Andrew Gillies
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California Legislative Central Coast Caucus shared its bill priorities up for passage during this year’s legislative session.
The legislative group, co-chaired by Assemblymember Dawn Addis and Assemblymember Gregg Hart and vice chaired by Senator Monique Limón, shared eight bills authored by its members that are subject to a vote before the last day for each legislative chamber to report bills for a full chamber vote which is May 9, 2025.
“From protecting our coasts from offshore drilling to protecting our homes from wildfires, this year’s package aims to not just defend the residents of the Central Coast, but also people all over the state of California,” stated co-chair of the regional legislative group, Assemblymember Dawn Addis. “This year’s package takes a holistic view of the natural disaster landscape through bills that address the root cause of these disasters, climate change, while also making our environments and homes more resilient to storms, wildfires, and other natural disasters.”
Listed below are the eight bills mentioned above that are still subject to changes as they move through the state’s legislative process and need to pass both of the full Assembly and Senate before receiving the signature of the Governor to become law:
AB 1243 -also known as the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act of 2025 and authored by Assemblymembers Addis, Garcia, and Kalra as well as Senators Allen, Gonzalez, Manjiver, Stern, and Wiener- would create a superfund program within the State Treasury and administered by the California Environmental Protection Agency that would require entities with a majority ownership interest in businesses that extract or refine fossil fuels and are responsible for more than one billion metric tons of covered fossil fuels between 1990 and 2024, to pay an amount to be decided by the California Environmental Protection Agency.
An analysis of the costs would be determined by the state environmental agency which would be required to update the climate cost study no less than every five years.
Money collected under the new authority would be required to be spent on projects and programs to mitigate, adapt, or respond to the damages and costs to the state from climate change.
AB 367 -authored by Assemblymembers Bennett and Irwin as well as State Senator Limón- would require that by July 1 of 2027, all water suppliers that provide water to more than 20 residential dwellings and provide water that is used for fire suppression in either a high or very high fire risk zone (as determined by the State Fire Marshal) in Ventura County to have a backup energy source with enough power to provide water within 30 minutes of power loss and the capacity to provide water equal to the average daily demand for water demand for at least 24 hours.
The bill would require that the Ventura County Fire Department inspect facilities subject to the new law and that water providers alert the Ventura County Office of Emergency Services within three business days if water delivery can not meet the new standards.
The bill notes that this would create a state-mandated local program that the California Constitution requires the state;s government to reimburse local agencies and school districts for associated costs.
AB 1143 -authored by Assemblymember Bennett- would require the State Fire Marshal’s Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee to create a home hardening certification program that can be implemented during renovations or improvement projects.
The new program’s funding would come from the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund.
AB 14 -also known as the Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program and authored by Assemblymembers Hart, Bennett, Connolly, Addis, Boerner, Davies, Pellerin as well as Senator Blakespear- would require the state’s Ocean Protection Council to participate in the Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies Program –an existing vessel speed reduction partnership amongst international shipping companies, government agencies, and environmental groups– in an advisory capacity.
The bill would authorize the inclusion of new components to the existing system including new incentives for program participants and would limit those new provisions to vessels that are 300 gross tons or more.
Additionally, the bill would require participating air pollution control districts and air quality management districts to submit a report on the program to the state legislature on or before the end of December of 2029.
AB 1448 -authored by Assemblymember Hart- would expand the required approval by the State Lands Commission or a local trustee of public trust lands for new lease assignments regarding oil production in the state (existing law already requires approval for lease renewals, extensions, amendments, and modifications for oil and gas production infrastructure in tidelands and submerged lands within state lands or waters since January of 2018).
In February of 2024, ExxonMobil transferred existing leases for oil production assets including 114 wells, three offshore oil platforms and onshore oil and gas processing facilities that are collectively called the Santa Ynez Unit. This bill would have subjected that lease transfer to additional oversight by the Office of State Fire Marshal.
The bill would also require that the Sate Fire Marshal to request approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration for interstate certification would require the State Fire Marshal to ensure pipeline safety in accordance with state and federal laws if allowed by that federal agency.
Additionally, the bill would revise the existing definition of expanded oil extraction to include reactivation of idled, inactive, or facilities that have been out of service for more than three years as well as oil extraction using hydraulic fracturing, extended reach drilling, acidization or other emerging extraction technologies.
A bill looking to add requirements to restarting oil production at facilities and pipelines that have been idle for five or more years is making its way through the state’s Senate this legislative session.
AB 1448 would require existing oil and gas facilities being reactivated to obtain new coastal development permit for the repair, reactivation, and maintenance of facilities that have been out of service for more than three years.
In February of this year, Sable Offshore filed a complaint against the California Coastal Commission in Santa Barbara County Superior Court alleging -among other complaints- that coastal development permits issued decades ago still apply for current work to restart oil production at the Santa Ynez Unit.
AB 452 -authored by Assemblymembers Irwin, Kalra, Pellerin- would require the State Coastal Conservancy to create a process to designate coastline as a state surfing reserves by July of 2026.
The designation would require the State Coastal Conservancy to publicize the newly established surfing reserves with local governments and would reserve the right to revoke the designation in the future.
A CSU Channel Islands study found that surf breaks around the world that attract beachgoers are also key biodiversity hotspots and further studies inspired by that research found that surf breaks are important carbon sinks.
Designated surfing reserves would qualify for inclusion as part of the state’s 30X30 goal to preserve 30 percent of California’s lands and coastal waters by 2030.
AB 996 -authored by Assemblymember Pellerin- would create the California Coastal Planning Fund in the State Treasury to help local governments plan and respond to sea level rise and public accessibility.
The bill would authorize the California Coastal Commission to spend the money (appropriated by the legislature) to assist specified eligible recipients including: local government entities, the California Coastal Commission, and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.
Existing law already requires local governments in the coastal zone or within the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission to develop a sea level rise plan by January of 2034.
SB 613 -authored by State Senator Stern- would require the State Air Resources Board to create a certification standard for petroleum and natural gas to reduce methane emissions, including emissions from imported petroleum and natural gas.
Existing state law requires the State Air Resources Board to publish emissions from greenhouse gases, certain air pollutants, and toxic air contaminants across the state at the local and sub-county level for stationary sources and at least a count level for mobile sources.
This bill would require the state air regulator to include information from utilities and other large gas users for methane emissions with an intensity of less than 0.2 percent across the natural gas supply chain and publish annual estimates of potential greenhouse gas emission reductions associated with changes made by the state including this bill by January of 2027.
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