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: Descriptions are pulled directly from the bill text 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: September 15, 2017 at 8:33 AM
Status: 9/1 – From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (August 31). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
Description: This bill would enact the California Clean Water, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in an amount of $3,470,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a clean water, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program.
Status: 9/1 – In committee: Held under submission.
Description: This bill would authorize the use of the moneys in the fund for electric pump efficiency, water and wastewater systems, pump and pump motor efficiency improvements, and drinking water transmission and distribution systems’ water loss if the investment furthers the regulatory purposes of the act and is consistent with law. if the investment furthers the regulatory purposes of the act and is consistent with law.
Status: 9/1 – In committee: Held under submission.
Description: This bill would authorize the use of the moneys in the fund for wetland restoration projects that may make use of dredged material if the investment furthers the regulatory purposes of the act and is consistent with law.
Status: 9/14 – Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator McGuire.
Description: This bill would require the Strategic Growth Council, on or before April 1, 2018, to establish and convene an interagency task force consisting of representatives from various state agencies who are knowledgeable in programs for natural or working lands to develop a common application form and process for those programs. The bill would require the task force, on or before January 1, 2019, to develop and implement the common application form and process for those programs.
Status: 7/3 – In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
Description: This bill would require the Department of Fish and Wildlife, in cooperation with the above-mentioned parties and additional specified parties, to identify and propose new sources of revenue to fund the department’s necessary wildlife, land, and marine conservation, restoration, and resources management and protection responsibilities. The bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to appoint a stakeholder advisory group to report to the Governor and Legislature, before July 1, 2018, on the progress made toward the implementation of the strategic vision. The bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to direct the department to evaluate and implement program efficiencies as part of its strategic planning effort and to establish a high-level task force that reviews and makes recommendations regarding Fish and Game Commission and department mandates, efficiencies, and funding, as described in specified recommendations contained in the strategic vision.
Status: 7/11 – In committee: Set, first hearing. Testimony taken.
Description: This bill would require the State Water Resources Control Board, in consultation with the Department of Water Resources, to adopt long-term standards for urban water conservation and water use on or before May 20, 2021. The bill would also require the board, in consultation with the department, to adopt performance measures for commercial, industrial, and institutional water use on or before that date. The bill would authorize a court or public entity to hold a person civilly liable in an amount not to exceed $10,000 for a violation of a regulation adopted under these provisions, unless the regulation provides otherwise. The bill would require an urban water supplier to calculate a water use target, as provided, no later than July 1 of each calendar year, beginning the calendar year after the board adopts long-term standards for urban water conservation and water use. The bill would require an urban water supplier to submit an annual report to the department for these purposes by July 1 of each year. The bill would authorize the board to issue information orders, written notices, and conservation orders to an urban water supplier that does not meet its water use target, as specified.
Status: 9/8 – From committee chair, with author’s amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on APPR.
Description: This bill would require the State Water Resources Control Board, in coordination with the Department of Water Resources, to adopt long-term standards for the efficient use of water, as provided, and performance measures for commercial, industrial, and institutional water use on or before June 30, 2021. The bill would require the department, in coordination with the board, to conduct necessary studies and investigations and make recommendations, no later than October 1, 2020, for purposes of these standards and performance measures. The bill, until January 1, 2025, would establish 55 gallons per capita daily as the standard for indoor residential water use and, beginning January 1, 2025, would establish 50 gallons per capita daily as the standard for indoor residential water use. The bill would authorize the department, in coordination with the board, to conduct necessary studies and investigations to jointly recommend to the Legislature a standard for indoor residential water use that more appropriately reflects best practices.
Status: 9/12 – From committee with author’s amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.
Description: This bill would prohibit state or local agencies from amending or revising their rules and regulations implementing the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, California Safe Drinking Water Act, California Endangered Species Act, and Protect California Air Act of 2013 to be less stringent than the baseline federal standards, as defined, and would require specified agencies to take prescribed actions to maintain and enforce certain requirements and standards pertaining to air, water, and protected species. The bill would make conforming changes to the Protect California Air Act of 2003. By imposing new duties on local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Status: 5/18 – Referred to Com. on NAT. RES.
