Assembly Standing Committee on Natural Resources

Assemblymember Chen for Assemblymember Flora, Assemblymember Essayli for Assemblymember Mathis, Assemblymember Bennett for Assemblymember Muratsuchi, and Assembly Member Boerner Horvath for Assemblymember Addis. I think that's a record for our committee, but thank you to the Members that are subbing today. We will go ahead and start as a Subcommitee waiting for more members for quorum, but we will be taking bills in sign in order. So first up, we have Assemblymember Kalra, which is item two. AB 57.

Thank you, Madam Chair and Members. And I want to show appreciation for Assemblyman Garcia for allowing me to go first here. AB 57 would establish the California Pocket Forest Initiative, a pilot program that would authorize CAL FIRE to distribute demonstration grants for pocket forest to public and nonprofit entities. It is a reintroduction of AB 2114 which this Committee passed last year. Cal Fire would partner with academic institutions to manage the pilot program and study the effectiveness of the Miyawaki planting method in California.

They will detail their findings and report to the legislature by January 1st, 2030 and the program will sunset on January 1st, 2031. A pocket forest is a small plot of urban land that has been densely planted with native plant species. It is designed according to the Miyawaki Method, a style of tree planting that directs growers to study and emulate an area's native ecosystem.

Over the course of two to three years, the plants will grow into a self sustaining miniature forest that can offer a wide range of environmental and health benefits. Such benefits include serving as a crucial habitat for California's many unique plant and animal species, as well as providing much needed support and sustenance for critical pollinators. Additionally, by expanding nature access to urban areas, the bill has the potential to improve the health outcomes of tens of millions of Californians.

Studies have shown that people who spend at least 2 hours a week in nature are much more likely to report good health and psychological well being. Therefore, this bill directs CAL FIRE to prioritize grant applications for projects in disadvantaged communities and communities that lack easily accessible green spaces. Pocket forests have already been successfully planted in such varied places as Brazil, India, the United Kingdom, and, of course, in our very own Berkeley, California.

And in conversations with the chair, I'm happy to hear that even in your own district, it seems like there may be efforts to have pocket forests there as well. AB 57 serves as a much needed beacon for the equitable, community oriented environmentalist movement and will ensure that urban communities are able to access and enjoy the many benefits of natural green spaces.

With me to provide supporting testimony are Dan Gluesenkamp, Executive Director of the California Institute for Biodiversity, and Neelam Patil, Green Pocket Forest founder and a Time teacher of the year.

Hi. Good afternoon, chair and Committee. Thanks for the chance to talk here today. Daniel Glusenkamp with the California Institute for Biodiversity and speaking on behalf also of several dozen nonprofits and hundreds of individuals who've signed a letter of support for AB 57. We really feel that AB 57 provides some really interesting solutions to a number of the crises that we face right now. So what are those crises?

As you well know, we're in a biodiversity crisis where plants and animals biodiversity doesn't have the land that it needs to survive and to persist. We also are in an access to nature crisis where far too many Californians are denied access to the benefits of nature. All of these are compounded by a climate crisis that we're in. So we have pollinators declining, birds disappearing, and we have people dying of heat death in Los Angeles in December.

So, obviously, solutions are needed, solutions that we don't yet have in our toolbox. This is one set of those pocket forests planted using the Miyawaki method are kind of a special thing. They find sites, very small pieces of land, not large projects, a small parking lot or the edge of a parking lot, an abandoned little bit of fallow land. Urban lands that are not loved might be overwatered, but they're not doing everything that they could.

And then they plant those with plants grown from locally collected native plant seeds and at high density, so that community immediately starts jostling and being dynamic and being diverse and natural and wild. What do we get out of this? First of all, of course, we get biodiversity coming back into our urban areas, back into our neighborhoods. We get plants and we plant the plants, and the birds come back and the butterflies come back, and we get all of those benefits. We also get other direct benefits.

Reduced water usage, because these plants have grown there for millions of years, they don't need too much help. They reduce chemical use, pesticide, fertilizer, reduce maintenance. Really just need a little bit of trash pickup from time to time, because we're giving this place back to nature. And then we also get a number of indirect benefits, things that we really don't know how big they are and how far they go.

And in terms of just providing access to wildness, not just to a park or some green space, but to a place that is doing its own thing, where if you want to understand it, you have to spend a lifetime studying it.

