AB 2029: Timber harvesting plans: exemptions.
- Session Year: 2015-2016
- House: Assembly
- Latest Version Date: 2016-09-24
The Zberg-Nejedly Forest Practices Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, including the cutting or removal of trees in compliance with existing law relating to defensible space. In this regard, the act authorizes, until 3 years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board, the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption if specified conditions are met, including that only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level, shall be removed and the activities shall be conducted in those portions of 21 counties designated as the Sierra Nevada Region, as defined, in any part of 7 other counties, or in any combination of these areas. Existing law authorizes a registered professional forester in an emergency to file, on behalf of a timber owner or operator, a specified emergency notice with the department that allows for the immediate commencement of timber operations.
This bill would require the department and the board to review and submit a report to the Legislature, on or before December 31, 2017, on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of, the above exemptions and emergency notice provisions and specified regulations. If the report is not submitted on or before that date, the bill would require specified legislative committees to hold a hearing to investigate why the report was not submitted. The bill would authorize the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption until January 1, 2021, and, on January 1, 2018, or upon the submission of the report, whichever occurs first, would expand the exemption to instead permit the removal of trees less than 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level and apply to activities anywhere within those 28 counties, or in any combination of those areas, as prescribed.
The Zberg-Nejedly Forest Practices Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, including the cutting or removal of trees in compliance with existing law relating to defensible space. In this regard, the act authorizes, until 3 years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board, the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption if specified conditions are met, including that only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level, shall be removed and the activities shall be conducted in those portions of 21 counties designated as the Sierra Nevada Region, as defined, in any part of 7 other counties, or in any combination of these areas. Existing law authorizes a registered professional forester in an emergency to file, on behalf of a timber owner or operator, a specified emergency notice with the department that allows for the immediate commencement of timber operations.
This bill would require the department and the board to review and submit a report to the Legislature, on or before December 31, 2017, on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of, the above exemptions and emergency notice provisions and specified regulations. If the report is not submitted on or before that date, the bill would require specified legislative committees to hold a hearing to investigate why the report was not submitted. The bill would authorize the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption until January 1, 2021, and, on January 1, 2018, or upon the submission of the report, whichever occurs first, would expand the exemption to instead permit the removal of trees less than 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level and apply to activities anywhere within those 28 counties, or in any combination of those areas, as prescribed.
The Zberg-Nejedly Forest Practices Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, including the cutting or removal of trees in compliance with existing law relating to defensible space. In this regard, the act authorizes, until 3 years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board, the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption if specified conditions are met, including that only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level, shall be removed, no new road construction or reconstruction shall occur, removed and the activities shall be conducted in those portions of 21 counties designated as the Sierra Nevada Region, as defined, in any part of 7 other counties, or in any combination of these areas. Existing law authorizes a registered professional forester in an emergency to file, on behalf of a timber owner or operator, a specified emergency notice with the department that allows for the immediate commencement of timber operations.
This bill would require the department and the board to review and submit a report to the Legislature, on or before December 31, 2017, on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of of, the above exemptions and emergency notice provisions and specified regulations. If the report is not submitted on or before that date, the bill would require specified legislative committees to hold a hearing to investigate why the report was not submitted. The bill would authorize the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption until January 1, 2023, 2021, and, on January 1, 2018, or upon the submission of the report, whichever occurs first, would expand the exemption to instead permit the removal of trees less than 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level, allow the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads of 600 feet or less on slopes of 40 percent or less, level and apply to activities anywhere within those 28 counties, or in any combination of those areas, as prescribed.
The Zberg-Nejedly Forest Practices Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, including the cutting or removal of trees in compliance with existing law relating to defensible space. In this regard, the act authorizes, until 3 years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board, the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption if specified conditions are met, including that only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level, shall be removed, no new road construction or reconstruction shall occur, and the activities shall be conducted in those portions of 21 counties designated as the Sierra Nevada Region, as defined, in any part of 7 other counties, or in any combination of these areas. Existing law authorizes a registered professional forester in an emergency to file, on behalf of a timber owner or operator, a specified emergency notice with the department that allows for the immediate commencement of timber operations.
This bill would require the department and the board to review and submit a report to the Legislature, on or before December 31, 2017, on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of the above exemptions and emergency notice provisions and specified regulations. If the report is not submitted on or before that date, the bill would require specified legislative committees to hold a hearing to investigate why the report was not submitted. The bill would authorize the exemption Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption until January 1, 2023, and and, on January 1, 2018, or upon the submission of the report, whichever occurs first, would expand the exemption to instead permit the removal of trees less than 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level, allow the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads of 600 feet or less on slopes of 40 percent or less, and apply to activities anywhere within those 28 counties, or in any combination of those areas, as prescribed.
The Zberg-Nejedly Forest Practices Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, including the cutting or removal of trees in compliance with existing law relating to defensible space. In this regard, the act authorizes, until 3 years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board, the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption if specified conditions are met, including that only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level, shall be removed, no new road construction or reconstruction shall occur, and the activities shall be conducted in those portions of 21 counties designated as the Sierra Nevada Region, as defined, in any part of 7 other counties, or in any combination of these areas.
This bill would authorize the exemption until January 1, 2023, and would expand the exemption to instead permit the removal of trees less than 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level, allow the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads of 600 feet or less on slopes of 40 percent or less, and apply to activities anywhere within those 28 counties, or in any combination of these those areas, as prescribed.
The Zberg-Nejedly Forest Practices Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, including the cutting or removal of trees in compliance with existing law relating to defensible space. In this regard, the act authorizes, until 3 years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board, the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption if specified conditions are met, including that only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level level, shall be removed, no new road construction or reconstruction shall occur, and the activities shall be conducted in those portions of 21 counties designated as the Sierra Nevada Region, as defined, in any part of 7 other counties, or in any combination of these areas.
This bill would authorize the exemption until January 1, 2023, and would expand the exemption to instead permit the removal of trees less than 28 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level, allow the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads of 600 feet or less on slopes of 40 percent or less, and apply to activities anywhere within those 28 counties, or in any combination of these areas, as prescribed.
The Zberg-Nejedly Forest Practices Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, as precribed. including the cutting or removal of trees in compliance with existing law relating to defensible space. In this regard, the act authorizes, until 3 years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board, the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption if specified conditions are met, including that only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level shall be removed, no new road construction or reconstruction shall occur, and the activities shall be conducted in those portions of 21 counties designated as the Sierra Nevada Region, as defined, in any part of 7 other counties, or in any combination of these areas.
This bill would make various nonsubstantive changes in those provisions governing exemptions for forest management activities. authorize the exemption until January 1, 2023, and would expand the exemption to instead permit the removal of trees less than 28 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level, allow the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads of 600 feet or less, and apply to activities anywhere within those 28 counties, or in any combination of these areas, as prescribed.
The Zberg-Nejedly Forest Practices Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, as precribed.
This bill would make various nonsubstantive changes in those provisions governing exemptions for forest management activities.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(a)On October 20, 2015, Governor Brown issued a proclamation declaring a state of emergency relative to the tree mortality epidemic in California, characterized by all of the following conditions:
(1)The lack of precipitation over the last four years has made many regions of the state susceptible to epidemic infestations of native bark beetles that cause vast tree mortality, with the United States Forest Service estimating that over 22 million trees are dead and tens of millions more are likely to die by the end of 2016.
(2)Recent scientific measurements suggest that the scale of this tree die-off is unprecedented in modern history, and the die-off is of such a scale that it worsens wildfire risk across large regions of the state, presents safety risks for forested communities, and worsens the threat of erosion across watersheds.
(3)Wildfires release thousands of tons of greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants into the atmosphere.
(b)The thinning of forests is widely known to provide all of the following benefits:
(1)Reduced threat of wildfires by removing fuel from the forests as well as a reduced risk of canopy fire.
(2)Increased water storage by reducing the need for water in forests.
(3)Conditions that favor healthier, better maintained forests.
SEC. 2.Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:4584.Upon determining that this exemption is consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to any of the following:
(a)The cutting or removal of trees for the purpose of constructing or maintaining a right-of-way for utility lines.
(b)The planting, growing, nurturing, shaping, shearing, removal, or harvest of immature trees for Christmas trees or other ornamental purposes or minor forest products, including fuelwood.
(c)The cutting or removal of dead, dying, or diseased trees of any size.
(d)Site preparation.
(e)Maintenance of drainage facilities and soil stabilization treatments.
(f)Timber operations on land managed by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
(g)(1)The one-time conversion of less than three acres to a nontimber use. A person, whether acting as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, shall not obtain more than one exemption pursuant to this subdivision in a five-year period. If a partnership has as a member, or if a corporation or other legal entity has as an officer or employee, a person who has received this exemption within the past five years, whether as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, then that partnership, corporation, or other legal entity is not eligible for this exemption. Person, for purposes of this subdivision, means an individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity.
(2)(A)Notwithstanding Section 4554.5, the board shall adopt regulations that do all of the following:
(i)Identify the required documentation of a bona fide intent to complete the conversion that an applicant will need to submit in order to be eligible for the exemption in paragraph (1).
(ii)Authorize the department to inspect the sites approved in conversion applications that have been approved on or after January 1, 2002, in order to determine that the conversion was completed within the two-year period described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1104.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Require the exemption pursuant to this subdivision to expire if there is a change in timberland ownership. The person who originally submitted an application for an exemption pursuant to this subdivision shall notify the department of a change in timberland ownership on or before five calendar days after a change in ownership.
(iv)The board may adopt regulations allowing a waiver of the five-year limitation described in paragraph (1) upon finding that the imposition of the five-year limitation would impose an undue hardship on the applicant for the exemption. The board may adopt a process for an appeal of a denial of a waiver.
(B)The application form for the exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) shall prominently advise the public that a violation of the conversion exemption, including a conversion applied for in the name of someone other than the person or entity implementing the conversion in bona fide good faith, is a violation of this chapter and penalties may accrue up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 4601).
(h)An easement granted by a right-of-way construction agreement administered by the federal government if timber sales and operations within or affecting the area are reviewed and conducted pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.).
(i)(1)The cutting or removal of trees in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 150 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted structure that complies with the California Building Standards Code, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision. For purposes of this subdivision, an approved and legally permitted structure includes only structures that are designed for human occupancy, garages, barns, stables, and structures used to enclose fuel tanks.
(2)(A)The cutting or removal of trees pursuant to this subdivision is limited to cutting or removal that will result in a reduction in the rate of fire spread, fire duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of the tree crowns and shall be in accordance with any regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this section.
(B)Trees shall not be cut or removed pursuant to this subdivision by the clearcutting regeneration method, by the seed tree removal step of the seed tree regeneration method, or by the shelterwood removal step of the shelterwood regeneration method.
(3)(A)Surface fuels, including logging slash and debris, low brush, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire shall be chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations pursuant to this subdivision.
(B)(i)All surface fuels that are not chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations may be determined to be a nuisance and subject to abatement by the department or the city or county having jurisdiction.
(ii)The costs incurred by the department, city, or county, as the case may be, to abate the nuisance upon a parcel of land subject to the timber operations, including, but not limited to, investigation, boundary determination, measurement, and other related costs, may be recovered by special assessment and lien against the parcel of land by the department, city, or county. The assessment may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary ad valorem taxes, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as is provided for ad valorem taxes.
(4)All timber operations conducted pursuant to this subdivision shall conform to applicable city or county general plans, city or county implementing ordinances, and city or county zoning ordinances. This paragraph does not authorize the cutting, removal, or sale of timber or other solid wood forest products within an area where timber harvesting is prohibited or otherwise restricted pursuant to the rules or regulations adopted by the board.
(5)(A)The board shall adopt regulations, initially as emergency regulations in accordance with subparagraph (B), that the board considers necessary to implement and to obtain compliance with this subdivision.
(B)The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be adopted in accordance with 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 to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, or general welfare.
(6)(A)Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to the cutting or removal of trees on the persons property in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 300 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted habitable structure, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision and all of the following conditions are met:
(i)The notice of exemption is prepared, signed, and submitted by a registered professional forester to the department.
(ii)For the areas between 150 and 300 feet from the habitable structure, the operations meet all of the following provisions:
(I)The residual stocking standards are consistent with Sections 913.2, 933.2, and 953.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as appropriate.
(II)Activities within this area will increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand.
(III)The residual stand consists primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand, well distributed through the harvested area.
(IV)Postharvest slash treatment and stand conditions will lead to more moderate fire behavior in the professional judgment of the registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption.
(V)Any additional guidance for slash treatment and postharvest stand conditions and any other issues deemed necessary that are consistent with this section, as established by the board.
