Bill Text: CA AB1414 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Forestry: timber harvesting.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-2)
Status: (Passed) 2011-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 584, Statutes of 2011. [AB1414 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB1414-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1414 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 584
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 8, 2011
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 8, 2011
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 8, 2011
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY MAY 12, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Committee on Natural Resources (Assembly Members
Chesbro (Chair), Brownley, Dickinson, Grove, Halderman, Huffman,
Monning, and Skinner)
MARCH 15, 2011
An act to amend Sections 4514, 4514.5, 4526, 4526.5, 4527, 4527.5,
4528.5, 4551.5, 4553, 4561, 4562.7, 4583.2, 4583.5, 4584, and 4603,
to amend the heading of Article 3 (commencing with Section 4531) of
Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of, and to repeal Sections 4522,
4522.5, 4532, 4533, 4534, 4536, 4537, 4538, 4539, 4540, 4561.2, and
4561.3 of, the Public Resources Code, and to repeal Section 14 of
Chapter 1290 of the Statutes of 1989, relating to forestry.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1414, Committee on Natural Resources. Forestry: timber
harvesting.
(1) The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, among other
things, prohibits a person from conducting timber operations unless a
timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional
forester has been submitted to, and approved by, the Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection.
The act defines "timber operations" as the cutting or removal or
both of timber or other solid wood forest products from timberlands
for commercial purposes, together with all incidental work, including
site preparation that involves disturbances of soil or burning of
vegetation following timber harvesting activities conducted after
January 1, 1988. The act also requires rules and regulations adopted
by the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to apply to the conduct
of timber operations that includes site preparation involving
disturbances of soil or burning of vegetation following timber
harvesting activities conducted after January 1, 1988.
This bill would delete the January 1, 1988, date limitation on the
definition of "timber operations." The bill would also delete the
January 1, 1988, date limitation with respect to rules and
regulations relating the site preparation work.
(2) The act requires the board to divide the state into not less
than 3 districts by taking into account differing physical
characteristics, as provided. The act requires district technical
advisory committees to advise the board in the establishment of
district forest practice rules to govern timber operations on
timberlands within the district.
This bill would repeal and delete provisions relating to the
district technical advisory committees.
(3) The act requires a timber owner, defined as a person who owns
timberland or cutover land, among other types of land, to file a
timber harvesting plan with the department on all or any part of
timberland that he or she plans to harvest for timber. The act
defines "cutover land" to mean land that has borne a crop of
commercial timber from which at least 70% of the merchantable
original growth timber stand has been removed by logging or destroyed
by fire, among other things.
This bill would repeal the definition of, and delete the reference
to, cutover land.
(4) The act requires timberland harvested between January 1, 1974,
and the adoption of stocking standards, to be classified as
adequately stocked if as a result of stocking that took place
following the timber harvest, specified minimum standards are met.
The act requires all stocking requirements that were in existence
prior to January 1, 1974, to remain in full force and effect for
timberland that was harvested prior to that date. The act also
classifies areas as acceptably stocked if it contains at least 5
countable trees for each tree that was harvested, if the department
had determined that the area was not acceptably stocked prior to any
timber harvesting activities that took place between the effective
date of the act and the adoption of permanent stocking standards.
The bill would delete and repeal these provisions.
(5) Existing law requires the board to adopt rules for control of
timber operations that will result or threaten to result in
unreasonable effects on the beneficial uses of the waters of the
state. Existing law requires the rules to include rules for, among
other things, minimizing the effects of erosion on watercourses and
lakes by doing certain things, including maintenance of installed
drainage facilities and soil stabilization treatments on skid trails,
roads, and landings, as provided.
The bill would delete the requirement that the board adopt rules
relating to minimizing the effects of erosion on watercourses and
lakes by maintenance of installed drainage facilities and soil
stabilization treatments on skid trails, roads, and landings, as
provided.
(6) Existing law authorizes the board to exempt from the act a
person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to
certain things, including the cutting, removal, or sale of timber or
other solid wood forest products from the species Taxus brevifolia
(Pacific Yew), as provided.
This bill would delete this authorization.
