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<ns0:Id>20250AB__205199INT</ns0:Id>
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<ns0:ActionText>INTRODUCED</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2026-02-18</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:SessionYear>2025</ns0:SessionYear>
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<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Assembly Member Wicks</ns0:AuthorText>
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<ns0:Name>Wicks</ns0:Name>
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<ns0:Title> An act to add Division 20.8 (commencing with Section 30990) to the Public Resources Code, relating to public resources. </ns0:Title>
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<ns0:Subject>Public resources: Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group.</ns0:Subject>
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<html:p>Existing law establishes the Natural Resources Agency and vests the agency with jurisdiction over various public resources. Existing law establishes the California Environmental Protection Agency and sets out its mission for programs, policies, and standards. Under existing law, various state entities, including the California Coastal Commission, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife have responsibilities with respect to coastal permitting and development.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Secretary for Environmental Protection, to convene a Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group for the purpose of developing a Coastal Resilience Permitting Roadmap for coastal resilience projects proposed in specified areas. The bill would require
the Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group to consist of representatives from federal, state, and local agencies, including, among others, the California Coastal Commission, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife. The bill would, on or before January 1, 2028, require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to submit the Coastal Resilience Permitting Roadmap to the Governor and the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would require, on or before April 1, 2027, the California Coastal Commission and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, in collaboration with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California Regional Water Quality Boards with jurisdiction over the coast and the San Francisco Bay, to convene a Coastal Resilience Permit Advisory Group to support the deliberations of the Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group.</html:p>
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<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
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<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
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Division 20.8 (commencing with Section 30990) is added to the
<ns0:DocName>Public Resources Code</ns0:DocName>
, to read:
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<ns0:Num>20.8.</ns0:Num>
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<ns0:LawHeadingText>Coastal Resilience</ns0:LawHeadingText>
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<ns0:Num>30990.</ns0:Num>
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<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Ocean Protection Council’s 2024 State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance includes a projection that by the year 2100, statewide averaged sea levels are expected to rise between 1.6 feet and 3.1 feet under the Intermediate-Low and Intermediate Scenarios.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
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The Ocean Protection Council’s guidance also notes that higher amounts of up to 6.6 feet or more of sea level rise in very high risk, low-probability cases cannot be ruled out.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
In 2023, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission of the San Francisco Bay area, in consultation with the
Association of Bay Area Governments and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, published the Sea Level Rise Adaptation Funding and Investment Framework Final Report with an estimate of one hundred ten billion dollars ($110,000,000,000) to adapt San Francisco Bay communities and critical infrastructure to sea level rise by 2050.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
In 2024, the Legislature adopted Division 20.6.9 (commencing with Section 30985) requiring the California Coastal Commission and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission to publish guidelines for the preparation of sea level rise plans and for local communities to seek review and approval of these plans by 2034 to remain eligible for resilience funding from the state.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Construction activities along the California coast and in the San Francisco Bay in federal waters are regulated by a wide range of state
and federal agencies operating under a comprehensive set of state and federal environmental laws.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(6)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North-Central California Coastal Sediment Coordination Committee published a 2024 Efficient Permitting Roadmap that provides a description of permitting roles for state and federal agencies and preferred approaches for habitat restoration projects.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(7)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Together, these laws and the work of these agencies, provide critical protection for the health of the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay.
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<html:p>
(8)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The combination of overlapping, and sometimes duplicative, federal and state authorities, requirements for project-specific studies, limited regulatory agency staffing, interagency coordination needs, and inconsistency and uncertainty regarding mitigation requirements
results in extended permitting timelines for all projects in or adjacent to federal waters, including coastal resilience projects.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(9)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Permitting staff positions at relevant agencies require extensive education and experience regarding complex ecosystems and marine environments, and related expertise such as knowledge of historic and cultural resources.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(10)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Numerous reports, including the California Coastal Commission 2021–2025 Workforce Plan, the University of California Berkeley Labor Center’s “Civil Service Vacancies in California: 2022–2023,” the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board’s 2022 Executive Officer’s Report, and the 2025 National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officer’s Workforce Report, document the challenge of recruiting and retaining qualified staff to process complicated permit applications.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(11)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Governor and the Legislature have previously addressed permitting timelines and processes related to rebuilding after natural disasters such as the January 2025 wildfires, and to facilitate timely development and permitting of offshore wind and transmission facilities in the state.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Given the myriad of benefits from coastal resilience projects to California communities, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency shall develop a Coastal Resilience Permitting Roadmap with recommendations for process improvements and legislative reforms that will enable efficient and timely delivery of environmental approvals for these projects, as provided in Section 30991.
