Bill Text: CA SB1283 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: San Francisco Bay Area Sea Level Rise Planning Act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-03-28 - Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author. [SB1283 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SB1283-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1283 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Alquist
FEBRUARY 23, 2012
An act to add Division 22.5 (commencing with Section 32385) to the
Public Resources Code, relating to coastal resources.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1283, as introduced, Alquist. San Francisco Bay Area Sea Level
Rise Planning Act.
Existing law, including the California Coastal Act of 1976,
provides for the planning and regulation of development and use of
coastal resources in the state.
This bill would establish the San Francisco Bay Area Sea Level
Rise Planning Act, which would authorize a regional sea level rise
management group, as defined, or local government agency to prepare
and adopt an integrated sea level rise management plan for the San
Francisco Bay area, in accordance with specified requirements. The
bill would require a state agency that elects to develop an
integrated sea level management plan to include specified criteria in
that plan, and to prioritize funding for the plan, as prescribed.
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. Division 22.5 (commencing with Section 32385) is added
to the Public Resources Code, to read:
DIVISION 22.5. San Francisco Bay Area Sea Level Rise Planning
Act
32385. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Sea level rise from global warming is a fact. Water levels in
the San Francisco Bay have risen nearly eight inches over the past
century, and scientists agree that the rate of sea level rise is
accelerating.
(b) While the rate of global climate change will depend on the
volume of future greenhouse gas emissions, sea level rise in San
Francisco Bay could be as much as 16 inches by 2050 and 55 inches by
the end of the century.
(c) Planning and adapting to sea level rise and its impacts are
unavoidable and essential.
(d) Sea level rise is a particularly acute problem for the San
Francisco Bay area. Between 1850 and 1960 about one-third of San
Francisco Bay, equivalent to approximately 240 square miles, was
filled high enough to be above current sea level, but not above
future sea level. Also, large portions of the south bay are below
current sea level. The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development
Commission has identified 330 square miles of low-lying land around
San Francisco Bay that may be vulnerable to sea level rise over the
next century.
(e) A 16-inch rise above the year 2000 sea level would potentially
expose 281 square miles of bay shoreline to flooding, and a 55-inch
rise would potentially expose 333 square miles to flooding.
(f) If no adaptation measures are taken, a 55-inch rise in sea
level would place an estimated 270,000 people in the bay area at risk
of flooding.
(g) The economic value of bay area shoreline development at risk
from a 55-inch rise in sea level is estimated at sixty-two billion
dollars ($62,000,000,000)--nearly twice the estimated value of other
development vulnerable to sea level rise along the rest of California'
s entire coastline.
(h) Sea level rise could potentially jeopardize the drinking water
supply for all Californians.
(i) The nine-county San Francisco Bay area is home to
approximately seven million people, making the bay one of the world's
most urbanized estuaries.
(j) Managing the threats to the San Francisco Bay and shoreline
development from sea level rise will be one of the defining
challenges of the 21st century.
(k) Coastal ecosystems, including wetlands and beaches, provide
important ecological, recreational, and scenic functions and values,
which are threatened by sea level rise.
(l) Many state entities, such as the San Francisco Bay
Conservation and Development Commission, the California Coastal
Commission, the State Lands Commission, the Strategic Growth Council,
the Ocean Protection Council, and the Governor's Office of Planning
and Research are all working to determine the best way to prepare for
a sea level rise in the San Francisco Bay area.
(m) Local governments and various state agencies are involved with
the protection of low-lying land throughout the state and are
charged with managing competing land uses, upgrading aging and aged
infrastructure, protecting habitat and water quality, maintaining
flood protection, and providing public shoreline access.
(n) There are multiple local, state, and regional government
agencies with authority over the San Francisco Bay and shoreline.
Local governments have broad authority over shoreline land use, but
limited resources to address climate change adaptation. Working
collaboratively with local governments, including agencies with
responsibility for flood protection, is desirable to optimize scarce
resources and create the flexibility needed to plan amidst a high
degree of uncertainty.
