Coastal resources: coastal development permits: blue carbon demonstration projects.

Assembly Member Boerner's coastal resources legislation authorizes the California Coastal Commission to implement blue carbon demonstration projects that restore coastal wetlands, seagrasses, and marine ecosystems to evaluate their carbon sequestration capabilities. The measure establishes parameters for these projects, requiring them to be located in historically degraded areas, aim to restore original ecosystem functions, and incorporate diverse native species.

Under the legislation, the Commission may require developers of nonresidential projects that impact coastal wetlands or marine habitats to either construct or contribute funding toward blue carbon demonstration projects as environmental mitigation. The program's development involves consultation with state entities including the Air Resources Board, Department of Fish and Wildlife, and State Coastal Conservancy, along with federal agencies such as NOAA and the Army Corps of Engineers. Each demonstration project must include monitoring and data collection to measure carbon uptake and storage permanence, with results presented at public Commission hearings.

The bill aligns with California's existing carbon reduction targets and the state's Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy. According to the bill's findings, coastal wetlands can capture carbon at rates exceeding tropical forests and store three to five times more carbon per area. The demonstration projects aim to generate data on blue carbon sequestration potential, as current state emissions inventories do not fully account for coastal carbon storage due to limited methodology. Implementation of the program requires future legislative appropriation.