all of 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, drought, threats to infrastructure and agriculture, worsening air and water quality, and public health impacts.

(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 and to help identify primary risks from climate change to residents, property, communities, and natural

systems across the state.

(c)(1) Promoting the use of the plan to inform planning decisions and ensure that state investments consider climate change impacts, as well as promote the use of natural systems and natural infrastructure, when developing physical infrastructure to address adaptation.

(2)When developing infrastructure to address adaptation, where feasible, a project alternative should be developed that uses existing natural features and ecosystem processes or the restoration of natural features and ecosystem processes to meet the project’s goals.

(3)For purposes of this subdivision, “natural infrastructure” means using natural ecological systems or processes to reduce vulnerability to climate change related hazards, or other related climate change effects, while increasing the

long-term adaptive capacity of coastal and inland areas by perpetuating or restoring ecosystem services. This includes, but is not limited to, the conservation, preservation, or sustainable management of any form of aquatic or terrestrial vegetated open space, such as beaches, dunes, tidal marshes, reefs, seagrass, aquifers, parks, rain gardens, and urban tree canopies. It also includes systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes, such as permeable pavements, bioswales, and other engineered systems, such as levees that are combined with restored natural systems, to provide clean water, conserve ecosystem values and functions, and provide a wide array of benefits to people and wildlife.

(d)Encouraging regional collaborative planning efforts to address regional climate change impacts and adaptation strategies.

(e)Promoting drought resiliency through an integrated

water supply, delivery, and capture system that is coordinated and that can be resilient to a multiyear drought scenario while protecting water quality and public health. 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 greenhouse gas emissions.

(g)Protecting and enhancing habitat, species strongholds, and wildlife corridors that are critical to the preservation of species that are at risk from the consequences of climate change.

(h)Promoting actions to ensure healthy soils and sustainable agriculture; inform reliable transportation planning; improve emergency management response across sectors; ensure sufficient, reliable, and safe energy; improve capacity to reduce and respond to public health threats; address the impacts of climate change on disadvantaged communities; and protect cultural resources from the impacts of climate change.

(i)Prioritizing equity by ensuring public expenditures that address climate change adaptation prioritize protecting vulnerable communities, rectifying intersectional and systemic inequities, and enhancing low-income and vulnerable communities’ abilities to weather the impacts of climate change.

§ 71155

Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 118, Sec. 1. (AB 2800) Effective January 1, 2021.

(a)Consistent with this part, state agencies shall take into account the current and future impacts of climate change, including the economic damages and financial liabilities associated with those impacts, when planning, designing, building, operating, maintaining, and investing in state infrastructure.

(b)(1) The Climate-Safe Infrastructure Working Group is established under the agency for the purpose of examining how to integrate scientific data concerning projected climate change impacts into state infrastructure engineering, including oversight, investment, design, and construction.

(2)The working group shall consist of the following:

(A)Professional engineers registered in accordance with Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 6700) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code with relevant expertise in state infrastructure design from the Department of Transportation, the Department of Water Resources, the Department of General Services, and other relevant state agencies, as applicable.

(B)Scientists from the University of California, the California State University, and other institutions who have expertise in climate change projections and impacts across California.

(C)Licensed architects with relevant experience in state infrastructure design, as applicable.

(3)The two groups specified in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) shall be equitably represented in the

membership of the working group, to the extent reasonable and appropriate.

(4)The working group shall work in coordination with other state climate adaptation planning efforts and shall consider and build upon existing information produced by the state, including information from the most recent California Climate Change Assessment conducted pursuant to Executive Order S-3-05, the plan, 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 of California Sea-Level Rise Guidance Document completed pursuant to Executive Order S-13-08, among other resources.

(5)The working group shall work in coordination with other state agencies that advance sustainability in infrastructure, including the council and the Government Operations Agency.

(c)The working group shall consider and investigate, at a minimum, the following issues:

(1)The current informational and institutional barriers to integrating projected climate change impacts into state infrastructure design.

(2)The critical information that engineers responsible for infrastructure design and construction need to address climate change impacts.

(3)How to select an appropriate engineering design for a range of future climate scenarios as related to infrastructure planning and investment.

(d)The working group shall only convene and perform its functions to the extent resources are available to fund the support of the working group and its

activities.

§ 71155.5

Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 338, Sec. 7. (AB 1384) Effective January 1, 2023.

The Treasurer, and the financing authorities that the Treasurer chairs, may assist state agencies by leveraging public and private capital investment to help with loans and other incentives to attain the goals established pursuant to this part.

§ 71160

Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 369, Sec. 2. (AB 72) Effective January 1, 2022.

(a)The agency shall explore and may implement options within the agency’s jurisdiction to establish a more coordinated and efficient regulatory review and permitting process for coastal adaptation projects that use natural infrastructure.

(b)(1) By July 1, 2023, the agency shall report to the Legislature on suggestions and recommendations for improving and expediting the

coordination between appropriate agencies in their regulatory review and permitting process for coastal adaptation projects that use natural infrastructure.

(2)The requirement for submitting a report imposed under this subdivision is inoperative on July 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

(3)The report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(c)(1) For purposes of this section, “coastal adaptation projects that use natural infrastructure” means development, as defined in Section 30106, that relies on natural ecological systems or processes to reduce vulnerability to climate change related hazards, or other related climate change effects, while increasing the long-term adaptive capacity of coastal and inland areas by perpetuating or restoring ecosystem services. This includes, but is not limited to, the

conservation, preservation, or sustainable management of any form of aquatic or terrestrial vegetated open space, such as beaches, dunes, tidal marshes, reefs, seagrass, parks, rain gardens, and urban tree canopies. It also includes systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes, such as permeable pavements, bioswales, and other engineered systems, such as levees that are combined with restored natural systems, to provide clean water, conserve ecosystem values and functions, and provide a wide array of benefits to people and wildlife.

(2)Coastal adaptation projects that use natural infrastructure may also include, but are not limited to, both of the following:

(A)Soft strategies that avoid fixing the shoreline with hard structures and instead rely on the use of

dynamic systems to attenuate coastal hazards, such as dune or wetland restoration.

(B)Hybrid armoring that combines fixing the shoreline to some limited extent, such as with a buried revetment or other shoreline protective device, with a nature-based feature to provide ecological benefits.