Providing that access in our neighborhoods, in the communities that need it most, where people can get access by walking down the street, not by being in a busing program or something, where it brings access to the benefits of nature back into the communities that need it the most. It's all of these things, but it's that last one that we're most excited about, that it really is about rewilding a site, about giving it back to nature. It's not landscaping. It's not gardening.

It's not designing the landscape to benefit us in certain ways. We get tremendous direct benefits out of it.

30 seconds.

But it's not green schoolyards and urban forestry, those are absolutely essential and necessary and need support. This is something different that hundreds of Californians, nonprofits, individuals, organizations, businesses, are waiting for the chance to plant Milwaukee forests around California. And we're asking you to please give them that chance in a structure, in a pilot program that collects data and lets us evaluate the outcomes and the benefits. So we respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Move the Bill and go bears.

We haven't established a quorum. No, it's okay. We started as a Subcommitee until we need at least one more member. But definitely you see the support that we have. So please go ahead.

Hi, everyone. My name is Neelam Patil, and I am here to represent the children of California. Last year, I was awarded Time magazine teacher of the year. Thank you for my work. I took a sick day to be here, just to be here, because I think it's so important, because my students are crying. I have six year olds and seven year olds who have received a Miyawaki forest and feel so responsible for that forest. They have adopted the plants, they've adopted the trees.

There's no question about whether they should give space on their playground to nature. It's not even a question for them. It's just, yes, move forward. I spearheaded the first three Miyawaki forest projects in Berkeley, California, and I'm beyond words to see this beautiful nature based solution now being represented as a bill before the California State Legislature. Most of the time, we just feel powerless as we watch the planet get hotter and experience longer and longer fire seasons in California.

This is a very specific and progressive way to sink carbon offset urban heat island effect and change the direction of the planet's temperature rise. And I want to say one other thing. I think that we are also in a crisis of hope. And this project has brought so much hope and inspiration to so many people. Whether you're a six year old or a 90 year old, it is bringing hope back to our communities. Thank you very much, and I encourage you to support it.

Thank you, and congratulations on the honor. Next. Are there any additional witnesses in support? Please just state your name, affiliation, and position on this bill.

Hi, my name is Nicholas Sackett. Social Compassion in Legislation in support.

Melissa Romero with California Environmental Voters in support.

My name is Eva Tianikov. I'm a student at west campus high School. And as the youth delegate of Greenpocket Forest, I'm in support of AB 57.

My name is Sky Morton, and I'm a senior at west campus High School. And I support

Sakereh Carter with Sierra Club California in support.

Abigail Mighell on behalf of the mid Peninsula regional open space District in support.

Thank you. So we have a quorum. So I'm going to stop briefly to take roll so that we'll be able to vote.

[Roll Call]

We have a quorum. Okay, great. We have a quorum. Some of us were already excited to vote for this, but do we have any opposition to this bill? Seeing none. Any questions or comments from Committee Members? Okay, Assembly Member Pellerin.

I just like to be added as a co author.

Great. Okay. Assemblymember Zbur.

Yeah, my kids would. And the teacher will say, would say that this bill is the GOAT.

Thank you. Any other questions or comments from Committee? Would you like to close?

I just want to thank the encouragement and positive comments committee. And I want to thank the chair and the staff for the excellent analysis and the support. I appreciate it.

Thank you for bringing this bill back. Definitely in support. Like you mentioned, there are some projects in my district, and I'm very supportive of more green space in urban areas, especially on school yards. So I'm happy to support the bill today. Thank you. So, the motion. Oh, we need a motion.

Move the bill.

I'll second. Okay, we have a motion from assemblymember Berner Horvath. Second by Assemblymember Pellerin. The motion is do pass to appropriations. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

[Roll Call]

Thank you Chair and colleagues, this Bill would allow the counties of imperial and San Diego to count daytime population numbers for the purpose of applying for programs underneath the umbrella of our climate investments. This Bill would further require the agencies to allow at least three months between a call for applications and the deadline. And we'll also ask the Department of Finance to report on the applications received to help the state understand where there are gaps or barriers to accessing these important resources.

San Diego and imperial counties are the only counties in our state with international borders that see the average of 200,000 individuals cross north into our communities every single day. Unlike other counties or jurisdictions, it is not possible for us to team up with those on the other side of that boundary to be able to pursue, whether it be this data and or resources, to mitigate or minimize the impacts of the daytime population. Respectfully asking for your aye vote.

Move the Bill. Are there any witnesses in support or additional witnesses in support?