Description: Existing law requires the Office of Planning and Research to establish an advisory council, comprised of members for a range of disciplines, to support the office’s goals to facilitate coordination among state, regional, and local agency efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change. This bill would specify that the members on the advisory council serve staggered terms of 4 years. The bill would require the members of the advisory council to select a chairperson from their members.
Status: 5/25 – May 25 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.
Description: This bill would require the Department of Water Resources, by January 1, 2019, to establish guidelines for designing, installing, and rehabilitating landscapes of any size consistent with the watershed approach to landscaping, as provided. The bill would require, within 6 months of adoption of the guidelines, the Department of Water Resources and any other state agency with a grant or loan program that provides funding for water-conserving or water-efficient landscapes, (1) for programs funded by general obligation bonds, to revise funding guidelines to provide a preference for projects that comply with the adopted guidelines; (2) for programs funded by sources other than general obligation bonds, to revise funding guidelines to require projects to comply with the adopted guidelines; and (3) for programs funded by any source, to give, to the extent feasible, additional funding preference for a project that implements the watershed approach to landscaping whose project application includes the use of services of specified entities. The bill would also require the Department of Water Resources to promote the watershed approach to landscaping by providing education and training for homeowners, contractors, certified community conservation corps, and other landscape professionals who plan, develop, or implement landscaping projects.
Status: 9/13 – Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling.
Description: This bill, the Buy Clean California Act, would, by January 1, 2019, require the Department of General Services to establish, and publish in the State Contracting Manual, a maximum acceptable global warming potential for each category of eligible materials, in accordance with requirements set out in the bill. The bill, by January 1, 2022, and every 3 years thereafter, would require the department to review the maximum acceptable global warming potential for each category of eligible materials established, and would authorize the department to adjust that number downward for any eligible material to reflect industry improvements, as provided.
Status: 7/18 – Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 12:45 p.m.
Description: This bill would authorize the use of the moneys in the fund for wetland restoration projects that may make use of dredged material if the investment furthers the regulatory purposes of the act and is consistent with law.
Status: 9/11 – Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling.
Description: This bill would require the state board, on or before December 31, 2023, to adopt uniform water recycling criteria for direct potable reuse through raw water augmentation, as specified. The bill would require the state board to establish and administer an expert review panel, as specified, and would require the state board, before adopting the uniform water recycling criteria, to submit the proposed criteria to the expert review panel. The bill would prohibit the state board from adopting the uniform water recycling criteria until the expert review panel adopts a finding that the proposed criteria would adequately protect public health. The bill would allow the state board to extend the date by which the uniform water recycling criteria is to be adopted if certain criteria is met. The bill would authorize the state board, after it has adopted the initial uniform water recycling criteria, to reconvene or reestablish the expert review panel.
Status: 7/18 – Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 12:45 p.m.
Description: This bill would require the state board to develop a uniform statewide system of annual reporting of emissions of criteria air pollutants and toxic air contaminants for use by certain categories of stationary sources. The bill would require those stationary sources to report their annual emissions of criteria air pollutants and toxic air contaminants, as specified.
Status: 9/13 – Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
Description: This bill would authorize the financing of projects that enable communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change, including, but not limited to, specified impacts described in the bill, and would make conforming changes to the Legislature’s findings and declarations.
Status: 9/14 – Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling.
Description: This bill would provide that the purpose of the California Urban Forestry Act of 1978 is also to promote policies and incentives that advance improved maintenance of urban forest canopy to optimize multiple benefits, among other purposes. The act authorizes the Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention to implement a program in urban forestry to encourage better tree management and planting in urban areas, as provided. This bill would require the department to implement this program, establish local or regional targets for urban tree canopy, and develop or update regulations as necessary, as provided. The act requires the department to provide technical assistance to urban areas with respect to certain actions, including planning for regional, county, and local land use analysis projects related to urban forestry.
Status: 4/28 – Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 5, Statutes of 2017.