(7) The bill would make other technical changes to the act.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4514 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4514. This chapter or a ruling, requirement, or policy of the
board is not a limitation on the following:
(a) On the power of a city or county or city and county to
declare, prohibit, and abate nuisances.
(b) On the power of the Attorney General, at the request of the
board, or upon his or her own motion, to bring an action in the name
of the people of the State of California to enjoin pollution or
nuisance.
(c) On the power of a state agency in the enforcement or
administration of the law that it is specifically authorized or
required to enforce or administer.
(d) On the right of a person to maintain at any time an
appropriate action for relief against a private nuisance as defined
in Part 3 (commencing with Section 3479) of Division 4 of the Civil
Code or for any other private relief.
SEC. 2. Section 4514.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4514.5. A person may commence an action on his or her own behalf
against the board or the department for a writ of mandate pursuant to
Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1084) of Title 1 of Part 3 of the
Code of Civil Procedure to compel the board or the department to
carry out a duty imposed upon them under this chapter.
SEC. 3. Section 4522 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 4. Section 4522.5 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 5. Section 4526 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4526. "Timberland" means land, other than land owned by the
federal government and land designated by the board as experimental
forest land, which is available for, and capable of, growing a crop
of trees of a commercial species used to produce lumber and other
forest products, including Christmas trees. Commercial species shall
be determined by the board on a district basis.
SEC. 6. Section 4526.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4526.5. "Timber operator" means a person who is engaged in timber
operations or who contracts with others to conduct the operations on
his or her behalf, except a person who is engaged in timber
operations as an employee with wages as his or her sole compensation.
SEC. 7. Section 4527 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4527. (a) (1) "Timber operations" means the cutting or removal,
or both, of timber or other solid wood forest products, including
Christmas trees, from timberlands for commercial purposes, together
with all the incidental work, including, but not limited to,
construction and maintenance of roads, fuelbreaks, firebreaks, stream
crossings, landings, skid trails, and beds for the falling of trees,
fire hazard abatement, and site preparation that involves
disturbance of soil or burning of vegetation following timber
harvesting activities, but excluding preparatory work such as
treemarking, surveying, or roadflagging.
(2) "Commercial purposes" includes (A) the cutting or removal of
trees that are processed into logs, lumber, or other wood products
and offered for sale, barter, exchange, or trade, or (B) the cutting
or removal of trees or other forest products during the conversion of
timberlands to land uses other than the growing of timber that are
subject to Section 4621, including, but not limited to, residential
or commercial developments, production of other agricultural crops,
recreational developments, ski developments, water development
projects, and transportation projects.
(b) For purposes of this section, the removal of trees less than
16 inches in diameter at breast height from a firebreak or fuelbreak
does not constitute "timber operations" if the removal meets all of
the following criteria:
(1) It is located within 500 feet of the boundary of an urban wild
land interface community at high risk of wildfire, as defined on
pages 752, et seq. of Number 3 of Volume 66 (January 4, 2001) of the
Federal Register, as that definition may be amended from time to
time. For purposes of this paragraph, "urban wildland interface
community at high risk of wildfire" means an area having one or more
structures for every five acres.
(2) It is part of a community wildfire protection plan approved by
the department or part of a department fire plan.
(3) The trees to be removed will not be processed into logs or
lumber.
(4) The work to be conducted is under a firebreak or fuelbreak
project that has been subject to a project-based review pursuant to a
negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or
environmental impact report in compliance with the California
Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section
21000)). For projects to be conducted on forested landscapes, as
defined in Section 754, the project and the project-based review
shall be prepared by or in consultation with a registered
professional forester.
(5) The removal of surface and ladder fuels is consistent with
paragraph (9) of subdivision (k) of Section 4584.
SEC. 8. Section 4527.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4527.5. "Timber owner" means a person who owns commercial timber,
timberland, or timber rights, including Christmas tree rights, on
lands of another except a federal agency.
SEC. 9. Section 4528.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4528.5. This chapter does not apply to a person who engages in
activities regulated by this chapter, as an employee, with wages as
his or her sole compensation.
