Professional licensees: environmental sciences and climate change: whistleblower and data protection.

The California Whistleblower Protection Act requires the State Auditor to administer the act and to investigate and report on improper governmental activities, as defined. Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of various professions and vocations by certain entities within state government. Existing law establishes various grounds upon which these entities may take disciplinary action against a licensee to suspend or revoke a license. This bill would prohibit these licensing entities, except the State Bar of California, from taking disciplinary action, including suspension, loss of credential, registration, or other professional privilege, against a public employee, as defined to include those persons working in the environmental sciences and climate-change-related fields who are conducting scientific or technical research, in connection with actions taken by that person to report improper federal governmental activity or disclose the results of or information about scientific or technical research to the public by means that include, but are not limited to, publishing the information in a scientific or a public forum or sharing it with the media. Existing law requires the Secretary for Environmental Protection to coordinate greenhouse gas emission reductions and climate change activity in state government. This bill would additionally require the Secretary for Environmental Protection to make every reasonable effort to preserve and make available to the public through its Internet Web site scientific information and other data that, in the secretary's opinion, are at risk of censorship or destruction by the federal government. This bill would include findings and declarations related to the measure, including that the purpose of these provisions is, to the maximum extent feasible under state law, to ensure those persons may report improper federal governmental activity and to continue to make scientific and other information open to the public without fear of losing their professional licenses or credentials.