Bill Text: CA SB125 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: State responsibility areas: fire prevention fees.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-05-29 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 62(a). [SB125 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SB125-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 125	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Gaines

                        JANUARY 22, 2013

   An act to amend Section 4212 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to fire prevention.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 125, as introduced, Gaines. State responsibility areas: fire
prevention fees.
   Existing law requires the State Board of Forestry and Fire
Protection, on or before September 1, 2011, to adopt emergency
regulations to establish a fire prevention fee in an amount not to
exceed $150 to be charged on each structure, as defined on a parcel
that is within a state responsibility area, as defined, and requires
that the fire prevention fee be adjusted annually using prescribed
methods. Existing law requires the State Board of Equalization to
collect the fire prevention fees, as prescribed, commencing with the
2011-12 fiscal year. Existing law establishes the State
Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund and prohibits the collection
of fire prevention fees if, commencing with the 2012-13 fiscal year,
there are sufficient amounts of moneys in the fund to finance
specified fire prevention activities for a fiscal year. Existing law
requires that the fire prevention fees collected, except as provided,
be deposited into the fund and be made available, to the board and
the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for certain specified
fire protection activities that benefit the owners of structures in
state responsibility areas who are required to pay the fee. Existing
law further requires the board, on and after January 1, 2013, to
submit an annual written report to the Legislature on specified
topics.
   This bill would exempt a property owner of a structure that is
both within a state responsibility area and within the boundaries of
a local fire district that provides fire protection services in the
district from the payment of the above-described fire prevention fee.

   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.  Section 4212 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   4212.  (a) (1) By September 1, 2011, the board shall adopt
emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee for the
purposes of this chapter in an amount not to exceed one hundred fifty
dollars ($150) to be charged on each structure on a parcel that is
within a state responsibility area  , except as provided in
subdivision (d)  .
   (2) The Legislature finds and declares that a fire prevention fee
of not more than one hundred fifty dollars ($150) is a reasonable
amount for the necessary fire prevention activities of the state that
benefit the owner of a structure within a state responsibility area.

   (b) On July 1, 2013, and annually thereafter, the board shall
adjust the fire prevention fees imposed pursuant to this chapter to
reflect the percentage of change in the average annual value of the
Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases of
Goods and Services for the United States, as calculated by the United
States Department of Commerce for the 12-month period in the third
quarter of the prior calendar year, as reported by the Department of
Finance.
   (c) Emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be adopted in accordance with the rulemaking provisions of 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 an emergency
and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace,
health, and safety, or general welfare. 
   (d) Notwithstanding any other law, a property owner of a habitable
structure that is both within a state responsibility area and within
the boundaries of a local fire district that provides fire
protection service in the district shall be exempt from the payment
of the fire prevention fee required under subdivision (a).