SACRAMENTO – Today Governor Brown signed a bill by Assemblymember Berman (D-Palo Alto) that provides communities with a financing tool to prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change. Assembly Bill 733 allows local governments to fund climate change adaptation efforts using Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts (EIFDs).
“As wildfires blaze rampantly throughout the state, it is clear that climate change is an immediate threat,” said Berman. “As communities begin to rebuild, and as others look to become more resilient, AB 733 provides a critical funding tool to address infrastructure impacted by or vulnerable to climate change.”
Local governments currently use EIFDs to finance public facilities and other projects of communitywide significance. AB 733 allows cities, counties, and special districts to use EIFDs as a financing tool to invest in infrastructure such as highways and bridges, levees, and sewage treatment plants that are at risk due to the impacts of climate change. Such impacts include, but are not limited to, higher average temperatures, decreased air and water quality, the spread of infectious and vector-borne diseases or other public health impacts, extreme weather events, sea level rise, flooding, heat waves, wildfires, and drought.
“Special districts are at the forefront of tackling their communities’ unique climate mitigation and adaptation needs,” said Neil McCormick, CEO of the California Special Districts Association. “AB 733 (Berman) provides local flexibility by ensuring that local governments have an additional, and much needed, funding option to help address the diverse impacts of climate change.”
AB 733 received bipartisan support in the Legislature and was co-authored by Senator Henry Stern.
Contact: Kaitlin Curry, (916) 319-2024