Download assembly committee on natural resources

SB 1363
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Date of Hearing: June 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
SB 1363 (Monning) – As Amended May 31, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 27-12
SUBJECT: Ocean Protection Council: Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Reduction Program
SUMMARY: Requires, to the extent funds are available, Ocean Protection Counsel (OPC), in
consultation with the Coastal Conservancy (Conservancy), to establish and administer the Ocean
Acidulation and Hyproxia Reduction Program (Program).
EXISTING LAW:
1) Establishes OPC, which consists of the Secretary of Natural Resources Agency (NRA), the
Secretary for Environmental Protection, the Chair of the State Lands Commission, and two
members of the public appointed by the Governor.
2) Requires OPC to support state agencies’ use and sharing of scientific and geospatial
information for coastal- and ocean-relevant decision making relating to coastal and ocean
ecosystems, including the effects of climate change.
3) Pursuant to Executive Order S-13-08 (Schwarzenegger), requires NRA, through the Climate
Action Team, to coordinate with local, regional, state, federal, and private entities to develop
a state Climate Adaptation Strategy (Strategy). Requires the Strategy to summarize the best
known science on climate change impacts to California, assess California's vulnerability to
the identified impacts, and outline solutions that can be implemented within and across state
agencies to promote resiliency.
4) Pursuant to Executive Order B-30-15 (Brown), in addition to establishing a 40% Greenhouse
Gas (GHG) emission reduction goal by 2030, requires several actions on adaptation,
including:
a) Requires NRA to update the Strategy every three years and ensure that its provisions are
fully implemented. Requires the Strategy to:
i) Identify vulnerabilities to climate change by sector and region, including, at a
minimum, the following sectors: water, energy, transportation, public health,
agriculture, emergency services, forestry, biodiversity and habitat, and ocean and
coastal resources;
ii) Outline primary risks to residents, property, communities, and natural systems from
these vulnerabilities, and identify priority actions needed to reduce these risks; and,
iii) Identify a lead agency or group of agencies to lead adaptation efforts in each sector.
b) Requires each sector lead to prepare an implementation plan by September 2015 to
outline the actions that will be taken as identified in the Strategy, and report back on
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those actions to the NRA.
c) Requires state agencies to take climate change into account in their planning and
investment decisions and employ full life-cycle cost accounting to evaluate and compare
infrastructure investments and alternatives.
d) Requires state agencies' planning and investment to be guided by the principles of climate
preparedness for uncertain climate impacts, protective of vulnerable populations, and
prioritization of natural infrastructure solutions.
e) Requires the state's Five-Year Infrastructure Plan to take current and future climate
change impacts into account in all infrastructure projects.
f) Requires OPR to establish a technical advisory group to help state agencies incorporate
climate change impacts into planning and investment decisions.
g) Requires the state to continue its rigorous climate change research program focused on
understanding the impacts of climate change and how best to prepare and adapt to such
impacts.
5) Requires the NRA to update its climate adaptation strategy, the Safeguarding California Plan
(Plan), by July 1, 2017, and every three years thereafter by coordinating adaption activities
among lead state agencies in each sector.
THIS BILL:
1) Establishes various findings about ocean acidification, hypoxia, and the benefits of eelgrass.
2) Requires, to the extent funds are available, OPC, in consultation with the Conservancy, to
establish and administer the Program to achieve the following goals:
a) Developing demonstration projects to research how important environmental and
ecological factors interact across space and time to influence how geographically
dispersed eelgrass beds remove carbon dioxide (CO2) and reduce hypoxia.
b) Generating an inventory of locations where conservation or restoration of aquatic
habitats, including eelgrass, can mitigate ocean acidification and hypoxia.
c) Incorporating consideration of CO2 removal during the habitat restoration planning
process.
d) Supporting science, monitoring, and coordination to ensure that ocean and coastal policy
and management reflects the best science on ocean acidification and hypoxia.
3) Authorizes OPC to provide grants or loans to be made to private entities for projects that
further public purposes consistent with the findings in this bill or the Program.
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FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, if funding is made
available, this bill will result in the following costs:
1) Unknown, but significant costs (special fund) to OPC, to develop and administer the
program.
2) Minor costs (special fund) to the Conservancy for consultation.
COMMENTS:
1) Ocean Acidification. The ocean absorbs about one-third of the CO2 that is released into the
atmosphere each year from the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities. As the
CO2 levels in the atmosphere increase, so do the levels in the ocean. This changes the
chemistry of the water and threatens marine ecosystems and coastal communities dependent
on the health of the sea. Ocean acidification is the lowering of the pH of the ocean and
changing of the ocean’s chemistry, which can lead to low dissolved oxygen water (hypoxia)
in ocean ecosystems. Ocean acidification will likely have major impacts on the fisheries and
aquaculture industries in California. It could also have a profound effect on marine
ecosystems leading to large-scale die-offs and over the long term reduced biodiversity.
Record hot temperatures in the Pacific Ocean caused by global warming and a powerful El
Niño have fueled the worst coral bleaching event ever seen in portions of Australia’s famed
Great Barrier Reef. Australia’s National Coral Bleaching Task Force has surveyed 911 coral
reefs by air, and found at least some bleaching on 93 percent of them
The Plan includes a sector on Oceans and Coastal Resources and Ecosystems. That sector
released a sector plan that discusses ocean acidification, but there are no specific
recommendations for legislative or executive action. On April 4, 2016, the West Coast
Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Science Panel (Panel) released a synthesis of the current
state of scientific knowledge about ocean acidification and hypoxia in California, Oregon,
Washington, and British Columbia. The Panel’s final report included what management
options might be used to address ocean acidification on the west coast. In the Panel’s final
report, it stated, “Seagrass beds, kelps and other macrophytes remove CO2 from seawater
and convert it into living tissue. This CO2 uptake can occur at sufficiently rapid rates to
significantly improve water quality for organisms sensitive to carbon chemistry changes.”
This bill attempts to create demonstration projects for eelgrass beds to provide a better
understanding of their ability to reduce CO2 and mitigate ocean acidification and hypoxia.
Both this bill and AB 2139 (Williams, 2016) task OPC with ocean acidification
responsibilities. Some of those responsibilities overlap. The authors have agreed to work
together to address those overlaps.
2) Amendments. This bill authorizes OPC to provide grants for projects that are consistent
with the findings of the bill. However, legislative findings are not designed to determine
eligibility for funding. The author and committee may wish to consider amendments to
remove the authorization of funding for projects consistent with the findings and instead
solely provide that authorization for projects consistent with the Program. The author and
committee may wish to also consider clarifying which habitat restoration planning processes
should incorporate CO2 reduction.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Audubon California
Azul
Big Sur Land Trust
Black Brant Group
Bolsa Chica Land Trust
California Coastal Protection Network
California League of Conservation Voters
California Waterfowl
Clean Water Action
Defenders of Wildlife
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Morro Bay Oyster Company
Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association
Peninsula Open Space Trust
Ocean Conservancy
Sierra Club California
Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District
One individual
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by: Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092