Description: This bill would create the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Program to address deferred maintenance on the state highway system and the local street and road system. The bill would require the California Transportation Commission to adopt performance criteria, consistent with a specified asset management plan, to ensure efficient use of certain funds available for the program. The bill would provide for the deposit of various funds for the program in the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account, which the bill would create in the State Transportation Fund, including revenues attributable to a $0.12 per gallon increase in the motor vehicle fuel (gasoline) tax imposed by the bill with an inflation adjustment, as provided, 50% of a $0.20 per gallon increase in the diesel excise tax, with an inflation adjustment, as provided, a portion of a new transportation improvement fee imposed under the Vehicle License Fee Law with a varying fee between $25 and $175 based on vehicle value and with an inflation adjustment, as provided, and a new $100 annual vehicle registration fee applicable only to zero-emission vehicles model year 2020 and later, with an inflation adjustment, as provided. The bill would provide that the fuel excise tax increases take effect on November 1, 2017, the transportation improvement fee takes effect on January 1, 2018, and the zero-emission vehicle registration fee takes effect on July 1, 2020. This bill would annually set aside $200,000,000 of the funds available for the program to fund road maintenance and rehabilitation purposes in counties that have sought and received voter approval of taxes or that have imposed fees, including uniform developer fees, as defined, which taxes or fees are dedicated solely to transportation improvements.
Status: 9/13 – Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
Description: This bill would enact the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, which, if approved by the voters, would authorize the issuance of bonds in an amount of $3,832,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance a drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all program. The bill would, each fiscal year that principal or interest on bonds issued and sold for the program are due and payable, appropriate $10,000,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Parks and Recreation for the purpose of paying costs associated with operating and maintaining certain parks projects funded by the program.
Status: 9/11 – Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
Description: This bill would prohibit these licensing entities, except the State Bar of California, from taking disciplinary action, including suspension, loss of credential, registration, or other professional privilege, against a public employee, as defined to include those persons working in the environmental sciences and climate-change-related fields who are conducting scientific or technical research, in connection with actions taken by that person to report improper federal governmental activity or disclose the results of or information about scientific or technical research to the public by means that include, but are not limited to, publishing the information in a scientific or a public forum or sharing it with the media.
Status: 9/12 – Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 34. Noes 6.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
Description: This bill would specify that the powers of the conservancy include improving, developing, and preserving lands for the purpose of protecting the natural, cultural, and historical resources, and entering into a joint powers agreement, as specified. The bill would additionally authorize the conservancy to award grants to a joint powers agency, special district, or California tribal nation, as defined, and would subject these entities to the specified conditions. The bill would also provide that the conversancy is authorized to seek repayment of grant moneys if the terms and conditions of the grant agreement are not met.
Status: 9/11 – Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 35. Noes 4.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
Description: The bill would require a program administrator, before a property owner executes an assessment contract, as defined, to make an oral confirmation that at least one owner of the property has a copy of specified documents and forms related to the contract, and to provide an oral confirmation of the key terms of an assessment contract with the property owner on the call or an authorized representative of the owner on the call that contains specified information. The bill would require a program administrator to record the oral confirmation, and to retain that recording for a specified period of time. The bill would require a program administrator to ask if the property owner would prefer the oral confirmation be provided in a language other than English, and would require the program administrator to deliver the oral confirmation in the property owner’s language or via an interpreter chosen by the property owner in order for the contract to proceed, and would require the program administrator to provide the property owner with the translation of specified documents. This bill would prohibit a program administrator from waiving or deferring the first payment on an assessment contract, and would require that a property owner’s first assessment payment be due no later than the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the installation of the efficiency improvement is completed.
Status: 9/13 – Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 27. Noes 11.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
Description: This bill, upon an appropriation of funds from the Legislature, would require the Department of Water Resources to establish a program to implement watershed-based riverine and riparian stewardship improvements by providing technical and financial assistance in support of projects with certain benefits. The bill would require the program to support the purposes of and be coordinated with the Urban Stream Restoration Program, fish passage improvements, and other similar programs. The bill would authorize the department to provide technical assistance, including by collaborating with appropriate California State University orUniversity of California programs, or other similar programs, as specified. The bill would authorize grant funds available for the purposes of the Urban Streams Restoration Program or this program to be available for use by the recipient for design, engineering, and other technical assistance for the purposes of the program.
