(a) The Local Transportation Infrastructure Climate Adaptation Project Program is hereby established, to be administered by the commission, for purposes of developing and implementing projects adapting local transportation infrastructure to climate change.

(b) Upon appropriation of funds by the Legislature, including funds allocated to this program from the PROTECT program, the commission shall allocate funds for grants to local agencies for the development and implementation of projects that are intended to adapt to the changing climate and that meet all of the following criteria:

(1) The project increases climate resiliency and protects at-risk transportation infrastructure using California’s climate projections, as specified in Planning and Investing for a Resilient California: A Guidebook for State Agencies.

(2) The project is consistent with state, regional, or local climate adaptation reports, plans, and the Adaptation Planning Guide, including meeting the climate resiliency goals of the region where the project is located.

(3) The local agency conducts outreach to under-resourced and vulnerable communities related to the proposed project, consistent with the California State Adaptation Strategy.

(4) The project incorporates environmental equity, protects vulnerable and under-resourced communities, and provides meaningful benefits to underserved communities, consistent with the California State Adaptation Strategy.

(c) (1) The commission shall develop guidelines for the implementation of this program. The guidelines for this program are exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1).

(2) The guidelines shall consider project prioritization based on all of the following factors:

(A) The degree of risk for recurring damage or asset failure due to climate threats.

(B) The benefits of the project to preserving or enhancing regional or statewide mobility, economy, goods movement, and safety, and other benefits associated with protecting the asset.

(C) The benefits of the project to preserving or protecting adjacent communities, the environment, and other critical infrastructure.

(D) The degree to which the project incorporates environmental equity, protects vulnerable and under-resourced communities, and provides benefits to underserved communities, consistent with the California State Adaptation Strategy.

(3) The guidelines may also consider, as secondary project prioritization criteria, cobenefits such as reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled.

(4) The guidelines shall require that each administrative cycle considers climate equity across regions of the state, and considers adaptation strategies that benefit adaptation efforts, in order to develop and implement capital improvement projects that meet both of the following requirements:

(A) The project is aligned with state and local strategies for adapting to climate change impacts.

(B) The project is consistent with the principles of the California State Adaptation Strategy, as well as relevant climate action plans, hazard mitigation plans, and safety elements of required general plans.

(5) The guidelines shall require that funding to local agencies is made for the development and implementation of transportation capital projects that correct or adapt to an identified climate risk to transportation infrastructure.

(6) The guidelines shall authorize, in addition to conventional transportation infrastructure projects, transportation-focused capital projects funded through this program to use natural infrastructure or provide multiple benefits if the project is consistent with applicable climate adaptation plans and necessary to increase the resilience of transportation infrastructure.

(7) The guidelines shall require that any projects funded by this program be developed with a multistakeholder process that provides an opportunity for public input from communities potentially impacted by the project.

(d) An application submitted by a local agency for funding through the grant program shall include at a minimum all of the following:

(1) An explanation of how the proposed transportation project adapts existing infrastructure to an identified climate risk.

(2) An explanation of how the project incorporates the use of California’s climate projections as specified in the Adaptation Planning Guide and other relevant state guidance documents.

(3) Identification of strategies and actions that demonstrate that the proposed project is consistent with applicable state, regional, or local climate adaptation plans or reports.

(4) An explanation of the outreach that the local agency conducted to under-resourced and vulnerable communities related to the proposed project.

(5) Identification of measures to improve equity and protect under-resourced and vulnerable communities in actions to meet the region’s climate resiliency goals.

(6) Demonstration that the project is consistent with an applicable sustainable communities strategy adopted as part of a regional transportation plan pursuant to Section 65080.

(e) An application may be submitted for a project that is also eligible for funding under Section 14563 if it meets the requirements of Section 14563 and is considered for programming by the department subject to the requirements of that section.

(f) The commission shall administer the program in consultation with the Transportation Agency, the department, the Natural Resources Agency, the Office of Planning and Research, the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program Technical Advisory Council, and other state or local agencies that have adopted climate assessments adaptation plans or strategies. The commission shall ensure that, to the extent practical, the program is coordinated with other state-administered programs that fund climate adaptation activities.

(g) Nothing in this section shall limit the commission from awarding funds to more than one phase of the same project, but no single project shall be awarded all of the funding available under the program

(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 71, Sec. 3. (SB 198) Effective June 30, 2022.)