California State Laws
This tab features executive orders and laws passed in California that are relevant to climate adaptation.
Resources are automatically presented by date, but you may also sort by network rating or title. Apply additional filters to narrow the list by sector or climate impact.
45 results are shown below.
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February 6, 2025
Following the devastating Los Angeles and Ventura County California wildfires in January 2025, the Executive Department of California under Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-18-25 (“Urban Conflagration”) to increase wildfire resilience for individual homeowners and neighborhoods, and improve mapping and communications around wildfire incident management.
Related Organizations: California Office of the Governor
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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October 9, 2023
Senate Bill 272, Sea Level Rise: Planning and Adaptation, was approved by California Governor Newsom on October 7, 2023 and requires local governments in coastal zones in California to develop a sea level rise plan. The local sea level rise plans are to be integrated with other local or regional planning efforts overseen by either the California Coastal Commission or the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), depending on where in the state the local government is located.
Related Organizations: State of California
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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June 30, 2022
Through the passage of Senate Bill 198 on June 30, 2022, California created three programs focused on adapting surface transportation to climate change, both at the state and local level. The programs fund planning and project development and implementation efforts to identify and address vulnerabilities in the California transportation system and move toward building transportation resilience to climate impacts.
Related Organizations: State of California
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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September 23, 2021
On September 23, 2021, California signed a $15-billion climate-investment package that includes 24 bills dedicated to tackling the climate crisis and protecting frontline communities in California. The bills address clean energy, wildfires, droughts, community climate resilience, sustainable agriculture, extreme heat, and sea-level rise, among other topics. As Governor Gavin Newsom explained, the bills aim to address “the climate crisis head-on while protecting the hardest-hit communities” in California.
Related Organizations: State of California
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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October 7, 2020
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an Executive Order on October 7, 2020 creating a California Biodiversity Collaborative and setting a goal of conserving at least 30% of the state’s land and coastal waters by 2030 to combat the biodiversity and climate crises. The EO also calls for engaging with stakeholders across California to, among other things: prioritize investments to protect biodiversity, habitat restoration, wildfire resistant and sustainable landscapes; protect pollinators, native plants and animals, and soils; naturally sequester carbon; and develop a “Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy.
Related Organizations: State of California
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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October 2, 2019
California Assembly Bill 38, passed in 2019, aims to boost wildfire resilience through real estate disclosures regarding home wildfire risk and mitigation measures, financial assistance mechanisms, and local/regional capacity reviews.
Related Organizations: State of California
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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September 20, 2019
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Executive Order N-19-19 on September 20, 2019 to require the redoubling of the state’s “efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change while building a sustainable, inclusive economy.” The Executive Order (EO) includes four main directives:
Related Organizations: California Office of the Governor, State of California
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Resource Category: Law and Governance
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January 8, 2019
From California Governor Gavin Newsom, this Executive Order directs CAL FIRE and other state agencies to recommend administrative, regulatory, and policy changes to prevent and mitigate wildfires. To support the California communities most vulnerable to wildfire impacts, the California Department of Fire and Forest Protection (CAL FIRE) will also recommend a methodology to assess what communities are at greater risk from wildfire that includes socioeconomic factors. The order states that California's “present emergency condition” with wildfire is due to a history of fire exclusion, forests managed to be overcrowded, climate change and drought.
Related Organizations: State of California
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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September 21, 2018
California Senate Bill 901 will support the state’s adaptation and resilience to increasingly frequent and extreme wildfires. Reducing forest fuel loads with thinning and prescribed fire, reduce fire danger in hundreds of communities around the state in high-risk areas, and climate adaptation research are primary focal measures. $200 million a year through 2024, or $1billion, will be allocated to fund grants to fire departments, cities, counties and nonprofit organizations. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) will distribute the funding, which will come from California’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).
Related Organizations: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire), State of California
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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September 21, 2018
California SB 30 looks to “innovative" insurance and reinsurance businesses to provide opportunities for local communities and homeowners to reduce their risk to climate change impacts. The law focuses on finding incentives for investing in and insuring natural infrastructure to mitigate against climate risks. Insurers are asked to recommend policies that create incentives for coastal wetland restoration for storm surge, and forests that are managed to reduce the risk of major fires - for example.
Related Organizations: State of California
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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