SEC. 10. The heading of Article 3 (commencing with Section 4531)
of Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code is
amended to read:
Article 3. Districts
SEC. 11. Section 4532 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 12. Section 4533 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 13. Section 4534 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 14. Section 4536 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 15. Section 4537 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 16. Section 4538 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 17. Section 4539 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 18. Section 4540 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 19. Section 4551.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4551.5. Rules and regulations shall apply to the conduct of
timber operations and shall include, but shall not be limited to,
measures for fire prevention and control, for soil erosion control,
for site preparation that involves disturbance of soil or burning of
vegetation following timber harvesting activities, for water quality
and watershed control, for flood control, for stocking, for
protection against timber operations which unnecessarily destroy
young timber growth or timber productivity of the soil, for
prevention and control of damage by forest insects, pests, and
disease, for the protection of natural and scenic qualities in
special treatment areas identified pursuant to subdivision (b) of
Section 30417, and for the preparation of timber harvesting plans. In
developing these rules, the board shall solicit and consider
recommendations from the department, recommendations from the
Department of Fish and Game relating to the protection of fish and
wildlife, recommendations from the State Water Resources Control
Board and the California regional water quality control boards
relating to water quality, recommendations from the State Air
Resources Board and local air pollution control districts relating to
air pollution control, and recommendations of the California Coastal
Commission relating to the protection of natural and scenic coastal
zone resources in special treatment areas.
SEC. 20. Section 4553 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4553. The rules and regulations shall be continuously reviewed
and may be revised. During the formulation or revision of the rules
and regulations, the board shall consult with, and carefully evaluate
the recommendations of, the department, concerned federal, state,
and local agencies, educational institutions, civic and public
interest organizations, and private organizations and individuals.
SEC. 21. Section 4561 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4561. It is the purpose of this section to set forth resource
conservation standards for timber operations, and to insure that a
cover of trees of commercial species, sufficient to utilize
adequately the suitable and available growing space, is maintained or
established after timber operations.
To that end, the following resource conservation standards define
minimum acceptable stocking, and an area covered by a timber
harvesting plan shall be classified as acceptably stocked if either
of the following conditions exist within five years after completion
of timber operations:
(a) The area contains an average point count of 300 per acre,
except that in areas which the registered professional forester who
prepares the timber harvesting plan has determined are site IV
classification or lower, the minimum average point count shall be 150
per acre. Point count shall be computed as follows:
(1) A countable tree that is not more than four inches in diameter
at breast height to count as one.
(2) A countable tree over four inches and not more than 12 inches
in diameter at breast height to count as three.
(3) A countable tree over 12 inches in diameter at breast height
to count as six.
(b) (1) The average residual basal area, measured in stems one
inch or larger in diameter is at least 85 square feet per acre,
except that in areas which the registered professional forester who
prepares the timber harvesting plan has determined are site II
classification or lower, the minimum average residual basal area
shall be 50 square feet per acre.
(2) The board, on a finding that it is in furtherance of the
purposes of this chapter may encourage selection, shelterwood, or
other types of management of timber where consistent with the
biological requirements of the tree species and may regulate the size
and shape of areas in which even-age management of timber is
utilized.
(3) Rock outcroppings and other areas not normally bearing timber
shall not be considered as requiring stocking and are exempt from the
stocking provisions.
SEC. 22. Section 4561.2 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 23. Section 4561.3 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.
SEC. 24. Section 4562.7 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4562.7. The purpose of this section is to ensure the protection
of beneficial uses that are derived from the physical form, water
quality, and biological capability of streams. To these ends, in
addition to the rules provided for in Section 4551.5, the board shall
adopt rules for control of timber operations that will result or
threaten to result in unreasonable effects on the beneficial uses of
the waters of the state. The rules shall include rules for:
(a) The disposal of petroleum products, sanitary wastes, refuse,
and cleaning agents in proper dumps or waste treatment facilities to
prevent them from entering streams.
(b) Construction of logging road and tractor trail stream
crossings to assure substantially unimpaired flow of water and to
assure free passage of fish both upstream and downstream.