Thank you, Madam Chair Members. Mike Monigan, on behalf of the state. Building and Construction Trades Council, we strong support. Apologize to the Committee for not submitting. A letter, but we'll get right on it.

Thank you.

Good afternoon. Alfredo Arredondo, on behalf of tree people, also in strong support.

I am Sakereh with Sierra Club California, on behalf of over 500,000 Members and supporters across the state, we support this Bill. Thank you.

Next. Are there any witnesses in opposition? Seeing none. Any questions or comments from Committee Members? Seeing none. We have a motion from assemblymember Boerner Horvath. Oh my God. Now I'm messing it up. Did we get a second by Assembly Member Zbur, would you like to close?

Just thank you and your Committee staff for the analysis, and again, respectfully ask for your support.

[Roll Call]

[Roll Call]

Next, we'll move to AB 527 by Assembly Member Calderon.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and Members. AB 527 will create a grant program to support K-12 schools greening efforts, particularly for schools located in disadvantaged or low income communities. California is experiencing escalating and consistent extreme heat days due to climate change. Children who attend urban schools with little to no tree canopies are at an increased risk for heat related illnesses like skin cancer and asthma.

By converting paved areas into greener spaces, this legislation will help mediate high temperatures and improve the overall health and well being of students. This is a reintroduction of my Bill last year, AB 2566. The Bill was included in the 2022 budget which allowed allocated 150,000,000 over the next two years towards school greening grants. This Bill will codify the grant program to ensure the program is in place beyond the two year funding allocations.

Here with me today speaking in support of AB 527 is Alfredo Arredonodo on behalf of the Tree People.

Good afternoon, Chair Rivas and Committee Members. My name is Alfredo Redondo. I'm here on behalf of Tree People, sponsors of this measure. I wanted to really spend a little bit of time of kind of placing the Bill in the larger constellation of proposals that have been prioritized by the Legislature to address extreme heat. This is one of them. And really focusing in on some of the most vulnerable populations in California who are students in our schools.

I can cite numerous climate studies and others that really speak to the importance of addressing extreme heat as we continue to see urban heat island impact a lot of our school sites throughout the year, with a particular focus on some of the hotter months. But really you're seeing a lot more of these stories in newspapers as well.

LA Times did a great piece on this or a few pieces on this last year that really highlighted the environmental injustice that is allowing to be occurred on these school sites by not having these green spaces for our students.

And the last thing I'll mention is that Tree People has worked really closely with school districts in their service area, LA County, Riverside County and Ventura County, where we've really acknowledged and kind of honed in on the fact that there is a need for this kind of legislation to establish a program that's specifically focused on school greening. We do have complementary programs like urban forestry, urban greening, statewide parks program, and a few others, but none of them specifically focus on school sites.

And by having this, we believe that we can really begin to address the environmental injustice that is being foisted on our students at our school sites. So with that, I will close by saying that we had a sign on letter with over 30 organizations that was submitted after the deadline to demonstrate the broad support for this and respectfully request your aye vote.

Thank you. Next, are there additional witnesses in support?

I'm Fatima Iqbal Zubair with California Environments in support.

Thank you. Are there any witnesses in opposition? Seeing none. Any questions or comments from Members of the Committee? Assembly Member Boerner Horvath.

This is a wonderful bill and I want to thank you for bringing it forward. Thank you for doing the budget process last year and having this all happen. I would love to be added as a co author.

Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Okay, well, thank you for bringing this Bill back. I would also like to be added as a co author of this Bill. This issue area is very important to me, being a Los Angeles Member, especially in the San Fernando Valley where it gets very hot in one of the areas of county, right, that experiences extreme heat and our kids have to be out there for recess and lunch and it's over 100 degrees.

We definitely need more green space and areas for kids to cool down. Thank you, Assembly Member Calderon, for leading this this year.

Can I speak?

Okay, sure. Assembly Member Essayli.

Thank you so much. I'd like to also be added as a co author if possible. I think greenery is so important and also to mental health of kids. I think there's a lot of research that shows the beneficial mental health of being around nature instead of these concrete jungles all day. So I support the effort as well. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. zero, Assembly Member Pellerin.

Yeah, I too think this is a fantastic Bill and would like to be added as a co author. Thank you.

Thank you. I think, you know, thank you to the Members that have added on as co authors, especially this year. We need to continue working on extreme heat, especially when there are cuts in the proposed cuts this year in the budget. And these are areas of our state that are already experiencing climate change and I see this as an emergency. So thank you again. So would you like to close?

Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair, I just want to thank you for your leadership in the extreme heat space. I know this is something you've been working on since you got elected and I'd be honored to add all of you that requested as co authors. So I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

We have a motion from Assembly Member Boerner Horvath. Do I have a second from Assembly Member Pellerin, the motion is do pass to appropriations. Please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

That Bill has seven votes. We'll leave it open for others to add on. Next, we'll move to AB 45 by Assembly Member Boerner Horvath.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair, and Members. First, I'd like to thank the Committee, accept the Committee amendments and would like to thank your staff for all their work on this Bill and last year's version of this Bill. This is for our new Members. This is a TBH special. This is a Bill that I wrote. And I really thank the Committee consultants because they take Tasha language and the alleged council moves into legal language and they make it into really impactful language.

So thank you so much for your work. AB 45 would authorize the California Coastal Commission to add blue carbon demonstration projects to the suite of factors it considers for potential mitigation when approving coastal development permits where feasible. Research shows that blue carbon ecosystems, such as seagrasses and salt marshes are more efficient at capturing and storing atmospheric carbon than most terrestrial forests. In fact, some blue carbon ecosystems can sequester five times more carbon than tropical rainforests and store 50 times more in their surrounding soil.

Sadly, California has lost over 90% of its historic wetlands and their associated benefits they provide, such as protecting coastal communities from harmful impacts of climates of the climate crisis, such as sea level rise and flooding.

This Bill idea is the result of a transportation project in North County, San Diego, where widening the I-5 freeway lanes addressed a number of environmental concerns expressed by residents in regards to the impact of wildlife living in the six coastal lagoons, 32 acres of wetlands and 4774 acres of coastal sage. During the coastal permit process, the Coastal Commission approved the project with improvements related to enhancing marine environmentally sensitive habitat areas.

This innovative approach to mitigating impacts to natural resources can be replicated to build or restore blue carbon sinks. And what I want to really emphasize about the Santa Leo lagoon project is it was a happenstance that they planted so many salt marshes and grasses, so seagrasses, it should be the requirement, because what happens is you're going to do that mitigation anyways. But let's make the mitigation the most impactful it can be for not only us, but for our children and fighting the climate crisis.

So I understand there's some late opposition and concern about section four D's addition and the mention of greenhouse gas emission reductions. I assure you this Bill is not about housing. It's about salt marshes and intertidal wetlands and marine habitats and carbon sequestration. And so I commit to work with the chair and the consultants and any of you that have expressed your concern about this to resolve this issue. And with that, I respectfully ask for an aye vote. I have two witnesses here today.

I have Angela Kemsley, Conservation Director at Wild coast in San Diego, the sponsors of the Bill, as well as Jonathan Clay from the port of San Diego.

Good afternoon, Assembly Members. My name is Angela Kemsley. I'm the Conservation Director at Wild coast, and I'm here today to provide strong support for AB 45, which will protect and conserve blue carbon ecosystems in the coastal permitting process. California is facing one of our biggest challenges yet, climate change. Luckily, California is a global biodiversity hotspot with many ecosystems naturally able to sequester and store carbon. Of special note, our blue carbon ecosystems.

Blue carbon is the carbon that's removed from the atmosphere by plants in coastal and marine ecosystems, such as mangrove forests, as well as the salt marshes and seagrasses that we have here in California. Through photosynthesis, plants pull carbon out of the atmosphere. Some of that carbon is stored in the woody tissue of plants in blue carbon ecosystems. A lot of it is also stored in the soil.

And since the soil in blue carbon ecosystems is continually wet, it slows down the decomposition process, so there's less carbon released back into the atmosphere than in terrestrial forests. Additionally, the carbon stored in the soil of blue carbon ecosystems, if left undisturbed, can be stored for thousands of years. Preliminary data from research that Wild Coast is conducting with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography suggests that our coastal wetlands are storing up to 4.8 times more carbon than local grasslands, which is amazing.

Unfortunately, it's estimated that only about 10% of California's historic wetlands remain. So now is the time to take action. AB 45 will ensure that blue carbon ecosystems are preserved by allowing the Coastal Commission to require demonstration projects to obtain certain permits and will add to the rapidly growing research in the field of blue carbon by requiring monitoring of permitted projects.