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<ns0:Num>30991.</ns0:Num>
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<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Secretary for Environmental Protection, shall convene a Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group for the purpose of developing a Coastal Resilience Permitting Roadmap for coastal resilience projects proposed along the California coast and in the San Francisco Bay, and in and adjacent to state and federal waters.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group shall consist of representatives from federal, state, and local agencies, including, but not limited to, representatives from all of the following entities:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The California Coastal Commission.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The California Environmental Protection Agency.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(C)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The California Regional Water Quality Control Boards, San Francisco Bay, North Coast, and Central Coast.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(D)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Department of Fish and Wildlife.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(E)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(F)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Natural Resources Agency.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(G)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Ocean Protection Council.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(H)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(I)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The State Coastal Conservancy.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(J)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The
State Historical Resources Commission.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(K)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The State Lands Commission.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(L)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The State Office of Historic Preservation.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(M)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The State Water Resources Control Board.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Development of the Coastal Resilience Permitting Roadmap shall incorporate, but not delay, progress to advance responsible permitting and development of coastal resilience projects.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
On or before January 1, 2028, the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency shall submit the Coastal Resilience Permitting Roadmap to the Governor and the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The plan submitted to the Legislature
pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this subdivision shall become inoperative on January 1, 2032.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Coastal Resilience Permitting Roadmap developed pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall include, at a minimum, recommendations that address all of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Administrative reforms that can be implemented by state agencies within their existing authority to improve permit issuance timelines, including all of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Streamlining the process for determinations that applications are complete, including limits on additional information requests and timelines for initial and successive reviews.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Unified applications with a predictable sequence and timeline of permitting information requests and interagency reviews.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(C)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
An interagency project management team for multiagency permitting, modeled on the Bay Restoration Regulatory Integration Team.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(D)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Methods to standardize compensatory mitigation across agencies, including use of engineering with nature features to enable projects to self-mitigate and a de minimis fill policy that allows de minimis fill within defined thresholds without the need to mitigate.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(E)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Delegating permit issuance to executive officers or using consent calendars when commission or board action is required by law.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(F)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Expanded use of regional general permits
and programmatic agreements for known categories of coastal resilience projects.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(G)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Process improvements that allow for permit approval earlier in the design process, and for subsequent design changes arising from field conditions and in-depth engineering analysis.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(H)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Standard measures that can be applied to pile driving and fill placement techniques, and other practices that are known to safeguard marine resources, including the types of conditions under which these measures should be utilized and can be scaled to varying project scope and footprint.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A state process to align agency mitigation requirements and enable in-lieu fees or advance mitigation through which applicants can contribute funding to eligible restoration or mitigation initiatives, thereby avoiding temporal loss of habitat and associated
increased mitigation requirements, and reducing the need for individual applicants to develop and implement project-specific compensatory mitigation projects.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Legislative reforms that can further accelerate permitting for projects that increase coastal resilience, with a focus on current legislative requirements that result in extensive analysis that could be avoided by application of standardized compensatory mitigation, advance mitigation, or standard construction practices.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
If needed to test alternative approaches, a coastal resilience project pilot program along with any required legislative authorizations to evaluate the effectiveness of recommended reforms and environmental protection.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
An evaluation of whether consolidated coastal resilience permits similar to those provided in Division 20
(commencing with Section 30000) for offshore wind projects would facilitate timely permits.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(6)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A workforce assessment and funding options for regulatory staffing positions and as-needed permitting support contracts to supplement staff, including a specific analysis of recommended pay scales needed to recruit and retain permitting staff that reflect the educational requirements for these positions, the cost of living in areas where these staff live and work, and private sector compensation for similar skills.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
To support deliberations of the Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group, on or before April 1, 2027, the California Coastal Commission and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, in collaboration with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the California Regional Water Quality Control Boards with jurisdiction over the California coast and San
Francisco Bay, shall convene a Coastal Resilience Permit Advisory Group. Coastal Resilience Permit Advisory Group membership shall include, but not be limited to, representatives of each of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Department of Transportation, the State Coastal Conservancy, and other relevant state agencies that seek permits for projects in coastal areas.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Local governments subject to the requirements of Division 20.6.9 (commencing with Section 30895).
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
California ports.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Local transportation agencies and wastewater treatment agencies.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
California Native American tribes that are on the contact list administered and maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(6)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Other members of the public, including businesses, home and affordable housing builders, commercial and recreational fishers, environmental organizations, environmental justice organizations, and others.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The California Coastal Commission and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the California Regional Water Quality Control Boards with jurisdiction over the California coast and San Francisco Bay, shall conduct a series of public workshops with the Coastal Resilience Permit Advisory Group or subgroups thereof to do all of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Solicit feedback regarding challenges with existing permitting processes, and recommendations and concerns from permittees and other interested parties regarding streamlining proposals.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Review and seek comment on draft reform proposals from the Coastal Resilience Permitting Working Group’s Coastal Resilience Permitting Roadmap.
</html:p>
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