DIVISION 20.6.5. California Sea Level Rise Mitigation and Adaptation Act of 2021 [30970. - 30973.]

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC 20.6.5.
in effect

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 30971. Section 30971.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) California has 1,264 miles of coastline, and, if small bays and inlets are included, it has up to 3,000 miles of coastline located on the western seaboard of the United States, all of which is prone to the severe and pervasive effects of sea level rise. (b) According to the “State of California Sea-Level Rise Guidance Document” issued by the Natural Resources Agency and the Ocean Protection Council, the impacts of sea level rise on the state will be significant and pervasive, and could occur as soon as within the next decade. (c) (1) As with most impacts from climate change, the impacts of sea level rise are both environmental and economic, including losses to publicly owned infrastructure, such as airports, rail lines, streets and highways, pipelines, waste water treatment plants, schools, hospitals, and other facilities. (2) For example, the catastrophic inundation, flooding, and property damage from a small rise in sea level, combined with a 1-in-10 likelihood of a Pacific storm, could amount to tens of billions of dollars in uninsured losses of structures and properties. (3) A 2015 assessment by the Risky Business Project, led by former United States Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson and other business leaders, found that between eight billion dollars ($8,000,000,000) and ten billion dollars ($10,000,000,000) of existing property in the state is likely to be underwater by the year 2050 if current trends continue. (4) According to the 2015 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report, The National Significance of California’s Coastal Economy, “California’s 19 coastal counties generated $662 billion in wages and $1.7 trillion in GDP in 2012” and “California’s ocean-related activities represent a substantial portion of the U.S. ocean economy as a whole—13 percent of the establishments, 14 percent of the employment and wages, and 12 percent of the GDP in 2012,” all of which would be adversely affected by sea level rise. (5) Recent reports in periodicals, such as the Los Angeles Times, state succinctly that “Destruction from sea level rise in California could exceed worst wildfires and earthquakes.” (d) For the economy, the natural environment, and the people of California, it is urgent that the state enact new statutes to plan for, anticipate, and respond to sea level rise. (e) The purpose of this division is to establish new planning, assessment, funding, and mitigation tools for California to address and respond to sea level rise.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 30972. Section 30972.

(a) (1) There is hereby created within the Ocean Protection Council the California Sea Level Rise State and Regional Support Collaborative. (2) In its role as the collaborative, the Ocean Protection Council shall coordinate with the other state planning and coastal management agencies, including, but not limited to, the Office of Planning and Research, the Strategic Growth Council, the State Lands Commission, the California Coastal Commission, the State Coastal Conservancy, and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, to administer the grants and on the kind of information and support it provides local, regional, and other state agencies consistent with their statutory authority. (b) The collaborative shall provide state and regional information to the public and support to local, regional, and other state agencies for the identification, assessment, planning, and, where feasible, the mitigation of the adverse environmental, social, and economic effects of sea level rise within the coastal zone and the area under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, pursuant to Section 66610 of the Government Code. The support the collaborative provides to local and regional agencies shall include, but not be limited to, technical assistance on updating local and regional land use plans to take into account sea level rise.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 30973. Section 30973.

(a) Upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, the collaborative shall expend not more than one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) annually from appropriate bond funds and other sources for the purposes of making grants to local and regional governments to update local and regional land use plans to take into account sea level rise, and for directly related investments to implement those plans. Priority shall be given to those local and regional governments that have agreed most effectively and urgently to plan for and implement actions to address sea level rise. (b) As part of the adoption of the annual Budget Act, the Secretary of Environmental Protection and the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency shall annually appear before the budget committees of both houses of the Legislature regarding the implementation of this division.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026