Adding references to blue carbon projects and greenhouse gas emission reduction in the Coastal Act is consistent with the Legislature's priority to ensure all state agencies are proactive partners in the fight against climate change and continues the Legislature's important effort to modernize the Coastal Act through bills that have added sea level rise, civil rights and environmental justice. This has complementary to the Commission's commitment to expand affordable housing and other social initiatives.

And we encourage you to support AB 45 because it ensures that coastal wetlands will continue to be a natural climate solution for years to come.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair. Committee Members. Jonathan Clay here on behalf of the Port of San Diego in support of AB 45. The Port of San Diego has been working in the blue carbon space for many years. We have worked cooperatively with state agencies to even look at trying to create an eel grass mitigation bank within San Diego to help promote restoration and create more eel grass and native grass habitats.

The port has also taken its own revenues and created an incubator to incentivize innovators to look at different type of blue carbon projects that can both benefit the environment as well as create new business opportunities in San Diego Bay. With that, we support AB 45.

Thank you. Are there any additional witnesses in support of the Bill?

I'm Fatima Iqbal Zubair from California environment in support.

Court Sakira Carter with Sierra Club California, in support.

Abigail Mile with Mid Peninsula Regional Open Space District in support.

Carlos Gallo with Wild Coast in support.

Thanks. Next, are there any witnesses in opposition.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and Members Deborah Carlton with the California Apartment Association. I apologize for what was called the late opposition. We submitted a letter on Wednesday, obviously not soon enough, but we do believe this is an important Bill, and we appreciate the assemblywoman agreeing to work with us to ensure that this is not going to add to the cost of housing. We're looking for some guardrails just to make sure that there are not added fees, because, of course, housing is extremely important in California now. So thank you very much for working with us.

Good afternoon. Similarly, Steve Cruz, on behalf of the California Building Industry Association, in the same place as the apartment Association, but just to hone a little further, I think just the language for the requirement that the applicant build or contribute that that doesn't translate into additional fees on new housing. And happy to continue those conversations with the author. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and Members Andres Ramirez, on behalf of the City of Laguna Beach, in respectful opposition, but we do look forward to taking a closer look at some of the amendments once in print. So thank you.

Thank you. Next, any questions or comments from Members of the Committee? Assembly Members Zbur.

So first of all, I want to thank the Assembly Member for bringing this Bill. I think it's an important one. I plan on supporting it today. I also wanted to thank Assembly Member Boerner Horvath for spending time with me over the weekend. And on Friday, when the Assembly Member briefed me in my office, I think last week, my only question was, does this result in any changes in authority that could be used to thwart affordable housing in the coastal zone?

And she assured me that it was not her intent to the Bill to change that. I do think that some of the changes, that some of the things that are in the Bill alter the division of responsibilities between the Air Resources Board and the Coastal Commission, which are shared at this. So the concern I have really is that these changes, which were added somehow during the Bill, have never really been analyzed.

There's nothing in the staff analysis other than the mention that this would apply to all development that indicates how the greenhouse Gas emission authority that is in Section four would be implemented, how that relates to the Air Resources Board and the Air districts authority, and frankly, how that would impede, for example, local jurisdictions who have the responsibility to meet RHNA and sustainable community standards, how that would interact. So I want to close by saying that I'm really in strongly support of the Bill.

The blue carbon demonstration projects are a really important thing, and I want to commend the author for bringing this. And I'm strongly supportive that aspect of the Bill and want to thank her for agreeing to work with us to address these other issues. So thank you.

Any other questions or comments from Committee Members? Seeing none. Would you like to- Oh, Assembly Member Hoover?

Yeah, just quick comment. I certainly appreciate your willingness to work with the opposition. I definitely want to get to a yes on this Bill. I am in a layoff today, but I definitely think that I look forward to seeing the amendments and things as we move forward. Thanks so much.

No more. Would you like to close?

Yeah. I respectfully ask your aye vote and I again commit to working with the opposition and those who have expressed concern about this and getting to a place. You can't build a house in the middle of lagoon. You can't build a house in the middle of the ocean. So this is not a housing Bill. This is a carbon sequestration Bill for intertidal wetlands, lagoons, estuaries and marine habitats. So with that, I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Okay, do I have a thank you second? Okay. A motion from Assemblymember Pellerin. Second by Assemblymember Bennett. I am committed to helping you, Assembly Member Boerner Horvath, work with the opposition and the amendments that you would want to take. So thank you for your willingness to work with all of us. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

That bill has five votes, we'll place it on call. Next, AB 72, also by Assemblymember Boerner Horvath.