(c) Minimizing damage to unmerchantable streamside vegetation,
particularly hardwood trees.
(d) Minimizing damage to streambeds or banks resulting from
skidding or hauling logs through, across, or into streams, by
operating tractors or other heavy equipment in or near streambeds, or
by construction of log landings or logging roads in or near the
channels of streams.
(e) Control of slash, debris, fill, and side cast earth, resulting
from timber operations, which may be carried into streams.
(f) Minimizing the effects of erosion on watercourses and lakes by
both of the following:
(1) Installation and maintenance of drainage facilities and soil
stabilization treatments as required on timber operations.
(2) Planned abandonment of roads and landings.
SEC. 25. Section 4583.2 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4583.2. The registered professional forester who prepared the
timber harvesting plan and or any other registered professional
forester who is employed by the owner or operator, shall report to
the owner and operator if there are deviations of any sort from the
plan that in the forester's judgment threaten the attainment of the
resource conservation standards or other regulations promulgated
pursuant to this chapter.
SEC. 26. Section 4583.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4583.5. If the board finds that the registered professional
forester has made a material misstatement in the filing of a timber
harvesting plan or report pursuant to this chapter, it shall take
disciplinary action against the forester as provided under Section
775.
SEC. 27. Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4584. Upon determining that the exemption is consistent with the
purposes of this chapter, the board may exempt from this chapter, or
portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose
activities are limited to any of the following:
(a) The cutting or removal of trees for the purpose of
constructing or maintaining a right-of-way for utility lines.
(b) The planting, growing, nurturing, shaping, shearing, removal,
or harvest of immature trees for Christmas trees or other ornamental
purposes or minor forest products, including fuelwood.
(c) The cutting or removal of dead, dying, or diseased trees of
any size.
(d) Site preparation.
(e) Maintenance of drainage facilities and soil stabilization
treatments.
(f) Timber operations on land managed by the Department of Parks
and Recreation.
(g) (1) The one-time conversion of less than three acres to a
nontimber use. A person, whether acting as an individual or as a
member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a
corporation or other legal entity, shall not obtain more than one
exemption pursuant to this subdivision in a five-year period. If a
partnership has as a member, or if a corporation or other legal
entity has as an officer or employee, a person who has received this
exemption within the past five years, whether as an individual or as
a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a
corporation or other legal entity, then that partnership,
corporation, or other legal entity is not eligible for this
exemption. "Person," for purposes of this subdivision, means an
individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity.
(2) (A) Notwithstanding Section 4554.5, the board shall adopt
regulations that become effective and operative on or before July 1,
2002, and do all of the following:
(i) Identify the required documentation of a bona fide intent to
complete the conversion that an applicant will need to submit in
order to be eligible for the exemption in paragraph (1).
(ii) Authorize the department to inspect the sites approved in
conversion applications that have been approved on or after January
1, 2002, in order to determine that the conversion was completed
within the two-year period described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph
(2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1104.1 of Title 14 of the
California Code of Regulations.
(iii) Require the exemption pursuant to this subdivision to expire
if there is a change in timberland ownership. The person who
originally submitted an application for an exemption pursuant to this
subdivision shall notify the department of a change in timberland
ownership on or before five calendar days after a change in
ownership.
(iv) The board may adopt regulations allowing a waiver of the
five-year limitation described in paragraph (1) upon finding that the
imposition of the five-year limitation would impose an undue
hardship on the applicant for the exemption. The board may adopt a
process for an appeal of a denial of a waiver.
(B) The application form for the exemption pursuant to paragraph
(1) shall prominently advise the public that a violation of the
conversion exemption, including a conversion applied for in the name
of someone other than the person or entity implementing the
conversion in bona fide good faith, is a violation of this chapter
and penalties may accrue up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for
each violation pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 4601).
(h) Easements granted by a right-of-way construction agreement
administered by the federal government if timber sales and operations
within or affecting these areas are reviewed and conducted pursuant
to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321
et seq.).
