AB 900: Environmental protection: 30x30 goals: land conservation: stewardship. - California

10/06/25 - Chaptered → AB900 · 1 edit

MINOR

No substantive policy changes between these two versions. The diff reflects a transition from the official chaptered law format to a web page rendering of the same bill text on the California Legislative Information site. All statutory language in Section 71453 is identical in both versions.

TECHNICAL

The document was reformatted from an official chaptered legislative document (with 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGISLATIVE MATERIAL' header) to a web page layout including navigation menus, version history links, and a digest key showing Vote: MAJORITY, Appropriation: NO, Fiscal Committee: YES, Local Program: NO.

06/25/25 - Amended Senate → 08/29/25 - Amended Senate · 6 edits · Aug 29, 2025

MODERATE

The August 29 amendment to AB 900 significantly strengthens tribal engagement requirements and adds two new report items focused on ancestral land return and tribal partnership. It also clarifies the funding mechanism for initial stewardship by explicitly allowing it as a separate direct grant in addition to being bundled with land acquisition grants, and requires the agency to prepare a dedicated stewardship section within the 2027 annual report in addition to updating the Pathways to 30x30 Report.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to explicitly require tribal collaboration in report preparation, add ancestral land return recommendations, and broaden data sources to include California Native American tribes. The funding mechanism was broadened to allow stewardship funding as a standalone direct grant rather than only as part of a land acquisition project.

REQUIREMENT

The Natural Resources Agency must now collaborate with stakeholders, California Native American tribes, and relevant state agencies to prepare a dedicated section on stewardship as part of the 2027 annual report on progress toward the 30x30 goal, in addition to updating the Pathways to 30x30 Report.

New item (8) requires the updated report to include recommendations to increase ancestral land return.

New item (9) requires the updated report to include recommendations to increase consultation and partnership with California Native American tribes and tribal cultural practitioners, including support for tribal stewardship activities, traditional ecological knowledge, and cultural practices.

ELIGIBILITY

The list of data sources for estimating stewardship needs now explicitly includes California Native American tribes alongside federal, state, and local governments, private entities, and tribal landowners and managers.

FISCAL

The funding provision (subdivision d) was clarified to state that initial stewardship funding may be included either as part of a land acquisition grant or in a separate direct grant for a period not to exceed three years, removing redundant language from the prior version.

TECHNICAL

There appears to be a drafting error in the new version where subdivision (e) is left blank and the definition of 'stewardship' is labeled as subdivision (d), creating a numbering conflict with the funding provision also labeled (d).

08/29/25 - Amended Senate → 09/08/25 - Enrolled · 3 edits · Sep 8, 2025

MINOR

The enrolled version of AB 900 removes two substantive provisions from the Senate-amended version: (1) the requirement that the Natural Resources Agency update the Pathways to 30x30 Report, and (2) a funding authorization that would have allowed Proposition 4 bond funds used for land acquisition to include initial stewardship costs for up to three years. The bill now focuses solely on requiring a stewardship section within the 2027 annual progress report. Drafting errors in subdivision (b) were also corrected.

REQUIREMENT

Removed the requirement that the Natural Resources Agency update the Pathways to 30x30 Report. The bill now only requires the agency to prepare a stewardship section as part of the 2027 annual report under Section 71452, rather than also producing a separate updated version of the 2022 Pathways report.

FISCAL

Removed subdivision (d), which authorized including initial stewardship funding as part of land acquisition grants or as a separate direct grant using Proposition 4 bond funds (Section 93010) for a period not to exceed three years. This was the primary mechanism that would have provided dedicated money for post-acquisition stewardship of conserved lands.

TECHNICAL

Fixed drafting errors in subdivision (b): removed a stray 'As' at the beginning and corrected garbled text ('The update 71452 that shall include') that resulted from merging two separate requirements into one sentence during earlier amendments.

09/08/25 - Enrolled → 10/06/25 - Chaptered · 2 edits · Oct 6, 2025

MINOR

This diff reflects the transition of AB 900 from its enrolled version to its chaptered (signed) version. No substantive policy changes were made. The only differences are procedural: the bill was assigned Chapter 385, the Governor's approval date was filled in as October 6, 2025, and the standard authenticated electronic legal material header replaced the placeholder signature blocks.

TECHNICAL

The bill was assigned Chapter 385 and the Governor's approval date was recorded as October 6, 2025, replacing blank placeholder fields for dates and signatures.

The enrolled version's signature blocks (Chief Clerk of the Assembly, Secretary of the Senate, Private Secretary of the Governor) were replaced with the standard 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL' header used in chaptered bills.

