Existing law authorizes various conservancies to acquire, manage, direct the management of, and conserve lands in the state. This bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature or approval of a general obligation bond, as provided, would establish the Huron Hawk Conservancy within the Natural Resources Agency for specified purposes related to the Huron Hawk area, as defined, including to acquire and manage public lands within the Huron Hawk area and to provide recreational, open space, wildlife habitat restoration and protection, and lands for educational uses within the area. The bill would require the conservancy to be governed by a board of directors composed of designated membership, including certain members appointed by certain local agencies. The bill would set forth the powers, duties, and limitations of the board of directors and the conservancy, as provided. The bill would create the Huron Hawk Conservancy Fund and would make moneys in the fund available for expenditure by the conservancy, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of these provisions. The bill would authorize the conservancy to accept revenue generated and contributed to the conservancy by member agencies, as defined, which the bill would require to be deposited into the fund. The bill would also authorize the conservancy to accept revenue, money, grants, goods, and services contributed to the conservancy by a public agency, private entity, or person, and would require the revenue, money, and grants to be deposited into the fund. By imposing new duties on local agencies, this bill would create a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA defines "environment" and "significant effect on the environment" for its purposes. CEQA requires the EIR to include a detailed statement setting forth specified facts. This bill would expand those definitions to include impacts on people, as specified. The bill would additionally require the lead agency to include in the EIR a detailed statement on any significant effects that may result from locating the proposed project near, or attracting people to, existing or reasonably foreseeable natural hazards or adverse environmental conditions. Because the lead agency would be required to undertake this additional consideration, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law authorizes the Department of Parks and Recreation to enter into a statewide agreement with a park support organization to facilitate the implementation of reforms recommended by the Parks Forward Commission and to develop and secure expertise, services, resources, and projects that are not readily available to the state park system, for specified purposes. This bill would authorize the Natural Resources Agency to enter into a statewide agreement with a support organization, as defined, to facilitate and implement certain objectives, and would require the agency and support organization to, after entering into a statewide agreement, collaborate to develop an annual list of strategic initiatives and projects that are statewide priorities, as provided. The bill would authorize certain persons, including the Director of the Department of Parks and Recreation, to serve as ex officio, nonvoting members of the support organization's board of directors, as provided.
Existing law establishes the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, which is administered under the control of an executive officer known as the Director of Resources Recycling and Recovery. This bill would require the Director of Resources Recycling and Recovery to establish a working group to study the need for and value of alternative methods of methane reduction, as specified. The bill would require the working group to submit its findings and recommendations to the director on or before January 1, 2029.
The California Coastal Act of 1976 requires oceanfront land suitable for recreational use to be protected for recreational use and development unless present and foreseeable future demand for public or commercial recreational activities that could be accommodated on the property is already adequately provided for in the area. Existing law, the California Ocean Protection Act, establishes the Ocean Protection Council and provides that the purpose of the act is to integrate and coordinate the state's laws and institutions responsible for protecting and conserving ocean resources, including coastal waters and ocean ecosystems, to provide for public access to the ocean and ocean resources, including to marine protected areas, for recreational use, and aesthetic, educational, and scientific purposes, consistent with the sustainable long-term conservation of those resources, among other objectives. Existing law establishes surfing as the official state sport. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2027, the council to establish criteria and an application process for purposes of designating an area of the coastline as a state surfing reserve, as defined. The bill would authorize a local government to, after adopting a formal resolution, apply to the council for purposes of designating an area of the coastline within the jurisdiction of the local government as a state surfing reserve. The bill would require the local government to include in its application, among other things, a description of the proposed surfing reserve. The bill would require the council to approve the application if the area of the coastline meets the established criteria and would require, once the application is approved, the council to designate the area as a state surfing reserve. The bill would authorize the council to revoke its designation as a state surfing reserve if the council determines that the designated state surfing reserve no longer meets specified criteria and would require a local government to remove any signage used to identify a surfing reserve upon this revocation.