(B)For purposes of this paragraph, habitable structure means a building that contains one or more dwelling units or that can be occupied for residential use. Buildings occupied for residential use include single family homes, multidwelling structures, mobile and manufactured homes, and condominiums. For purposes of this paragraph habitable structure does not include commercial, industrial, or incidental buildings such as detached garages, barns, outdoor sanitation facilities, and sheds.
(C)The department shall evaluate the effects of this paragraph and shall report its recommendations, before the paragraph becomes inoperative, to the Legislature based on that evaluation. The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(D)The board shall adopt regulations to implement this paragraph no later than January 1, 2016.
(E)This paragraph shall become inoperative three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board pursuant to subparagraph (D) but no later than January 1, 2019.
(j)(1)The harvesting of trees, limited to those trees that eliminate the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns, for the purpose of reducing the rate of fire spread, duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of tree crowns.
(2)The board may authorize an exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) only if the tree harvesting will decrease fuel continuity and increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand, and the tree harvesting area will not exceed 300 acres.
(3)Except as provided in paragraph (11), the notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Exemption, may be authorized only if all of the conditions specified in paragraphs (4) to (10), inclusive, are met.
(4)A registered professional forester shall prepare the notice of exemption and submit it to the director, and include a map of the area of timber operations that complies with the requirements of paragraphs (1), (3), (4), and (7) to (12), inclusive, of subdivision (x) of Section 1034 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(5)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(B)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Stocking shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(C)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands.
(6)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice shall include selection criteria for the trees to be harvested or the trees to be retained. In the development of fuel reduction prescriptions, the registered professional forester should consider retaining habitat elements, where feasible, including, but not limited to, ground level cover necessary for the long-term management of local wildlife populations.
(B)All trees that are harvested or all trees that are retained shall be marked or sample marked by, or under the supervision of, a registered professional forester before felling operations begin. The board shall adopt regulations for sample marking for this section in Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Sample marking shall be limited to homogenous forest stand conditions typical of plantations.
(7)(A)The registered professional forester submitting the notice, upon submission of the notice, shall provide a confidential archaeology letter that includes all the information required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 929.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 929.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 949.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 949.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 969.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 969.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B)The director shall submit a complete copy of the confidential archaeological letter and two copies of all required archaeological or historical site records to the appropriate Information Center of the California Historical Resource Information System within 30 days from the date of notice submittal to the director. Before submitting the notice to the director, the registered professional forester shall send a copy of the notice to Native Americans, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(8)Only trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. However, within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure, or in an area prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency, if the goal of fuel reduction cannot be achieved by removing trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter may be removed if that removal complies with this section and is necessary to achieve the goal of fuel reduction. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(9)(A)This subparagraph applies to areas within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure and in areas prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency. The board shall adopt regulations for the treatment of surface and ladder fuels in the harvest area, including logging slash and debris, low brush, small trees, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire. The regulations adopted by the board shall be consistent with the standards in the boards General Guidelines for Creating Defensible Space described in Section 1299.03 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Postharvest standards shall include vertical spacing between fuels, horizontal spacing between fuels, maximum depth of dead ground surface fuels, and treatment of standing dead fuels, as follows:
(i)Ladder and surface fuels shall be spaced to achieve a vertical clearance distance of eight feet or three times the height of the postharvest fuels, whichever is the greater distance, measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the surface fuels.
(ii)Horizontal spacing shall achieve a minimum separation of two to six times the height of the postharvest fuels, increasing spacing with increasing slope, measured from the outside branch edges of the fuels.
(iii)Dead surface fuel depth shall be less than nine inches.
(iv)Standing dead or dying trees and brush generally shall be removed. That material, along with live vegetation associated with the dead vegetation, may be retained for wildlife habitat when isolated from other vegetation.
(B)This subparagraph applies to all areas not described in subparagraph (A).
(i)The postharvest stand shall not contain more than 200 trees over three inches in diameter per acre.
(ii)Vertical spacing shall be achieved by treating dead fuels to a minimum clearance distance of eight feet measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the dead surface fuels.
(iii)All logging slash created by the timber operations shall be treated to achieve a maximum postharvest depth of nine inches above the ground.
(C)The standards required by subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be achieved on approximately 80 percent of the treated area. The treatment shall include chipping, removing, or other methods necessary to achieve the standards. Ladder and surface fuel treatments, for any portion of the exemption area where timber operations have occurred, shall be done within 120 days from the start of timber operations on that portion of the exemption area or by April 1 of the year following surface fuel creation on that portion of the exemption area if the surface fuels are burned.
(10)Timber operations shall comply with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Timber operations in the Lake Tahoe region shall comply instead with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (16), inclusive, of subdivision (f) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(11)A notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption, may be authorized if all of the following conditions are met:
(A)The conditions specified in paragraphs (2), (4), (6), (7), and (10) are met.
(B)Only trees less than 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(C)(i)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(ii)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Where present prior to operations, the overstory canopy closure for trees greater than 12 inches in diameter at breast height shall not be reduced below 50 percent. Stocking shall be met with the largest trees available prior to harvest and shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(I)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(II)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(III)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands. The retained trees shall be the largest trees available prior to harvest.
(D)The activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur in Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, or Yuba Counties, or in any combination of these areas.
(E)All activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur within the most recent version of the departments Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map in the moderate, high, and very high fire threat zones.
(F)The department shall maintain records regarding the use of the exemption granted in this paragraph in order to evaluate the impact of the exemption on fuel reduction and natural resources in areas where the exemption has been used.
(G)The amendments made to this paragraph by the act that added this subparagraph during the 201516 Regular Legislative Session shall become operative on January 1, 2018, or when the report described in Section 4589 is submitted to the Legislature, whichever occurs first.
(H)This paragraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2021.
(12)After the timber operations are complete, the department shall conduct an onsite inspection to determine compliance with this subdivision and whether appropriate enforcement action should be initiated.
SEC. 3.Section 4584.1 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.SEC. 4.Section 4589 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:4589.(a)On or before December 31, 2017, the department and board shall review and submit a report to the Legislature on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of, the exemptions and emergency notice provisions described in Sections 4584 and 4592 of this code and Sections 1038 and 1052 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. The report shall also include recommendations to improve the use of those exemptions and emergency notice provisions.
(b)The Department of Fish and Wildlife, regional water quality control boards, and the public shall be provided opportunities to participate in the review and the development of the report.
(c)The report shall be submitted pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(d)If the report is not submitted to the Legislature on or before December 31, 2017, either the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Resources or the Senate Committee on Natural Resources shall hold a hearing in January 2018 to investigate why the report was not submitted.
(e)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends that date.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(a)On October 20, 2015, Governor Brown issued a proclamation declaring a state of emergency relative to the tree mortality epidemic in California, characterized by all of the following conditions:
(1)The lack of precipitation over the last four years has made many regions of the state susceptible to epidemic infestations of native bark beetles that cause vast tree mortality, with the United States Forest Service estimating that over 22 million trees are dead and tens of millions more are likely to die by the end of 2016.
(2)Recent scientific measurements suggest that the scale of this tree die-off is unprecedented in modern history, and the die-off is of such a scale that it worsens wildfire risk across large regions of the state, presents safety risks for forested communities, and worsens the threat of erosion across watersheds.
(3)Wildfires release thousands of tons of greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants into the atmosphere.
(b)The thinning of forests is widely known to provide all of the following benefits:
(1)Reduced threat of wildfires by removing fuel from the forests as well as a reduced risk of canopy fire.
(2)Increased water storage by reducing the need for water in forests.
(3)Conditions that favor healthier, better maintained forests.
SEC. 2.Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:4584.Upon determining that this exemption is consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to any of the following:
(a)The cutting or removal of trees for the purpose of constructing or maintaining a right-of-way for utility lines.
(b)The planting, growing, nurturing, shaping, shearing, removal, or harvest of immature trees for Christmas trees or other ornamental purposes or minor forest products, including fuelwood.
(c)The cutting or removal of dead, dying, or diseased trees of any size.
(d)Site preparation.
(e)Maintenance of drainage facilities and soil stabilization treatments.
(f)Timber operations on land managed by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
(g)(1)The one-time conversion of less than three acres to a nontimber use. A person, whether acting as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, shall not obtain more than one exemption pursuant to this subdivision in a five-year period. If a partnership has as a member, or if a corporation or other legal entity has as an officer or employee, a person who has received this exemption within the past five years, whether as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, then that partnership, corporation, or other legal entity is not eligible for this exemption. Person, for purposes of this subdivision, means an individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity.
(2)(A)Notwithstanding Section 4554.5, the board shall adopt regulations that do all of the following:
(i)Identify the required documentation of a bona fide intent to complete the conversion that an applicant will need to submit in order to be eligible for the exemption in paragraph (1).
(ii)Authorize the department to inspect the sites approved in conversion applications that have been approved on or after January 1, 2002, in order to determine that the conversion was completed within the two-year period described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1104.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Require the exemption pursuant to this subdivision to expire if there is a change in timberland ownership. The person who originally submitted an application for an exemption pursuant to this subdivision shall notify the department of a change in timberland ownership on or before five calendar days after a change in ownership.
(iv)The board may adopt regulations allowing a waiver of the five-year limitation described in paragraph (1) upon finding that the imposition of the five-year limitation would impose an undue hardship on the applicant for the exemption. The board may adopt a process for an appeal of a denial of a waiver.
(B)The application form for the exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) shall prominently advise the public that a violation of the conversion exemption, including a conversion applied for in the name of someone other than the person or entity implementing the conversion in bona fide good faith, is a violation of this chapter and penalties may accrue up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 4601).
(h)An easement granted by a right-of-way construction agreement administered by the federal government if timber sales and operations within or affecting the area are reviewed and conducted pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.).
(i)(1)The cutting or removal of trees in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 150 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted structure that complies with the California Building Standards Code, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision. For purposes of this subdivision, an approved and legally permitted structure includes only structures that are designed for human occupancy, garages, barns, stables, and structures used to enclose fuel tanks.
(2)(A)The cutting or removal of trees pursuant to this subdivision is limited to cutting or removal that will result in a reduction in the rate of fire spread, fire duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of the tree crowns and shall be in accordance with any regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this section.
(B)Trees shall not be cut or removed pursuant to this subdivision by the clearcutting regeneration method, by the seed tree removal step of the seed tree regeneration method, or by the shelterwood removal step of the shelterwood regeneration method.
(3)(A)Surface fuels, including logging slash and debris, low brush, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire shall be chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations pursuant to this subdivision.
(B)(i)All surface fuels that are not chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations may be determined to be a nuisance and subject to abatement by the department or the city or county having jurisdiction.
(ii)The costs incurred by the department, city, or county, as the case may be, to abate the nuisance upon a parcel of land subject to the timber operations, including, but not limited to, investigation, boundary determination, measurement, and other related costs, may be recovered by special assessment and lien against the parcel of land by the department, city, or county. The assessment may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary ad valorem taxes, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as is provided for ad valorem taxes.
(4)All timber operations conducted pursuant to this subdivision shall conform to applicable city or county general plans, city or county implementing ordinances, and city or county zoning ordinances. This paragraph does not authorize the cutting, removal, or sale of timber or other solid wood forest products within an area where timber harvesting is prohibited or otherwise restricted pursuant to the rules or regulations adopted by the board.
(5)(A)The board shall adopt regulations, initially as emergency regulations in accordance with subparagraph (B), that the board considers necessary to implement and to obtain compliance with this subdivision.
(B)The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be adopted in accordance with 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 to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, or general welfare.
(6)(A)Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to the cutting or removal of trees on the persons property in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 300 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted habitable structure, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision and all of the following conditions are met:
(i)The notice of exemption is prepared, signed, and submitted by a registered professional forester to the department.
(ii)For the areas between 150 and 300 feet from the habitable structure, the operations meet all of the following provisions:
(I)The residual stocking standards are consistent with Sections 913.2, 933.2, and 953.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as appropriate.
(II)Activities within this area will increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand.
(III)The residual stand consists primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand, well distributed through the harvested area.
(IV)Postharvest slash treatment and stand conditions will lead to more moderate fire behavior in the professional judgment of the registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption.
(V)Any additional guidance for slash treatment and postharvest stand conditions and any other issues deemed necessary that are consistent with this section, as established by the board.
(B)For purposes of this paragraph, habitable structure means a building that contains one or more dwelling units or that can be occupied for residential use. Buildings occupied for residential use include single family homes, multidwelling structures, mobile and manufactured homes, and condominiums. For purposes of this paragraph habitable structure does not include commercial, industrial, or incidental buildings such as detached garages, barns, outdoor sanitation facilities, and sheds.
(C)The department shall evaluate the effects of this paragraph and shall report its recommendations, before the paragraph becomes inoperative, to the Legislature based on that evaluation. The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(D)The board shall adopt regulations to implement this paragraph no later than January 1, 2016.