Status: 5/30 – Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
Description: This bill would require the state board to report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature to receive input, guidance, and assistance before adopting guidelines and regulations implementing the scoping plan and a regulation ensuring statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. This bill would require the state board, no later than January 1, 2019, and in conjunction with specified stakeholders, to report to the Legislature on the need for increased education, career technical education, job training, and workforce development in ensuring that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level no later than December 31, 2030, and as a result of the scoping plan, as specified.
Status: 6/1 – Motion to reconsider on the next legislative day made by Assembly Member Cristina Garcia.
Description: This bill would additionally require the state board to consider and account for the social costs of the emissions and greenhouse gases when adopting those rules and regulations. The bill would authorize the state board to adopt or amend regulations that establish a market-based compliance mechanism, applicable from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2030, to complement direct emissions reduction measures in ensuring that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level by 2030. The bill would prohibit the state board from permitting a facility to increase its annual emissions of greenhouse gases compared to the annual average of emissions of greenhouse gases reported during specified years. The bill would authorize the state board to adopt no-trade zones or facility-specific declining greenhouse gas emissions limits where facilities’ emissions contribute to a cumulative pollution burden that creates a significant health impact.
Status: 4/20 – In committee: Set, second hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
Description: This bill would declare it to be state policy that the existing state of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is recognized and defined as an integral component of California’s water infrastructure. The bill would state that the maintenance and repair of the Delta are eligible for the same forms of financing as other water collection and treatment infrastructure and would specify the maintenance and repair activities that are eligible are limited to certain cleanup and abatement-related restoration and conservation activities.
Status: 6/1 – Ordered to inactive file at the request of Assembly Member Mark Stone.
Description: This bill would require that the permitted construction of revetments, breakwaters, groins, harbor channels, seawalls, cliff retaining walls, and other such construction that alters natural shoreline processes be consistent with the policies of the California Coastal Act of 1976, including policies regarding protection of public access, shoreline ecology, natural landforms, and other impacts on coastal resources, and would define the term “existing structure” for the purposes of those provisions. This bill would specify that any emergency permit issued under those provisions is a temporary authorization intended to allow the minimum amount of temporary development necessary to address the identified emergency, and minimize any potential harm or adverse coastal impacts related to addressing the emergency. The bill would specify that any subsequent development that is carried out that is beyond the scope of the emergency permit shall require a coastal development permit and is not subject to emergency authorization granted under those provisions. This bill would additionally impose those civil penalties on a person, including a landowner, who has placed or caused to be placed an unpermitted shoreline protection structure the coastal zone.
Status: 3/9 – Referred to Coms. on E.S. & T.M. and P. & C.P.
Description: This bill would establish the Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act of 2017, which would authorize the Secretary for Environmental Protection and the heads of the various boards, offices, and departments within the California Environmental Protection Agency to use crowdsourcing and citizen science approaches to conduct activities designed to advance the mission of the California Environmental Protection Agency. This bill would impose specified duties with regard to crowdsourcing and citizen science projects, including promoting these projects. The bill would require the California Environmental Protection Agency to provide the Legislature with a summary of each crowdsourcing and citizen science project conducted by the California Environmental Protection Agency during the 2 previous fiscal years, which shall include specified information, including a description of the proposed goals of each crowdsourcing and citizen science project.
Status: 5/26 – In committee: Held under submission.
Description: This bill would require the Department of Parks and Recreation, by July 1, 2018, to complete a study that includes recommendations for further action that may be necessary to address the impacts of climate change at units of the state parks system, containing specified information.
Status: 3/30 – In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
Description: This bill would require the Department of Water Resources to increase statewide water storage capacity by 25% by January 1, 2025, and 50% by January 1, 2050, as specified. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2019, to identify the current statewide water storage capacity and prepare a strategy and implementation plan to achieve those expansions in statewide water storage capacity, and would require the department to update the strategy and implementation plan on January 1, 2020, and every 2 years thereafter, until January 1, 2050. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst’s Office to report to the Legislature on January 1, 2020, and every 5 years thereafter, until January 1, 2050, on the department’s progress on achieving those required increases in statewide water storage capacity, as specified. The bill would, beginning in the 2018–19 fiscal year, continuously appropriate 25% of the annual proceeds of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to the department to comply with these requirements.
