Bill Text: CA AB1992 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Carbon sequestration: blue carbon and teal carbon demonstration projects.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2024-09-22 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB1992 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB1992-Enrolled.html
|
Enrolled
September 04, 2024 |
|
Passed
IN
Senate
August 29, 2024 |
|
Passed
IN
Assembly
August 30, 2024 |
|
Amended
IN
Senate
August 23, 2024 |
|
Amended
IN
Senate
August 15, 2024 |
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
May 16, 2024 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1992
| Introduced by Assembly Member Boerner |
January 30, 2024 |
An act to add Section 12805.4 to the Government Code, and to add Sections 30100.3 and 30237 to the Public Resources Code, relating to carbon sequestration.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1992, Boerner.
Carbon sequestration: blue carbon and teal carbon demonstration projects.
Existing law, the California Coastal Act of 1976, among other things, requires anyone wishing to perform or undertake any development in the coastal zone, except as specified, in addition to obtaining any other permit required by law from any local government or from any state, regional, or local agency, to obtain a coastal development permit from the California Coastal Commission or a local government, as provided.
This bill would authorize the commission to authorize blue carbon demonstration projects, as defined, in order to demonstrate and quantify the carbon sequestration potential of these projects to help inform the state’s natural and working lands and climate resilience strategies. The bill would, among other things, authorize the commission to require an applicant with a nonresidential project that impacts coastal wetland, subtidal,
intertidal, or marine habitats or ecosystems to build or contribute to a blue carbon demonstration project. The bill would require these provisions to be implemented only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for its purposes.
Existing law establishes the Natural Resources Agency, composed of departments, boards, conservancies, and commissions responsible for the restoration, protection, and management of the state’s natural and cultural resources.
This bill would, commencing on January 1, 2028, authorize the Natural Resources Agency to authorize teal carbon demonstration projects, as defined, in order to demonstrate and quantify the carbon sequestration potential of these projects to help inform the state’s natural and
working lands and climate resilience strategies. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency to consult with certain state and federal agencies and entities in developing a teal carbon demonstration project program. The bill would, among other things, require project results to be provided to the Natural Resources Agency and posted on a public portion of its internet website. The bill would require these provisions to be implemented only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for its purposes.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) California has set the targets to reduce carbon emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
(b) In 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Executive Order No. N-82-20, directing the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with other state agencies, to develop a Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy that serves as a framework to advance the state’s carbon neutrality goal and build climate resilience.
(c) Executive Order No. N-82-20 also set the goal to conserve at least 30 percent of state land and coastal waters by 2030 and a recent Natural Resources Agency report on implementation recognizes the need to restore degraded coastal and inland habitats to capture carbon and mitigate climate change impacts.
(d) Blue carbon, carbon held and stored in coastal vegetation, such as seagrasses and wetlands, holds great potential to help the state meet its climate goals. Recent studies have found that coastal wetlands in some instances capture carbon at a greater rate than tropical forests and store three to five times more carbon per equivalent area than these forests.
(e) The State Air Resources Board’s draft 2022 scoping plan update does not specifically include blue carbon in
the state’s natural and working lands inventory due, in part, to the limited availability of data and methodologies to inventory the stored carbon. The draft scoping plan includes certain noncoastal landscapes, including, among others, shrublands, grasslands, and wetlands, in its natural and working lands inventory, and notes the importance of further study and research to increase understanding of the various parameters that impact carbon sequestration. Teal carbon is stored in inland wetlands.
(f) Given the potential of blue and teal carbon sequestration, blue and teal carbon demonstration projects in California may help the state better understand how blue and teal carbon could potentially contribute to the state achieving its carbon neutrality and climate resilience goals.
SEC. 2.
Section 12805.4 is added to the Government Code, to read:12805.4.
(a) The Natural Resources Agency may authorize teal carbon demonstration projects in order to demonstrate and quantify the carbon sequestration potential of these projects to help inform the state’s natural and working lands and climate resilience strategies.(b) The Natural Resources Agency shall consult with the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and other public entities, and seek consultation with applicable federal agencies, in developing a teal carbon demonstration project program.
(c) Each teal carbon demonstration project shall be designed, monitored, and have
sufficient data collected in order to demonstrate the carbon uptake and sequestration achieved. This shall include an evaluation of relevant factors affecting the permanence of the sequestration. The project results shall be provided to the Natural Resources Agency and posted on a public portion of its internet website.
(d) (1) Designation as a teal carbon demonstration project shall not alter the requirement that the project obtain all applicable local, state, and federal permits.
(2) A teal carbon demonstration project, or a contribution to its funding, shall not be imposed as a condition of approval or
occupancy of a residential project.
(e) For purposes of this section, “teal carbon demonstration project” means the restoration of inland wetland and ecosystems that can take up and sequester carbon. A teal carbon demonstration project is limited to all of the following:
(1) Ecologically appropriate locations where the habitat or ecosystem had historically occurred and subsequently become degraded or removed.
(2) The restoration of the habitat or ecosystem to its historical state to provide ecosystem services and habitat values, to the extent feasible.
(3) The use of diverse native species.
(f) This section shall be implemented only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for purposes of this section.
(g) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2028.
SEC. 3.
Section 30100.3 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:30100.3.
“Blue carbon demonstration project” means the restoration of coastal wetland, subtidal, intertidal, or marine habitats or ecosystems, including, but not limited to, wetlands and seagrasses, that can take up and sequester carbon. A blue carbon demonstration project is limited to all of the following:(a) Ecologically appropriate locations where the habitat or ecosystem had historically occurred and subsequently become degraded or removed.
(b) The restoration of the habitat or ecosystem to its historical state to provide ecosystem services and habitat values, to the extent feasible.
(c) The use of diverse native species.
SEC. 4.
Section 30237 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:30237.
(a) The commission may authorize blue carbon demonstration projects in order to demonstrate and quantify the carbon sequestration potential of these projects to help inform the state’s natural and working lands and climate resilience strategies.(b) The commission may require an applicant with a nonresidential project that impacts coastal wetland, subtidal, intertidal, or marine habitats or ecosystems to build or contribute to a blue carbon demonstration project.
(c) The commission shall consult with the State Air Resources Board, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the State Coastal Conservancy, the
State Lands Commission, and other public entities, and seek consultation with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in developing the blue carbon demonstration project program.
(d) Each blue carbon demonstration project shall be designed, monitored, and have sufficient data collected in order to demonstrate the carbon uptake and sequestration achieved. This shall include an evaluation of relevant factors affecting the permanence of the sequestration. The results shall be presented to the commission in a public hearing.
(e) This section shall be implemented only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for purposes of this section.
