Marine Carbon Initiative.

The expedited marine carbon research program permitting process is entirely removed from the bill. Previously, the Marine Carbon Initiative had three components (Council, Research Program, and expedited permitting); it now has only two (Council and Research Program). The 6-month permit review requirement and the mechanism for consolidating state-level permits into a single process are gone.

The council's objectives are expanded. Objective (B) now includes evaluating responses 'ranging from nutrient changes to wildlife impacts' and 'the extent of the net benefit of implementing each project.' Objective (C) now explicitly includes 'social and economic impacts' alongside labor, logistics, and supply chain implications.

All major deadlines are pushed back approximately one year: council establishment moves from April 2, 2026 to July 1, 2027; council member selection moves from July 1, 2026 to August 1, 2027; program establishment moves from July 1, 2027 to August 1, 2028; and the first legislative report moves from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2029.

The restriction that eligible projects must include 'only technology research, development, and demonstrations, and prototype and pilot project research testing' is removed. Eligible projects now only need at least one partner organization based in California or a contractor/staff member residing in California, without limitation on the type of activity.

Two new items are added to the council's required report to the state board by July 1, 2028: (8) metrics for evaluating impacts to marine ecosystems and resources, with recommendations for the limited scale at which methods could be tested to produce sufficient results; and (9) evaluation of potential impact to existing ocean uses including fishing, aquaculture, and recreation.

Several language changes: 'can be removed or sequestered' becomes 'may potentially be removed or sequestration' in the findings (more cautious); 'in coordination with' becomes 'in consultation with' for program administration; 'will coordinate' becomes 'shall coordinate' for interagency coordination (stronger obligation); 'greenhouse gasses' is corrected to 'greenhouse gases'.

The amendment to Section 39741.3 requiring a centralized public database to track CCUS and CDR technology deployment was removed entirely. The bill now only adds the new Marine Carbon Initiative section (39619.10).

All major deadlines were pushed back roughly one year: council establishment moved from April 2, 2026 to July 1, 2027; council member selection from July 1, 2026 to August 1, 2027; program establishment from July 1, 2027 to August 1, 2028; and the first legislative report from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2029.

The Marine Carbon Council's role was fundamentally reduced. Previously it had ongoing duties (identifying research gaps, providing recommendations, coordinating partnerships, etc.). Now it must submit a one-time report to the state board by July 1, 2028 with recommendations on those topics, after which its mandated role effectively ends.

The state board's relationship with the council in administering the research program changed from 'coordination' to 'consultation,' reducing the council's ongoing influence over program operations.

The expedited permitting process was substantially weakened. Instead of requiring the state board to establish an actual expedited permitting process (with six-month review deadlines), the bill now only requires the state board to 'share information with relevant state agencies that would have permitting authority' over funded projects, including what was learned from council research.

The fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' meaning the bill now requires review by the Assembly and Senate fiscal committees, likely triggered by the appropriation language for $2 million annually over at least seven years.

Entirely new Section 39619.10 added to the Health and Safety Code establishing the Marine Carbon Initiative, which did not exist in the introduced version. The bill went from a single nonsubstantive database fix to a multi-component marine carbon research framework.

Adds a legislative findings section (Section 1) documenting the rationale including IPCC findings on CO2 removal necessity, the ocean's role in absorbing over 25% of emitted carbon, and estimates that scaled marine CDR could remove billions of tons of carbon per year by 2050.

Requires the State Air Resources Board to establish the Marine Carbon Council by April 2, 2026, consisting of 7 members selected through a public nomination process by July 1, 2026. Members must represent diverse sectors (industry, universities, federal labs, nonprofits) and geographic areas (no more than 3 from the same county).

Requires $2,000,000 annually for no less than 7 years to be allocated to the State Air Resources Board to fund the Marine Carbon Research Program, upon legislative appropriation. Fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes' reflecting this new spending.

The Marine Carbon Research Program (to be established by July 1, 2027) will award competitive grants for eligible projects that must have at least one California-based partner organization or resident contractor/staff member, and must include only technology research, development, demonstrations, and prototype/pilot project testing.

Establishes an expedited permitting process requiring permit applications for funded marine carbon projects to be reviewed and decided within 6 months. The process covers state-level permits from the Coastal Commission, Fish and Wildlife, Natural Resources Agency, Ocean Protection Council, State Lands Commission, and Water Boards, but expressly excludes city or county permits.

Defines 'marine carbon dioxide removal' as intentional intervention in the marine environment resulting in net CO2 removal from the upper hydrosphere or atmosphere on a life-cycle basis, and 'marine carbon dioxide sequestration' as durable storage of CO2 in the ocean excluding mechanical injection into the seabed.

Sets multiple deadlines: Council established by April 2, 2026; council members selected by July 1, 2026; first legislative report due January 1, 2027 (biennially thereafter); Research Program established by July 1, 2027.

The original Section 39741.3 amendment (correcting 'In furtherance of order to further' to 'In order to further') is retained but renumbered as Section 2, and the bill's title and digest are updated to reflect the expanded scope.