(i) (1) The cutting or removal of trees in compliance with
Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of
vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the
purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break
for a distance of not more than 150 feet on each side from an
approved and legally permitted structure that complies with the
California Building Standards Code, when that cutting or removal is
conducted in compliance with this subdivision. For purposes of this
subdivision, an "approved and legally permitted structure" includes
only structures that are designed for human occupancy and garages,
barns, stables, and structures used to enclose fuel tanks.
(2) (A) The cutting or removal of trees pursuant to this
subdivision is limited to cutting or removal that will result in a
reduction in the rate of fire spread, fire duration and intensity,
fuel ignitability, or ignition of the tree crowns and shall be in
accordance with any regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this
section.
(B) Trees shall not be cut or removed pursuant to this subdivision
by the clearcutting regeneration method, by the seed tree removal
step of the seed tree regeneration method, or by the shelterwood
removal step of the shelterwood regeneration method.
(3) (A) Surface fuels, including logging slash and debris, low
brush, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire shall
be chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber
operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber
operations pursuant to this subdivision.
(B) (i) All surface fuels that are not chipped, burned, or
otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days
from the date of commencement of timber operations may be determined
to be a nuisance and subject to abatement by the department or the
city or county having jurisdiction.
(ii) The costs incurred by the department, city, or county, as the
case may be, to abate the nuisance upon a parcel of land subject to
the timber operations, including, but not limited to, investigation,
boundary determination, measurement, and other related costs, may be
recovered by special assessment and lien against the parcel of land
by the department, city, or county. The assessment may be collected
at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary ad valorem taxes,
and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure
and sale in case of delinquency as is provided for ad valorem taxes.
(4) All timber operations conducted pursuant to this subdivision
shall conform to applicable city or county general plans, city or
county implementing ordinances, and city or county zoning ordinances.
This paragraph does not authorize the cutting, removal, or sale of
timber or other solid wood forest products within an area where
timber harvesting is prohibited or otherwise restricted pursuant to
the rules or regulations adopted by the board.
(5) (A) The board shall adopt regulations, initially as emergency
regulations in accordance with subparagraph (B), that the board
considers necessary to implement and to obtain compliance with this
subdivision.
(B) The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A)
shall be adopted in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act
(Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3
of Title 2 of the Government Code). The adoption of emergency
regulations shall be deemed to be an emergency and necessary for the
immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, or
general welfare.
(j) (1) Until January 1, 2013, the harvesting of trees, limited to
those trees that eliminate the vertical continuity of vegetative
fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns, for the purpose
of reducing the rate of fire spread, duration and intensity, fuel
ignitability, or ignition of tree crowns.
(2) The board may authorize an exemption pursuant to paragraph (1)
only if the tree harvesting will decrease fuel continuity and
increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand, and the tree
harvesting area will not exceed 300 acres.
(3) The notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest
Fire Prevention Exemption, may be authorized only if all of the
conditions specified in paragraphs (4) to (10), inclusive, are met.
(4) A registered professional forester shall prepare the notice of
exemption and submit it to the director, and include a map of the
area of timber operations that complies with the requirements of
paragraphs (1), (3), (4), and (7) to (12), inclusive, of subdivision
(x) of Section 1034 of Title 14 of the California Code of
Regulations.
(5) (A) The registered professional forester who submits the
notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest
stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking
levels.
(B) The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with
maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The
residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous
dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Stocking
shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the
following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i) Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph
(1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California
Code of Regulations.
(ii) Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph
(1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California
Code of Regulations.
(iii) Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph
(1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California
Code of Regulations.
(C) If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is
occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a
minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height
shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a
minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height
shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands.
(6) (A) The registered professional forester who submits the
notice shall include selection criteria for the trees to be harvested
or the trees to be retained. In the development of fuel reduction
prescriptions, the registered professional forester should consider
retaining habitat elements, where feasible, including, but not
limited to, ground level cover necessary for the long-term management
of local wildlife populations.
(B) All trees that are harvested or all trees that are retained
shall be marked or sample marked by or under the supervision of a
registered professional forester before felling operations begin. The
board shall adopt regulations for sample marking for this section in
Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Sample marking shall
be limited to homogenous forest stand conditions typical of
plantations.