(E)This paragraph shall become inoperative three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board pursuant to subparagraph (D) but no later than January 1, 2019.
(j)(1)The harvesting of trees, limited to those trees that eliminate the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns, for the purpose of reducing the rate of fire spread, duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of tree crowns.
(2)The board may authorize an exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) only if the tree harvesting will decrease fuel continuity and increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand, and the tree harvesting area will not exceed 300 acres.
(3)Except as provided in paragraph (11), the notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Exemption, may be authorized only if all of the conditions specified in paragraphs (4) to (10), inclusive, are met.
(4)A registered professional forester shall prepare the notice of exemption and submit it to the director, and include a map of the area of timber operations that complies with the requirements of paragraphs (1), (3), (4), and (7) to (12), inclusive, of subdivision (x) of Section 1034 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(5)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(B)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Stocking shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(C)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands.
(6)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice shall include selection criteria for the trees to be harvested or the trees to be retained. In the development of fuel reduction prescriptions, the registered professional forester should consider retaining habitat elements, where feasible, including, but not limited to, ground level cover necessary for the long-term management of local wildlife populations.
(B)All trees that are harvested or all trees that are retained shall be marked or sample marked by, or under the supervision of, a registered professional forester before felling operations begin. The board shall adopt regulations for sample marking for this section in Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Sample marking shall be limited to homogenous forest stand conditions typical of plantations.
(7)(A)The registered professional forester submitting the notice, upon submission of the notice, shall provide a confidential archaeology letter that includes all the information required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 929.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 929.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 949.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 949.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 969.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 969.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B)The director shall submit a complete copy of the confidential archaeological letter and two copies of all required archaeological or historical site records to the appropriate Information Center of the California Historical Resource Information System within 30 days from the date of notice submittal to the director. Before submitting the notice to the director, the registered professional forester shall send a copy of the notice to Native Americans, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(8)Only trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. However, within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure, or in an area prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency, if the goal of fuel reduction cannot be achieved by removing trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter may be removed if that removal complies with this section and is necessary to achieve the goal of fuel reduction. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(9)(A)This subparagraph applies to areas within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure and in areas prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency. The board shall adopt regulations for the treatment of surface and ladder fuels in the harvest area, including logging slash and debris, low brush, small trees, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire. The regulations adopted by the board shall be consistent with the standards in the boards General Guidelines for Creating Defensible Space described in Section 1299.03 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Postharvest standards shall include vertical spacing between fuels, horizontal spacing between fuels, maximum depth of dead ground surface fuels, and treatment of standing dead fuels, as follows:
(i)Ladder and surface fuels shall be spaced to achieve a vertical clearance distance of eight feet or three times the height of the postharvest fuels, whichever is the greater distance, measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the surface fuels.
(ii)Horizontal spacing shall achieve a minimum separation of two to six times the height of the postharvest fuels, increasing spacing with increasing slope, measured from the outside branch edges of the fuels.
(iii)Dead surface fuel depth shall be less than nine inches.
(iv)Standing dead or dying trees and brush generally shall be removed. That material, along with live vegetation associated with the dead vegetation, may be retained for wildlife habitat when isolated from other vegetation.
(B)This subparagraph applies to all areas not described in subparagraph (A).
(i)The postharvest stand shall not contain more than 200 trees over three inches in diameter per acre.
(ii)Vertical spacing shall be achieved by treating dead fuels to a minimum clearance distance of eight feet measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the dead surface fuels.
(iii)All logging slash created by the timber operations shall be treated to achieve a maximum postharvest depth of nine inches above the ground.
(C)The standards required by subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be achieved on approximately 80 percent of the treated area. The treatment shall include chipping, removing, or other methods necessary to achieve the standards. Ladder and surface fuel treatments, for any portion of the exemption area where timber operations have occurred, shall be done within 120 days from the start of timber operations on that portion of the exemption area or by April 1 of the year following surface fuel creation on that portion of the exemption area if the surface fuels are burned.
(10)Timber operations shall comply with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Timber operations in the Lake Tahoe region shall comply instead with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (16), inclusive, of subdivision (f) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(11)A notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption, may be authorized if all of the following conditions are met:
(A)The conditions specified in paragraphs (2), (4), (6), (7), and (10) are met.
(B)Only trees less than 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(C)(i)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(ii)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Where present prior to operations, the overstory canopy closure for trees greater than 12 inches in diameter at breast height shall not be reduced below 50 percent. Stocking shall be met with the largest trees available prior to harvest and shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(I)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(II)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(III)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands. The retained trees shall be the largest trees available prior to harvest.
(D)The activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur in Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, or Yuba Counties, or in any combination of these areas.
(E)All activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur within the most recent version of the departments Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map in the moderate, high, and very high fire threat zones.
(F)The department shall maintain records regarding the use of the exemption granted in this paragraph in order to evaluate the impact of the exemption on fuel reduction and natural resources in areas where the exemption has been used.
(G)The amendments made to this paragraph by the act that added this subparagraph during the 201516 Regular Legislative Session shall become operative on January 1, 2018, or when the report described in Section 4589 is submitted to the Legislature, whichever occurs first.
(H)This paragraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2021.
(12)After the timber operations are complete, the department shall conduct an onsite inspection to determine compliance with this subdivision and whether appropriate enforcement action should be initiated.
SEC. 3.Section 4584.1 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.SEC. 4.Section 4589 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:4589.(a)On or before December 31, 2017, the department and board shall review and submit a report to the Legislature on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of, the exemptions and emergency notice provisions described in Sections 4584 and 4592 of this code and Sections 1038 and 1052 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. The report shall also include recommendations to improve the use of those exemptions and emergency notice provisions.
(b)The Department of Fish and Wildlife, regional water quality control boards, and the public shall be provided opportunities to participate in the review and the development of the report.
(c)The report shall be submitted pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(d)If the report is not submitted to the Legislature on or before December 31, 2017, either the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Resources or the Senate Committee on Natural Resources shall hold a hearing in January 2018 to investigate why the report was not submitted.
(e)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends that date.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(a)On October 20, 2015, Governor Brown issued a proclamation declaring a state of emergency relative to the tree mortality epidemic in California, characterized by all of the following conditions:
(1)The lack of precipitation over the last four years has made many regions of the state susceptible to epidemic infestations of native bark beetles that cause vast tree mortality, with the United States Forest Service estimating that over 22 million trees are dead and tens of millions more are likely to die by the end of 2016.
(2)Recent scientific measurements suggest that the scale of this tree die-off is unprecedented in modern history, and the die-off is of such a scale that it worsens wildfire risk across large regions of the state, presents safety risks for forested communities, and worsens the threat of erosion across watersheds.
(3)Wildfires release thousands of tons of greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants into the atmosphere.
(b)The thinning of forests is widely known to provide all of the following benefits:
(1)Reduced threat of wildfires by removing fuel from the forests as well as a reduced risk of canopy fire.
(2)Increased water storage by reducing the need for water in forests.
(3)Conditions that favor healthier, better maintained forests.
SEC. 2.Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:4584.Upon determining that this exemption is consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to any of the following:
(a)The cutting or removal of trees for the purpose of constructing or maintaining a right-of-way for utility lines.
(b)The planting, growing, nurturing, shaping, shearing, removal, or harvest of immature trees for Christmas trees or other ornamental purposes or minor forest products, including fuelwood.
(c)The cutting or removal of dead, dying, or diseased trees of any size.
(d)Site preparation.
(e)Maintenance of drainage facilities and soil stabilization treatments.
(f)Timber operations on land managed by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
(g)(1)The one-time conversion of less than three acres to a nontimber use. A person, whether acting as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, shall not obtain more than one exemption pursuant to this subdivision in a five-year period. If a partnership has as a member, or if a corporation or other legal entity has as an officer or employee, a person who has received this exemption within the past five years, whether as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, then that partnership, corporation, or other legal entity is not eligible for this exemption. Person, for purposes of this subdivision, means an individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity.
(2)(A)Notwithstanding Section 4554.5, the board shall adopt regulations that do all of the following:
(i)Identify the required documentation of a bona fide intent to complete the conversion that an applicant will need to submit in order to be eligible for the exemption in paragraph (1).
(ii)Authorize the department to inspect the sites approved in conversion applications that have been approved on or after January 1, 2002, in order to determine that the conversion was completed within the two-year period described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1104.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Require the exemption pursuant to this subdivision to expire if there is a change in timberland ownership. The person who originally submitted an application for an exemption pursuant to this subdivision shall notify the department of a change in timberland ownership on or before five calendar days after a change in ownership.
(iv)The board may adopt regulations allowing a waiver of the five-year limitation described in paragraph (1) upon finding that the imposition of the five-year limitation would impose an undue hardship on the applicant for the exemption. The board may adopt a process for an appeal of a denial of a waiver.
(B)The application form for the exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) shall prominently advise the public that a violation of the conversion exemption, including a conversion applied for in the name of someone other than the person or entity implementing the conversion in bona fide good faith, is a violation of this chapter and penalties may accrue up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 4601).
(h)Easements An easement granted by a right-of-way construction agreement administered by the federal government if timber sales and operations within or affecting these areas the area are reviewed and conducted pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.).
(i)(1)The cutting or removal of trees in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 150 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted structure that complies with the California Building Standards Code, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision. For purposes of this subdivision, an approved and legally permitted structure includes only structures that are designed for human occupancy, garages, barns, stables, and structures used to enclose fuel tanks.
(2)(A)The cutting or removal of trees pursuant to this subdivision is limited to cutting or removal that will result in a reduction in the rate of fire spread, fire duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of the tree crowns and shall be in accordance with any regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this section.
(B)Trees shall not be cut or removed pursuant to this subdivision by the clearcutting regeneration method, by the seed tree removal step of the seed tree regeneration method, or by the shelterwood removal step of the shelterwood regeneration method.
(3)(A)Surface fuels, including logging slash and debris, low brush, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire shall be chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations pursuant to this subdivision.
(B)(i)All surface fuels that are not chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations may be determined to be a nuisance and subject to abatement by the department or the city or county having jurisdiction.
(ii)The costs incurred by the department, city, or county, as the case may be, to abate the nuisance upon a parcel of land subject to the timber operations, including, but not limited to, investigation, boundary determination, measurement, and other related costs, may be recovered by special assessment and lien against the parcel of land by the department, city, or county. The assessment may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary ad valorem taxes, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as is provided for ad valorem taxes.
(4)All timber operations conducted pursuant to this subdivision shall conform to applicable city or county general plans, city or county implementing ordinances, and city or county zoning ordinances. This paragraph does not authorize the cutting, removal, or sale of timber or other solid wood forest products within an area where timber harvesting is prohibited or otherwise restricted pursuant to the rules or regulations adopted by the board.
(5)(A)The board shall adopt regulations, initially as emergency regulations in accordance with subparagraph (B), that the board considers necessary to implement and to obtain compliance with this subdivision.
(B)The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be adopted in accordance with 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 to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, or general welfare.
(6)(A)Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to the cutting or removal of trees on the persons property in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 300 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted habitable structure, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision and all of the following conditions are met:
(i)The notice of exemption is prepared, signed, and submitted by a registered professional forester to the department.
(ii)For the areas between 150 and 300 feet from the habitable structure, the operations meet all of the following provisions:
(I)The residual stocking standards are consistent with Sections 913.2, 933.2, and 953.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as appropriate.
(II)Activities within this area will increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand.
(III)The residual stand consists primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand, well distributed through the harvested area.
(IV)Postharvest slash treatment and stand conditions will lead to more moderate fire behavior in the professional judgment of the registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption.
(V)Any additional guidance for slash treatment and postharvest stand conditions and any other issues deemed necessary that are consistent with this section, as established by the board.
(B)For purposes of this paragraph, habitable structure means a building that contains one or more dwelling units or that can be occupied for residential use. Buildings occupied for residential use include single family homes, multidwelling structures, mobile and manufactured homes, and condominiums. For purposes of this paragraph habitable structure does not include commercial, industrial, or incidental buildings such as detached garages, barns, outdoor sanitation facilities, and sheds.
(C)The department shall evaluate the effects of this paragraph and shall report its recommendations, before the paragraph becomes inoperative, to the Legislature based on that evaluation. The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(D)The board shall adopt regulations to implement this paragraph no later than January 1, 2016.
(E)This paragraph shall become inoperative three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board pursuant to subparagraph (D) but no later than January 1, 2019.
(j)(1)The harvesting of trees, limited to those trees that eliminate the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns, for the purpose of reducing the rate of fire spread, duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of tree crowns.
(2)The board may authorize an exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) only if the tree harvesting will decrease fuel continuity and increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand, and the tree harvesting area will not exceed 300 acres.
(3)Except as provided in paragraph (11), the notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Exemption, may be authorized only if all of the conditions specified in paragraphs (4) to (10), inclusive, are met.
(4)A registered professional forester shall prepare the notice of exemption and submit it to the director, and include a map of the area of timber operations that complies with the requirements of paragraphs (1), (3), (4), and (7) to (12), inclusive, of subdivision (x) of Section 1034 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(5)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(B)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Stocking shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(C)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands.
(6)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice shall include selection criteria for the trees to be harvested or the trees to be retained. In the development of fuel reduction prescriptions, the registered professional forester should consider retaining habitat elements, where feasible, including, but not limited to, ground level cover necessary for the long-term management of local wildlife populations.
(B)All trees that are harvested or all trees that are retained shall be marked or sample marked by by, or under the supervision of of, a registered professional forester before felling operations begin. The board shall adopt regulations for sample marking for this section in Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Sample marking shall be limited to homogenous forest stand conditions typical of plantations.
(7)(A)The registered professional forester submitting the notice, upon submission of the notice, shall provide a confidential archaeology letter that includes all the information required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 929.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 929.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 949.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 949.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 969.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 969.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B)The director shall submit a complete copy of the confidential archaeological letter and two copies of all required archaeological or historical site records to the appropriate Information Center of the California Historical Resource Information System within 30 days from the date of notice submittal to the director. Before submitting the notice to the director, the registered professional forester shall send a copy of the notice to Native Americans, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(8)Only trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. However, within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure, or in an area prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency, if the goal of fuel reduction cannot be achieved by removing trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter may be removed if that removal complies with this section and is necessary to achieve the goal of fuel reduction. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(9)(A)This subparagraph applies to areas within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure and in areas prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency. The board shall adopt regulations for the treatment of surface and ladder fuels in the harvest area, including logging slash and debris, low brush, small trees, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire. The regulations adopted by the board shall be consistent with the standards in the boards General Guidelines for Creating Defensible Space described in Section 1299.03 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Postharvest standards shall include vertical spacing between fuels, horizontal spacing between fuels, maximum depth of dead ground surface fuels, and treatment of standing dead fuels, as follows:
(i)Ladder and surface fuels shall be spaced to achieve a vertical clearance distance of eight feet or three times the height of the postharvest fuels, whichever is the greater distance, measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the surface fuels.
(ii)Horizontal spacing shall achieve a minimum separation of two to six times the height of the postharvest fuels, increasing spacing with increasing slope, measured from the outside branch edges of the fuels.
(iii)Dead surface fuel depth shall be less than nine inches.
(iv)Standing dead or dying trees and brush generally shall be removed. That material, along with live vegetation associated with the dead vegetation, may be retained for wildlife habitat when isolated from other vegetation.
(B)This subparagraph applies to all areas not described in subparagraph (A).
(i)The postharvest stand shall not contain more than 200 trees over three inches in diameter per acre.
(ii)Vertical spacing shall be achieved by treating dead fuels to a minimum clearance distance of eight feet measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the dead surface fuels.
(iii)All logging slash created by the timber operations shall be treated to achieve a maximum postharvest depth of nine inches above the ground.
(C)The standards required by subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be achieved on approximately 80 percent of the treated area. The treatment shall include chipping, removing, or other methods necessary to achieve the standards. Ladder and surface fuel treatments, for any portion of the exemption area where timber operations have occurred, shall be done within 120 days from the start of timber operations on that portion of the exemption area or by April 1 of the year following surface fuel creation on that portion of the exemption area if the surface fuels are burned.
(10)Timber operations shall comply with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Timber operations in the Lake Tahoe region shall comply instead with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (16), inclusive, of subdivision (f) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(11)A notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption, may be authorized if all of the following conditions are met:
(A)The conditions specified in paragraphs (2), (4), (6), (7), and (10) are met, except that, notwithstanding paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads of 600 feet or less on slopes of 40 percent or less shall be allowed. met.
(B)Only trees less than 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(C)(i)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(ii)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Where present prior to operations, the overstory canopy closure for trees greater than 12 inches in diameter at breast height shall not be reduced below 50 percent. Stocking shall be met with the largest trees available prior to harvest and shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(I)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(II)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(III)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands. The retained trees shall be the largest trees available prior to harvest.
(D)The activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur in Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, or Yuba Counties, or in any combination of these areas.
(E)All activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur within the most recent version of the departments Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map in the moderate, high, and very high fire threat zones.
(F)The department shall maintain records regarding the use of the exemption granted in this paragraph in order to evaluate the impact of the exemption on fuel reduction and natural resources in areas where the exemption has been used.
(G)The amendments made to this paragraph by the act that added this subparagraph during the 201516 Regular Legislative Session shall become operative on January 1, 2018, or when the report described in Section 4589 is submitted to the Legislature, whichever occurs first.
(H)This paragraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2023. 2021.
(12)After the timber operations are complete, the department shall conduct an onsite inspection to determine compliance with this subdivision and whether appropriate enforcement action should be initiated.
SEC. 3.Section 4584.1 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.SEC. 4.Section 4589 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:4589.(a)On or before December 31, 2017, the department and board shall review and submit a report to the Legislature on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of of, the exemptions and emergency notice provisions described in Sections 4584 and 4592 of this code and Sections 1038 and 1052 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. The report shall also include recommendations to improve the use of those exemptions and emergency notice provisions.
(b)The Department of Fish and Wildlife, regional water quality control boards, and the public shall be provided opportunities to participate in the review and the development of the report.
(c)The report shall be submitted pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(d)If the report is not submitted to the Legislature on or before December 31, 2017, either the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Resources or the Senate Committee on Natural Resources shall hold a hearing in January 2018 to investigate why the report was not submitted.
(e)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends that date.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(a)On October 20, 2015, Governor Brown issued a proclamation declaring a state of emergency relative to the tree mortality epidemic in California, characterized by all of the following conditions:
(1)The lack of precipitation over the last four years has made many regions of the state susceptible to epidemic infestations of native bark beetles that cause vast tree mortality, with the United States Forest Service estimating that over 22 million trees are dead and tens of millions more are likely to die by the end of 2016.
(2)Recent scientific measurements suggest that the scale of this tree die-off is unprecedented in modern history, and the die-off is of such a scale that it worsens wildfire risk across large regions of the state, presents safety risks for forested communities, and worsens the threat of erosion across watersheds.
(3)Wildfires release thousands of tons of greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants into the atmosphere.
(b)The thinning of forests is widely known to provide all of the following benefits:
(1)Reduced threat of wildfires by removing fuel from the forests as well as a reduced risk of canopy fire.
(2)Increased water storage by reducing the need for water in forests.
(3)Conditions that favor healthier, better maintained forests.
SEC. 2.Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:4584.Upon determining that this exemption is consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to any of the following:
(a)The cutting or removal of trees for the purpose of constructing or maintaining a right-of-way for utility lines.
(b)The planting, growing, nurturing, shaping, shearing, removal, or harvest of immature trees for Christmas trees or other ornamental purposes or minor forest products, including fuelwood.
(c)The cutting or removal of dead, dying, or diseased trees of any size.
(d)Site preparation.
(e)Maintenance of drainage facilities and soil stabilization treatments.
(f)Timber operations on land managed by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
(g)(1)The one-time conversion of less than three acres to a nontimber use. A person, whether acting as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, shall not obtain more than one exemption pursuant to this subdivision in a five-year period. If a partnership has as a member, or if a corporation or other legal entity has as an officer or employee, a person who has received this exemption within the past five years, whether as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, then that partnership, corporation, or other legal entity is not eligible for this exemption. Person, for purposes of this subdivision, means an individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity.
(2)(A)Notwithstanding Section 4554.5, the board shall adopt regulations that do all of the following:
(i)Identify the required documentation of a bona fide intent to complete the conversion that an applicant will need to submit in order to be eligible for the exemption in paragraph (1).
(ii)Authorize the department to inspect the sites approved in conversion applications that have been approved on or after January 1, 2002, in order to determine that the conversion was completed within the two-year period described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1104.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Require the exemption pursuant to this subdivision to expire if there is a change in timberland ownership. The person who originally submitted an application for an exemption pursuant to this subdivision shall notify the department of a change in timberland ownership on or before five calendar days after a change in ownership.
(iv)The board may adopt regulations allowing a waiver of the five-year limitation described in paragraph (1) upon finding that the imposition of the five-year limitation would impose an undue hardship on the applicant for the exemption. The board may adopt a process for an appeal of a denial of a waiver.
(B)The application form for the exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) shall prominently advise the public that a violation of the conversion exemption, including a conversion applied for in the name of someone other than the person or entity implementing the conversion in bona fide good faith, is a violation of this chapter and penalties may accrue up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 4601).
(h)Easements granted by a right-of-way construction agreement administered by the federal government if timber sales and operations within or affecting these areas are reviewed and conducted pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.).
(i)(1)The cutting or removal of trees in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 150 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted structure that complies with the California Building Standards Code, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision. For purposes of this subdivision, an approved and legally permitted structure includes only structures that are designed for human occupancy, garages, barns, stables, and structures used to enclose fuel tanks.
(2)(A)The cutting or removal of trees pursuant to this subdivision is limited to cutting or removal that will result in a reduction in the rate of fire spread, fire duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of the tree crowns and shall be in accordance with any regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this section.
(B)Trees shall not be cut or removed pursuant to this subdivision by the clearcutting regeneration method, by the seed tree removal step of the seed tree regeneration method, or by the shelterwood removal step of the shelterwood regeneration method.
(3)(A)Surface fuels, including logging slash and debris, low brush, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire shall be chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations pursuant to this subdivision.
(B)(i)All surface fuels that are not chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations may be determined to be a nuisance and subject to abatement by the department or the city or county having jurisdiction.
(ii)The costs incurred by the department, city, or county, as the case may be, to abate the nuisance upon a parcel of land subject to the timber operations, including, but not limited to, investigation, boundary determination, measurement, and other related costs, may be recovered by special assessment and lien against the parcel of land by the department, city, or county. The assessment may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary ad valorem taxes, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as is provided for ad valorem taxes.
(4)All timber operations conducted pursuant to this subdivision shall conform to applicable city or county general plans, city or county implementing ordinances, and city or county zoning ordinances. This paragraph does not authorize the cutting, removal, or sale of timber or other solid wood forest products within an area where timber harvesting is prohibited or otherwise restricted pursuant to the rules or regulations adopted by the board.
(5)(A)The board shall adopt regulations, initially as emergency regulations in accordance with subparagraph (B), that the board considers necessary to implement and to obtain compliance with this subdivision.
(B)The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be adopted in accordance with 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 to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, or general welfare.
(6)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to the cutting or removal of trees on the persons property in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 300 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted habitable structure, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision and all of the following conditions are met:
(i)The notice of exemption is prepared, signed, and submitted by a registered professional forester to the department.
(ii)For the areas between 150 and 300 feet from the habitable structure, the operations meet all of the following provisions:
(I)The residual stocking standards are consistent with Sections 913.2, 933.2, and 953.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as appropriate.
(II)Activities within this area will increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand.
(III)The residual stand consists primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand, well distributed through the harvested area.
(IV)Postharvest slash treatment and stand conditions will lead to more moderate fire behavior in the professional judgment of the registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption.
(V)Any additional guidance for slash treatment and postharvest stand conditions and any other issues deemed necessary that are consistent with this section, as established by the board.
(B)For purposes of this paragraph, habitable structure means a building that contains one or more dwelling units or that can be occupied for residential use. Buildings occupied for residential use include single family homes, multidwelling structures, mobile and manufactured homes, and condominiums. For purposes of this paragraph habitable structure does not include commercial, industrial, or incidental buildings such as detached garages, barns, outdoor sanitation facilities, and sheds.
(C)The department shall evaluate the effects of this paragraph and shall report its recommendations, before the paragraph becomes inoperative, to the Legislature based on that evaluation. The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(D)The board shall adopt regulations to implement this paragraph no later than January 1, 2016.
(E)This paragraph shall become inoperative three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board pursuant to subparagraph (D) but no later than January 1, 2019.
(j)(1)The harvesting of trees, limited to those trees that eliminate the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns, for the purpose of reducing the rate of fire spread, duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of tree crowns.
(2)The board may authorize an exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) only if the tree harvesting will decrease fuel continuity and increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand, and the tree harvesting area will not exceed 300 acres.
(3)Except as provided in paragraph (11), the notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Exemption, may be authorized only if all of the conditions specified in paragraphs (4) to (10), inclusive, are met.
(4)A registered professional forester shall prepare the notice of exemption and submit it to the director, and include a map of the area of timber operations that complies with the requirements of paragraphs (1), (3), (4), and (7) to (12), inclusive, of subdivision (x) of Section 1034 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(5)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(B)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Stocking shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(C)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands.
(6)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice shall include selection criteria for the trees to be harvested or the trees to be retained. In the development of fuel reduction prescriptions, the registered professional forester should consider retaining habitat elements, where feasible, including, but not limited to, ground level cover necessary for the long-term management of local wildlife populations.
(B)All trees that are harvested or all trees that are retained shall be marked or sample marked by or under the supervision of a registered professional forester before felling operations begin. The board shall adopt regulations for sample marking for this section in Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Sample marking shall be limited to homogenous forest stand conditions typical of plantations.
(7)(A)The registered professional forester submitting the notice, upon submission of the notice, shall provide a confidential archaeology letter that includes all the information required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 929.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 929.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 949.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 949.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 969.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 969.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B)The director shall submit a complete copy of the confidential archaeological letter and two copies of all required archaeological or historical site records to the appropriate Information Center of the California Historical Resource Information System within 30 days from the date of notice submittal to the director. Before submitting the notice to the director, the registered professional forester shall send a copy of the notice to Native Americans, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(8)Only trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. However, within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure, or in an area prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency, if the goal of fuel reduction cannot be achieved by removing trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter may be removed if that removal complies with this section and is necessary to achieve the goal of fuel reduction. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(9)(A)This subparagraph applies to areas within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure and in areas prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency. The board shall adopt regulations for the treatment of surface and ladder fuels in the harvest area, including logging slash and debris, low brush, small trees, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire. The regulations adopted by the board shall be consistent with the standards in the boards General Guidelines for Creating Defensible Space described in Section 1299.03 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Postharvest standards shall include vertical spacing between fuels, horizontal spacing between fuels, maximum depth of dead ground surface fuels, and treatment of standing dead fuels, as follows:
(i)Ladder and surface fuels shall be spaced to achieve a vertical clearance distance of eight feet or three times the height of the postharvest fuels, whichever is the greater distance, measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the surface fuels.
(ii)Horizontal spacing shall achieve a minimum separation of two to six times the height of the postharvest fuels, increasing spacing with increasing slope, measured from the outside branch edges of the fuels.
(iii)Dead surface fuel depth shall be less than nine inches.
(iv)Standing dead or dying trees and brush generally shall be removed. That material, along with live vegetation associated with the dead vegetation, may be retained for wildlife habitat when isolated from other vegetation.
(B)This subparagraph applies to all areas not described in subparagraph (A).
(i)The postharvest stand shall not contain more than 200 trees over three inches in diameter per acre.
(ii)Vertical spacing shall be achieved by treating dead fuels to a minimum clearance distance of eight feet measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the dead surface fuels.
(iii)All logging slash created by the timber operations shall be treated to achieve a maximum postharvest depth of nine inches above the ground.
(C)The standards required by subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be achieved on approximately 80 percent of the treated area. The treatment shall include chipping, removing, or other methods necessary to achieve the standards. Ladder and surface fuel treatments, for any portion of the exemption area where timber operations have occurred, shall be done within 120 days from the start of timber operations on that portion of the exemption area or by April 1 of the year following surface fuel creation on that portion of the exemption area if the surface fuels are burned.
(10)Timber operations shall comply with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Timber operations in the Lake Tahoe region shall comply instead with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (16), inclusive, of subdivision (f) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(11)A notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption, may be authorized if all of the following conditions are met:
(A)The conditions specified in paragraphs (2), (4), (6), (7), and (10) are met, except that, notwithstanding paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads of 600 feet or less on slopes of 40 percent or less shall be allowed.
(B)Only trees less than 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(C)(i)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(ii)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Where present prior to operations, the overstory canopy closure for trees greater than 12 inches in diameter at breast height shall not be reduced below 50 percent. Stocking shall be met with the largest trees available prior to harvest and shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(I)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(II)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(III)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands. The retained trees shall be the largest trees available prior to harvest.
(D)The activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur in Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, or Yuba Counties, or in any combination of these areas.
(E)All activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur within the most recent version of the departments Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map in the moderate, high, and very high fire threat zones.
(F)The department shall maintain records regarding the use of the exemption granted in this paragraph in order to evaluate the impact of the exemption on fuel reduction and natural resources in areas where the exemption has been used.
(G)The amendments made to this paragraph by the act that added this subparagraph during the 201516 Regular Legislative Session shall become operative on January 1, 2018, or when the report described in Section 4589 is submitted to the Legislature, whichever occurs first.
(G)
(H)This paragraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2023.
(12)After the timber operations are complete, the department shall conduct an onsite inspection to determine compliance with this subdivision and whether appropriate enforcement action should be initiated.
SEC. 3.Section 4584.1 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.SEC. 4.Section 4589 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:4589.(a)On or before December 31, 2017, the department and board shall review and submit a report to the Legislature on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of the exemptions and emergency notice provisions described in Sections 4584 and 4592 of this code and Sections 1038 and 1052 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. The report shall also include recommendations to improve the use of those exemptions and emergency notice provisions.
(b)The Department of Fish and Wildlife, regional water quality control boards, and the public shall be provided opportunities to participate in the review and the development of the report.
(c)The report shall be submitted pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(d)If the report is not submitted to the Legislature on or before December 31, 2017, either the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Resources or the Senate Committee on Natural Resources shall hold a hearing in January 2018 to investigate why the report was not submitted.
(e)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2019, deletes or extends that date.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(a)On October 20, 2015, the Governor Brown issued a proclamation declaring a state of emergency relative to the tree mortality epidemic in California, characterized by all of the following conditions:
(1)The lack of precipitation over the last four years has made many regions of the state susceptible to epidemic infestations of native bark beetles that cause vast tree mortality, with the United States Forest Service estimating that over 22 million trees are dead and tens of millions more are likely to die by the end of 2016.
(2)Recent scientific measurements suggest that the scale of this tree die-off is unprecedented in modern history, and the die-off is of such a scale that it worsens wildfire risk across large regions of the state, presents safety risks for forested communities, and worsens the threat of erosion across watersheds.
(3)Wildfires release thousands of tons of greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants into the atmosphere.
(b)The thinning of forests is widely known to provide all of the following benefits:
(1)Reduced threat of wildfires by removing fuel from the forests as well as a reduced risk of canopy fire.
(2)Increased water storage by reducing the need for water in forests.
(3)Conditions that favor healthier, better maintained forests.
SEC. 2.Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:4584.Upon determining that this exemption is consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to any of the following:
(a)The cutting or removal of trees for the purpose of constructing or maintaining a right-of-way for utility lines.
(b)The planting, growing, nurturing, shaping, shearing, removal, or harvest of immature trees for Christmas trees or other ornamental purposes or minor forest products, including fuelwood.
(c)The cutting or removal of dead, dying, or diseased trees of any size.
(d)Site preparation.
(e)Maintenance of drainage facilities and soil stabilization treatments.
(f)Timber operations on land managed by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
(g)(1)The one-time conversion of less than three acres to a nontimber use. A person, whether acting as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, shall not obtain more than one exemption pursuant to this subdivision in a five-year period. If a partnership has as a member, or if a corporation or other legal entity has as an officer or employee, a person who has received this exemption within the past five years, whether as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, then that partnership, corporation, or other legal entity is not eligible for this exemption. Person, for purposes of this subdivision, means an individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity.
(2)(A)Notwithstanding Section 4554.5, the board shall adopt regulations that do all of the following:
(i)Identify the required documentation of a bona fide intent to complete the conversion that an applicant will need to submit in order to be eligible for the exemption in paragraph (1).
(ii)Authorize the department to inspect the sites approved in conversion applications that have been approved on or after January 1, 2002, in order to determine that the conversion was completed within the two-year period described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1104.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Require the exemption pursuant to this subdivision to expire if there is a change in timberland ownership. The person who originally submitted an application for an exemption pursuant to this subdivision shall notify the department of a change in timberland ownership on or before five calendar days after a change in ownership.
(iv)The board may adopt regulations allowing a waiver of the five-year limitation described in paragraph (1) upon finding that the imposition of the five-year limitation would impose an undue hardship on the applicant for the exemption. The board may adopt a process for an appeal of a denial of a waiver.
(B)The application form for the exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) shall prominently advise the public that a violation of the conversion exemption, including a conversion applied for in the name of someone other than the person or entity implementing the conversion in bona fide good faith, is a violation of this chapter and penalties may accrue up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 4601).
(h)Easements granted by a right-of-way construction agreement administered by the federal government if timber sales and operations within or affecting these areas are reviewed and conducted pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.).
(i)(1)The cutting or removal of trees in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 150 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted structure that complies with the California Building Standards Code, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision. For purposes of this subdivision, an approved and legally permitted structure includes only structures that are designed for human occupancy and occupancy, garages, barns, stables, and structures used to enclose fuel tanks.
(2)(A)The cutting or removal of trees pursuant to this subdivision is limited to cutting or removal that will result in a reduction in the rate of fire spread, fire duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of the tree crowns and shall be in accordance with any regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this section.
(B)Trees shall not be cut or removed pursuant to this subdivision by the clearcutting regeneration method, by the seed tree removal step of the seed tree regeneration method, or by the shelterwood removal step of the shelterwood regeneration method.
(3)(A)Surface fuels, including logging slash and debris, low brush, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire shall be chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations pursuant to this subdivision.
(B)(i)All surface fuels that are not chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations may be determined to be a nuisance and subject to abatement by the department or the city or county having jurisdiction.
(ii)The costs incurred by the department, city, or county, as the case may be, to abate the nuisance upon a parcel of land subject to the timber operations, including, but not limited to, investigation, boundary determination, measurement, and other related costs, may be recovered by special assessment and lien against the parcel of land by the department, city, or county. The assessment may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary ad valorem taxes, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as is provided for ad valorem taxes.
(4)All timber operations conducted pursuant to this subdivision shall conform to applicable city or county general plans, city or county implementing ordinances, and city or county zoning ordinances. This paragraph does not authorize the cutting, removal, or sale of timber or other solid wood forest products within an area where timber harvesting is prohibited or otherwise restricted pursuant to the rules or regulations adopted by the board.
(5)(A)The board shall adopt regulations, initially as emergency regulations in accordance with subparagraph (B), that the board considers necessary to implement and to obtain compliance with this subdivision.
(B)The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be adopted in accordance with 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 to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, or general welfare.
(6)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to the cutting or removal of trees on the persons property in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 300 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted habitable structure, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision and all of the following conditions are met:
(i)The notice of exemption is prepared, signed, and submitted by a registered professional forester to the department.
(ii)For the areas between 150 and 300 feet from the habitable structure, the operations meet all of the following provisions:
(I)The residual stocking standards are consistent with Sections 913.2, 933.2, and 953.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as appropriate.
(II)Activities within this area will increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand.
(III)The residual stand consists primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand, well distributed through the harvested area.
(IV)Postharvest slash treatment and stand conditions will lead to more moderate fire behavior in the professional judgment of the registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption.
(V)Any additional guidance for slash treatment and postharvest stand conditions and any other issues deemed necessary that are consistent with this section, as established by the board.
(B)For purposes of this paragraph, habitable structure means a building that contains one or more dwelling units or that can be occupied for residential use. Buildings occupied for residential use include single family homes, multidwelling structures, mobile and manufactured homes, and condominiums. For purposes of this paragraph habitable structure does not include commercial, industrial, or incidental buildings such as detached garages, barns, outdoor sanitation facilities, and sheds.
(C)The department shall evaluate the effects of this paragraph and shall report its recommendations, before the paragraph becomes inoperative, to the Legislature based on that evaluation. The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(D)The board shall adopt regulations to implement this paragraph no later than January 1, 2016.
(E)This paragraph shall become inoperative three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board pursuant to subparagraph (D) but no later than January 1, 2019.
(j)(1)The harvesting of trees, limited to those trees that eliminate the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns, for the purpose of reducing the rate of fire spread, duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of tree crowns.
(2)The board may authorize an exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) only if the tree harvesting will decrease fuel continuity and increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand, and the tree harvesting area will not exceed 300 acres.
(3)Except as provided in paragraph (11), the notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Exemption, may be authorized only if all of the conditions specified in paragraphs (4) to (10), inclusive, are met.
(4)A registered professional forester shall prepare the notice of exemption and submit it to the director, and include a map of the area of timber operations that complies with the requirements of paragraphs (1), (3), (4), and (7) to (12), inclusive, of subdivision (x) of Section 1034 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(5)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(B)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Stocking shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(C)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands.
(6)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice shall include selection criteria for the trees to be harvested or the trees to be retained. In the development of fuel reduction prescriptions, the registered professional forester should consider retaining habitat elements, where feasible, including, but not limited to, ground level cover necessary for the long-term management of local wildlife populations.
(B)All trees that are harvested or all trees that are retained shall be marked or sample marked by or under the supervision of a registered professional forester before felling operations begin. The board shall adopt regulations for sample marking for this section in Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Sample marking shall be limited to homogenous forest stand conditions typical of plantations.
(7)(A)The registered professional forester submitting the notice, upon submission of the notice, shall provide a confidential archaeology letter that includes all the information required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 929.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 929.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 949.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 949.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 969.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 969.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B)The director shall submit a complete copy of the confidential archaeological letter and two copies of all required archaeological or historical site records to the appropriate Information Center of the California Historical Resource Information System within 30 days from the date of notice submittal to the director. Before submitting the notice to the director, the registered professional forester shall send a copy of the notice to Native Americans, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(8)Only trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. However, within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure, or in an area prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency, if the goal of fuel reduction cannot be achieved by removing trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter may be removed if that removal complies with this section and is necessary to achieve the goal of fuel reduction. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(9)(A)This subparagraph applies to areas within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure and in areas prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency. The board shall adopt regulations for the treatment of surface and ladder fuels in the harvest area, including logging slash and debris, low brush, small trees, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire. The regulations adopted by the board shall be consistent with the standards in the boards General Guidelines for Creating Defensible Space described in Section 1299.03 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Postharvest standards shall include vertical spacing between fuels, horizontal spacing between fuels, maximum depth of dead ground surface fuels, and treatment of standing dead fuels, as follows:
(i)Ladder and surface fuels shall be spaced to achieve a vertical clearance distance of eight feet or three times the height of the postharvest fuels, whichever is the greater distance, measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the surface fuels.
(ii)Horizontal spacing shall achieve a minimum separation of two to six times the height of the postharvest fuels, increasing spacing with increasing slope, measured from the outside branch edges of the fuels.
(iii)Dead surface fuel depth shall be less than nine inches.
(iv)Standing dead or dying trees and brush generally shall be removed. That material, along with live vegetation associated with the dead vegetation, may be retained for wildlife habitat when isolated from other vegetation.
(B)This subparagraph applies to all areas not described in subparagraph (A).
(i)The postharvest stand shall not contain more than 200 trees over three inches in diameter per acre.
(ii)Vertical spacing shall be achieved by treating dead fuels to a minimum clearance distance of eight feet measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the dead surface fuels.
(iii)All logging slash created by the timber operations shall be treated to achieve a maximum postharvest depth of nine inches above the ground.
(C)The standards required by subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be achieved on approximately 80 percent of the treated area. The treatment shall include chipping, removing, or other methods necessary to achieve the standards. Ladder and surface fuel treatments, for any portion of the exemption area where timber operations have occurred, shall be done within 120 days from the start of timber operations on that portion of the exemption area or by April 1 of the year following surface fuel creation on that portion of the exemption area if the surface fuels are burned.
(10)Timber operations shall comply with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Timber operations in the Lake Tahoe region shall comply instead with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (16), inclusive, of subdivision (f) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(11)A notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption, may be authorized if all of the following conditions are met:
(A)The conditions specified in paragraphs (2), (4), (6), (7), and (10) are met, except that, notwithstanding paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads of 600 feet or less on slopes of 40 percent or less shall be allowed.
(B)Only trees less than 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(C)(i)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(ii)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Where present prior to operations, the overstory canopy closure for trees greater than 12 inches in diameter at breast height shall not be reduced below 50 percent. Stocking shall be met with the largest trees available prior to harvest and shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(I)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(II)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(III)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands. The retained trees shall be the largest trees available prior to harvest.
(D)The activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur in Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, or Yuba Counties, or in any combination of these areas.
(E)All activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur within the most recent version of the departments Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map in the moderate, high, and very high fire threat zones.
(F)The department shall maintain records regarding the use of the exemption granted in this paragraph in order to evaluate the impact of the exemption on fuel reduction and natural resources in areas where the exemption has been used.
(G)This paragraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2023.
(12)After the timber operations are complete, the department shall conduct an onsite inspection to determine compliance with this subdivision and whether appropriate enforcement action should be initiated.
SEC. 3.Section 4584.1 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(a)On October 20, 2015, the Governor issued a proclamation declaring a state of emergency relative to the tree mortality epidemic in California, characterized by all of the following conditions:
(1)The lack of precipitation over the last four years has made many regions of the state susceptible to epidemic infestations of native bark beetles that cause vast tree mortality, with the United States Forest Service estimating that over 22 million trees are dead and tens of millions more are likely to die by the end of 2016.
(2)Recent scientific measurements suggest that the scale of this tree die-off is unprecedented in modern history, and the die-off is of such a scale that it worsens wildfire risk across large regions of the state, presents safety risks for forested communities, and worsens the threat of erosion across watersheds.
(3)Wildfires release thousands of tons of greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants into the atmosphere.
(b)The thinning of forests is widely known to provide all of the following benefits:
(1)Reduced threat of wildfires by removing fuel from the forests as well as a reduced risk of canopy fire.
(2)Increased water storage by reducing the need for water in forests.
(3)Conditions that favor healthier, better maintained forests.
SEC. 2.Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:4584.Upon determining that this exemption is consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to any of the following:
(a)The cutting or removal of trees for the purpose of constructing or maintaining a right-of-way for utility lines.
(b)The planting, growing, nurturing, shaping, shearing, removal, or harvest of immature trees for Christmas trees or other ornamental purposes or minor forest products, including fuelwood.
(c)The cutting or removal of dead, dying, or diseased trees of any size.
(d)Site preparation.
(e)Maintenance of drainage facilities and soil stabilization treatments.
(f)Timber operations on land managed by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
(g)(1)The one-time conversion of less than three acres to a nontimber use. A person, whether acting as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, shall not obtain more than one exemption pursuant to this subdivision in a five-year period. If a partnership has as a member, or if a corporation or other legal entity has as an officer or employee, a person who has received this exemption within the past five years, whether as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, then that partnership, corporation, or other legal entity is not eligible for this exemption. Person, for purposes of this subdivision, means an individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity.
(2)(A)Notwithstanding Section 4554.5, the board shall adopt regulations that do all of the following:
(i)Identify the required documentation of a bona fide intent to complete the conversion that an applicant will need to submit in order to be eligible for the exemption in paragraph (1).
(ii)Authorize the department to inspect the sites approved in conversion applications that have been approved on or after January 1, 2002, in order to determine that the conversion was completed within the two-year period described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1104.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Require the exemption pursuant to this subdivision to expire if there is a change in timberland ownership. The person who originally submitted an application for an exemption pursuant to this subdivision shall notify the department of a change in timberland ownership on or before five calendar days after a change in ownership.
(iv)The board may adopt regulations allowing a waiver of the five-year limitation described in paragraph (1) upon finding that the imposition of the five-year limitation would impose an undue hardship on the applicant for the exemption. The board may adopt a process for an appeal of a denial of a waiver.
(B)The application form for the exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) shall prominently advise the public that a violation of the conversion exemption, including a conversion applied for in the name of someone other than the person or entity implementing the conversion in bona fide good faith, is a violation of this chapter and penalties may accrue up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 4601).
(h)Easements granted by a right-of-way construction agreement administered by the federal government if timber sales and operations within or affecting these areas are reviewed and conducted pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.).
(i)(1)The cutting or removal of trees in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 150 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted structure that complies with the California Building Standards Code, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision. For purposes of this subdivision, an approved and legally permitted structure includes only structures that are designed for human occupancy and garages, barns, stables, and structures used to enclose fuel tanks.
(2)(A)The cutting or removal of trees pursuant to this subdivision is limited to cutting or removal that will result in a reduction in the rate of fire spread, fire duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of the tree crowns and shall be in accordance with any regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this section.
(B)Trees shall not be cut or removed pursuant to this subdivision by the clearcutting regeneration method, by the seed tree removal step of the seed tree regeneration method, or by the shelterwood removal step of the shelterwood regeneration method.
(3)(A)Surface fuels, including logging slash and debris, low brush, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire shall be chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations pursuant to this subdivision.
(B)(i)All surface fuels that are not chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations may be determined to be a nuisance and subject to abatement by the department or the city or county having jurisdiction.
(ii)The costs incurred by the department, city, or county, as the case may be, to abate the nuisance upon a parcel of land subject to the timber operations, including, but not limited to, investigation, boundary determination, measurement, and other related costs, may be recovered by special assessment and lien against the parcel of land by the department, city, or county. The assessment may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary ad valorem taxes, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as is provided for ad valorem taxes.
(4)All timber operations conducted pursuant to this subdivision shall conform to applicable city or county general plans, city or county implementing ordinances, and city or county zoning ordinances. This paragraph does not authorize the cutting, removal, or sale of timber or other solid wood forest products within an area where timber harvesting is prohibited or otherwise restricted pursuant to the rules or regulations adopted by the board.
(5)(A)The board shall adopt regulations, initially as emergency regulations in accordance with subparagraph (B), that the board considers necessary to implement and to obtain compliance with this subdivision.
(B)The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be adopted in accordance with 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 to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, or general welfare.
(6)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to the cutting or removal of trees on the persons property in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 300 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted habitable structure, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision and all of the following conditions are met:
(i)The notice of exemption is prepared, signed, and submitted by a registered professional forester to the department.
(ii)For the areas between 150 and 300 feet from the habitable structure, the operations meet all of the following provisions:
(I)The residual stocking standards are consistent with Sections 913.2, 933.2, and 953.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as appropriate.
(II)Activities within this area will increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand.
(III)The residual stand consists primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand, well distributed though through the harvested area.
(IV)Postharvest slash treatment and stand conditions will lead to more moderate fire behavior in the professional judgment of the registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption.
(V)Any additional guidance for slash treatment and postharvest stand conditions and any other issues deemed necessary that are consistent with this section, as established by the board.
(B)For purposes of this paragraph, habitable structure means a building that contains one or more dwelling units or that can be occupied for residential use. Buildings occupied for residential use include single family homes, multidwelling structures, mobile and manufactured homes, and condominiums. For purposes of this paragraph habitable structure does not include commercial, industrial, or incidental buildings such as detached garages, barns, outdoor sanitation facilities, and sheds.
(C)The department shall evaluate the effects of this paragraph and shall report its recommendations, before the paragraph becomes inoperative, to the Legislature based on that evaluation. The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(D)The board shall adopt regulations to implement this paragraph no later than January 1, 2016.
(E)This paragraph shall become inoperative three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board pursuant to subparagraph (D) but no later than January 1, 2019.
(j)(1)The harvesting of trees, limited to those trees that eliminate the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns, for the purpose of reducing the rate of fire spread, duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of tree crowns.
(2)The board may authorize an exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) only if the tree harvesting will decrease fuel continuity and increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand, and the tree harvesting area will not exceed 300 acres.
(3)Except as provided in paragraph (11), the notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Exemption, may be authorized only if all of the conditions specified in paragraphs (4) to (10), inclusive, are met.
(4)A registered professional forester shall prepare the notice of exemption and submit it to the director, and include a map of the area of timber operations that complies with the requirements of paragraphs (1), (3), (4), and (7) to (12), inclusive, of subdivision (x) of Section 1034 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(5)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(B)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Stocking shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(C)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands.
(6)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice shall include selection criteria for the trees to be harvested or the trees to be retained. In the development of fuel reduction prescriptions, the registered professional forester should consider retaining habitat elements, where feasible, including, but not limited to, ground level cover necessary for the long-term management of local wildlife populations.
(B)All trees that are harvested or all trees that are retained shall be marked or sample marked by or under the supervision of a registered professional forester before felling operations begin. The board shall adopt regulations for sample marking for this section in Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Sample marking shall be limited to homogenous forest stand conditions typical of plantations.
(7)(A)The registered professional forester submitting the notice, upon submission of the notice, shall provide a confidential archaeology letter that includes all the information required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 929.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 929.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 949.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 949.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 969.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 969.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B)The director shall submit a complete copy of the confidential archaeological letter and two copies of all required archaeological or historical site records to the appropriate Information Center of the California Historical Resource Information System within 30 days from the date of notice submittal to the director. Before submitting the notice to the director, the registered professional forester shall send a copy of the notice to Native Americans, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(8)Only trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. However, within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure, or in an area prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency, if the goal of fuel reduction cannot be achieved by removing trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter may be removed if that removal complies with this section and is necessary to achieve the goal of fuel reduction. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(9)(A)This subparagraph applies to areas within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure and in areas prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency. The board shall adopt regulations for the treatment of surface and ladder fuels in the harvest area, including logging slash and debris, low brush, small trees, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire. The regulations adopted by the board shall be consistent with the standards in the boards General Guidelines for Creating Defensible Space described in Section 1299.03 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Postharvest standards shall include vertical spacing between fuels, horizontal spacing between fuels, maximum depth of dead ground surface fuels, and treatment of standing dead fuels, as follows:
(i)Ladder and surface fuels shall be spaced to achieve a vertical clearance distance of eight feet or three times the height of the postharvest fuels, whichever is the greater distance, measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the surface fuels.
(ii)Horizontal spacing shall achieve a minimum separation of two to six times the height of the postharvest fuels, increasing spacing with increasing slope, measured from the outside branch edges of the fuels.
(iii)Dead surface fuel depth shall be less than nine inches.
(iv)Standing dead or dying trees and brush generally shall be removed. That material, along with live vegetation associated with the dead vegetation, may be retained for wildlife habitat when isolated from other vegetation.
(B)This subparagraph applies to all areas not described in subparagraph (A).
(i)The postharvest stand shall not contain more than 200 trees over three inches in diameter per acre.
(ii)Vertical spacing shall be achieved by treating dead fuels to a minimum clearance distance of eight feet measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the dead surface fuels.
(iii)All logging slash created by the timber operations shall be treated to achieve a maximum postharvest depth of nine inches above the ground.
(C)The standards required by subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be achieved on approximately 80 percent of the treated area. The treatment shall include chipping, removing, or other methods necessary to achieve the standards. Ladder and surface fuel treatments, for any portion of the exemption area where timber operations have occurred, shall be done within 120 days from the start of timber operations on that portion of the exemption area or by April 1 of the year following surface fuel creation on that portion of the exemption area if the surface fuels are burned.
(10)Timber operations shall comply with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Timber operations in the Lake Tahoe region shall comply instead with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (16), inclusive, of subdivision (f) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(11)A notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption, may be authorized if all of the following conditions are met:
(A)The conditions specified in paragraphs (2), (4), (6), (7), and (10) are met, except that, notwithstanding paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads of 600 feet or less on slopes of 40 percent or less shall be allowed.
(B)Only trees less than 28 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(C)(i)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(ii)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Where present prior to operations, the overstory canopy closure for trees greater than 12 inches in diameter at breast height shall not be reduced below 50 percent. Stocking shall be met with the largest trees available prior to harvest and shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(I)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(II)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(III)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands. The retained trees shall be the largest trees available prior to harvest.
(D)The activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur in Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, or Yuba Counties, or in any combination of these areas.
(E)All activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur within the most recent version of the departments Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map in the moderate, high, and very high fire threat zones.
(F)The department shall maintain records regarding the use of the exemption granted in this paragraph in order to evaluate the impact of the exemption on fuel reduction and natural resources in areas where the exemption has been used.
(G)This paragraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2023.
(12)After the timber operations are complete, the department shall conduct an onsite inspection to determine compliance with this subdivision and whether appropriate enforcement action should be initiated.
SEC. 3.Section 4584.1 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:
(a)On October 20, 2015, the Governor issued a proclamation declaring a state of emergency relative to the tree mortality epidemic in California, characterized by all of the following conditions:
(1)The lack of precipitation over the last four years has made many regions of the state susceptible to epidemic infestations of native bark beetles that cause vast tree mortality, with the United States Forest Service estimating that over 22 million trees are dead and tens of millions more are likely to die by the end of 2016.
(2)Recent scientific measurements suggest that the scale of this tree die-off is unprecedented in modern history, and the die-off is of such a scale that it worsens wildfire risk across large regions of the state, presents safety risks for forested communities, and worsens the threat of erosion across watersheds.
(3)Wildfires release thousands of tons of greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful pollutants into the atmosphere.
(b)The thinning of forests is widely known to provide all of the following benefits:
(1)Reduced threat of wildfires by removing fuel from the forests as well as a reduced risk of canopy fire.
(2)Increased water storage by reducing the need for water in forests.
(3)Conditions that favor healthier, better maintained forests.
SECTION 1.SEC. 2.Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:4584.Upon determining that this exemption is consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to any of the following:
(a)The cutting or removal of trees for the purpose of constructing or maintaining a right-of-way for utility lines.
(b)The planting, growing, nurturing, shaping, shearing, removal, or harvest of immature trees for Christmas trees or other ornamental purposes or minor forest products, including fuelwood.
(c)The cutting or removal of dead, dying, or diseased trees of any size.
(d)Site preparation.
(e)Maintenance of drainage facilities and soil stabilization treatments.
(f)Timber operations on land managed by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
(g)(1)The one-time conversion of less than three acres to a nontimber use. A person, whether acting as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, shall not obtain more than one exemption pursuant to this subdivision in a five-year period. If a partnership has as a member, or if a corporation or other legal entity has as an officer or employee, a person who has received this exemption within the past five years, whether as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, then that partnership, corporation, or other legal entity is not eligible for this exemption. Person, for purposes of this subdivision, means an individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity.
(2)(A)Notwithstanding Section 4554.5, the board shall adopt regulations that do all of the following:
(i)Identify the required documentation of a bona fide intent to complete the conversion that an applicant will need to submit in order to be eligible for the exemption in paragraph (1).
(ii)Authorize the department to inspect the sites approved in conversion applications that have been approved on or after January 1, 2002, in order to determine that the conversion was completed within the two-year period described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1104.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Require the exemption pursuant to this subdivision to expire if there is a change in timberland ownership. The person who originally submitted an application for an exemption pursuant to this subdivision shall notify the department of a change in timberland ownership on or before five calendar days after a change in ownership.
(iv)The board may adopt regulations allowing a waiver of the five-year limitation described in paragraph (1) upon finding that the imposition of the five-year limitation would impose an undue hardship on the applicant for the exemption. The board may adopt a process for an appeal of a denial of a waiver.
(B)The application form for the exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) shall prominently advise the public that a violation of the conversion exemption, including a conversion applied for in the name of someone other than the person or entity implementing the conversion in bona fide good faith, is a violation of this chapter and penalties may accrue up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 4601).
(h)Easements granted by a right-of-way construction agreement administered by the federal government if timber sales and operations within or affecting these areas are reviewed and conducted pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.).
(i)(1)The cutting or removal of trees in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 150 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted structure that complies with the California Building Standards Code, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision. For purposes of this subdivision, an approved and legally permitted structure includes only structures that are designed for human occupancy and garages, barns, stables, and structures used to enclose fuel tanks.
(2)(A)The cutting or removal of trees pursuant to this subdivision is limited to cutting or removal that will result in a reduction in the rate of fire spread, fire duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of the tree crowns and shall be in accordance with any regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this section.
(B)Trees shall not be cut or removed pursuant to this subdivision by the clearcutting regeneration method, by the seed tree removal step of the seed tree regeneration method, or by the shelterwood removal step of the shelterwood regeneration method.
(3)(A)Surface fuels, including logging slash and debris, low brush, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire shall be chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations pursuant to this subdivision.
(B)(i)All surface fuels that are not chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations may be determined to be a nuisance and subject to abatement by the department or the city or county having jurisdiction.
(ii)The costs incurred by the department, city, or county, as the case may be, to abate the nuisance upon a parcel of land subject to the timber operations, including, but not limited to, investigation, boundary determination, measurement, and other related costs, may be recovered by special assessment and lien against the parcel of land by the department, city, or county. The assessment may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary ad valorem taxes, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as is provided for ad valorem taxes.
(4)All timber operations conducted pursuant to this subdivision shall conform to applicable city or county general plans, city or county implementing ordinances, and city or county zoning ordinances. This paragraph does not authorize the cutting, removal, or sale of timber or other solid wood forest products within an area where timber harvesting is prohibited or otherwise restricted pursuant to the rules or regulations adopted by the board.
(5)(A)The board shall adopt regulations, initially as emergency regulations in accordance with subparagraph (B), that the board considers necessary to implement and to obtain compliance with this subdivision.
(B)The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be adopted in accordance with 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 to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, or general welfare.
(6)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to the cutting or removal of trees on the persons property in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 300 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted habitable structure, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision and all of the following conditions are met:
(i)The notice of exemption is prepared, signed, and submitted by a registered professional forester to the department.
(ii)For the areas between 150 and 300 feet from the habitable structure, the operations meet all of the following provisions:
(I)The residual stocking standards are consistent with Sections 913.2, 933.2, and 953.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as appropriate.
(II)Activities within this area will increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand.
(III)The residual stand consists primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand, well distributed though the harvested area.
(IV)Postharvest slash treatment and stand conditions will lead to more moderate fire behavior in the professional judgment of the registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption.
(V)Any additional guidance for slash treatment and postharvest stand conditions and any other issues deemed necessary that are consistent with this section, as established by the board.
(B)For purposes of this paragraph, habitable structure means a building that contains one or more dwelling units or that can be occupied for residential use. Buildings occupied for residential use include single family homes, multidwelling structures, mobile and manufactured homes, and condominiums. For purposes of this paragraph habitable structure does not include commercial, industrial, or incidental buildings such as detached garages, barns, outdoor sanitation facilities, and sheds.
(C)The department shall evaluate the effects of this paragraph and shall report its recommendations, before the paragraph becomes inoperative, to the Legislature based on that evaluation. The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(D)The board shall adopt regulations to implement this paragraph no later than January 1, 2016.
(E)This paragraph shall become inoperative three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board pursuant to subparagraph (D) but no later than January 1, 2019.
(j)(1)The harvesting of trees, limited to those trees that eliminate the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns, for the purpose of reducing the rate of fire spread, duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of tree crowns.
(2)The board may authorize an exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) only if the tree harvesting will decrease fuel continuity and increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand, and the tree harvesting area will not exceed 300 acres.
(3)Except as provided in paragraph (11), the notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Exemption, may be authorized only if all of the conditions specified in paragraphs (4) to (10), inclusive, are met.
(4)A registered professional forester shall prepare the notice of exemption and submit it to the director, and include a map of the area of timber operations that complies with the requirements of paragraphs (1), (3), (4), and (7) to (12), inclusive, of subdivision (x) of Section 1034 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(5)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(B)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Stocking shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(C)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands.
(6)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice shall include selection criteria for the trees to be harvested or the trees to be retained. In the development of fuel reduction prescriptions, the registered professional forester should consider retaining habitat elements, where feasible, including, but not limited to, ground level cover necessary for the long-term management of local wildlife populations.
(B)All trees that are harvested or all trees that are retained shall be marked or sample marked by or under the supervision of a registered professional forester before felling operations begin. The board shall adopt regulations for sample marking for this section in Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Sample marking shall be limited to homogenous forest stand conditions typical of plantations.
(7)(A)The registered professional forester submitting the notice, upon submission of the notice, shall provide a confidential archaeology letter that includes all the information required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 929.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 929.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 949.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 949.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 969.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 969.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B)The director shall submit a complete copy of the confidential archaeological letter and two copies of all required archaeological or historical site records to the appropriate Information Center of the California Historical Resource Information System within 30 days from the date of notice submittal to the director. Before submitting the notice to the director, the registered professional forester shall send a copy of the notice to Native Americans, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(8)Only trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. However, within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure, or in an area prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency, if the goal of fuel reduction cannot be achieved by removing trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter may be removed if that removal complies with this section and is necessary to achieve the goal of fuel reduction. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(9)(A)This subparagraph applies to areas within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure and in areas prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency. The board shall adopt regulations for the treatment of surface and ladder fuels in the harvest area, including logging slash and debris, low brush, small trees, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire. The regulations adopted by the board shall be consistent with the standards in the boards General Guidelines for Creating Defensible Space described in Section 1299.03 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Postharvest standards shall include vertical spacing between fuels, horizontal spacing between fuels, maximum depth of dead ground surface fuels, and treatment of standing dead fuels, as follows:
(i)Ladder and surface fuels shall be spaced to achieve a vertical clearance distance of eight feet or three times the height of the postharvest fuels, whichever is the greater distance, measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the surface fuels.
(ii)Horizontal spacing shall achieve a minimum separation of two to six times the height of the postharvest fuels, increasing spacing with increasing slope, measured from the outside branch edges of the fuels.
(iii)Dead surface fuel depth shall be less than nine inches.
(iv)Standing dead or dying trees and brush generally shall be removed. That material, along with live vegetation associated with the dead vegetation, may be retained for wildlife habitat when isolated from other vegetation.
(B)This subparagraph applies to all areas not described in subparagraph (A).
(i)The postharvest stand shall not contain more than 200 trees over three inches in diameter per acre.
(ii)Vertical spacing shall be achieved by treating dead fuels to a minimum clearance distance of eight feet measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the dead surface fuels.
