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<ns0:Id>20250AB__218498AMD</ns0:Id>
<ns0:VersionNum>98</ns0:VersionNum>
<ns0:History>
<ns0:Action>
<ns0:ActionText>INTRODUCED</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2026-02-19</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:Action>
<ns0:ActionText>AMENDED_ASSEMBLY</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2026-03-26</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:SessionYear>2025</ns0:SessionYear>
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<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Assembly Member Wilson</ns0:AuthorText>
<ns0:Authors>
<ns0:Legislator>
<ns0:Contribution>LEAD_AUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
<ns0:House>ASSEMBLY</ns0:House>
<ns0:Name>Wilson</ns0:Name>
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</ns0:Authors>
<ns0:Title> An act relating to climate solutions, and making an appropriation therefor. </ns0:Title>
<ns0:RelatingClause>climate solutions, and making an appropriation therefor</ns0:RelatingClause>
<ns0:GeneralSubject>
<ns0:Subject>Cap-and-Invest Program: nature-based climate solutions: funding.</ns0:Subject>
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<ns0:DigestText>
<html:p>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.</html:p>
<html:p>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.</html:p>
<html:p>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.</html:p>
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<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_09566A82-E147-460E-BC0A-F1777FBA8DD9">
<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Assembly Bill 1757 of the 2021–22 Regular Session (Chapter 341 of the Statutes of 2022) (AB 1757) added Section 38561.5 to the Health and Safety Code (Section 38561.5). Section 38561.5 requires the state to adopt ambitious targets for carbon removal and greenhouse gas reduction on natural, working, and urban
lands and to center nature-based climate solutions, as defined in that section, in California’s climate mitigation and resilience efforts in accordance with the best available science.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
In establishing statewide nature-based climate solution targets pursuant to AB 1757, the state set specific targets across California’s major land types, including forests; shrublands and chaparral; grasslands; croplands; developed lands; wetlands and seagrasses; and sparsely vegetated lands, to ensure that every landscape contributes to achieving carbon neutrality and building climate resilience. Nature-based solutions produce powerful cobenefits for local communities by creating jobs, increasing affordability, and supporting public health and resiliency to extreme events, including wildfire, floods, heat, and drought.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Section 38561.5 required the Natural Resources Agency, the State Air Resources Board, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Food and Agriculture, an expert advisory committee, as specified, and other state agencies, as provided, to collaborate in developing nature-based climate solution targets for 2030, 2038, and 2045 that contribute to California’s goals of achieving carbon neutrality no later than 2045 and protecting Californians from the climate crisis.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The state has also established targets for sustainable agricultural practices, including a target established in 2016 to reduce manure-based methane by 40 percent below 2013 levels, and a target in the 2022 Scoping Plan produced by the State Air Resources Board to electrify 75 percent of agricultural energy used by 2045.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Cumulative scientific, policy, and fiscal commitments described in these findings demonstrate the State of California’s compelling
interest in urgently scaling nature-based climate solutions and sustainable agricultural practices on natural, working, and urban lands to protect communities, strengthen natural systems, and achieve California’s climate resilience and carbon neutrality objectives.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Nature-based climate solutions and sustainable agricultural practices
are essential strategies that utilize natural systems and working lands to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance carbon sequestration, and strengthen the resilience of California’s communities and ecosystems.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(g)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Accelerating the implementation of nature-based climate solutions and sustainable agricultural practices on
natural, working, and urban lands is necessary to achieve California’s statutory climate change goals, including achieving carbon neutrality no later than 2045 and preparing communities for escalating climate-driven extremes.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(h)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The costs of climate change to California’s natural, working, and urban lands are increasing and will continue to increase until California and the world achieve carbon neutrality. Recent examples of these costs include:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The 2025 Los Angeles wildfires resulted in more than $250,000,000,000 in total economic losses.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The cost of failing to address
sea level rise by 2050 in the San Francisco Bay area alone is estimated at over $230,000,000,000.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Over the course of seven extreme heat events from 2013 to 2022, inclusive, nearly the entire population of California was impacted and these events resulted in a cumulative cost of $7,7000,000,000. These seven extreme heat events resulted in 460 deaths, 344 adverse birth outcomes, 5,000 hospitalizations, 10,600 emergency department visits, and 138,000 outpatient visits.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Each extreme heat event resulted in $7,700,000 to $210,000,000 in lost work time.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Scientists estimate that drought could result in $3,000,000,000 in economic losses annually in California agriculture.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(6)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The total economic impact of the 2022 drought on California agriculture
