Bill Text: CA SB1348 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Fire prevention: vegetation management: public education: grants: defensible space: fire hazard severity zones: forest management.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-08-26 - Ordered to third reading. [SB1348 Detail]

Download: California-2019-SB1348-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  July 29, 2020

Amended  IN  Assembly  July 27, 2020

Amended  IN  Senate  June 18, 2020

Amended  IN  Senate  May 08, 2020

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 1348

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Introduced by Senator Stern

February 21, 2020

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An act to amend Sections 51177, 51178, 51178.5, and 51182 51182, and 51189 of the Government Code, to add Section 18941.12 to the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Sections 4124.5, 4291, and 4483 4124.5 and 4291 of, to add Sections 4119.5 and 4799.05.5 to, and to add and repeal Section Sections 4123.8 and 4291.6 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to fire prevention.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 1348, as amended, Stern. Fire prevention: vegetation management: public education: grants: defensible space: fire hazard severity zones: forest management.

(1) Existing law requires the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to identify areas of the state as very high fire hazard severity zones based on specified criteria. Existing law requires a local agency, within 30 days after receiving a transmittal from the director that identifies very high fire hazard severity zones, to make the information available for public review, as provided.

This bill, among other things, would also require the director to identify areas of the state as moderate and high fire hazard severity zones and would require a local agency to make this information available for public review and comment, as provided. By expanding the responsibility of a local agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2)The California Building Standards Law provides for the adoption of building standards by state agencies by requiring all state agencies that adopt or propose adoption of any building standard to submit the building standard to the California Building Standards Commission for approval and adoption. In the absence of a designated state agency, the commission is required to adopt specific building standards, as prescribed. Existing law requires the commission to publish, or cause to be published, editions of the California Building Standards Code in its entirety once every 3 years.

This bill would require the commission to adopt, approve, codify, and publish amendments to the California Building Standards Code that would extend provisions of the code relating to construction of new buildings in specified fire zones to land designated as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones and land designated as wildland-urban interface fire areas, as provided.

(3)

(2) Existing law requires a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains an occupied dwelling or structure in, upon, or adjoining a mountainous area, forest-covered land, brush-covered land, grass-covered land, or land that is covered with flammable material that is within a very high fire hazard severity zone, as designated by a local agency, or a building or structure in, upon, or adjoining those areas or lands within a state responsibility area, to maintain a defensible space of 100 feet from each side and from the front and rear of the structure, as specified. Existing law authorizes a greater distance than specified above on the specified land in a very high fire hazard severity zone. Existing law specifies that clearance beyond the property line may only be required if state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation includes certain findings and specifies that clearance on adjacent property shall only be conducted following written consent by the adjacent landowner.

This bill would specify that fuel modification on adjacent property may also be conducted pursuant to a local ordinance. The bill would require the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to, on or before July 1, 2022, adopt regulations relating to defensible space requirements in certain unimproved parcels. The bill would instead provide that fuel modification beyond the property line may only be required by state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation in order to maintain the 100 feet of defensible space. The bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to, on or before July 1, 2022, create and maintain a public database relating to defensible space inspections and assessments conducted by the department, local agencies, or volunteers.

Existing law requires the Office of the State Fire Marshal to develop a model defensible space program that is required to be made available for use by a city, county, or city and county in the enforcement of the above defensible space provisions. The program is required to have specified components, including general guidelines for creating and maintaining defensible space around structures, as provided.

This bill would also include as a component of the model defensible space program, provisions for fuel modifications beyond the property line, as provided.

The California Building Standards Law provides for the adoption of building standards by state agencies by requiring all state agencies that adopt or propose adoption of any building standard to submit the building standard to the California Building Standards Commission for approval or adoption. In the absence of a designated state agency, the commission is required to adopt specific building standards, as prescribed.

This bill would require the State Fire Marshal, in consultation with the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Director of Housing and Community Development, to recommend, pursuant to the California Building Standards Law, expanding the requirements of building standards that provide for comprehensive site and structure fire risk reduction to moderate and high fire hazard severity zones, as provided.

This bill would also make other related changes.