(7) (A) The registered professional forester submitting the
notice, upon submission of the notice, shall provide a confidential
archaeology letter that includes all the information required by any
of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i) Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c)
of Section 929.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations,
and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of
that section or pursuant to Section 929.5 of Title 14 of the
California Code of Regulations.
(ii) Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c)
of Section 949.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations,
and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of
that section or pursuant to Section 949.5 of Title 14 of the
California Code of Regulations.
(iii) Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision
(c) of Section 969.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of
Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to
subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 969.5 of Title
14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B) The director shall submit a complete copy of the confidential
archaeological letter and two copies of all required archaeological
or historical site records to the appropriate Information Center of
the California Historical Resource Information System within 30 days
from the date of notice submittal to the director. Before submitting
the notice to the director, the registered professional forester
shall send a copy of the notice to Native Americans, as defined in
Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(8) Only trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, measured at
eight inches above ground level, may be removed. However, within 500
feet of a legally permitted structure, or in an area prioritized as a
shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved
by a public fire agency, if the goal of fuel reduction cannot be
achieved by removing trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter,
trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter may be removed if that
removal complies with this section and is necessary to achieve the
goal of fuel reduction. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the
canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004,
and as those regulations may be amended.
(9) (A) This subparagraph applies to areas within 500 feet of a
legally permitted structure and in areas prioritized as a shaded fuel
break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public
fire agency. The board shall adopt regulations for the treatment of
surface and ladder fuels in the harvest area, including logging slash
and debris, low brush, small trees, and deadwood, that could promote
the spread of wildfire. The regulations adopted by the board shall
be consistent with the standards in the board's "General Guidelines
for Creating Defensible Space" described in Section 1299 of Title 14
of the California Code of
Regulations. Postharvest standards shall include vertical spacing
between fuels, horizontal spacing between fuels, maximum depth of
dead ground surface fuels, and treatment of standing dead fuels, as
follows:
(i) Ladder and surface fuels shall be spaced to achieve a vertical
clearance distance of eight feet or three times the height of the
postharvest fuels, whichever is the greater distance, measured from
the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant
trees to the top of the surface fuels.
(ii) Horizontal spacing shall achieve a minimum separation of two
to six times the height of the postharvest fuels, increasing spacing
with increasing slope, measured from the outside branch edges of the
fuels.
(iii) Dead surface fuel depth shall be less than nine inches.
(iv) Standing dead or dying trees and brush generally shall be
removed. That material, along with live vegetation associated with
the dead vegetation, may be retained for wildlife habitat when
isolated from other vegetation.
(B) This subparagraph applies to all areas not described in
subparagraph (A).
(i) The postharvest stand shall not contain more than 200 trees
over three inches in diameter per acre.
(ii) Vertical spacing shall be achieved by treating dead fuels to
a minimum clearance distance of eight feet measured from the base of
the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to
the top of the dead surface fuels.
(iii) All logging slash created by the timber operations shall be
treated to achieve a maximum postharvest depth of nine inches above
the ground.
(C) The standards required by subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be
achieved on approximately 80 percent of the treated area. The
treatment shall include chipping, removing, or other methods
necessary to achieve the standards. Ladder and surface fuel
treatments, for any portion of the exemption area where timber
operations have occurred, shall be done within 120 days from the
start of timber operations on that portion of the exemption area or
by April 1 of the year following surface fuel creation on that
portion of the exemption area if the surface fuels are burned.
(10) Timber operations shall comply with the requirements of
paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 1038
of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Timber operations
in the Lake Tahoe region shall comply instead with the requirements
of paragraphs (1) to (16), inclusive, of subdivision (f) of Section
1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(11) After the timber operations are complete, the department
shall conduct an onsite inspection to determine compliance with this
subdivision and whether appropriate enforcement action should be
initiated.
SEC. 28. Section 4603 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4603. The Attorney General may, on his or her own motion or at
the request of the board, bring an action to enforce compliance with
the rules and regulations of the board and this chapter.
SEC. 29. Section 14 of Chapter 1290 of the Statutes of 1989 is
repealed.
