85S10106 TSR-D
By: Anchia H.B. No. 295
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to establishing the Texas Climate Change Mitigation and
Adaptation Commission to study and address the impacts of climate
change in this state.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. (a) This Act shall be known as the Texas Climate
Change Mitigation and Adaptation Act.
(b) The legislature finds that:
(1) climate change is real and is the overriding
challenge of the 21st century;
(2) climate change poses immediate and long-term
threats to this state's economy, sustainability, security, and way
of life;
(3) countless scientific studies have concluded that
greenhouse gas emissions are a leading contributing factor to
global warming; and
(4) addressing climate change requires a two-pronged
approach that includes:
(A) the reduction of activities that contribute
to global warming; and
(B) adaptations to mitigate the impacts of
climate change on this state.
(c) The legislature further finds that:
(1) on December 12, 2015, 195 countries at the 21st
Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change adopted an agreement addressing
greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance to
begin in the year 2020, known as the Paris Agreement. The Paris
Agreement entered into force on November 4, 2016, and is the largest
concerted global effort to combat climate change to date. The
agreement will be implemented to reflect equity and the principle
of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities, in light of different national circumstances. Under
the agreement, the parties will:
(A) set greenhouse gas emissions reduction
goals;
(B) record and communicate information through a
transparency framework; and
(C) provide support to undeveloped countries
through a finance mechanism; and
(2) the Paris Agreement aims to strengthen the global
response to the threat of climate change in the context of
sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty,
including by:
(A) holding the increase in the global average
temperature to well below two degrees Celsius above preindustrial
levels while pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to
1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels to significantly
reduce the risks and impacts of climate change;
(B) developing ways to adapt to the adverse
impacts of climate change and to foster climate resilience and low
greenhouse gas emissions development in a manner that does not
threaten food production; and
(C) making finance flows consistent with a
pathway toward low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient
development.
(d) The legislature declares that:
(1) notwithstanding federal action, the legislature
supports the goals of the Paris Agreement to combat climate change
and the effects of climate change on environments, economies, and
communities around the world;
(2) this state recognizes that to promote a statewide
response to climate change, collaboration and cooperation are
needed in the following areas:
(A) early warning systems;
(B) emergency preparedness;
(C) slow onset events;
(D) events that may involve irreversible and
permanent loss and damage;
(E) comprehensive risk assessment and
management;
(F) risk insurance facilities, climate risk
pooling, and other insurance solutions;
(G) noneconomic losses; and
(H) resilience of communities, livelihoods, and
ecosystems; and
(3) it is in the best interests of this state to:
(A) expand strategies and mechanisms to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions statewide through the reduction of energy
use, adoption of renewable energy, and control of air pollution
among all governmental entities, industries, and sectors,
including transportation;
(B) expand only the strategies and mechanisms
under Paragraph (A) that use the best available science,
technologies, and policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
that are closely aligned with the climate change principles and
goals adopted in the Paris Agreement and in this state's share of
obligations within the expectations apportioned to the United
States in the agreement, notwithstanding federal action;
(C) strive to formulate and communicate
long-term low greenhouse gas emissions development strategies; and
(D) take actions to conserve and enhance
long-term sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases by prioritizing
the development of parks and greenways, and the restoration of
coastal forests and wetlands.
SECTION 2. The purpose of this Act is to document this
state's commitment to combating climate change and improving this
state's resilience to climate change by systematically reducing
greenhouse gas emissions and by aligning with the principles and
contributing to the goals set by the Paris Agreement through the
creation of the Texas Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
Commission.
SECTION 3. Subtitle C, Title 5, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 396 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 396. TEXAS CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION
COMMISSION
Sec. 396.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Commission" means the Texas Climate Change
Mitigation and Adaptation Commission.
(2) "Greenhouse gas" has the meaning assigned by
Section 403.028, Government Code.
(3) "Institution of higher education" has the meaning
assigned by Section 61.003, Education Code.
Sec. 396.002. LIBERAL CONSTRUCTION. This chapter shall be
liberally construed to minimize future risk to the residents and
environment of this state.
Sec. 396.003. COMMISSION CREATED; COMPOSITION. (a) The
Texas Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission is
created.
(b) The commission is composed of:
(1) one member appointed by the governor;
(2) one member appointed by the lieutenant governor;
(3) one member appointed by the governor from a list of
names submitted by the speaker of the house of representatives;
(4) one member appointed by the governor from a list of
names submitted by the most senior member of the minority party of
the house of representatives;
(5) one member appointed by the governor from a list of
names submitted by the most senior member of the minority party of
the senate; and
(6) the following members of which two-thirds are
appointed evenly between the governor and the lieutenant governor,
and the remaining one-third are appointed by the governor from a
list of names submitted by the speaker of the house of
representatives:
(A) a representative of the public energy sector;
(B) a representative of rural electric
cooperatives;
(C) a representative of the municipal
electricity sector;
(D) two representatives of separate nonprofit
environmental organizations;
(E) three scientists at separate institutions of
higher education, including one climatologist;
(F) an economist from an institution of higher
education;
(G) a representative of business and industry;
(H) a representative of the manufacturing or
mining industry;
(I) a representative of the agriculture or
forestry industry;
(J) a representative of the fossil fuel industry;
(K) a representative from the Health and Human
Services Commission;
(L) a representative from the Texas Military
Preparedness Commission;
(M) a representative from the Texas Division of
Emergency Management;
(N) a representative from the Texas Water
Development Board; and
(O) three representatives of the public.