(3) Existing law appropriates specified moneys to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for purposes of healthy forest and fire prevention programs and projects that improve forest health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by uncontrolled wildfires and to complete prescribed fire and other fuel reduction projects, as provided.

This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2022, the department, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board and the California Forest Management Task Force, to report to the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature on moneys spent pursuant to the above provision, as provided.

(4)  Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to establish a local assistance grant program for fire prevention activities in the state. Existing law requires the local assistance grant program to establish a robust year-round fire prevention effort in and near fire threatened communities. Exiting law requires that the eligible activities include, among other things, fire prevention activities, as provided. Existing law permits the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to authorize advance payments, not exceeding 25% of the total grant award, from a grant awarded pursuant to the local assistance grant program. Existing law requires the grantee to expend these funds from the advance payment within 6 months of receipt, as provided.

This bill, among other things, would specify that the above-described fire prevention effort in and near fire threatened communities focus on increasing the protection of people, structures, and communities, as provided. The bill would define “fire threatened communities” as provided. The bill would specifically include vegetation management along roadways and driveways to reduce fire risk, public education outreach regarding making homes and communities more wildfire resilient, projects to reduce the flammability of structures and communities to prevent their ignition from wind-driven embers, and developing a risk reduction checklist for communities as part of the eligible activities, among other things, as provided. The bill would instead authorize an advance payment not exceeding 50% of the total grant award and would instead require the grantee to expend these funds within 12 months.

This bill would require the department to develop and implement a training program, as provided, to train individuals to support and augment the department in its defensible space and home hardening assessment and public education efforts. The bill would require the department to issue a certification of completion to individuals who have successfully completed the training program. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2025.

(5) Existing law requires the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to provide grants to, or enter into contracts or other cooperative agreements with, specified entities for the implementation and administration of projects and programs to improve forest health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the State Air Resources Board, as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to reduce air emissions, to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation by the Legislature. Existing law requires that any project or program described above that is funded with moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund complies with all statutory and program requirements applicable to the use of moneys from the fund.

This bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, under Good Neighbor Authority agreements entered into between the state and the federal government, as provided, to establish a program for purposes of conducting landscape scale ecological restoration and fire resiliency projects on national forest lands, including the development of specified federal and state environmental protection documents for landscape scale ecological restoration and fire resiliency projects on national forest lands that are at least 25,000 acres. The bill would authorize the department to contract with Native American tribes, local governments, forest collaboratives, and qualified nongovernmental organizations to conduct restoration activities on federal forest lands and to develop the federal documents.

(6) 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 Section 51177 of the Government Code is amended to read:

51177.

 As used in this chapter:

(a) “Defensible space” means the area adjacent to a structure or dwelling where wildfire prevention or protection practices are implemented to provide defense from an approaching wildfire or to minimize the spread of a structure fire to wildlands or surrounding areas.

(b) “Director” means the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection.

(c) “Fuel” means any combustible material, including petroleum-based products and wildland fuels. products, cultivated landscape plants, grasses, and weeds, and wildland vegetation.

(d) “Fuel management” means the act or practice of controlling flammability and reducing resistance to control of fuels through mechanical, chemical, biological, or manual means or by fire, in support of land management objectives.

(e) “Local agency” means a city, county, city and county, or district responsible for fire protection within a very high fire hazard severity zone.

(f) “Single specimen tree” means any live tree that stands alone in the landscape so as to be clear of buildings, structures, combustible vegetation, or other trees, and that does not form a means of rapidly transmitting fire from the vegetation to an occupied dwelling or structure or from an occupied dwelling or structure to vegetation.

(g) “State responsibility areas” means those areas identified pursuant to Section 4102 of the Public Resources Code.

(h) “Vegetation” means all plants, including trees, shrubs, grass, and perennial or annual plants.

(i) “Very high fire hazard severity zone” means an area designated by the director pursuant to Section 51178 that is not a state responsibility area.

(j) “Wildfire” means an unplanned, unwanted wildland fire, including unauthorized human-caused fires, escaped wildland fire use events, escaped prescribed fire projects, and all other wildland fires where the objective is to extinguish the fire.

SECTION 1.SEC. 2.

 Section 51178 of the Government Code is amended to read:

51178.

 The director shall identify areas in the state as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. Moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones shall be based on fuel loading, slope, fire weather, ember vulnerability of structures, and other relevant factors including areas where Santa Ana, Mono, and Diablo winds, and other regional winds, winds have been identified by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as a major cause of wildfire spread.

SEC. 2.SEC. 3.

 Section 51178.5 of the Government Code is amended to read:

51178.5.

 Within 30 days after receiving a transmittal from the director that identifies fire hazard severity zones pursuant to Section 51178, a local agency shall make the information available for public review and comment. The information shall be presented in a format that is understandable and accessible to the general public, including, but not limited to, maps.

SEC. 3.SEC. 4.

 Section 51182 of the Government Code is amended to read:

51182.

 (a) A person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains an occupied dwelling or occupied structure in, upon, or adjoining a mountainous area, forest-covered land, shrub-covered land, grass-covered land, or land that is covered with flammable material, which area or land is within a very high fire hazard severity zone designated by the local agency pursuant to Section 51179, shall at all times do all of the following:

(1) Maintain defensible space of 100 feet from each side and from the front and rear of the structure, but not beyond the property line except as provided in paragraph (2). The amount of fuel modification necessary shall take into account the flammability of the structure as affected by building material, building standards, location, and type of vegetation. Fuels shall be maintained and spaced in a condition so that a wildfire burning under average weather conditions would be unlikely to ignite the structure. This paragraph does not apply to single specimens of trees or other vegetation that are well-pruned and maintained so as to effectively manage fuels and not form a means of rapidly transmitting fire from other nearby vegetation to a structure or from a structure to other nearby vegetation or to interrupt the advance of embers toward a structure. The intensity of fuels management may vary within the 100-foot perimeter of the structure, the most intense being within the first 30 feet around the structure. Consistent with fuels management objectives, steps should be taken to minimize erosion, soil disturbance, and the spread of flammable nonnative grasses and weeds. For purposes of this paragraph, “fuel” means any combustible material, including petroleum-based products, cultivated landscape plants, grasses, and weeds, and wildland vegetation.

(2) A greater distance than that required under paragraph (1) may be required by state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation. Fuel modification beyond the property line may only be required if the by state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation includes findings that the fuel modification is necessary to significantly reduce the risk of transmission of flame or heat sufficient to ignite the structure, and there is no other feasible mitigation measure possible to reduce the risk of ignition or spread of wildfire to the structure. Fuel modification on adjacent property shall only be conducted following written consent by the adjacent landowner or pursuant to a local ordinance. in order to maintain 100 feet of defensible space from a structure.

(3) An insurance company that insures an occupied dwelling or occupied structure may require a greater distance than that required under paragraph (1) if a fire expert, designated by the fire chief or fire official from the authority having jurisdiction, provides findings that the fuel modification is necessary to significantly reduce the risk of transmission of flame or heat sufficient to ignite the structure, and there is no other feasible mitigation measure possible to reduce the risk of ignition or spread of wildfire to the structure. The greater distance may not be beyond the property line unless allowed by state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation.

(4) Remove that portion of a tree that extends within 10 feet of the outlet of a chimney or stovepipe.

(5) Maintain a tree, shrub, or other plant adjacent to or overhanging a building free of dead or dying wood.

(6) Maintain the roof of a structure free of leaves, needles, or other vegetative materials.

(7) Before constructing a new dwelling or structure that will be occupied or rebuilding an occupied dwelling or occupied structure damaged by a fire in that zone, the construction or rebuilding of which requires a building permit, the owner shall obtain a certification from the local building official that the dwelling or structure, as proposed to be built, complies with all applicable state and local building standards, including those described in subdivision (b) of Section 51189, and shall provide a copy of the certification, upon request, to the insurer providing course of construction insurance coverage for the building or structure. Upon completion of the construction or rebuilding, the owner shall obtain from the local building official, a copy of the final inspection report that demonstrates that the dwelling or structure was constructed in compliance with all applicable state and local building standards, including those described in subdivision (b) of Section 51189, and shall provide a copy of the report, upon request, to the property insurance carrier that insures the dwelling or structure.

