(a) The Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies is hereby created. The committee shall ascertain facts and make recommendations to the Legislature concerning the state’s programs, policies, and investments related to climate change. Those recommendations shall be shared with other appropriate legislative standing committees, including the Assembly Committee on Budget and the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review.

(b) The joint committee shall consist of at least three Members of the Senate and at least three Members of the Assembly who shall be selected in the manner provided for in the Joint Rules of the Senate and Assembly. The membership shall reflect the perspectives of multiple standing committees.

(c) The chair of the State Air Resources Board shall annually appear before the joint committee to present the state board’s annual informational report on the reported emissions of greenhouse gases, criteria pollutants, and toxic air contaminants from all sectors covered by the scoping plan, as required pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 38531 of the Health and Safety Code. This presentation may be done at a hearing that is held jointly with the relevant Assembly and Senate standing committees.

(d) In recognition of the technical complexity involved in reviewing the state’s climate policies, the joint committee may establish a panel of experts to provide an independent analysis of the state’s policies to better inform the joint committee’s recommendations.

(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 250, Sec. 2. (AB 197) Effective January 1, 2017.)