Hello, Madam Chair and members. Again, this is another TBH special from a couple of years ago. AB 72 would extend the sunset date for the Scripps Institution of Oceanography to conduct research on coastal cliff landslides, erosions and bluff failures in the County of San Diego by one year.

My AB 66 from 2021 directed Scripps researchers to collect data on bluffs at Beacons beach in Encinitas and Del Mar. For those of you who don't know, AB 66 is our answer for a very tragic incident that happened in Encinitas in 2019, where our local pediatric dentist lost his wife, his daughter, who had just went into remission from breast cancer, and his sister in law. And if the bluff collapse had happened 10 seconds earlier, 10 children would have passed as well.

So all people need when they're at the beach is 10 seconds to run into the ocean and so when we were looking at what are solutions, I went to Scripps and said, you know what I want? I want little rods that are in the bluffs. And when they detect movement, they make a light and make a sound. They notify marine safety of the issue, and people can just run into the ocean. So they avoid the bluff collapses. Well, they said, that's a great idea Assemblymember Boerner Horvath.

Except we know after the fact why bluffs collapse. We don't know the science around bluff failures. So AB 66 plus the budget ask that was associated with it, which was $2.5 million, will provide the science around when bluffs fail to be able to predict it and do two pilot projects, one at Beacons Beach and one at Del Mar. So that's the background of it. Now, the idea is they'll come back with a prototype that we can then launch.

And the idea was in San Diego County, but it's become widely popular with coastal members, so we might expand that in phase two. And phase three would hopefully be on the entire West Coast. So ultimately, you would get a notification like, you get, know it's very coastal, but like high surf advisories or all the things that we get, wind advisories, heat advisories for maybe our inland members, it would also say bluff failure advisory.

So when you're going to the beach that you are informed, and that's one of the things that we don't know. And so the deadline for extension is requested due to significant permitting delays at Beacons Beach in Encinitas, which prevented the timely installation of several key sensors, including a subsurface high-sensitivity strain meter used for detecting small scale ground movements. Without a project extension, full data collection would only cover one full winter when coastal erosion landslides occur more frequently and limit the overall project outcomes and recommendations.

AB 66 is the first step in creating an early warning notification system, much like we have for earthquakes. This information is critical to keep our communities safer in the face of sea level rise. With that, I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. Are there any witnesses in support?

Angela Kemsley from Wild Coast in support.

Please hold on. Yeah, go ahead.

Angela Kemsley from Wild Coast in support.

Carlos Callado with Wild Coast, in support.

Sakira Carter with Sierra Club California in support.

Thank you. Next. Are there any witnesses in opposition? Seeing none. Any questions or comments from members of the committee? Assemblymember Essayli. Okay, we have a motion and a second and a question from Assemblymember Essayli.

Hi, Assemblywoman, I just had a question. Even though this study is specific to your communities. I assume the results would be able to be used statewide and other regions as well, correct?

Exactly. So the idea is to study where we have, we have bluff failures, you know we just had a horrible one in La Jolla where, thank goodness, no one was under the cliffs. So normally our bluff failures tend to happen in the winter. In the particular incident in 2019, it happened in August where everybody is at the beach. But the science around bluff failures apply to the entire state because they're studying several different rock formations. So that would be applicable to the entire.

As someone who likes to visit those parts of your district, I will be supporting this.

I'd love to take you surfing.

Any other questions or comments from committee members? Seeing none. Would you like to close?

I would respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. So we have a motion and a second. The motion is due pass to Appropriations. Please call the roll.

[Roll Call] Thank you.

That Bill has nine votes. We'll leave it open for those that are not present. Our last Bill, AB 397 by Assembly Member is Essayli. Whenever you're ready.

Thank you. Good afternoon, Madam Chair and Members of the Committee. I'm pleased to present Assembly Bill 397, which proposes that the California Air Resources Board must include greenhouse gas emissions resulting from wildlands and forest fires into its scoping plan. The scoping plan was initially developed in 2008 as part of Assembly Bill 32, which aimed to reduce California's greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

Since then, the scoping plan has been updated twice and includes a suite of policies aimed at achieving the state's greenhouse gas reduction targets. However, a new study by the University of Californias has found that the 2020 wildfires, which were California's worst on record, resulted in more than double the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions reduced by the state from 2003 to 2019. That means the emissions from the wildfires in one year negated 18 years of the state's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