Status: 5/26 – In committee: Held under submission.
Description: This bill would require the Department of Conservation to develop the Vibrant Landscape Program to assist eligible applicants in the development and implementation of county and regional plans to, among other things, integrate the conservation and management of natural and working lands with other sectors to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and achieve other public and environmental benefits. The bill would require the department, in collaboration with the Strategic Growth Council and the State Air Resources Board, to develop guidelines and criteria for the program. The bill would establish the Vibrant Landscape Program Fund in the State Treasury and would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, authorize the department to expend moneys in the fund to implement the program.
Status: 5/25 – May 25 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.
Description: This bill would require the Strategic Growth Council, among other things, to establish no less than 10 regional climate assistance centers, as specified, and award competitive grants to eligible entities through an application process, as specified. The bill would require the climate assistance centers to provide to target user groups technical assistance in applying for moneys, provide to target user groups assistance and training in project management and implementation, and work with local organizations to formulate policies and programming that accomplish specified goals. The bill would authorize the council and climate assistance centers to solicit and accept nonstate money. The bill would require the council and the State Air Resources Board to make a specified report to the Legislature.
Status: 5/25 – May 25 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.
Description: This bill would require those boards to consider financial climate risk, as defined, in their management of any funds they administer. The bill, by January 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, would require the boards to include in their comprehensive annual financial reports the financial climate risks of their investments, including alignment of their portfolios with a specified climate agreement and California climate policy goals, the value at risk if these goals are achieved, and the exposure of the portfolios to long-term risks, as specified. The bill would provide that it does not require the boards to take action that is not consistent with their fiduciary responsibilities. The bill would make related legislative findings and declarations.
Status: 5/8 – May 10 hearing postponed by committee.
Description: This bill would require the state board to adopt a regulation establishing as a market-based compliance mechanism a market-based program of emissions limits, applicable on and after January 1, 2021, for covered entities, as defined. The bill would require the program to set an initial minimum reserve price of $20 per allowance, as defined, and an initial auction offer price of $30 per allowance when auctioning allowances. The bill would require the program to increase the minimum reserve price each quarter by $1.25 plus any increase in the Consumer Price Index, and the auction offer price each quarter by $2.50 plus any increase in the Consumer Price Index, as specified. The bill would authorize the state board to revise the definition of a covered entity, as specified. The bill would establish the Economic Competitive Assurance Program, to be administered by the state board, to ensure that importers that sell, supply, or offer for sale in the state a greenhouse gas emission intensive product have economically fair and competitive conditions and to maintain economic parity between producers that are subject to the market-based program of emissions limits and those who sell like goods instate that are not subject to that program, as specified. This bill would establish the California Climate Infrastructure Fund, the California Climate Dividend Fund, and the California Climate and Clean Energy Research Fund in the State Treasury. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board, in consultation with the Climate Dividend Access Board, which the bill would establish, to develop and implement a program to deliver quarterly per capita dividends to all residents of the state that would maximize the ease with which residents of the state may enroll in the program, as specified.
Status: 5/25 – May 25 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.
Description: This bill would require the Department of Water Resources, by January 1, 2019, to establish guidelines for designing, installing, and rehabilitating landscapes of any size consistent with the watershed approach to landscaping, as provided. The bill would require, within 6 months of adoption of the guidelines, the Department of Water Resources and any other state agency with a grant or loan program that provides funding for water-conserving or water-efficient landscapes, (1) for programs funded by general obligation bonds, to revise funding guidelines to provide a preference for projects that comply with the adopted guidelines; (2) for programs funded by sources other than general obligation bonds, to revise funding guidelines to require projects to comply with the adopted guidelines; and (3) for programs funded by any source, to give, to the extent feasible, additional funding preference for a project that implements the watershed approach to landscaping whose project application includes the use of services of specified entities. The bill would also require the Department of Water Resources to promote the watershed approach to landscaping by providing education and training for homeowners, contractors, certified community conservation corps, and other landscape professionals who plan, develop, or implement landscaping projects.
