AB-35 | Alvarez, Arreguín, Hadwick
Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024: Administrative Procedure Act: exemption: program guidelines and selection criteria

The Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024 (act), approved by the voters as Proposition 4 at the November 5, 2024, statewide general election, authorized the issuance of bonds in the amount of $10,000,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for safe drinking water, drought, flood, and water resilience, wildfire and forest resilience, coastal resilience, extreme heat mitigation, biodiversity and nature-based climate solutions, climate-smart, sustainable, and resilient farms, ranches, and working lands, park creation and outdoor access, and clean air programs.

The Administrative Procedure Act, sets forth the requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and implementation of regulations by state agencies. Certain regulations needed to effectuate or implement programs of the act can be adopted as emergency regulations, which remain in effect until repealed or amended by the adopting state agency.

This bill would exempt the adoption of regulations needed to effectuate or implement programs of the act from the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill would require a state entity that receives funding to administer a competitive grant program established using the Administrative Procedure Act exemption to do certain things, including develop draft project solicitation and evaluation guidelines and to submit those guidelines to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency. The bill would require the Secretary to post an electronic form of the guidelines submitted by a state entity and the subsequent verifications on the Natural Resources Agency’s internet website. The bill would authorize the use of certain previously developed program guidelines and selection criteria for these purposes.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

AB-946 | Bryan
Natural resources: equitable outdoor access: 30×30 goal: urban nature-based projects

By Executive Order No. N-82-20, Governor Gavin Newsom directed the Natural Resources Agency to combat the biodiversity and climate crises by, among other things, establishing the California Biodiversity Collaborative and conserving at least 30% of the state’s lands and coastal waters by 2030, known as the 30×30 goal.

Existing law establishes the Equitable Outdoor Access Act, which sets forth the state’s commitment to ensuring all Californians can benefit from, and have meaningful access to, the state’s rich cultural and natural resources. Existing law declares that it is state policy, among other things, to ensure that all Californians have equitable opportunities to safe and affordable access to nature and access to the benefits of nature, and to prevent and minimize the intentional and unwarranted limitation of sustainable public access to public lands. Existing law requires specified state agencies to consider and incorporate, as appropriate, the state policy when revising, adopting, or establishing policies, regulations, or grant criteria, or making expenditures, as specified. Existing law requires all state agencies implementing the above-described state policy to do so in a manner consistent with the mission of their agency and that protects the health and safety of the public and conserves natural and cultural resources.

This bill would provide that, to advance and promote environmental, conservation, and public access policies and budget actions, the Governor’s office, state agencies, and the Legislature, when distributing resources, shall aspire to recognize the coequal goals and benefits of the 30×30 goal and the Outdoors for All initiative, and, to the extent practical, maximize investment in historically underserved urban communities consistent with those initiatives. The bill would encourage decisionmakers, when distributing resources to achieve the goals and benefits of the 30×30 goal and the Outdoors for All initiative, to consider factors that are unique to urban settings, including, among other things, higher land value acquisition and development costs per acre, the acute health needs of a local population due to historic lack of greenspace access and development externalities, local park needs assessment plans, current or impending loss of parks or greenspace as a result of state or federal infrastructure projects, and the availability of mobility options near a proposed land conservation site. The bill would encourage regulatory agencies, including the Department of Toxic Substances Control, to work with local communities to restore degraded lands that could contribute to a more equitable strategy for meeting the state’s environmental, conservation, and public access goals. The bill would require state funding agencies, including certain state conservancies and the Wildlife Conservation Board, to allow, to the extent consistent with the funding source, the funding program’s authorizing statutes, and the state’s goals, for urban nature-based projects on degraded lands to be eligible and competitive for state funds.

AB-2051 | Wicks
Public resources: Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group

This bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Secretary for Environmental Protection, to convene a Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group for the purpose of developing a Coastal Resilience Permitting Roadmap for coastal resilience projects proposed in specified areas. The bill would require the Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group to consist of representatives from federal, state, and local agencies, including, among others, the California Coastal Commission, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife. The bill would, on or before January 1, 2028, require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to submit the Coastal Resilience Permitting Roadmap to the Governor and the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would require, on or before April 1, 2027, the California Coastal Commission and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, in collaboration with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California Regional Water Quality Boards with jurisdiction over the coast and the San Francisco Bay, to convene a Coastal Resilience Permit Advisory Group to support the deliberations of the Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group.

AB-2184 | Wilson
Cap-and-Invest Program: nature-based climate solutions: funding

The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations for greenhouse gas emissions limits and emissions reduction measures to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in furtherance of achieving the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined. The act authorizes that state board to include in those regulations the use of a market-based compliance mechanism, known as the California Cap-and-Invest Program, to comply with those regulations. Existing law requires moneys collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of the California Cap-and-Invest Program to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and continuously appropriates a portion of the moneys in the fund for various purposes.

Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with the state board, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Food and Agriculture, an expert advisory committee established, as provided, and other relevant state agencies, to determine an ambitious range of targets for natural carbon sequestration, and for nature-based climate solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions for 2030, 2038, and 2045 to support state goals to achieve carbon neutrality and foster climate adaptation and resilience. Existing law defines “nature-based climate solutions” for these purposes to mean activities, such as restoration, conservation, and land management actions, that increase net carbon sequestration or reduce greenhouse gas emissions in natural and working lands.