AB 397 seeks to address this issue by requiring CARB to consider the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from wildlands and forest fires into its scoping plan. Since wildfires are a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, the plan will help the state better understand their impact and develop strategies to reduce emissions from future wildfires. And the Bill will ultimately help combat climate change and achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2045. I have a witness here today, and I'll allow him.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair. Members Chris McKayley, on behalf of Humboldt Redwood Company and Mendocino Redwood Company, in support of the Bill. CARB has stated that its focus in the scoping plan is on fossil fuel emissions. They said that's because they are accumulating in the atmosphere at an unprecedented pace. We would respectfully offer that the same could be said about wildfire emissions in the State of California. Now, CARB did publish an estimate of wildfire emissions from 2000 to 2019.

There they said in recent years, the frequency and magnitude of wildfires has been prolific across California. As the Assembly Member mentioned, 2020 was our worst wildfire season on record. Over 4 million acres burned. More than 110,000,000 metric tons of GHG emissions released. More than $11 billion in insurable losses sustained at that time. So it's our belief that CARB should include wildfire GHG emissions in the scoping plan to deal with this significant problem. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Are there additional witnesses in support? Seeing none. We're ready for witnesses in opposition. Seeing none. Any questions or comments from Members of the Committee? Assembly Member Wood?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to support this Bill today. Carbon scoping plan is intended to capture human caused emissions like was mentioned, but nearly 85% of wildfires in the US are caused by humans. The tubs fire campfires were among the most destructive fires in state history, the campfire being the most destructive. Both saw the destruction of massive amounts of infrastructure which floated down here to Sacramento, to the Bay Area and beyond. This is not just a natural and working lands issue.

Stanford Small University down on the peninsula there has done research on wildfire particle pollution. PM 2.5 showed that exposure is becoming more severe and more common and that exposure to children can have significant effects going forward. I just learned that UCSF is conducting similar research on the effects of California fires on pregnant women. Bottom line, these are significant human caused emitters. I don't understand why we wouldn't include this in the scoping plan. It's mind boggling to me.

Maybe we don't want to, because maybe we just ignore it and it goes away. But as someone who lives in wildfire country, has lived there, been evacuated from my house multiple times, watched 5400 homes in my community burn and be destroyed, seen 150 people die since 2015. When these communities burn, when these houses burn, they're not just emitting wildfire smoke. They're emitting all sorts of pollutants, plastics, and who knows what else goes into the atmosphere and the smoke while it sits.

Oftentimes in the hottest times of the year, when the air quality is the worst, sits and hovers over areas. When it changes, it floats down to the Bay Area or it floats to other areas and people are exposed to it. Why we wouldn't include looking at this in the scoping plan, I simply do not understand. And I, quite frankly, am really disappointed that we don't have CARB here to oppose your Bill.

To me, that's disrespectful of you, Mr. Essaylia, and I apologize on behalf of CARB for not being here to at least tell you why they want to oppose your Bill. I respectfully ask your aye vote on this Bill.

Yeah, I'm not going to support the Bill today. I understand that CARB does modeling that includes wildfires in it, even though it may not be a primary part of the scoping plan.

I know that the input that I got when I was asking about this Bill was that including these now is, given the difficulty in measuring it, as well as the fact that many of the responses are variable, it would disrupt our long term GHD emissions planning for the state and would be disruptive rather than helpful in meeting our climate change goals. I noted that the Sierra club has indicated that they believe that it would move focus away from strategies that would really focus on disadvantaged communities.

And for all of those reasons, I don't plan on supporting the Bill today, but thank you for bringing it.

Thank you. Assemblymember Hoover.

Yeah, Mr. Essayli, I just want to say thank you for bringing this Bill forward. I definitely plan to support it today. I live in a district that doesn't have a direct impact from wildfire, but that certainly feels the effects of these huge wildfires. We have days throughout our year where we're canceling school because the smoke and the air quality is as bad as it is due to these wildfires.

And I think what this Bill will do is really encourage us to start taking this issue seriously. I think we need to treat this just like any other form of pollution, and we need to do more to actually address this issue and try to help reduce these fires moving forward. I appreciate my colleagues comments from Los Angeles. I do understand the impact that this could have on reaching our goals. But I think at the end of the day, the goal should be to reduce pollutants.

The goal should be to reduce them in any form. And I think that this Bill will help us get more serious about this specific issue in our state, which I think is desperately needed. So I appreciate you bringing the Bill forward.

Any other questions or comments from Committee Members?

