Climate change: state infrastructure planning: Climate-Safe Infrastructure Working Group.

Existing law requires state agencies to take into account the current and future impacts of climate change when planning, designing, building, operating, maintaining, and investing in state infrastructure, as provided. This bill would require state agencies to take into account the economic damages and financial liabilities associated with the above impacts. Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency to establish a Climate-Safe Infrastructure Working Group for the purpose of examining how to integrate scientific data concerning projected climate change impacts into state infrastructure engineering, including oversight, investment, design, and construction. Existing law requires the working group to work in coordination with other state climate adaption planning efforts, and to consider and build upon existing information produced by the state, as specified. This bill would add a specified 5-year infrastructure plan to the information that the working group is required to consider and build upon. Existing law requires the working group, by July 1, 2018, to make recommendations to the Legislature and the Strategic Growth Council that address specified climate change issues. Existing law makes the provisions governing the working group inoperative on July 1, 2020, and repeals them on January 1, 2021. This bill would delete both the requirement for the working group to make recommendations to the Legislature and the council and the inoperative and repeal dates, thereby extending the above provisions indefinitely beginning January 1, 2021. The bill would also provide that the working group shall only convene and perform its functions to the extent resources are available to fund the support of the working group and its activities.