State Seal of Climate Literacy.

The state board's deadline to adopt or modify the climate literacy seal criteria was extended from January 1, 2028 to January 31, 2029, giving the board an additional 13 months.

Local educational agency implementation is no longer tied to a fixed start date of the 2028-29 school year. Instead, participating agencies must begin their obligations on or after the date the state board actually adopts criteria, making the start date variable.

The Commissioner's deadline to recommend criteria to the state board was clarified to December 31, 2027, removing an earlier July 1 date that appeared in prior amendment markup.

All references to the Superintendent of Public Instruction are replaced with the Education Commissioner, reflecting a structural change in state education leadership effective January 1, 2027.

The deadline for recommending criteria to the state board was extended from July 1, 2027 to December 31, 2027 (approximately 6 months later).

The state board adoption deadline was extended from November 15, 2027 to January 31, 2029 (more than a year and two months later).

The implementation trigger for local educational agency obligations was clarified to begin on or after the later of the 2028-29 school year or the date the state board adopts criteria, rather than simply beginning with the 2028-29 school year.

The entire provision for awarding a State Seal of Climate Literacy with Industry Distinction (recognizing technical green skills proficiency) and Higher Education Distinction (recognizing college credit earned) was removed from the bill.

New equity language requires that guidance and criteria support equitable implementation and access for priority pupil groups in alignment with the California School Dashboard under Section 52064.5(f).

A new provision allows the department to partner with nonprofit organizations to conduct outreach and provide technical assistance to local educational agencies to ensure broad participation from diverse communities throughout the state.

The requirement for participating local educational agencies to submit annual data reports to the state department by September 15 (including school names, pupil counts, and evidence of criteria met) was removed.

The Superintendent's deadline to recommend criteria to the State Board was clarified to July 1, 2027 (removing an earlier March 15 date that appeared in prior markup).

The State Board's deadline to adopt or modify the recommended criteria was pushed from November 15, 2027 to January 1, 2028.

Local educational agency obligations (record-keeping, insignia, data reporting) now explicitly begin with the 2028-29 school year, and the first annual data report is due September 15, 2028 instead of September 15, 2027.

Final experiential learning projects are now required to be conducted on a voluntary basis and must be independent from pupil coursework.

The capstone project requirement was loosened: pupils now need to address the community's effect on OR vulnerability to climate change (or both), rather than being required to cover both.

The list of approved courses and the list of acceptable final project types were changed from 'all of the following' to 'any of the following,' meaning pupils no longer need to complete every listed option - they only need to meet one or more.

The definition of 'green skills' was expanded from 'a sustainable society' to 'an evolving, sustainable, and resource-efficient society.'

References to 'The Superintendent department' were changed to 'The department' in Section 51482 for clarity.

Superintendent's deadline to recommend criteria changed from March 15, 2027 to July 1, 2027

State board deadline to adopt criteria changed from May 1, 2027 to November 15, 2027

Local educational agency data reporting deadline changed from July 1, 2027 to September 15, 2027, and annually on September 15 thereafter

The annual legislative report requirement (former Section 51484, requiring the department to submit a report to the Legislature by October 1 each year) was removed entirely

Added Native American Studies model curriculum courses (pursuant to Section 51226.9) as an approved course category for earning the seal

Removed the requirement that local educational agencies create, maintain, and share a list of approved courses with pupils

Removed the requirement that pupils present their final project to an identified individual or group selected by the pupil and the local educational agency or provider

Removed the requirement that local educational agencies approve a pupil's final project proposal before the pupil begins it

Industry Distinction criteria changed from encouraging collaboration with local businesses to making collaboration an integral part of how the distinction is earned

Added new item (E) under Section 51482(b)(2): resources for determining if a pupil has met the criteria necessary to earn the seal

Simplified data reporting: removed requirements to report types of final projects completed, names of experiential learning providers, and lists of approved courses; now only requires school names, pupil counts, and evidence of how criteria were met

Capstone project description expanded from focusing on the community's effect on climate change to also including the community's vulnerability to climate change

Purpose language in Section 51480(a) simplified to remove the 'recognize high school graduates' framing and focus solely on giving pupils personal agency

Definition of 'green skills' changed to include the word 'adaptable' before 'knowledge, abilities, values, and attitudes'

The criteria for awarding the seal are no longer fixed in statute. Instead, the Superintendent must recommend criteria to the State Board of Education by March 15, 2027, and the board must adopt or modify them by May 1, 2027. The two core requirements (two courses plus an experiential project) are now things the Superintendent 'shall consider including' rather than mandatory statutory criteria.

New subdivision requires that any adopted criteria must: provide all pupils an opportunity to earn the seal, recognize excellence and outstanding achievement, not be based primarily on grades or standard measures already in use, and confer a benefit to pupils beyond high school.

The Superintendent is now required to provide information to pupils who earn the seal about postsecondary opportunities and career pathways, and may partner with nonprofit, labor, or private sector organizations to do so.

Local educational agencies must now provide information to pupils about available options and supports (approved courses, experiential learning, final projects) and establish a process for determining whether a pupil has met the criteria.

A new data element was added requiring local educational agencies to submit evidence of how pupils who received the seal met the adopted criteria, including final projects, coursework, or providers worked with.

The experiential learning project requirement was broadened from focusing on 'effects of climate change' to 'causes and effects of climate change.' Internships and externships now include 'green career experiential learning providers' in addition to 'climate literacy experiential learning providers.'

Assembly Member Bonta was added as a coauthor alongside Assembly Member Garcia.

The Superintendent may now partner with nonprofit organizations to determine insignia design and to provide implementation support including guidance, sample project frameworks, professional development resources, and partnership development guidance.

The first data reporting deadline for local educational agencies was changed from July 1, 2027 to September 15, 2027 (and annually thereafter).

The definition of 'green jobs' was expanded to also cover the term 'green career,' broadening the scope of occupations that qualify.