2022 Legislative Tracker

The below list of bills related to climate change, particularly adaptation, are being tracked by ARCCA as a resource to its members and adaptation professionals in California. Please note that descriptions are pulled directly from the bill text in the Legislative Counsel’s Digest without any analysis, and some descriptions only include a portion of the summary. If you are interested in a particular bill, we encourage you to follow the link (bill number) to read the full text.

Last updated: Tuesday, October 4th at 1:50 PM

Jump to bill: AB-1384 • AB-1445 • AB-1902AB-2238AB-2287 • AB-2344AB-2420AB-2645 • AB-2805 • SB-852SB-867SB-1078SB-1205

Bill tracking progress bars

To help users visually see the status of each bill, ARCCA launched a new progress bar tracker under each bill that simplifies the legislative process into 10 key steps. However, it should be noted that the percentages used in the visual tracker do not correspond with the actual amount of time it takes for bills to move through the legislative process.

10% Introduction / First reading in the house of origin
20% Committee hearings
30% Second reading
40% Third reading
50% First reading in the other house
60% Committee hearings
70% Second reading
80% Third reading
90% Resolution of differences
95% Enrolled and presented to the Governor
100% Signed by Governor and chaptered into law

AB-1384 | Gabriel
Resiliency Through Adaptation, Economic Vitality, and Equity Act of 2022.

This bill would instead require the [California Natural Resources Agency] to release the draft plan by January 1, 2024, and every 3 years thereafter, and to update the plan by July 1, 2024, and every 3 years thereafter. The bill would require the agency to also coordinate with the Office of Planning and Research and identify, among other things, vulnerabilities to climate change for vulnerable communities, an operational definition of “climate resilience” for each sector and for vulnerable communities, special protections of vulnerable communities and industries that are disproportionately impacted by climate change, opportunities to improve policy and budget coordination across jurisdictions, and timetables and specific metrics to measure and evaluate the state’s progress in implementing the plan. The bill would require each lead agency or group of agencies to be informed, at a minimum, by specified documents and climate science research in identifying the vulnerabilities to climate change. The bill would require state agencies to also maximize the objective of 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. The bill would authorize the Treasurer, and the financing authorities that the Treasurer chairs, to assist state agencies by leveraging public and private capital investment to help with loans and other incentives to attain the goals established pursuant to these provisions.

9/16/22 – Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 338, Statutes of 2022.100%
100%

AB-1445 | Levine
Planning and zoning: regional housing need allocation: climate change impacts.

Commencing January 1, 2025, this bill would instead require a council of governments or a delegate subregion to consider including specified factors in developing the above-mentioned methodology. The bill would require a council of governments or a delegate subregion to additionally consider including and would authorize the department, as applicable, to additionally consider among these factors emergency evacuation route capacity, wildfire risk, sea level rise, and other impacts caused by climate change, as provided. By adding to the duties of local officials in allocating regional housing need, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

9/30/22 – Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 948, Statutes of 2022.100%
100%

AB-1902 | Aguiar-Curry
Resource conservation: resource conservation districts.

This bill would authorize a resource conservation district to be formed to provide resource conservation services for the protection, conservation, restoration, or enhancement of natural resources, as provided. The bill would also authorize a resource conservation district to, with the consent of the owner, construct on privately or publicly owned lands any necessary works for the protection, conservation, restoration, or enhancement of natural resources, the improvement or enhancement of adaptation or resilience to climate change, or the mitigation or sequestration of carbon emissions, and to develop and implement projects and programs for the conservation, enhancement, restoration, adaptation, and resilience of soil, water, and biodiversity and related natural resource conservation. The bill would authorize directors of the resource conservation districts to accept, administer, and manage specified projects and programs consistent with these. purposes, among other things. The bill would authorize a resource conservation district to enter into an interagency agreement with a state agency, as provided.

9/27/22 – Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 585, Statutes of 2022.100%
100%

AB-2238 | Luz Rivas and Eduardo Garcia
Extreme heat: statewide extreme heat ranking system.

This bill would require [CalEPA], by January 1, 2025, to develop a statewide extreme heat ranking system in coordination with the ICARP, the State Department of Public Health, and the Department of Insurance, as provided. The bill would also require the Department of Insurance, by July 1, 2024, to transmit a study of, among other things, past extreme heat events and the effectiveness of insurance coverages, as specified, to prevent losses or help communities plan public health initiatives related to combating the effects of extreme heat, insurance options that will support specified adaptation, preparedness, and resilience measures, and recommendations for overcoming barriers encountered by local governments that are trying to use insurance or other financing tools to fund or support heat risk mitigation or adaptation strategies to the agency, the ICARP, and certain legislative policy committees, and to post the study on its internet website. The bill would require the agency, in coordination with the ICARP, the State Department of Public Health, and the Department of Insurance, to periodically review and update the extreme heat ranking system, as appropriate. The bill would require the ICARP to develop a public communication plan for the statewide extreme heat ranking system, recommend partnerships with local health departments and local and tribal governments, and develop statewide guidance for local and tribal governments in the preparation and planning for extreme heat events, and review the heat ranking system, as specified. The bill would also make findings and declarations related to extreme heat.

