Cap-and-Invest Program: nature-based climate solutions: funding.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill text specifies that the remaining funds after allocations are left for the Legislature's discretion but does not provide a specific minimum amount, which differs from the candidate explanation.

Funding for Nature-Based Climate Solutions

This law sets aside money from a special fund each year to support projects that help the environment and reduce greenhouse gases through nature-based methods.

What This Bill Does

• Sets aside $250 million annually from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund for nature-based climate solutions on natural, working, and urban lands.
• Allocates at least $150 million to the Natural Resources Agency each year to fund these projects.
• Gives at least $50 million to the Department of Food and Agriculture each year to support nature-based climate solutions in croplands and grasslands.
• Leaves some money for the Legislature to decide how to use it, but not less than $100 million per year.

Who It Names or Affects

• The Natural Resources Agency
• The Department of Food and Agriculture
• Environmental projects in California

Terms To Know

Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund

A fund that collects money from selling allowances for greenhouse gas emissions to support environmental programs.

Nature-based climate solutions

Projects like restoring forests, conserving land, and managing farms in ways that help reduce carbon dioxide in the air.

Limits and Unknowns

• The exact amount of money available each year depends on how much is collected by the state board from selling allowances.
• It's not clear exactly which projects will be funded or how they will be chosen.
• This law only sets up a framework for funding; specific details about implementation are left to other agencies.

Official Summary Text

AB 2184, as amended, Wilson.
Cap-and-Invest Program: nature-based climate solutions: funding.
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.
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.
This bill would annually appropriate
up to $300,000,000
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,
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,
not less than $50,000,000 to be allocated to the Department of Food and Agriculture to fund nature-based climate solutions in croplands and grasslands, and the remaining amount
as provided, and $100,000,000
to be allocated for nature-based
climate solutions at the discretion of the
Legislature.
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.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF