SB 1015: Natural Resources Climate Resiliency Program.

Existing law establishes the Wildlife Conservation Board and prescribes the membership and functions and duties of the board with regard to the preservation and protection of natural lands and wildlife habitat. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the State Air Resources Board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for greenhouse gas emissions reduction activities.

This bill would establish the California Natural Resources Climate Resiliency Program to increase resiliency to climate change impacts in urban and rural communities throughout the state and to fund the planning and implementation of projects that improve and enhance the climate change resiliency of natural systems, natural and working lands, and developed areas. plan and implement projects that increase the resiliency of natural systems, natural and working lands, and wildlife habitat in rural and urban areas throughout the state in the face of climate change. The bill would require that the program be developed and implemented by the Wildlife Conservation Board, in coordination with any participating state conservancies, as defined. The bill would require that moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, bonds, settlements with conditions consistent with the program, and other revenue sources, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act, be transferred to the California Natural Resources Climate Change Resiliency Fund (fund), which the bill would create. The bill would require that the board and any participating state conservancies, by June 30, 2019, jointly develop a schedule for the allocation of moneys transferred to the fund pursuant to those provisions to the board and each participating conservancy, as provided. The bill would require that the schedule of allocation be determined based on the geographical scope and population of the jurisdictional area covered by the board and each participating conservancy, with consideration given to a regions vulnerability to climate change impacts, and be jointly updated by the board and participating conservancies, not less than once every 5 years, as prescribed. The bill would require that any allocations of moneys from the fund that are included in the schedule of allocation be based on the geographical scope and population of the jurisdictional area covered by the board and each participating conservancy with consideration given to visitor population of the jurisdictional area and the population served by a jurisdictional area even if all or a portion of the population served by the jurisdictional area resides outside of the jurisdictional area. The bill would require that the board and any participating state conservancies expend moneys from the fund for purposes of the program, as prescribed. The bill would also require the board to expend a portion of those moneys to fund projects located in disadvantaged communities, as described, and low-income communities, as defined.

The bill would require the board, in collaboration with state conservancies that are considering participating in the program, no later than January 1, 2020, after a public hearing or other public process, to develop criteria and guidelines for the implementation of the program, as provided. The bill would authorize the board and each participating conservancy to develop a climate resiliency program pursuant to the bill that prioritizes projects that include specified cobenefits. The bill would require the board and a participating conservancy, after a participating conservancy notifies the board in writing of its interest in the program and completes the above-described criteria and guidelines, to adopt its own climate resiliency plan or climate resiliency program covering its jurisdiction that is consistent with specified objectives and priorities as geographically appropriate, as specified. The bill would authorize the board and any participating state conservancies to award grants to specified public entities and nongovernmental organizations for projects that are consistent with the program. The bill would require the board and any participating state conservancies to each prepare an annual public report on projects undertaken pursuant to the program during the year prior to preparation of the report, as prescribed.