(b) A person is not required under this section to manage fuels on land if that person does not have the legal right to manage fuels, nor is a person required to enter upon or to alter property that is owned by any other person without the consent of the owner of the property.

(c) The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shall develop, periodically update, and post on its internet website a guidance document on fuels management pursuant to this chapter. Guidance shall include, but not be limited to, regionally appropriate vegetation management suggestions that preserve and restore native species, minimize erosion, minimize the spread of flammable nonnative grasses and weeds, minimize water consumption, and permit trees and shrubs near homes for shade, aesthetics, and habitat; suggestions for fuel modification beyond the property line in order to maintain 100 feet of defensible space from a structure; and suggestions to minimize or eliminate the risk of flammability of nonvegetative sources of combustion such as woodpiles, propane tanks, decks, and outdoor lawn furniture.

(d)On or before July 1, 2022, the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection shall adopt regulations relating to defensible space requirements in unimproved parcels that are contiguous to improved parcels and within 100 feet of a structure. This subdivision does not require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to inspect any of those unimproved parcels. Any such inspections, if deemed necessary, may be undertaken by a local agency or the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. When adopting the regulations, the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection shall take into consideration the slope of the land and other aspects of the terrain, vegetation cover, habitat value, and the proximity to structures and other ignition-prone lands.

SEC. 5.

 Section 51189 of the Government Code is amended to read:

51189.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares that site and structure defensibility is essential to reduce the risk of structure ignition as well as for effective fire suppression by firefighters. This need to establish defensibility extends beyond the site fuel management practices required by this chapter, and includes, but is not limited to, measures that increase the likelihood of a structure withstanding ignition, such as building design and construction requirements that use fire resistant building materials, and standards for reducing fire risks on structure projections, including, but not limited to, porches, decks, balconies and eaves, and structure openings, including, but not limited to, attic, foundation, and eave vents, doors, and windows.

(b) No later than January 31, 2020, the State Fire Marshal, in consultation with the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection director and the Director of Housing and Community Development, shall, pursuant to Section 18930 of the Health and Safety Code, recommend updated building standards that provide for comprehensive site and structure fire risk reduction to protect structures from fires spreading from adjacent structures or vegetation and to protect vegetation from fires spreading from adjacent structures, based on information learned from the 2017 wildfire season.

(c) (1) No later than January 31, 2020, the State Fire Marshal, in consultation with the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection director and the Director of Housing and Community Development, shall develop a list of low-cost retrofits that provide for comprehensive site and structure fire risk reduction to protect structures from fires spreading from adjacent structures or vegetation and to protect vegetation from fires spreading from adjacent structures. The department Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shall incorporate the list in its fire prevention education and outreach efforts.

(2) In addition to the requirements of paragraph (1), the list shall include a guidance document, including regionally appropriate vegetation management suggestions that preserve and restore native plant species that are fire resistant or drought tolerant, or both.

(d) (1) The Office of the State Fire Marshal shall develop a model defensible space program that shall be made available for use by a city, county, or city and county in the enforcement of the defensible space provisions of Section 51182 of this code and subdivision (a) of Section 4291 of the Public Resources Code. In the development of this program, the State Fire Marshal shall consult with representatives from local, state, and federal fire services, local government, building officials, utility companies, the building industry, insurers and insurance research organizations, and the environmental community. Components of the program shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(A) General guidelines for creating and maintaining defensible space around specified structures, including appropriate guidelines and definitions for vegetation management.

(B) Provisions for fuel modification beyond the property line, including on unimproved lots, in order to maintain 100 feet of defensible space from a structure.

(B)

(C) Suggested minimum qualifications needed for enforcement personnel.

(C)

(D) Enforcement mechanisms for compliance with and maintenance of defensible space requirements, including, but not limited to, the following:

(i) Site inspections.

(ii) Procedures for notifying a property owner of a violation.

(iii) Timelines for corrective action by a property owner and for reinspection.

(iv) Citations requiring abatement of a violation and subsequent removal of a fire hazard within the defensible space boundaries.

(v) Suggested administrative procedures that allow for appeal of the citation by the property owner.

(2) If a defensible space program is adopted, the local agency for enforcement of this program may recover the actual cost of abatement and may cause a notice of abatement lien to be recorded in the county in which the real property is located. The notice shall, at a minimum, identify the record owner or possessor of the property, set forth the last known address of the record owner or possessor, set forth the date upon which abatement was ordered by the local agency and the date the abatement was completed, and include a description of the real property subject to the lien and the amount of the abatement cost.

(3) The model defensible space program required pursuant to this subdivision shall be updated whenever the department Department of Forestry and Fire Protection substantially updates the guidance documents created pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 51182 of this code and subdivision (e) of Section 4291 of the Public Resources Code.

(4) In order to develop and implement this subdivision and support any required update of the guidance documents identified in subdivision (c) of Section 51182 of this code and subdivision (e) of Section 4291 of the Public Resources Code, the Office of the State Fire Marshal is authorized to expend funds from the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, pursuant to Section 18931.7 of the Health and Safety Code.

(e) Upon identification by the director pursuant to Section 51178 of moderate and high fire hazard severity zones, the State Fire Marshal, in consultation with the director and the Director of Housing and Community Development, shall, pursuant to Section 18930 of the Health and Safety Code, recommend expanding the requirements of building standards that provide for comprehensive site and structure fire risk reduction to moderate and high fire hazard severity zones identified pursuant to Section 51178.

SEC. 4.Section 18941.12 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

18941.12.

The commission shall, commencing with the next triennial edition of the California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations) adopted after January 1, 2021, adopt, approve, codify, and publish amendments that extend the provisions of Section 701A.3.1 of the California Building Standards Code to land designated as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection pursuant to Section 51178 of the Government Code, and to land designated as wildland-urban interface fire areas as defined in Section 4902.1 of the California Fire Code. If any changes are made to these designations, the commission shall update the California Building Standards Code with these changes at the next update of the code.

SEC. 5.SEC. 6.

 Section 4119.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

4119.5.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:

(1) Information pertaining to defensible space inspections and compliance with defensible space requirements is a matter of great public interest in that providing such information can lead to reduced wildfires and associated human, property, and ecological losses, improved public education about wildfire resilience, and improved public and firefighter safety in and around parcels that are in compliance.

(2) The creation of a public database containing information on properties that are in compliance with defensible space requirements will create an incentive for homeowners, landowners, and occupants of structures to be in compliance with those requirements by providing them with public recognition of their efforts.

(b) On or before July 1, 2022, the department shall create and maintain a public database that contains any defensible space inspections and assessments conducted by the department, local agencies, or volunteers, to the extent this information is known by the department. To assist with the creation of the database, the department shall engage stakeholders, including, but not limited to, local agencies and volunteers, in developing the scope of information covered in the database and the process for gathering information on inspections and assessments. The department shall update this database annually. The information in the database shall be limited to information on those parcels that are in compliance with state and local requirements. Information provided by volunteers shall be limited to those volunteers who are in compliance with Section 4291.6.

SEC. 7.

 Section 4123.8 is added to the Public Resources Code, immediately following Section 4123.7, to read:

4123.8.

 (a) On or before January 1, 2022, the department, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board and the California Forest Management Task Force, shall report to the relevant fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature on funds spent pursuant to Section 45 of Senate Bill 901 (Chapter 626, Statutes of 2018). The report shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following information:

(1) The outcomes of the projects implemented, including, but not limited to, a description of the benefits for public safety, fire prevention, habitat, climate resiliency, and protection of important natural resources, including water quality and water supply.

(2) A description of the projected greenhouse gas emission and carbon sequestration impacts for the year of implementation of a project and for 5-year intervals thereafter to at least 50 years after implementation.

(3) Recommendations for modifying the forest health grant program, established pursuant to Section 4799.05, and the local assistance grant program, established pursuant to Section 4124.5, to improve outcomes, benefits, durability of benefits, and statewide benefits.

(4) An assessment of the potential benefits, including unmet need, for continuing the commitment made pursuant to Section 45 of Senate Bill 901 (Chapter 626, Statutes of 2018) beyond the 2023–24 fiscal year.

(b) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section is repealed on January 1, 2026.

SEC. 6.SEC. 8.

 Section 4124.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

4124.5.

 (a) The department shall establish a local assistance grant program for fire prevention and home hardening activities in California. Groups eligible for grants shall include, but are not limited to, local agencies, resource conservation districts, fire safe councils, the California Conservation Corps, certified community conservation corps as defined in Section 14507.5, University of California Cooperative Extension, Native American tribes, and qualified nonprofit organizations. The department may establish a cost-share requirement for one or more categories of projects.

(b) (1) The local assistance grant program shall establish a robust year-round fire prevention effort in and near fire threatened communities that focuses on increasing the protection of people, structures, and communities. To the maximum extent practicable, the grants shall be designed to be durable and adaptively managed so that while improving resiliency to wildfire, the projects, when on forest land, retain a mixture of species and sizes of trees to protect habitat values. The department shall prioritize, to the extent feasible, projects that are multiyear efforts.

(2) For purposes of this subdivision, “fire threatened communities” means those communities in high and very high fire hazard severity zones, identified by the director pursuant to Section 51178 of the Government Code, or Article 9 (commencing with Section 4201) of this code, or on the “Fire Risk Reduction Community” list maintained by the board pursuant to Section 4290.1.

(c) Eligible activities shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) Development and implementation of public education and outreach programs. Programs may include technical assistance, workforce recruitment and training, and equipment purchases.

(2) Fire prevention activities as defined in Section 4124.

(3) Projects to improve compliance with defensible space requirements as required by Section 4291 through increased inspections inspections, assessments, and assistance for low-income residents.

(4) Technical assistance to local agencies to improve fire prevention and reduce fire hazards.

(5) Creation of additional “Firewise USA” communities in the state or other community planning or certification programs deemed as appropriate by the department.

(6) Projects to improve public safety, including, but not limited to, access to emergency equipment and improvements to public evacuation routes.

(7) Vegetation management along roadways and driveways to reduce fire risk. Where appropriate, the Department of Transportation shall be consulted if state infrastructure will be affected. Those projects shall remain consistent with paragraph (1) of subdivision (b).

(8) Public education outreach regarding making homes and communities more wildfire resilient, including defensible space training.

(9) Projects to reduce the flammability of structures and communities to prevent their ignition from wind-driven embers.

(10) Development of a risk reduction checklist for communities that includes defensible space criteria, structural vulnerability potential, and personal evacuation plans.

(d) The department may consider the fire risk of an area, the geographic balance of projects, and whether the project is complementary to other fire prevention or forest health activities when awarding local assistance grants.

(e) (1) Until January 1, 2024, the director may authorize advance payments from a grant awarded pursuant to this section. The advance shall not exceed 50 percent of the total grant award.

(2) The grantee shall expend the funds from the advance payment within 12 months of receipt, unless the department waives this requirement.

(3) The grantee shall file an accountability report with the department four months from the date of receiving the funds and every four months thereafter.

(f) The department may expand or amend an existing grant program to meet the requirements of this section.

(g) Funding for the local assistance grant program created pursuant to this section shall be made upon appropriation by the Legislature.

SEC. 7.SEC. 9.

 Section 4291 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

4291.

 (a) A person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains a building or structure in, upon, or adjoining a mountainous area, forest-covered lands, shrub-covered lands, grass-covered lands, or land that is covered with flammable material, shall at all times do all of the following:

(1) Maintain defensible space of 100 feet from each side and from the front and rear of the structure, but not beyond the property line except as provided in paragraph (2). The amount of fuel modification necessary shall take into account the flammability of the structure as affected by building material, building standards, location, and type of vegetation. Fuels shall be maintained and spaced in a condition so that a wildfire burning under average weather conditions would be unlikely to ignite the structure. This paragraph does not apply to single specimens of trees or other vegetation that are well-pruned and maintained so as to effectively manage fuels and not form a means of rapidly transmitting fire from other nearby vegetation to a structure or from a structure to other nearby vegetation or to interrupt the advance of embers toward a structure. The intensity of fuels management may vary within the 100-foot perimeter of the structure, the most intense being within the first 30 feet around the structure. Consistent with fuels management objectives, steps should be taken to minimize erosion, soil disturbance, and the spread of flammable nonnative grasses and weeds. For purposes of this paragraph, “fuel” means any combustible material, including petroleum-based products, cultivated landscape plants, grasses, and weeds, and wildland vegetation.

