Existing law authorizes any person who owns, controls, operates, or maintains any electrical transmission or distribution line to traverse land as necessary, regardless of land ownership or express permission to traverse land from the landowner, after providing notice and an opportunity to be heard to the landowner, to prune trees to maintain clearances, as provided, and to abate, by pruning or removal, any hazardous, dead, rotten, diseased, or structurally defective live trees. Existing law authorizes this abatement at the full discretion of the person that owns, controls, operates, or maintains the electrical transmission or distribution line but existing law prohibits this discretion from being
less than specified law relating to clearances. Existing law does not exempt any person who owns, controls, operates, or maintains any electrical transmission or distribution line from liability for damages for the removal of vegetation that is not covered by any easement granted to that person for the electrical transmission or distribution line. Existing law provides that the willful or negligent commission of any acts prohibited or the omission of any acts required by specified laws relating to fire safety is a misdemeanor. Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law provides that a violation of a rule or order of the commission is a crime. Rule 35 of the commission’s General Order 95 establishes vegetation management requirements with respect to overhead conductors, as provided.
This bill would instead authorize a person who owns, controls, operates, or maintains an electrical transmission or distribution line to traverse land as necessary, regardless of land ownership or express permission to traverse land from the landowner, after providing notice and an opportunity to be heard to the landowner, to fell, cut, or trim trees to maintain clearances as provided, including pursuant to the general order, and to abate, by felling, cutting, or trimming, any hazardous, dead, rotten, diseased, leaning, or structurally defective live trees. The bill would prohibit the person’s discretion, with respect to the felling, cutting, or trimming of these trees, from being less than what is also required in the general order. The bill would require the identification of hazardous, dead, rotten, diseased, leaning, or structurally defective live trees that are to be felled, cut, or trimmed to be accomplished by using a tree evaluation tool or method, as provided. The bill would require any trees
that are felled, cut, or trimmed, if valuable timber or wood, to remain the property of the landowner, as provided. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The bill would instead not exempt a person who owns, controls, operates, or maintains an electrical transmission or distribution line from liability for damages associated with collateral property damage caused by their negligence in felling, cutting, or trimming trees or vegetation in accordance with the above provisions.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to the above-described provisions.