(o) Government jurisdictional boundaries and authorities in the
bay area are incongruent with the regional scale and nature of
climate-related challenges. It is the intent of the Legislature that
sea level rise planning take place through a framework for regional
decisionmaking to address sea level rise through consistent and
effective regionwide policy and to provide local governments with
assistance and incentives for addressing climate change.
32385.1. The following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) "Bay area" means the area within the jurisdiction of the City
and County of San Francisco, including areas within the San Francisco
Bay.
(b) "Regional sea level rise management group" means an
organization comprised of more than one local agency.
(c) "Local agency" means a city, county, city and county, special
district, joint powers authority, or other political subdivision of
the state.
32385.2. (a) A regional sea level rise management group or local
agency may prepare and adopt an integrated sea level rise management
plan for the bay area in accordance with this section.
(b) A sea level rise management plan shall consider and use
relevant information from the October 2011 San Francisco Bay Plan and
the 2011 Report "Living With a Rising Bay: Vulnerability and
Adaptation in San Francisco Bay and on the Shoreline" prepared by the
San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, 2009
California Climate Adaptation Strategy prepared by the Natural
Resources Agency, the Report on Sea Level Rise Preparedness prepared
by the State Lands Commission, and the Sea Level Rise Assessment
Report prepared by the National Academy of Sciences if the report
becomes available at least six months prior to the date the plan is
due, the resolution of the California Ocean Protection Council on
Sea-Level Rise and the State of California Sea-Level Rise Interim
Guidance Document, and any subsequent updates to those reports that
become available six months prior to the date the plan is due, and
any other related resource.
(c) A sea level rise management plan that is adopted pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall include all of the following:
(1) Maps showing the areas that may be affected by sea level rise
in the years 2050 and 2100. These maps shall include the potential
impacts of 100-year storm events.
(2) An estimate of the financial cost of the impact of sea level
rise on affected land, communities, and coastal ecosystems. The
estimate shall consider, but is not limited to, both the potential
cost of repair of damage to and value of lost use of improvements and
land and the anticipated cost to prevent or mitigate potential
damage.
(3) A summary of regional strategies that includes, but is not
limited to, the following:
(A) Identification of areas that may be subject to erosion,
inundation, or other impacts from sea level rise and climate change.
(B) Economic and environmental analyses of the benefits and costs
of protecting the areas likely to be impacted.
(C) A plan that describes how to mitigate and adapt to projected
sea level rise on the bay and shoreline, including protecting
resources from erosion and inundation, and maintaining, restoring, or
enhancing the productivity of bay and shoreline environments.
(D) A plan to prevent or mitigate damage to existing development
and infrastructure, and to protect and enhance undeveloped,
vulnerable shoreline areas containing critical habitat and
opportunities for habitat creation, including wetland restoration,
habitat migration, or the creation of buffer zones on granted public
trust lands. When developing these strategies, especially along the
coastline, a local agency shall consider feasible, nonengineered
measures, such as coastal setback lines and managed retreat of
structures. These strategies shall consider, but are not limited to
considering, feasible, nonengineered measures.
(4) Design standards that would avoid or mitigate impacts to new
development and infrastructure.
(5) Implementation measures and timetables.
(d) In preparing a sea level rise management plan, a local agency
shall conduct at least one public hearing and make a good faith
effort to consult with all affected parties.
(e) The appropriate state entities shall provide technical
assistance to local agencies that incorporate sea level adaptation
into their general plans.
(f) This section does not obligate a local agency to fund the
implementation of any project or program.
32385.3. (a) A state agency that elects to develop and implement
an integrated sea level management plan for application in the state
shall include in any set of criteria used to select plans for funding
a criterion that provides a preference for regional plans.
(b) A state agency shall prioritize funding for the plan based on
the following criteria:
(1) Community-based and cooperative management mechanisms that
promote long-term stewardship.
(2) Provisions for the improvement of the management,
conservation, and protection of coastal waters and ocean ecosystems.
(3) A description of the potential to leverage additional funds.