Existing law establishes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation under the direction of the State Oil and Gas Supervisor, who is required to supervise the drilling, operation, maintenance, and abandonment of oil and gas wells in the state and the operation, maintenance, and removal or abandonment of tanks and facilities related to oil and gas production within an oil and gas field so as to prevent damage to life, health, property, and natural resources. Existing law establishes the California State University under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in the state. This bill would require the department, consistent with its statutory authority and in coordination with other state or federal regulatory agencies, to prioritize granting approvals for specified types of low-carbon or carbon-reducing technologies and applications. The bill would authorize the department to establish the Subsurface Low-Carbon Demonstration Project Program to facilitate partnerships among the state, the California State University system, private industry, and public entities to study and demonstrate innovative subsurface technologies using existing and idle wells. The bill would authorize the department to establish various programs in partnership with the California State University and California State University, Bakersfield, including (1) the Regional Subsurface Energy Transition and Applied Research Program and (2) a subsurface energy research field station for applied research, field testing, monitoring, and demonstration of subsurface technologies. The bill would also authorize the department to (3) collaborate with the California Energy Research Center at California State University, Bakersfield, and recognize the center as a state-affiliated applied research, technical assistance, and policy support partner, as provided, and (4) designate and support the California Core Repository at California State University, Bakersfield, as an official state-affiliated repository, as provided. This bill would authorize the department to establish and administer an official department office at California State University, Bakersfield, and would authorize the California State University to support and collaborate on activities across the full scope of the department's statutory responsibilities, as provided. This bill would explicitly authorize university-based researchers associated with any of the above-described programs to serve on advisory panels, technical working groups, and research committees in an advisory capacity, and provide scientific expertise to inform regulatory development, interagency coordination, and public communication. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for California State University, Bakersfield.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases and requires the state board to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the 1990 level no later than December 31, 2030. The act declares the policy of the state to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, but no later than 2045, and to achieve and maintain net negative greenhouse gas emissions thereafter. The act also requires the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with specified entities, to determine an ambitious range of targets for natural carbon sequestration, and for nature-based climate solutions, that reduce greenhouse gas emissions for 2030, 2038, and 2045 to support state goals to achieve carbon neutrality and foster climate adaptation and resilience. The act requires the Natural Resources Agency and the state board to establish an expert advisory committee composed of specified entities to provide recommendations on addressing barriers to efficient implementation of the provisions relating to climate targets. This bill would additionally require that expert advisory committee to include an expert in soil carbon sequestration. The bill would establish the Climate-smart Organics Management for Protecting Our Soil and Terrain (COMPOST) Act of 2026. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with specified entities, to, on or before January 1, 2028, develop an integrated nature-based climate strategy to link waste diversion goals with soil health practices on natural and working lands. The bill would require the strategy to include multiagency recommendations and incentives to increase climate-friendly on-farm compost production and use, including compost application on grasslands and priority rangeland for improved vegetation and carbon storage. The bill would require the recommendations to be consistent with specified publications, standards, and strategies, including the reduction of at least 5,000,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the state annually. This bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to use best available science, mapping, and land management planning tools to support prioritization, siting, and deployment of soil amendment strategies to maximize climate benefits. The bill would require the Natural Resources Agency to publish, and annually update, the nature-based climate strategy for compost on its internet website.
(1) Existing federal law establishes the federal Sentinel Landscapes Partnership, as part of which the United States Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the United States Secretary of Agriculture, the United States Secretary of the Interior, and the heads of other federal departments and agencies that elect to become full partners in the program, are authorized to establish and carry out a program to preserve and restore sentinel landscapes. Existing federal law authorizes federal departments and agencies to give to any eligible owner or manager of land within a designated sentinel landscape priority consideration for participation in any easement, grant, or assistance program and to coordinate actions between their departments and agencies and with other federal, state, interstate, and local agencies, Indian tribes, and private entities. Existing federal law defines "sentinel landscape" as a landscape-scale area encompassing one or more military installations or state-owned National Guard installations and the publicly and privately owned lands that serve to protect and support the rural economy, the natural environment, outdoor recreation, and the national defense missions of a military installation or state-owned National Guard installation. This bill would enact the California Sentinel Landscapes Act and would require the Natural Resources Agency to designate a Sentinel Landscapes Program Manager to coordinate state participation in the federal Sentinel Landscapes Partnership, as prescribed. The bill would require state agencies that have conservation grant or easement authority, to the extent feasible and consistent with their existing statutory authority, to cooperate with the Sentinel Landscapes Program Manager. This bill would authorize the Wildlife Conservation Board to provide grants for habitat protection, restoration, and enhancement projects that are located within a federally designated sentinel landscape, as prescribed. The bill would create the California Sentinel Landscapes Fund, into which the Wildlife Conservation Board is authorized to deposit federal funds, grants, and gifts and donations, including interest earned, that are designated and required by the donor to be used exclusively for purposes of these projects. The bill would continuously appropriate to the Wildlife Conservation Board moneys in the fund to implement these projects, thereby making an appropriation. This bill would authorize the Department of Conservation and the Strategic Growth Council, in evaluating applications for grants pursuant to the Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program, the State Coastal Conservancy, and Sierra Nevada Conservancy, in evaluating applications for grants, to give priority consideration to projects within a federally designated sentinel landscape, as prescribed. This bill would require the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, Department of Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Board, State Coastal Conservancy, Sierra Nevada Conservancy, Department of Fish and Wildlife, and other relevant state entities, to regularly consult on how to align conservation opportunities with state and federal landscape protection goals. The bill would provide that implementation of the California Sentinel Landscapes Act is contingent upon the availability of federal funds, grants, gifts, donations, or other non-General Fund resources for its purposes. (2) Existing law establishes the California Farmland Conservancy Program Act, to be administered generally by the Department of Conservation. The act creates the California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund and requires moneys in the fund from federal grants, gifts, and donations, as specified, which are continuously appropriated to the department, and other moneys in the fund, upon appropriation, to be used for the purposes of the California Farmland Conservancy Program. The act authorizes the program to offer financial assistance for projects and activities on agricultural lands that support agricultural conservation and sustainable land management, including, among others, acquisition of agricultural conservation easements or fee title to protect the land's agricultural use or capacity that meets certain requirements. This bill would authorize the department to give priority consideration to applications for projects that are located within federally designated sentinel landscapes. To the extent the bill would expand the purposes for which those continuously appropriated moneys may be used, the bill would make an appropriation.