(2) A greater distance than that required under paragraph (1) may be required by state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation. Fuel modification beyond the property line may only be required if the by state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation includes findings that the fuel modification is necessary to significantly reduce the risk of transmission of flame or heat sufficient to ignite the structure, and there is no other feasible mitigation measure possible to reduce the risk of ignition or spread of wildfire to the structure. Fuel modification on adjacent property shall only be conducted following written consent by the adjacent landowner or pursuant to a local ordinance. in order to maintain 100 feet of defensible space from a structure.

(3) An insurance company that insures an occupied dwelling or occupied structure may require a greater distance than that required under paragraph (1) if a fire expert, designated by the director, provides findings that the fuel modification is necessary to significantly reduce the risk of transmission of flame or heat sufficient to ignite the structure, and there is no other feasible mitigation measure possible to reduce the risk of ignition or spread of wildfire to the structure. The greater distance may not be beyond the property line unless allowed by state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation.

(4) Remove that portion of a tree that extends within 10 feet of the outlet of a chimney or stovepipe.

(5) Maintain a tree, shrub, or other plant adjacent to or overhanging a building free of dead or dying wood.

(6) Maintain the roof of a structure free of leaves, needles, or other vegetative materials.

(7) Before constructing a new building or structure or rebuilding a building or structure damaged by a fire in an area subject to this section, the construction or rebuilding of which requires a building permit, the owner shall obtain a certification from the local building official that the dwelling or structure, as proposed to be built, complies with all applicable state and local building standards, including those described in subdivision (b) of Section 51189 of the Government Code, and shall provide a copy of the certification, upon request, to the insurer providing course of construction insurance coverage for the building or structure. Upon completion of the construction or rebuilding, the owner shall obtain from the local building official, a copy of the final inspection report that demonstrates that the dwelling or structure was constructed in compliance with all applicable state and local building standards, including those described in subdivision (b) of Section 51189 of the Government Code, and shall provide a copy of the report, upon request, to the property insurance carrier that insures the dwelling or structure.

(b) A person is not required under this section to manage fuels on land if that person does not have the legal right to manage fuels, nor is a person required to enter upon or to alter property that is owned by any other person without the consent of the owner of the property.

(c) (1) Except as provided in Section 18930 of the Health and Safety Code, the director may adopt regulations exempting a structure with an exterior constructed entirely of nonflammable materials, or, conditioned upon the contents and composition of the structure, the director may vary the requirements respecting the removing or clearing away of flammable vegetation or other combustible growth with respect to the area surrounding those structures.

(2) An exemption or variance under paragraph (1) shall not apply unless and until the occupant of the structure, or if there is not an occupant, the owner of the structure, files with the department, in a form as the director shall prescribe, a written consent to the inspection of the interior and contents of the structure to ascertain whether this section and the regulations adopted under this section are complied with at all times.

(d) The director may authorize the removal of vegetation that is not consistent with the standards of this section. The director may prescribe a procedure for the removal of that vegetation and make the expense a lien upon the building, structure, or grounds, in the same manner that is applicable to a legislative body under Section 51186 of the Government Code.

(e) The department shall develop, periodically update, and post on its internet website a guidance document on fuels management pursuant to this chapter. Guidance shall include, but not be limited to, regionally appropriate vegetation management suggestions that preserve and restore native species that are fire resistant or drought tolerant, or both, minimize erosion, minimize water consumption, and permit trees near homes for shade, aesthetics, and habitat; suggestions for fuel modification beyond the property line in order to maintain 100 feet of defensible space from a structure; and suggestions to minimize or eliminate the risk of flammability of nonvegetative sources of combustion, such as woodpiles, propane tanks, decks, outdoor furniture, barbecue equipment, and outdoor fire pits.