(c) In addition to the members listed in Subsection (b), the
chairs of the commission may request the participation or input of
other individuals as the chairs determine is necessary, including:
(1) other members of the public;
(2) individuals with expertise in the area of climate
change; and
(3) local, state, and federal officials involved in
climate change adaptation planning.
Sec. 396.004. JOINT CHAIRS; MEETINGS; COMPENSATION. (a)
The commission shall elect two of the commission's members to serve
as joint chairs of the commission.
(b) The commission shall meet at the call of either joint
chair.
(c) A commission member is not entitled to receive
compensation for service on the commission but is entitled to
reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses, including travel
expenses, incurred by the member in performing commission duties.
Sec. 396.005. TERMS; VACANCY. (a) Members of the
commission serve staggered six-year terms, with eight or nine
members' terms expiring February 1 of each odd-numbered year.
(b) A vacancy on the commission shall be filled in the same
manner as the original appointment.
Sec. 396.006. DUTIES OF COMMISSION. The commission shall:
(1) establish climate change mitigation and
adaptation strategies, including goals to help guide planning and
statewide implementation of the strategies, using the latest and
best available scientific analysis, risk assessment tools, and
other information the commission considers necessary to monitor and
forecast the impact of climate change at the state, regional, and
local levels;
(2) provide policy direction, facilitation,
coordination, and planning to federal, state, and local agencies,
and other persons as appropriate;
(3) identify:
(A) persons, communities, industries, and
ecosystems of this state vulnerable to impacts related to climate
change;
(B) potential economic ramifications of impacts
related to climate change; and
(C) existing climate change mitigation and
adaptation efforts at the federal, state, and local levels;
(4) make recommendations for meeting or exceeding this
state's climate change mitigation goals established by the
commission;
(5) assess the capacity and availability of existing
resources and identify new sources of revenue necessary to address
climate change mitigation and adaptation; and
(6) advise the governor, legislature, and local
governments of this state on the economic and budgetary
ramifications of climate change impacts, mitigation, and
adaptation.
Sec. 396.007. INTERNET WEBSITE. The commission shall
develop and maintain an Internet website that:
(1) includes a mission statement relating to the
duties and goals of the commission under this chapter; and
(2) describes the actions, plans, and policies of the
commission, and the results, if any, of such actions, plans, and
policies.
Sec. 396.008. BIENNIAL PROGRESS REPORT. The commission
shall identify the information necessary to track this state's
progress in implementing the climate change mitigation and
adaptation strategies established by the commission under Section
396.006 and shall submit a biennial progress report to the governor
and the legislature not later than the 20th day before the date each
regular session of the legislature convenes.
Sec. 396.009. COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW; REPORT. Not later than
the 20th day before the date the regular session of the 88th
Legislature convenes, and before the end of each successive
five-year period after that date, the commission shall conduct a
comprehensive review of the statewide implementation of the climate
change mitigation and adaptation strategies established by the
commission under Section 396.006 and submit a report on the
commission's findings and recommendations to the governor, the
legislature, and the governing body of each municipality and county
in this state.
Sec. 396.010. SEA LEVEL RISE VULNERABILITY AND ADAPTATION
REPORT. (a) The commission shall develop and make publicly
available a sea level rise vulnerability and adaptation report that
identifies:
(1) the major areas of this state that are or will be
impacted by sea level rise during the next 30 years;
(2) the sea level rise impacts reasonably expected to
occur during the next 30 years in each area identified under
Subdivision (1), based on the latest and best available scientific
research;
(3) the economic ramifications of sea level rise; and
(4) applicable federal laws, policies, and programs
affecting areas of this state impacted by sea level rise.
(b) The report developed under Subsection (a) must include
the commission's recommendations for planning, management, and
adaptation relating to hazards associated with sea level rise.
(c) In developing the report under Subsection (a), the
commission shall:
(1) solicit public comment; and
(2) coordinate with the federal, state, and local
agencies involved in climate change adaptation planning.
(d) The commission shall evaluate and update the sea level
rise vulnerability and adaptation report developed under this
section at least once every five years.
SECTION 4. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act:
(1) the governor and lieutenant governor shall appoint
the 25 members to the Texas Climate Change Mitigation and
Adaptation Commission as provided by Section 396.003, Health and
Safety Code, as added by this Act; and
(2) the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of
the house of representatives or their designees shall meet to
apportion the appointments under Section 396.003(b)(6), Health and
Safety Code, as added by this Act.
(b) The initial members of the Texas Climate Change
Mitigation and Adaptation Commission appointed under this section
shall draw lots to determine which members will serve terms
expiring February 1, 2019, which members will serve terms expiring
February 1, 2021, and which members will serve terms expiring
February 1, 2023.
SECTION 5. Not later than December 31, 2018, the Texas
Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission shall develop
and make publicly available the initial sea level rise
vulnerability and adaptation report required by Section 396.010,
Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect December 1, 2017.