AB 1956: Fire prevention activities: local assistance grant program.

Existing law requires the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to establish a working group, consisting of specified members, to identify potential incentives for landowners to implement prefire activities, as defined, in state responsibility areas and urban wildland communities and to identify all federal, state, or local programs, private programs, and any other programs requiring a cost share that involves prefire activities.

This bill would repeal this law.

Existing law requires the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to establish a local assistance grant program using funds collected from a specified fire prevention fee for purposes of fire prevention activities designed to benefit habitable structures within state responsibility areas, as provided.

This bill would require the department to establish a local assistance grant program, funded upon appropriation by the Legislature, for fire prevention activities, as defined. The bill would require the department to prioritize projects that are multiyear efforts. The bill would also require, contingent on the enactment of AB 3160 of the 201718 Regular Session, the department to prioritize local assistance grant funding applications from local agencies based on the Fire Adapted Community list, as provided. The bill would authorize the director, until January 1, 2024, to authorize advance payments from a grant, not to exceed 25% of the total grant award, as provided. The bill would require the director, on or before January 31, 2022, to hold a public workshop to, among other things, review activities funded by the local assistance grant program and program outcomes, and discuss and recommend possible improvements to the program. The bill would require the department to report a summary of the findings of the public workshop to the appropriate committees of the Legislature on or before July 1, 2022.