Bill Text: CA AB2465 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Burning of lands: private burns.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2014-09-29 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB2465 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB2465-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 2465	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 18, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 28, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Chesbro

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2014

   An act to add Article 4 (commencing with Section 4495) to Chapter
7 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, relating to
forestry.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2465, as amended, Chesbro. Burning of lands: private burns.
   Existing law authorizes any person, firm, or corporation, or any
combination thereof, that owns or controls brush-covered land within
a state responsibility area to apply to the Department of Forestry
and Fire Protection for permission to burn the brush from the land.
Existing law requires the department to provide advisory service to
applicants for burn permits as to the precautions to be taken by the
applicant to prevent damage to the property of others by reason of
the prescribed burning, and to provide standby fire protection, as
available.
   This bill would require the department, by July 1, 2015, in
consultation with the State Air Resources  Board and
  Board,  local air districts,  and other
relevant organizations and individuals,  to develop  a
page on the department's   , an  Internet Web site
that provides  the public  certain information relating to
prescribed burns, including information on the regulations that
govern prescribed burns for forest fuel treatment, and to develop a
uniform prescribed burn template  to assist a person
conducting a prescribed burn, as provided.  for forest
landowners that provides standardized procedures associated with
planning and implementation of a pr   escribed burn and
meets specified objectives. The bill would authorize the department
to contract with an institution of the University of California to
perform any of these requirements. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
   
  SECTION 1.    Article 4 (commencing with Section
4495) is added to Chapter 7 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public
Resources Code, to read:

      Article 4.  Forestland Fuel Hazard Reduction


   4495.  
   SECTION 1.   The Legislature finds and declares all of
the following:
   (a) For millennia, fire has shaped and renewed the ecosystems of
California's forestlands. In many parts of the state, historical fire
regimes were frequent, with fires occurring as often as every
 5   three  to 10 years. Some of these
fires were naturally ignited by lightning, but fire was also an
important tool for Native Americans, who used it to promote the
growth of certain plants they relied on for food, medicine, and
materials to make baskets, string, and shelter.
   (b) For  the last 100 to 150 years,   more
than a century,  states and the federal government have adopted
fire suppression policies that have resulted in high fuel
accumulations  and significant ecological impacts  on
forestlands. This has been reflected in the increasingly severe fire
seasons in recent years with more acres burned, increased number of
catastrophic fires, problematic containment and suppression, 
and  increased financial  costs.  
costs, and reductions in resiliency and biodiversity of California's
fire-adapted ecosystems. In addition, implementation of fire
suppression policies have impacted tribal communities throughout the
state, and continue to threaten cultural resources, practices,
ceremonies, and cultural identity. 
   (c) The 2013 Rim Fire demonstrated the dangers and cost of high
fuel accumulations on forestlands. The Rim Fire burned more than
250,000 acres over a period of 69 days; caused at least hundreds of
millions of dollars in economic and environmental damage; destroyed
significant habitat for a number of California's rarest animals;
blanketed large swaths of northern California and northern Nevada
with thick smoke; threatened reservoirs, such as Hetch Hetchy; and
demanded more than $125 million in firefighting costs. The fire
caused the Governor to declare states of emergency in the counties of
 Tuolumne,  Mariposa,  and San
 Francisco   Francisco, and Tuolumne  and
the President of the United States to make a Major Disaster
Declaration. According to federal forest ecologists, the Rim Fire's
exponential growth was tied to a century's worth of fuel left behind
due to historic policies of fire suppression. The lack of fire over
the years had led to overgrown and unhealthy forests. In fact, the
fire slowed only after hitting areas that had burned in the past two
decades due to prescribed and natural burns.
   (d) Many states and the federal government have been taking
measures to increase the use of prescribed burning as a vegetation
management tool to reduce the naturally occurring buildup of
vegetative fuels on forestlands, thereby reducing the risk and
severity of wildfires and lessening the loss of life and property.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, National Parks Service, United States Forest Service, Bureau
of Land Management, and United States Fire Administration are part
of an interagency strategy that has adopted direction and guidance
for prescribed burn planning and implementation. These agencies have
created a formal prescribed fire plan template as part of this
effort. Moreover, several states have laws that promote prescribed
burning and approximately one-half of the states in the country have
prescribed fire councils. 
   (e) Prescribed burning is recognized as an important tool in the
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection's 2010 Strategic Fire Plan
for California. This plan includes the objective of increasing
"public education and awareness in support of ecologically sensitive
and economically efficient vegetation management activities,
including prescribed fire, forest thinning and other fuels treatment
projects."  
   (e) 
    (f)  In addition to reducing the frequency and severity
of wildfires, prescribed burning of forestlands helps to prepare
sites for replanting and natural seeding, to control insects and
diseases, and to increase productivity.  It is also an important
tool for increasing the fire resilience and heterogeneity of
California's diverse landscapes, and for creating, restoring, and
maintaining critical habitats, resources, and ecosystem services.
 
   (f) 
    (g)  Prescribed burning is often the most
cost-effective, efficient fuel treatment option for forestlands. In
some circumstances, costs may be a challenge when preburn thinning is
required to avoid fire escape during burns. In California, some of
these costs may be offset through existing timber harvest permit
exemptions (for example, the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project
Exemption) that allow landowners to harvest timber to offset the cost
of thinning  or burning  . 
   (g) 
    (h)  While prescribed burning inherently creates wood
smoke, this smoke pales in comparison to the air quality issues
created by catastrophic wildfires. Therefore, by reducing the threat
of catastrophic wildfires, prescribed burning can have net air
quality benefits that are significant to protecting public health.