(f)On or before July 1, 2022, the board shall adopt regulations relating to defensible space requirements in unimproved parcels that are contiguous to improved parcels and within 100 feet of a structure. This subdivision does not require the department to inspect any of those unimproved parcels. Any such inspections, if deemed necessary, may be undertaken by a local agency or the department. When adopting the regulations the board shall take into consideration the slope of the land and other aspects of the terrain, vegetation cover, habitat value, and the proximity to structures and other ignition-prone lands.

(g)

(f) As used in this section, “person” means a private individual, organization, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation.

SEC. 8.SEC. 10.

 Section 4291.6 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

4291.6.

 (a) (1) The Legislature finds and declares that the use of trained volunteers to assist homeowners and fire agencies in achieving compliance with defensible space requirements will provide multiple benefits, including all of the following:

(A) Creating a significant public benefit by reducing the risk of the spread of wildfire.

(B) Creating significant savings for fire agencies by increasing general compliance with defensible space requirements, and thereby reducing the volume of inspections required by public agencies.

(C) Allowing fire agencies to focus their defensible space regulatory enforcement on landowners who are not in compliance after suggestions for voluntary compliance from trained volunteers.

(2) It is further the intent of the Legislature that the department do both of the following:

(A) Establish a pilot program using trained volunteers with any costs for the pilot project coming from the existing available greenhouse gas funds allocated to the department

(B) Consider using the services of the California Fire Sciences Consortium and the Regional Forestry and Fire Capacity program at the Natural Resources Agency to implement this section.

(b) The department shall develop and implement a training program to train individuals to support and augment the department in its defensible space and home hardening assessment and public education efforts. The training program shall do both of the following:

(1) Provide for consistent training for third-party assessors who shall function to provide nonregulatory assistance to homeowners to reduce fire risk and to achieve compliance with defensible space requirements.

(2) Ensure that all defensible space and home hardening assessment and education programs undertaken by the department and by third parties are conducted to the same standard and use coordinated messaging, including messages at www.readyforwildfire.org or a successor internet website, as updated by the department.

(c) Upon an individual’s successful completion of the training program, the department shall issue a certification of completion to the individual.

(d) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2025, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 9.Section 4483 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

4483.

(a)To the extent feasible, the board’s Vegetation Treatment Program Programmatic Environmental Impact Report, when certified, shall serve, in addition to any identified entities in the report, as the programmatic environmental document for prescribed fires initiated by a third party for a public purpose pursuant to Section 4491.

(b)(1)It is the intent of the Legislature that additional consideration be provided for chaparral and coastal sage scrub plant communities that are being increasingly threatened by fire frequency in excess of their natural fire return patterns due to climate change and human-caused fires.

(2)Prescribed burning, mastication, herbicide application, mechanical thinning, or other vegetative treatments of chaparral or sage scrub shall occur only if the department finds that the activity will not cause “type conversion” away from the chaparral and coastal sage scrub currently on site. As used in this section, “type conversion” as related to California chaparral and coastal sage scrub plant communities is the process by which the dominant plant species are extirpated and the shrub canopy is significantly reduced by single or multiple disturbance events.

(3)This subdivision shall be in addition to the requirements in the Vegetation Treatment Program Programmatic Environmental Impact Report.

SEC. 10.SEC. 11.

 Section 4799.05.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, immediately following Section 4799.05, to read:

4799.05.5.

 Under Good Neighbor Authority agreements entered into between the state and the federal government pursuant to Section 2113a of Title 16 of the United States Code, the department shall establish a program for purposes of conducting landscape scale ecological restoration and fire resiliency projects on national forest lands, including the development of federal National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.) documents, and documents prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)), for landscape scale ecological restoration and fire resiliency projects on national forest lands that are at least 25,000 acres. The department may contract with Native American tribes, local governments, forest collaboratives, and qualified nongovernmental organizations to conduct restoration activities on federal forest lands and to develop the federal documents.

SEC. 11.SEC. 12.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.