9/09/22 – Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 264, Statutes of 2022.100%
100%

AB-2287 | Stone
California Ocean Resources Stewardship Act of 2000.

This bill would rename the [California Ocean Trust] to the California Ocean Science Trust and make conforming changes. The bill would authorize the trust to administer grants and expenditures of the trust for specified purposes from private and public fund sources, including, but not limited to, direct appropriations from the annual Budget Act and block grants from other state agencies with relevant need for coordination and engagement with the trust. The bill would authorize the trust to engage with scientific experts for the purpose of gaining knowledge, solutions, and recommendations for specified topics that are relevant to state agencies and departments, as provided. The bill would repeal the provision requiring the secretary to report on the steps taken to ensure adequate coordination of ocean resource management science.

8/29/22 – Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 208, Statutes of 2022.100%
100%

AB-2344 | Friedman and Kalra
Wildlife connectivity: transportation projects.

This bill would require Caltrans, in consultation with DFW and other appropriate agencies, to establish an inventory of connectivity needs on the state highway system where the implementation of wildlife passage features could reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions or enhance wildlife connectivity, as specified. The bill would require Caltrans, no later than July 1, 2024, to develop and publish the inventory and a list of funded transportation projects with wildlife passage features that address wildlife connectivity needs and would require Caltrans to update the inventory and the project list at least once every 2 years.

The bill would require Caltrans, for any project on the state highway system in a connectivity area that adds a traffic lane or that has the potential to significantly impair wildlife connectivity, to perform an assessment, in consultation with DFW, to identify potential wildlife connectivity barriers and any needs for improved permeability, as specified. The bill would require Caltrans to submit the assessment to DFW and, if any structural barrier to wildlife connectivity exists or will be added by the project for target species in the connectivity area, would require the implementing agency to remediate barriers to wildlife connectivity in conjunction with the project. The bill would authorize Caltrans to use compensatory mitigation credits to satisfy these remediation requirements if DFW concurs with the use of those credits.

The bill would establish the Transportation Wildlife Connectivity Remediation Program, to be administered by Caltrans, in consultation with DFW, for the purposes of improving wildlife connectivity across transportation systems in connectivity areas. As part of the program, the bill would require Caltrans, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to develop a program of projects that support the remediation and improvement of wildlife connectivity across transportation systems, as specified. The bill would require Caltrans, in concurrence with DFW, to develop guidelines for the implementation of the program following one or more public workshops and an opportunity for the public to provide written comments. The bill would authorize Caltrans to receive compensatory mitigation credits for the implementation of a project in the program if DFW concurs with the creation of those credits.

9/30/22 – Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 964, Statutes of 2022.100%
100%

AB-2420 | Arambula
Perinatal and infant children health: extreme heat.

This bill would, subject to an appropriation of funds by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute for this purpose, require the [Department of Public Health], in consultation with subject matter experts, to review available literature on adverse effects of extreme heat on perinatal health, develop guidance for safe conditions and health considerations for pregnant individuals and infant children, and provide guidance to the Legislature by submitting a report that includes legislative or policy recommendations on best practices for connecting perinatal patients with the appropriate health and well-being information relating to extreme heat.

9/09/22 – Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 265, Statutes of 2022.100%
100%

AB-2645 | Rodriguez
Local emergency plans: integration of access and functional needs: community resilience centers.

This bill would require a county, pursuant to the above-described requirement to integrate access and functional needs into its emergency plan upon the plan’s next update, to address specific additional plan elements. The bill would require the plan, with regard to emergency evacuation, to also integrate evacuation and transportation plans to account for local community resilience centers, to ensure that local community resilience centers, as defined, are prepared to serve as communitywide assets during extreme heat events and other disasters, to designate available locations that may be necessary to provide respite to individuals during certain environmental emergencies, and to integrate evacuation plans to account for specified state grant programs relating to community resilience. The bill would require the plan, with regard to emergency sheltering, to also integrate sheltering and transportation plans to account for transportation between community resilience centers and shelters. By increasing the duties of local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

9/06/22 – Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 247, Statutes of 2022.100%
100%

AB-2805 | Bauer-Kahan
Department of Fish and Wildlife: advance mitigation and regional conservation investment strategies.