03/24/25 - Amended Assembly → 05/23/25 - Amended Assembly · 5 edits · May 23, 2025

MODERATE

The May amendment to AB 900 softens several requirements and adds constraints. The Pathways to 30x30 Report update is now folded into an existing annual report rather than standing alone, the stewardship needs assessment is downgraded from a full accounting to an estimate using existing data sets, and the funding provision for stewardship on acquired lands is limited to three years and must comply with Division 50. The definition of 'stewardship' is also broadened to encompass science-based management as a subset rather than treating them as a single combined concept.

Scope change

The bill's scope is narrowed in practice: the funding mechanism is time-limited to three years, the data requirement is relaxed from a full accounting to an estimate using pre-existing data sets, and the report update is absorbed into an existing annual reporting cycle rather than creating a new standalone obligation.

REQUIREMENT

The Pathways to 30x30 Report update is now required as part of the 2027 annual report under Section 71452, rather than as a standalone deliverable due by July 1, 2026. The agency must also consult with stakeholders and other relevant state agencies when preparing it.

The requirement to produce 'an accounting' of backlogged, critical, recurring, and future stewardship needs is changed to 'an accounting estimate.' The agency may rely on data sets that exist on or before March 31, 2027, from federal, state, and local governments, private entities, and tribal landowners and managers, rather than being required to conduct new data collection.

FISCAL

The funding provision now limits science-based management and initial stewardship funding to a three-year period as part of a land acquisition project, and requires consistency with Division 50 (commencing with Section 90000). The term 'initial stewardship' replaces the broader 'stewardship,' narrowing what qualifies.

DEFINITION

The defined term changes from 'science-based management and stewardship' to simply 'stewardship.' Under the new definition, 'stewardship' includes science-based management, adaptive management, traditional ecological knowledge, and best land management practices. This restructures the relationship between the concepts so that science-based management becomes a component of stewardship rather than a parallel term.

TECHNICAL

Minor rewording in item (2) changes 'successful science-based management and stewardship' to 'successful science-based management and effective stewardship,' and item (7) changes 'increase science-based management and stewardship' to 'increase science-based management and improve stewardship.'

05/23/25 - Amended Assembly → 06/25/25 - Amended Senate · 4 edits · Jun 25, 2025

MODERATE

The Senate amendment broadens the bill's focus by replacing the repeated phrase 'science-based management and stewardship' with simply 'stewardship,' making the concept more inclusive rather than narrowly tied to a science-based framework. It also removes the hard July 1, 2026 deadline for the report update and expands funding flexibility by allowing initial stewardship funding to be provided either within a land acquisition grant or as a separate direct grant.

DEFINITION

The defined term changed from 'science-based management and stewardship' to simply 'stewardship.' The definition now lists science-based management as one component of stewardship rather than treating it as the overarching framework. This broadens what qualifies under the bill.

TIMELINE

The specific deadline of July 1, 2026 for updating the Pathways to 30x30 Report was removed. The update is now only required 'as part of the 2027 annual report,' giving the agency more flexibility on timing.

FISCAL

Subdivision (d) was restructured to allow initial stewardship funding to be included either as part of a land acquisition grant or as a separate direct grant, rather than only being bundled into a land acquisition project. The time limit also changed from 'a three-year period' to 'a period not to exceed three years.'

TECHNICAL

Minor wording changes throughout: 'an accounting estimate' became 'an estimate,' 'data sets' became 'datasets,' and various instances of 'science-based management and stewardship' were shortened to 'stewardship' in the report content requirements (subdivision b items 1-7).

02/19/25 - Introduced → 03/24/25 - Amended Assembly · 3 edits · Mar 24, 2025

MINOR

The amendment adds two substantive provisions to AB 900: a new requirement that the updated Pathways to 30x30 Report include an accounting of backlogged, critical, recurring, and future stewardship needs with associated costs, and a new definition of 'science-based management and stewardship' that explicitly includes traditional ecological knowledge alongside adaptive management and best land management practices. These changes broaden the bill's scope by formalizing Indigenous knowledge as part of the framework and creating a financial baseline for stewardship funding.

Scope change

The bill's scope broadened in two ways: (1) the definition of science-based management now explicitly includes traditional ecological knowledge, expanding beyond purely Western scientific approaches, and (2) the report must now quantify financial stewardship needs, adding a funding-planning dimension to what was previously a reporting-only requirement.

FISCAL

New report requirement (item 1) mandating an accounting of backlogged, critical, recurring, and future stewardship needs throughout the state with associated costs. This creates a financial baseline that can inform future budget decisions for 30x30 land stewardship.

DEFINITION

New subdivision (e) defining 'science-based management and stewardship' to include adaptive management, traditional ecological knowledge, and best land management practices across all land types. This explicitly incorporates Indigenous and local knowledge systems into the statutory framework.

TECHNICAL

Minor grammatical correction changing 'workforce needs to science-based management' to 'workforce needs for science-based management.'

Environmental protection: 30x30 goals: land conservation: stewardship.

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