This bill would annually appropriate up to $300,000,000 from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the annual Budget Act each fiscal year from the 2027–2028 to the 2045–46 fiscal year, inclusive, to achieve nature-based climate solutions, including $150,000,000 to be allocated to the Natural Resources Agency to fund nature-based climate solutions, not less than $50,000,000 to be allocated to the Department of Food and Agriculture to fund nature-based climate solutions in croplands and grasslands, and the remaining amount to be allocated for nature-based climate solutions at the discretion of the Legislature.

AB-2373 | Dixon
The California Coastal Act: local coastal program: sea level rise plan: neighborhood-scale adaptation approach

The California Coastal Act of 1976 generally requires each local government lying in whole or in part within the coastal zone to prepare a local coastal program for that portion of the coastal zone within its jurisdiction. The act requires a land use plan of a proposed local coastal program to be submitted to the California Coastal Commission for certification. Existing law requires local governments lying in whole or in part within the coastal zone to, on or before January 1, 2034, develop a sea level rise plan with specified required content as part of a local coastal program that is subject to approval by the California Coastal Commission.

This bill would authorize local governments lying, in whole or in part, within the coastal zone to include a neighborhood-scale adaptation approach, as defined, when including land use policies and implementation measures in their local coastal program or sea level rise plan. The bill would authorize the neighborhood-scale adaptation approach to include, but not be limited to, the identification of areas and assets that are subject to the approach, as specified, and policies that reflect the shared planning features and specific preferred adaptation strategies for different areas or development types based on the geophysical and land use characteristics intended to minimize, mitigate, or avoid coastal impacts.

AB-2494 | Rogers, McGuire
State forests: forest management

Existing law authorizes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (department) to engage in management of state forests and defines “management” for purposes of the state forests. This bill would redefine “management” as the handling of forest vegetation and soils within state forests for biodiversity conservation and fire resilience, while maximizing the promotion of durable onsite carbon storage and sequestration, climate resiliency goals, equitable forest access, wildlife and recreation opportunities, and compatible research efforts.

This bill would declare that desirable forest lands should be restored to fulfill ecological conditions and processes, and managed consistent with the definition of management, and would further declare policy of the state to be to respect California Native American tribal sovereignty and to seek opportunities for comanagement and integration of indigenous traditional ecological knowledge in forest management. The bill would instead declare that the state should retain the existing land base of state forests primarily for research and demonstration purposes and allow the sale of timber and other forest products only when harvest occurs for ecological restoration or research purposes.

The bill would prohibit the sale of timber and other forest products from state forests unless harvest occurs for ecological restoration or research purposes in a manner consistent with the definition of management, as provided. The bill would repeal the authorization for state forest lands to be used for mining purposes. The bill would require the regulations concerning the management of state forests and the cutting and sale of timber and other forest products to prioritize management practices, as specified. The bill would require the regulations permitting grazing on state forest lands to be updated to reflect the redefinition of management. Because a violation of these regulations would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Secretary for Environmental Protection, to submit a report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on the activities of all state departments, agencies, and boards relating to forest and timberland regulation, as specified. This bill would, among other changes to the report, require the report include additional information including, among other things, any identified staffing needs, by department, and costs per position, to support a more efficient review of timber harvest plans.

Existing law creates the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund, in which revenues from a lumber or engineered wood products assessment, less amounts deducted for refunds and reimbursements, are deposited and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, used for specified purposes, including for forest resources improvement grants and projects administered by the department. This bill would require that all recreational user fees, receipts from the sales of forest products, and any other funds generated by a state forest to be deposited into the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund. Moneys deposited in the Fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would be expended to support state forests.

SB-982 | Wiener
Climate disasters: civil actions

Existing law gives a person the right of protection from bodily harm and the right to possess and use property. If a person suffers bodily harm or a loss of their property because of the unlawful act or omission of another, existing law authorizes them to recover compensation from the person at fault, which is known as damages. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to bring various civil actions due to damage or loss.

This bill would authorize the Attorney General to bring a civil action against a party responsible for climate-attributable damage to recover losses suffered by the California FAIR Plan Association, funds borrowed from the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, or costs to insurance policyholders arising from a past climate disaster. The bill would make responsible parties strictly liable for any relief granted. The bill would create the Attorney General Climate Disaster Fund into which the monetary relief recovered by the Attorney General, excluding restitution, would be deposited, and would set forth specified uses for the account upon appropriation by the Legislature.

SB-1404 | Stern, Allen, Becker
Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan: implementation strategy

Existing law requires the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, beginning March 1, 2026, and every 5 years thereafter, to update the state’s “Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan.” Existing law also requires the task force to develop and update a comprehensive implementation strategy to track and ensure the achievement of the goals and key actions identified in the action plan, as provided.

Existing law requires the implementation strategy to address specified actions, including actions related to strengthening the protection of communities and reducing their fire risk, through, among other things, a statewide framework, including performance measures, to support local and regional community fire risk reduction and adaptation programs and projects.

This bill would require the statewide framework to include quantified risk-based planning and outcomes-based performance metrics, to support local and community fire risk reduction and adaptation programs and projects.
Digest Key

Existing law gives a person the right of protection from bodily harm and the right to possess and use property. If a person suffers bodily harm or a loss of their property because of the unlawful act or omission of another, existing law authorizes them to recover compensation from the person at fault, which is known as damages. Existing law authorizes the Attorney General to bring various civil actions due to damage or loss.