This bill would require a regional conservation investment strategy, in order to create a mitigation credit, to include an outline for adaptive management and monitoring of conserved habitat and a process to track and evaluate conservation actions and habitat enhancement actions of the strategy, as specified. The bill would authorize the [Department of Fish and Wildlife] to approve a combination of mitigation credit agreements with other instruments or agreements for the purpose of creating mitigation credits, as provided. The bill would make various changes to provisions requiring the department to provide public notice before approving mitigation credit agreements. The bill would also authorize the use, sale, or transfer of mitigation credits established under a mitigation agreement approved by the department, regardless of the duration or expiration of the regional conservation strategy that establish those credits. The bill would remove provisions prohibiting the duplication or replacement of mitigation requirements set forth in an approved natural community conservation plan. The bill would repeal the prohibition on the department approving more than 8 regional conservation investment strategies.

9/22/22 – Chaptered by Secretary of State – Chapter 463, Statutes of 2022.100%
100%

SB-852 | Dodd
Climate resilience districts: formation: funding mechanisms.

This bill would authorize a city, county, city and county, special district, or a combination of any of those entities to form a climate resilience district, as defined, for the purposes of raising and allocating funding for eligible projects and the operating expenses of eligible projects. The bill would deem each district to be an enhanced infrastructure financing district and would require each district to comply with existing law concerning enhanced infrastructure financing districts, unless the district is specified as otherwise. The bill would require a district to finance only specified projects that meet the definition of an eligible project. The bill would define “eligible project” to mean projects that address sea level rise, extreme heat, extreme cold, the risk of wildfire, drought, and the risk of flooding, as specified. The bill would establish project priorities and would authorize districts to establish additional priorities.

9/09/22 – Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 266, Statutes of 2022.100%
100%

SB-867 | Laird
Sea level rise: planning and adaptation.

This bill would require a local government, as defined, lying, in whole or in part, within the coastal zone, as defined, or within the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, as defined, to implement sea level rise planning and adaptation through either submitting, and receiving approval for, a local coastal program, as defined, to the California Coastal Commission or submitting, and receiving approval for, a subregional San Francisco Bay shoreline resiliency plan to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, as applicable, on or before January 1, 2033. By imposing additional requirements on local governments, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require local governments that receive approval for sea level rise planning and adaptation on or before January 1, 2028, to be prioritized for sea level rise funding, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the implementation of projects in the local government’s approved sea level rise adaptation plan. The bill would require, on or before December 31, 2023, the California Coastal Commission and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, in close coordination with the Ocean Protection Council and the California Sea Level Rise State and Regional Support Collaborative, to establish guidelines for the preparation of that planning and adaptation. The bill would make the operation of its provisions contingent upon an appropriation for its purposes by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

9/29/22 – In Senate. Consideration of Governor’s veto pending.95%
95%

SB-1078 | Allen
Sea Level Rise Revolving Loan Pilot Program.

This bill would require [Ocean Protection Council], in consultation with [State Coastal Conservancy] to develop the Sea Level Rise Revolving Loan Pilot Program, within 12 months of receiving specified requests from local jurisdictions to do so, for purposes of providing low-interest loans to local jurisdictions, as defined, for the purchase of coastal properties in their jurisdictions identified as vulnerable coastal property, as defined, located in specified communities, including low-income communities, as provided. The bill would require the council in consultation with other state planning and coastal management agencies, as provided, to adopt guidelines and eligibility criteria for the program. The bill would authorize specified local jurisdictions to apply for, and be awarded, a low-interest loan under the program from the conservancy, in consultation with the council, if the local jurisdiction develops and submits to the conservancy a vulnerable coastal property plan and completes all other requirements imposed by the council. The bill would require the conservancy, in consultation with the council, to review the plans to determine whether they meet the required criteria and guidelines for vulnerable coastal properties to be eligible for participation in the program.

The bill would establish the Sea Level Rise Revolving Loan Fund, to be administered by the conservancy, in consultation with the council, for purposes of providing, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the low-interest loans to eligible local jurisdictions, as provided. The bill would also require that loan repayments, fees, interest, and penalties be deposited in the fund for specified uses, upon appropriation by the Legislature, including for additional loans authorized under the program.

9/29/22 – In Senate. Consideration of Governor’s veto pending.95%
95%

SB-1205 | Allen
Water rights: appropriation.

This bill would require the [State Water Resources Control Board] to develop and adopt regulations to govern consideration of climate change effects in water availability analyses used in the board’s review of applications for water rights permits, including consideration of the effects of climate change, as specified, upon watershed hydrology, as specified. The bill would require the board to consult with the Department of Water Resources, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and qualified hydrologists and climate change scientists, among others, in preparing the regulations. The bill would prohibit the board from refusing to accept or delay processing or approval of an application on the grounds that the regulations have not yet been adopted.

9/16/22 – Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 369, Statutes of 2022.100%
100%
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