   (i) Forest ecosystems are crucial for absorbing and storing
atmospheric carbon; however, catastrophic wildfires impede the forest'
s ability to sequester carbon. Accelerating the pace and scale of
prefire treatments, such as prescribed fire, promises to help modify
future wildfire impacts and thus protect our forests' ability to
sequester carbon.  
   (h) 
    (j)  Though prescribed burning is widely recognized as
an effective, powerful management tool, it is complex in nature and
highly regulated. Successful implementation of prescribed burning
requires careful planning, specific weather conditions, qualified
crews, funding, public support, and  the satisfaction of
  compliance with  various laws and regulations.
These variables can make it difficult for managers to utilize
prescribed burning, and they often have to turn to more expensive,
less efficient, and less ecologically appropriate management tools,
stalling the overall pace and scale of treatment. 
   (i) 
    (k)  To limit the threat of catastrophic wildfires and
to improve forest health, it is a priority of the state to have an
effective prescribed burning program that  requires best
management practices and utilizes the expertise of state agencies to
ensure maximum benefits and protection for the environment and the
public.   is crafted by prescribed burning experts at
state public universities, state agencies, and other relevant
organizations. It is also a priority of the state that its prescribed
burning program should assist forest landowners in exercising due
diligence to control prescribed burning so as to prevent fire escape.
By promoting due diligence, the state will be protecting the public,
reducing the risk of landowner liability, and taking steps to
encourage more responsible prescribed burning. 
   SEC. 2.    Article 4 (commencing with Section 4495)
is added to Chapter 7 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the  
Public Resources Code  , to read: 

      Article  4.    Forestland Fuel Hazard Reduction



    4496.   4495.    (a)  
 In enacting this article, it is the intent of the Legislature
to  accomplish all of the following:   establish
a centralized source of information that will assist forest
landowners in doing all of the following when planning and  
implementing prescribed burning on forestlands:  
   (a) The creation of a centralized source of information for forest
landowners to assist them in using prescribed burning in a manner
that does all of the following:  
   (1) Complies  
   (1) Obtaining the required permits for prescribed burning. 
    (2)    Complying  with existing laws
and regulations. 
   (2) Utilizes best management practices to ensure the forest
landowner exercises 
    (3)    Exercising  due diligence
 in controlling the burn.   to control
prescribed burning so as to prevent fire escape.  
   (3) Maximizes 
    (4)     Maximizing  benefits and
protection for the environment and the public.
   (b)  The creation of   It   is also
the intent of the Legislature to establish  a uniform prescribed
burn  template, modeled after the federal prescribed fire
plan template, that forest landowners can utilize to conduct burns,
that does all of the following:   template for forest
landowners that provides standardized procedures associated with the
planning and implementation of prescribed burning and meets the
objectives of subdivision (a).  
   (1) Complies with existing laws and regulations. 

   (2) Utilizes best management practices to ensure the forest
landowner exercises due diligence in controlling the burn. 

   (3) Maximizes benefits and protection for the environment and the
public. 
    4497.   4496.    (a)  
 To assist landowners in conducting prescribed burns for the
purpose of forest fuel treatment, the  department, in
consultation with the State Air Resources Board and local air
districts, shall, no later than July 1, 2015, do all  
department shall, no later than July 1, 2015, develop both  of
the following: 
   (a) Develop a page on the department's 
    (1)     An  Internet Web site that
provides  the public  all of the following: 
   (1) 
    (A)  Information on the regulations governing prescribed
burns for forest fuel treatment. 
   (B) Information on how to obtain the appropriate regulatory
permits for prescribed burns for forest fuel treatment. 

   (2) Specific 
    (C)     A link to the Prescribed Fire
Information Reporting System and any other relevant  information
about permissive burn days and no-burn  days.  
days that the State Air Resources Board and the local air districts
deem are appropriate to provide publicly.  
   (3) 
    (D)  The uniform prescribed burn template described in
 subdivision (b)   paragraph (2)  .

   (4) 
    (E)  Contact information for the offices at the
department, State Air Resources Board, and local air 
districts   districts, and any other relevant entity
 that can assist a person who is interested in  conducting
 a prescribed burn for forest fuel treatment. 
   (F) If the department deems appropriate, the contact information
of organizations and individuals that the department recognizes as
qualified or certified to assist landowners in conducting prescribed
burns.  
   (5) 
    (G)  Any other information that the department
determines  is appropriate regarding prescribed burns for
forest fuel treatment. 
   (b) Develop a 
    (2)     A  uniform prescribed burn
 template. The template shall provide assistance to a person,
who is interested in conducting forest fuel treatment through a
prescribed burn, to do all of the following:   template
for forest landowners   that provides standardized
procedures   associated with the planning and implementation
of a prescribed burn and meets the objectives of subdivision (a) of
Section 4495.  
   (1) Use best management practices to ensure the exercise of due
diligence in controlling the burn.  
    (2) Minimize impacts to the environment and public health while
maximizing the fire resiliency of the treated forest. 

   (3) Obtain the appropriate regulatory approval from the department
and local air districts.  
   (b) The department may contract with an institution within the
University of California with an expertise in fire research and
outreach to perform any of the requirements of subdivision (a). 

   (c) The development of the Internet Web site and the uniform
prescribed burn template pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be done in
consultation with the State Air Resources Board, local air
districts, and other relevant organizations and individuals.