(a) Consistent with this part, state agencies shall take into account the current and future impacts of climate change, including the economic damages and financial liabilities associated with those impacts, when planning, designing, building, operating, maintaining, and investing in state infrastructure.

(b) (1) The Climate-Safe Infrastructure Working Group is established under the agency for the purpose of examining how to integrate scientific data concerning projected climate change impacts into state infrastructure engineering, including oversight, investment, design, and construction.

(2) The working group shall consist of the following:

(A) Professional engineers registered in accordance with Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 6700) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code with relevant expertise in state infrastructure design from the Department of Transportation, the Department of Water Resources, the Department of General Services, and other relevant state agencies, as applicable.

(B) Scientists from the University of California, the California State University, and other institutions who have expertise in climate change projections and impacts across California.

(C) Licensed architects with relevant experience in state infrastructure design, as applicable.

(3) The two groups specified in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (2) shall be equitably represented in the membership of the working group, to the extent reasonable and appropriate.

(4) The working group shall work in coordination with other state climate adaptation planning efforts and shall consider and build upon existing information produced by the state, including information from the most recent California Climate Change Assessment conducted pursuant to Executive Order S-3-05, the plan, the five-year infrastructure plan developed pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 13100) of Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and the State of California Sea-Level Rise Guidance Document completed pursuant to Executive Order S-13-08, among other resources.

(5) The working group shall work in coordination with other state agencies that advance sustainability in infrastructure, including the council and the Government Operations Agency.

(c) The working group shall consider and investigate, at a minimum, the following issues:

(1) The current informational and institutional barriers to integrating projected climate change impacts into state infrastructure design.

(2) The critical information that engineers responsible for infrastructure design and construction need to address climate change impacts.

(3) How to select an appropriate engineering design for a range of future climate scenarios as related to infrastructure planning and investment.

(d) The working group shall only convene and perform its functions to the extent resources are available to fund the support of the working group and its activities.

(Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 118, Sec. 1. (AB 2800) Effective January 1, 2021.)