(1) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes the State Air Resources Board as the state agency responsible for monitoring and regulating sources emitting greenhouse gases. The act requires the state board to adopt rules and regulations to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions to ensure that the statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to at least 40% below the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined, no later than December 31, 2030. Existing law requires the state board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, as provided, and to update the scoping plan at least once every 5 years. Existing law requires the state board to develop a comprehensive strategy to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants in the state. Existing law requires the state board, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, to adopt regulations to reduce methane emissions from livestock manure management operations and dairy manure management operations by up to 40% below the dairy sector's and livestock sector's 2013 levels by 2030. This bill would require the Department of Food and Agriculture to convene an interagency task force to evaluate the role of alternative manure management practices in achieving certain goals and to make specified findings and recommendations based on its evaluation. The bill would require the task force to include representatives from specified state agencies, external scientific and technical experts, and other stakeholders, as provided. The bill would require the task force to coordinate scenario modeling of alternative manure management practices adoption within the dairy and livestock industry under different policy and funding conditions, assess how alternative manure management practices can help the state meet groundwater sustainability plans, water quality plans, and nature-based climate solutions, and facilitate interagency data sharing, technical consultation, and identification of research needs, as provided. The bill would authorize the state board to incorporate the task force's findings and recommendations into updates to the above-described comprehensive strategy, the 2027 update to the scoping plan, and other planning documents as appropriate. (2) Existing law requires the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, in partnership with various government agencies, to identify and recommend actions to address, with regard to both state agencies and the federal government, the permitting and siting challenges associated with composting and anaerobic digestion, and to encourage the continued viability of the state's organic waste processing and recycling infrastructure. This bill would require the Department of Food and Agriculture to convene relevant government agencies, with input from the regulated community, to create an efficient and effective process for approving new projects that manage livestock and dairy manure through on-farm composting or by selling or transferring manure to offsite users.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations for greenhouse gas emissions limits and emissions reduction measures to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in furtherance of achieving the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit, as defined. The act authorizes that state board to include in those regulations the use of a market-based compliance mechanism, known as the California Cap-and-Invest Program, to comply with those regulations. Existing law requires moneys collected by the state board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of the California Cap-and-Invest Program to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and continuously appropriates a portion of the moneys in the fund for various purposes. Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency, in collaboration with the state board, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Food and Agriculture, an expert advisory committee established, as provided, and other relevant state agencies, to determine an ambitious range of targets for natural carbon sequestration, and for nature-based climate solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions for 2030, 2038, and 2045 to support state goals to achieve carbon neutrality and foster climate adaptation and resilience. Existing law defines "nature-based climate solutions" for these purposes to mean activities, such as restoration, conservation, and land management actions, that increase net carbon sequestration or reduce greenhouse gas emissions in natural and working lands. This bill would annually appropriate the sum of $250,000,000 from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the annual Budget Act each fiscal year from the 2027–2028 to the 2045–46 fiscal year, inclusive, to achieve nature-based climate solutions on natural, working, and urban lands, including $150,000,000 to be allocated to the Natural Resources Agency to fund nature-based climate solutions, as provided, and $100,000,000 to be allocated for nature-based climate solutions at the discretion of the Legislature, as provided. The bill would additionally appropriate, after those amounts are allocated, the sum of $150,000,000 from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the annual Budget Act each fiscal year from the 2027–2028 to the 2045–46 fiscal year, inclusive, to the Department of Food and Agriculture to fund sustainable agricultural practices and nature-based climate solutions, as provided.