equaled $2,000,000,000.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(7)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The 2021 drought increased pumping costs for California farmers and ranchers by $184,000,000.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(8)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Total California crop loss estimates for the 2023 floods were $270,000,000, and total economic damages were estimated at $5,000,000,000 to $7,000,000,000 for the January 2023 storms alone. Annualized flood damages in the San Joaquin Valley are anticipated to roughly double to approximately $650,000,000 per year by 2040 due to climate change-driven alterations of current precipitation and hydrologic patterns.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(9)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
As a result of these impacts, California is losing farms and ranches at an unprecedented rate, including 7,387 farms lost between 2017 and 2022, equal to 10 percent of farms in California, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Census of Agriculture.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Nature-based climate solutions and sustainable agricultural practices harness the power of natural, working, and urban lands to protect communities from wildfire, drought, extreme heat, flooding,
sea level rise,
food insecurity and price shocks, and other climate-driven hazards while simultaneously removing carbon from the atmosphere and supporting biodiversity.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(j)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
California’s state leaders recognize that scaling up nature-based climate solutions and sustainable agricultural practices is indispensable to meeting the state’s core climate, resilience, public health, and environmental equity
objectives.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(k)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
In 2022, the state released the Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy, which identifies priority nature-based climate solutions and sustainable agricultural practices across the state’s diverse landscapes and provides a comprehensive framework to guide state programs and investments toward maximizing climate benefits.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(l)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
California formally integrated the Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy into the 2022 Scoping Plan for Achieving Carbon Neutrality, ensuring that nature-based climate solutions and sustainable agricultural practices are fully embedded in California’s long-term climate planning.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(m)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The 2021 California Climate Adaptation Strategy identified accelerating
nature-based climate solutions and strengthening the resilience of natural systems as one of six priority “north stars” guiding climate adaptation policy and investment.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(n)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The state has built new partnerships with national and international leaders—including China, Australia, Canada, and South Africa—to advance shared nature-based climate solution and sustainable agricultural practices goals and accelerate the development and exchange of best practices.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(o)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The reauthorization of the California Cap-and-Invest Program pursuant to Assembly Bill 1207 of the 2025–26 Regular Session (Chapter 117 of the Statutes of 2025) (AB 1207) added nature-based climate solutions and maintained sustainable agricultural practices as priority areas for funding by the California Cap-and-Invest Program, reaffirming the state’s commitment to accelerating climate-smart investments.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(p)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Of the 81 targets identified by the Natural Resources Agency in the 2024 nature-based solutions climate targets, only targets under “Wildfire Risk Reduction,” such as prescribed fire and fuel reduction projects, receive continuous funding through Senate Bill 840 (Chapter 121, Statutes of 2025) (SB 840). The rest of the nature-based climate solutions and sustainable agricultural practices that are included in the California Cap-and-Invest Program pursuant to AB 1757 and AB 1207 do not currently receive continuous
appropriations in SB 840 to achieve the targets set in 2024 by the Natural Resources Agency with the Department of Food and Agriculture and the State Air Resources Board, as required by Section 38561.5,
demonstrating the need for the Legislature to establish a steady and reliable funding stream to support the sustained implementation of nature-based climate solutions and sustainable agricultural practices.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(q)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Nature-based climate solutions and sustainable agricultural practices may result in significant cost savings for California and Californians in the face of rapidly worsening climate change and land use change, including, for example, the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The 177,300,000 urban trees in California save residents an estimated $485,800,000 annually in air conditioning
costs, helping to increase affordability in California.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A 2017 study conducted in the County of Sonoma found that the total ecosystem services of grasslands, such as carbon sequestration, water quality, and pollination, totaled approximately $2,400,000,000 per year.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
California wetlands provide habitat for plants and animals, recreational opportunities, and cultural value to local residents. In total, California wetlands have an annual economic value of $6,3000,000,000 to $22,900,000,000.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A study conducted in the Mojave Desert found that desert conservation resulted in $23,700,000 in saved health care costs for the Counties of Imperial, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Inyo due to decreased exposure to particulate matter.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(r)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For purposes of this section, “nature-based climate solutions” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 38561.5.
