Enrolled  August 29, 2018
Passed  IN  Senate  August 22, 2018
Passed  IN  Assembly  August 27, 2018
Amended  IN  Senate  July 03, 2018
Amended  IN  Senate  June 14, 2018
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 24, 2018
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 04, 2018

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 2528

Introduced by Assembly Member Bloom
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Kalra)

February 14, 2018

An act to amend Sections 71150 and 71153 of, and to add Section 71151 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to climate change.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2528, Bloom. Climate adaptation.
Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency by July 1, 2017, and every 3 years thereafter, to update the state’s climate adaptation strategy to identify vulnerabilities to climate change by sectors, including the biodiversity and habitat sector, and priority actions needed to reduce the risks in those sectors. As part of the update, existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency to coordinate with other state agencies to identify a lead agency or group of agencies to lead adaptation efforts in each sector.
This bill would add 3 new sectors to the climate adaptation strategy: the land use and community development sector, the climate justice sector, and the parks, recreation, and California culture sector. The bill would also specify that the biodiversity and habitat sector includes habitat resilience areas, as defined.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 It is the intent of the Legislature for state agencies, as they implement Part 3.7 (commencing with Section 71150) of Division 34 of the Public Resources Code, to do the following:
(a) Study and understand habitat resilience areas in California in order to prepare the state and its associated ecosystems to be more resilient to climate change and its associated impacts, such as drought, fire, and sea-level rise.
(b) Proactively identify, study, and understand habitat resilience areas, including existing strongholds, through existing state planning, including the Safeguarding California Plan, recovery plans, the Wildlife Action Plan, associated sector-specific plans, and other appropriate state plans and programs.
(c) Study and understand strongholds in each of the six bioregions identified by the North American Salmon Stronghold Partnership. Together these strongholds represent less than 5 percent of the state’s area and less than 10 percent of the salmon and steelhead-bearing streams, but are home to roughly 70 percent of the genetic and run-timing diversity of these species, which act as indicators of watershed and broader ecosystem health.

SEC. 2.

 Section 71150 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

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.
(c) “Habitat resilience area” means any one of the following:
(1) Salmonid Strongholds. For purposes of this paragraph, the following definitions apply:
(A) “Salmonid Stronghold” means a watershed and its rivers that supports the largest populations of fish or a watershed and its rivers that support populations of fish with critical genetic diversity essential for the recovery of those fish species in each of the following six bioregions identified by the North American Salmon Stronghold Partnership in 2010:
(i) The Smith River Stronghold.
(ii) The Salmon/Mid-Klamath Stronghold.
(iii) The Sacramento Stronghold.
(iv) The Mattole/South Fork Eel Stronghold.
(v) The Big Sur Stronghold.
(vi) The Santa Clara Stronghold.
(B) “Populations of fish” means any wild, native salmonid species, including trout, salmon, and steelhead species listed as an endangered or threatened species pursuant to the federal Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. Sec. 1531 et seq.) or as an endangered, threatened, or candidate species pursuant to the California Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code).
(2) Source waters. For purposes of this paragraph, “source waters” means any system in the Cascade Mountains, Modoc Plateau, and Feather River headwaters that provides groundwater recharge to extensive volcanic aquifers that store and release large quantities of groundwater to spring-fed rivers.
(3) Coastal estuaries over two acres in size.
(4) Mountain meadows or degraded mountain meadows that are located within the California portion of the Sierra Nevada, Modoc Plateau, Warner Mountains, Southern Cascades, or Sierra or Cascade foothills.
(d) “Plan” means the Safeguarding California Plan.

SEC. 3.

 Section 71151 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

71151.
 The agency may identify the precise geographic boundaries of the habitat resilience areas defined in subdivision (c) of Section 71150 and include them in the plan.

SEC. 4.

 Section 71153 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

71153.
 (a) By July 1, 2017, 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 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, including habitat resilience areas.
(I) Ocean and coastal resources.
(J) Land use and community development.
(K) Climate justice.
(L) Parks, recreation, and California culture.
(2) Priority actions needed to advance climate adaptation strategies and to reduce risks in those sectors, as identified by the lead agency or group of agencies.
(b) By January 1, 2017, 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.
(c) 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.