(a) The Office of Planning and Research, through the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program established pursuant to Part 4.5 (commencing with Section 71350), shall develop the California Climate Change Assessment, in coordination with the Natural Resources Agency, the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, and the Strategic Growth Council, and in consultation with partner public agencies designated by the Office of Planning and Research. The Office of Planning and Research may also contract with outside entities, including public universities, research institutions, organizations that serve vulnerable communities, and other technical experts to produce the assessment.

(b) The Office of Planning and Research shall complete the assessment no less frequently than every five years, and may release components of the assessment on a rolling basis as they become available.

(c) The Office of Planning and Research shall consider research from independent, scientifically peer-reviewed panels, financial reports, and other relevant and reasonably accessible data.

(d) For purposes of this part, “vulnerable communities” has the same meaning as the definition of “vulnerable communities” that was adopted by the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program Technical Advisory Council at the council’s April 2, 2018, meeting and recorded in “Defining Vulnerable Communities in the Context of Climate Adaptation,” the resource guide published by the Office of Planning and Research in July 2018.

(Added by Stats. 2020, Ch. 136, Sec. 1. (SB 1320) Effective January 1, 2021.)