</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
</ns0:BillSection>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_F6708890-D778-4257-A9FF-22550781F5DD">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 2.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
After the amounts specified in subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 39719 of, and Section 39719.4 of, the Health and Safety Code, are fully allocated as determined by the Department of Finance, the sum of two hundred fifty million dollars ($250,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the annual Budget Act each fiscal year from the 2027–2028 through the 2045–46 fiscal year, inclusive, to achieve
nature-based climate solutions on natural, working, and urban lands pursuant to targets set in 2024 by the Natural Resources Agency with the Department of Food and Agriculture and State Air Resources Board, as required by Section 38561.5 of the Health and Safety Code, as follows:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The sum of one hundred fifty million dollars ($150,000,000) shall be allocated to the Natural Resources Agency to fund nature-based climate
solutions necessary to achieve targets set in 2024 by the Natural Resources Agency with the Department of Food and Agriculture and State Air Resources Board, as required by Section 38561.5 of the Health and Safety Code, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to draw down and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in soils and biomass while also protecting wildlife habitat, enhancing biodiversity, and increasing clean air, water, and food security.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The sum of one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) shall be allocated for nature-based climate solutions at the discretion of the Legislature to achieve the targets set in 2024 by the Natural Resources Agency with the Department of Food and Agriculture and State Air Resources Board, as required by Section 38561.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For purposes of this section, “nature-based climate solutions” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 38561.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
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<ns0:BillSection id="id_763C4EA0-7147-443E-9AF8-D7DF28DA83C0">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 3.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
After the amounts specified in subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 39719 of, and Section 39719.4 of, the Health and Safety Code, are fully allocated as determined by the Department of Finance, the sum of one hundred fifty million dollars ($150,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the annual Budget Act each fiscal year from the 2027–28 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 defined in Section 38561.5 of the Health and Safety
Code, that reduce methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide emissions and input costs for farmers, increase carbon sequestration and climate resilience, improve water quality, air quality, and other environmental and public health benefits, and maintain food security and affordability, including the following categories of solutions:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Multibenefit manure management systems that reduce methane emissions and water use, improve water quality, and increase compost production and soil health.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Solar-powered, electric, and high-efficiency irrigation systems that reduce nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emissions and energy use, and improve water use efficiency, water quality, and air quality.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Healthy soils practices and organic systems that reduce nitrous oxide emissions, soil carbon loss, fertilizer and
pesticide use, and dust, and increase carbon sequestration, water infiltration and retention, drought and flood resilience, and biodiversity to achieve the targets set in 2024 by the Natural Resources Agency with the Department of Food and Agriculture and the State Air Resources Board, as required by Section 38561.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The department may use up to 10 percent of the total allocated funding for this section for technical assistance, as defined in Section 570 of the Food and Agricultural Code, to support the solutions described in this section.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For purposes of this section, “nature-based climate solutions” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 38561.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
</ns0:BillSection>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_3C447942-654D-4499-8913-ED9EF7802602">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 4.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>If, for any fiscal year, the Department of Finance determines that, after fully allocating the amounts pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 39719 of, and Section 39719.4 of, the Health and Safety Code, there are insufficient annual proceeds to fully provide for the appropriations specified in Sections 2 and 3 of this act, the allocated funds shall be proportionally allocated in alignment with this bill among paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 2 of this act and Section 3 of this act if paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 2 of this act and Section 3 of this act are not
fully funded, in addition to any state operations costs appropriated in the annual Budget Act.</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
</ns0:BillSection>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_67D26060-E2ED-4D59-B569-1D41EE29246D">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 5.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For purposes of Sections 2 and 3 of this act, funded nature-based climate solutions and sustainable agricultural practices shall maximize cobenefits to the greatest degree possible, including, but not limited to: lower utility bills, lower insurance premiums, water quality, air quality, lower health care costs, lower utility bills, food security, water conservation, flood risk reduction, carbon sequestration, groundwater recharge, access to recreational opportunities, increased access and opportunity for tribal cultural practices, increase in tourism, habitat for wildlife, decreased
wildlife vehicle crashes, and reduction of risk of and resilience to natural disasters, including wildfire, floods, drought, and extreme heat.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
All nature-based climate solutions and sustainable agricultural practices undertaken to achieve carbon neutrality seek to maximize cobenefits, particularly in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For purposes of this section, “nature-based climate solutions” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 38561.5 of the Health and Safety Code.
</html:p>
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