Could I just respond to a couple of points just in closing?

Yeah, I will do that.

Thank you.

Yes, sure. Would you like to close? Yes, go ahead and do it now.

I appreciate the comments from the Committee. I think they're well reasoned. I would say that I don't think the earth cares what the source of carbon is. Carbon is carbon, and the fact that 20 years of work was wiped out in one year is a serious concern. And so not considering wildfires in a scoping plan, I think is a mistake because it's a huge risk and it negated two decades of work.

And to the Assembly Members points, there are human causes to wildfires and also policy decisions that go into how we manage our forests and allowing fuels to build up. And I know that we're starting to shift policies now to address that, but this doesn't require anyone to do anything or policies. It just says that CARB needs to consider these sources of emissions when they're making their plans. It's not going to tie carb's hands in any way. So I appreciate the consideration. Respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you. I believe we have a motion from Assemblymember Chen, second by Assemblymember Hoover. I will not be supporting the Bill today. The scoping plan is about reducing greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels, and the state is taking emissions from wildfires seriously. I think there was some comments made inferring that we are not. But in the scoping plan, it's not the right place.

We're focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels and other sources, and we are doing it through our other ways that we are addressing wildfire emissions. So for that reason, I will not be supporting that Bill today. Did you want to. Okay, sorry. Okay, so we have a motion and a second. Please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

That Bill has four ayes and four no's. We'll leave it, we'll place it on call because Assemblymember Friedman is not in the room. Thank you.

Thank you.

Assembly Members Zbur. Sorry, we have not voted on the consent. I want to ask all Members to stay for one more vote. We need to vote on the rules of our Committee and the consent calendar, and then we'll be done. Okay, we need a motion. Okay, we have a motion and a second, please call the role. We are voting on the rules first.

[Roll Call]

We have 10 votes. We'll leave it open. Next, the consent calendar has two bills. Do I have a motion? Okay, we have a motion and a second. Okay, please call the roll.

The roll call on consent items. Those items are AB 536. The motion is due pass to consent. The second item is AB 584 Heart. Due pass to Appropriations also on consent. [Roll Call]

That has 10 votes. We'll leave that open for Assemblymember Friedman. Thank you. Next, we can add on any members that need to add on. Okay, we'll start with item one, AB 45.

The motion is due pass as amended to Appropriations. [Roll Call]

That bill has seven votes. We'll leave it open for members that are absent. Next, item two, AB 57.

Motion is due pass to Appropriations, absent members. [Roll Call]

The bill has nine votes. We'll leave it open. Next, item four, AB 72.

The motion is due pass to Appropriations. Absent members. [Roll Call]

Okay, that Bill has 10 votes. Item five, AB 287.

The motion is due pass to Appropriations, absent members. [Roll Call]

The bill has eight votes. Next item. Did we get offered item seven? We need item seven. Okay, item seven, AB 397. We will instead to AB 527 Assemblymember Kalra.

The motion is due pass to Appropriations, absent members. [Roll Call]

Okay, that bill has 10 votes. Okay, I believe everyone has voted. We're just waiting for Assemblymember Friedman. Thank you.

That was on the consent calendar.

Oh, we had two bills on consent, 536 and 584.

I'll start with the bill that's on call. Item six, AB 397 by Essayli.

The motion is due pass to Appropriations. [Roll Call]

Okay, that bill fails. What's the number? Four to five.

And Madam Chair, respectfully ask for reconsideration.

Without objection. Reconsideration is granted.

Thank you.

Okay, we'll start in item order. Item one, AB 45.

The motion is due pass as amended to Appropriations. [Roll Call]

Bill has eight votes. It's out. Item two, AB 57.

The motion is due pass to Appropriations. [Roll Call]

Bill has 10 votes. That's out. Item three, AB 72

The motion is due pass to Appropriations. [Roll Call]

Bill has 11 votes. That's out. Item four, AB 287.

The motion is due pass to Appropriations. [Roll Call]

Bill has nine votes. That is out. Item seven, AB 527.

The motion is due pass to Appropriations. [Roll Call]

Bill has 11 votes. It's out. Next, we want to vote on the rules and then the consent calendar.

The consent calendar has two items. AB 536, motion is due, pass to consent and AB 584 Hart. The motion is due pass through Appropriations on consent. [Roll Call]

11 votes for the consent calendar.

And voting on the rules. [Roll Call]

Okay, the rules are adopted. Okay, meeting adjourned. Thank you.