(iii)All logging slash created by the timber operations shall be treated to achieve a maximum postharvest depth of nine inches above the ground.
(C)The standards required by subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be achieved on approximately 80 percent of the treated area. The treatment shall include chipping, removing, or other methods necessary to achieve the standards. Ladder and surface fuel treatments, for any portion of the exemption area where timber operations have occurred, shall be done within 120 days from the start of timber operations on that portion of the exemption area or by April 1 of the year following surface fuel creation on that portion of the exemption area if the surface fuels are burned.
(10)Timber operations shall comply with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Timber operations in the Lake Tahoe region shall comply instead with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (16), inclusive, of subdivision (f) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(11)A notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption, may be authorized if all of the following conditions are met:
(A)The conditions specified in paragraphs (2), (4), (6), (7), and (10) are met. met, except that, notwithstanding paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads of 600 feet or less shall be allowed.
(B)Only trees less than 24 28 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(C)(i)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(ii)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Where present prior to operations, the overstory canopy closure for trees greater than 12 inches in diameter at breast height shall not be reduced below 50 percent. Stocking shall be met with the largest trees available prior to harvest and shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(I)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(II)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(III)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands. The retained trees shall be the largest trees available prior to harvest.
(D)The activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur in the Sierra Nevada Region as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 33302, in Modoc, Siskiyou, or Trinity Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, or Yuba Counties, or in any combination of these areas.
(E)All activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur within the most recent version of the departments Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map in the moderate, high, and very high fire threat zones.
(F)The department shall maintain records regarding the use of the exemption granted in this paragraph in order to evaluate the impact of the exemption on fuel reduction and natural resources in areas where the exemption has been used.
(G)This paragraph shall become inoperative three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board implementingthis paragraph. on January 1, 2023.
(12)After the timber operations are complete, the department shall conduct an onsite inspection to determine compliance with this subdivision and whether appropriate enforcement action should be initiated.
SEC. 3.Section 4584.1 of the Public Resources Code is repealed.4584.1.(a)In addition to the areas listed in subparagraph (D) of paragraph (11) of subdivision (j) of Section 4584, the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption may be authorized for activities conducted in the County of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, or Sonoma, or in any combination of these areas or the areas listed in subparagraph (D) of paragraph (11) of subdivision (j) of Section 4584, if all other conditions for a Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption are met.
(b)The board may adopt emergency regulations in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code for the purposes of implementing this section.
Upon determining that this exemption is consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to any of the following:
(a)The cutting or removal of trees for the purpose of constructing or maintaining a right-of-way for utility lines.
(b)The planting, growing, nurturing, shaping, shearing, removal, or harvest of immature trees for Christmas trees or other ornamental purposes or minor forest products, including fuelwood.
(c)The cutting or removal of dead, dying, or diseased trees of any size.
(d)Site preparation.
(e)Maintenance of drainage facilities and soil stabilization treatments.
(f)Timber operations on land managed by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
(g)(1)The one-time conversion of less than three acres to a nontimber use. A person, whether acting as an individual or individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, shall not obtain more than one exemption pursuant to this subdivision in a five-year period. If a partnership has as a member, or if a corporation or other legal entity has as an officer or employee, a person who has received this exemption within the past five years, whether as an individual or individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, then that partnership, corporation, or other legal entity is not eligible for this exemption. Person, for purposes of this subdivision, means an individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity.
(2)(A)Notwithstanding Section 4554.5, the board shall adopt regulations that do all of the following:
(i)Identify the required documentation of a bona fide intent to complete the conversion that an applicant will need to submit in order to be eligible for the exemption in paragraph (1).
(ii)Authorize the department to inspect the sites approved in conversion applications that have been approved on or after January 1, 2002, in order to determine that the conversion was completed within the two-year period described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1104.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Require the exemption pursuant to this subdivision to expire if there is a change in timberland ownership. The person who originally submitted an application for an exemption pursuant to this subdivision shall notify the department of a change in timberland ownership on or before five calendar days after a change in ownership.
(iv)The board may adopt regulations allowing a waiver of the five-year limitation described in paragraph (1) upon finding that the imposition of the five-year limitation would impose an undue hardship on the applicant for the exemption. The board may adopt a process for an appeal of a denial of a waiver.
(B)The application form for the exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) shall prominently advise the public that a violation of the conversion exemption, including a conversion applied for in the name of someone other than the person or entity implementing the conversion in bona fide good faith, is a violation of this chapter and penalties may accrue up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 4601).
(h)Easements granted by a right-of-way construction agreement administered by the federal government if timber sales and operations within or affecting these areas are reviewed and conducted pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.).
(i)(1)The cutting or removal of trees in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 150 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted structure that complies with the California Building Standards Code, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision. For purposes of this subdivision, an approved and legally permitted structure includes only structures that are designed for human occupancy and garages, barns, stables, and structures used to enclose fuel tanks.
(2)(A)The cutting or removal of trees pursuant to this subdivision is limited to cutting or removal that will result in a reduction in the rate of fire spread, fire duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of the tree crowns and shall be in accordance with any regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this section.
(B)Trees shall not be cut or removed pursuant to this subdivision by the clearcutting regeneration method, by the seed tree removal step of the seed tree regeneration method, or by the shelterwood removal step of the shelterwood regeneration method.
(3)(A)Surface fuels, including logging slash and debris, low brush, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire shall be chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations pursuant to this subdivision.
(B)(i)All surface fuels that are not chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations may be determined to be a nuisance and subject to abatement by the department or the city or county having jurisdiction.
(ii)The costs incurred by the department, city, or county, as the case may be, to abate the nuisance upon a parcel of land subject to the timber operations, including, but not limited to, investigation, boundary determination, measurement, and other related costs, may be recovered by special assessment and lien against the parcel of land by the department, city, or county. The assessment may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary ad valorem taxes, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as is provided for ad valorem taxes.
(4)All timber operations conducted pursuant to this subdivision shall conform to applicable city or county general plans, city or county implementing ordinances, and city or county zoning ordinances. This paragraph does not authorize the cutting, removal, or sale of timber or other solid wood forest products within an area where timber harvesting is prohibited or otherwise restricted pursuant to the rules or regulations adopted by the board.
(5)(A)The board shall adopt regulations, initially as emergency regulations in accordance with subparagraph (B), that the board considers necessary to implement and to obtain compliance with this subdivision.
(B)The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be adopted in accordance with 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 to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, or general welfare.
(6)(A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to the cutting or removal of trees on the persons property in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 300 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted habitable structure, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision and all of the following conditions are met:
(i)The notice of exemption is prepared, signed, and submitted by a registered professional forester to the department.
(ii)For the areas between 150 and 300 feet from the habitable structure, the operations meet all of the following provisions:
(I)The residual stocking standards are consistent with Sections 913.2, 933.2, and 953.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as appropriate.
(II)Activities within this area will increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand.
(III)The residual stand consists primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand, well distributed though the harvested area.
(IV)Postharvest slash treatment and stand conditions will lead to more moderate fire behavior in the professional judgment of the registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption.
(V)Any additional guidance for slash treatment and postharvest stand conditions and any other issues deemed necessary that are consistent with this section, as established by the board.
(B)For purposes of this paragraph, habitable structure means a building that contains one or more dwelling units or that can be occupied for residential use. Buildings occupied for residential use include single family homes, multidwelling structures, mobile and manufactured homes, and condominiums. For purposes of this paragraph habitable structure does not include commercial, industrial, or incidental buildings such as detached garages, barns, outdoor sanitation facilities, and sheds.
(C)The department shall evaluate the effects of this paragraph and shall report its recommendations, before the paragraph becomes inoperative, to the Legislature based on that evaluation. The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(D)The board shall adopt regulations to implement this paragraph no later than January 1, 2016.
(E)This paragraph shall become inoperative three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board pursuant to subparagraph (D) but no later than January 1, 2019.
(j)(1)The harvesting of trees, limited to those trees that eliminate the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns, for the purpose of reducing the rate of fire spread, duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of tree crowns.
(2)The board may authorize an exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) only if the tree harvesting will decrease fuel continuity and increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand, and the tree harvesting area will not exceed 300 acres.
(3)Except as provided in paragraph (11), the notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Exemption, may be authorized only if all of the conditions specified in paragraphs (4) to (10), inclusive, are met.
(4)A registered professional forester shall prepare the notice of exemption and submit it to the director, and include a map of the area of timber operations that complies with the requirements of paragraphs (1), (3), (4), and (7) to (12), inclusive, of subdivision (x) of Section 1034 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(5)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(B)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Stocking shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(C)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands.
(6)(A)The registered professional forester who submits the notice shall include selection criteria for the trees to be harvested or the trees to be retained. In the development of fuel reduction prescriptions, the registered professional forester should consider retaining habitat elements, where feasible, including, but not limited to, ground level cover necessary for the long-term management of local wildlife populations.
(B)All trees that are harvested or all trees that are retained shall be marked or sample marked by or under the supervision of a registered professional forester before felling operations begin. The board shall adopt regulations for sample marking for this section in Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Sample marking shall be limited to homogenous forest stand conditions typical of plantations.
(7)(A)The registered professional forester submitting the notice, upon submission of the notice, shall provide a confidential archaeology letter that includes all the information required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 929.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 929.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 949.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 949.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 969.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 969.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B)The director shall submit a complete copy of the confidential archaeological letter and two copies of all required archaeological or historical site records to the appropriate Information Center of the California Historical Resource Information System within 30 days from the date of notice submittal to the director. Before submitting the notice to the director, the registered professional forester shall send a copy of the notice to Native Americans, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(8)Only trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. However, within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure, or in an area prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency, if the goal of fuel reduction cannot be achieved by removing trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter may be removed if that removal complies with this section and is necessary to achieve the goal of fuel reduction. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(9)(A)This subparagraph applies to areas within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure and in areas prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency. The board shall adopt regulations for the treatment of surface and ladder fuels in the harvest area, including logging slash and debris, low brush, small trees, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire. The regulations adopted by the board shall be consistent with the standards in the boards General Guidelines for Creating Defensible Space described in Section 1299.03 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Postharvest standards shall include vertical spacing between fuels, horizontal spacing between fuels, maximum depth of dead ground surface fuels, and treatment of standing dead fuels, as follows:
(i)Ladder and surface fuels shall be spaced to achieve a vertical clearance distance of eight feet or three times the height of the postharvest fuels, whichever is the greater distance, measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the surface fuels.
(ii)Horizontal spacing shall achieve a minimum separation of two to six times the height of the postharvest fuels, increasing spacing with increasing slope, measured from the outside branch edges of the fuels.
(iii)Dead surface fuel depth shall be less than nine inches.
(iv)Standing dead or dying trees and brush generally shall be removed. That material, along with live vegetation associated with the dead vegetation, may be retained for wildlife habitat when isolated from other vegetation.
(B)This subparagraph applies to all areas not described in subparagraph (A).
(i)The postharvest stand shall not contain more than 200 trees over three inches in diameter per acre.
(ii)Vertical spacing shall be achieved by treating dead fuels to a minimum clearance distance of eight feet measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the dead surface fuels.
(iii)All logging slash created by the timber operations shall be treated to achieve a maximum postharvest depth of nine inches above the ground.
(C)The standards required by subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be achieved on approximately 80 percent of the treated area. The treatment shall include chipping, removing, or other methods necessary to achieve the standards. Ladder and surface fuel treatments, for any portion of the exemption area where timber operations have occurred, shall be done within 120 days from the start of timber operations on that portion of the exemption area or by April 1 of the year following surface fuel creation on that portion of the exemption area if the surface fuels are burned.
(10)Timber operations shall comply with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Timber operations in the Lake Tahoe region shall comply instead with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (16), inclusive, of subdivision (f) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(11)A notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption, may be authorized if all of the following conditions are met:
(A)The conditions specified in paragraphs (2), (4), (6), (7), and (10) are met.
(B)Only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(C)(i)The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(ii)The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Where present prior to operations, the overstory canopy closure for trees greater than 12 inches in diameter at breast height shall not be reduced below 50 percent. Stocking shall be met with the largest trees available prior to harvest and shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(I)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(II)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(III)Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii)If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands. The retained trees shall be the largest trees available prior to harvest.
(D)The activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur in the Sierra Nevada Region as defined in subdivision (f) of Section 33302, in Modoc, Siskiyou, or Trinity Counties, or in any combination of these areas.
(E)All activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur within the most recent version of the departments Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map in the moderate, high, and very high fire threat zones.
(F)The department shall maintain records regarding the use of the exemption granted in this paragraph in order to evaluate the impact of the exemption on fuel reduction and natural resources in areas where the exemption has been used.
(G)This paragraph shall become inoperative three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board implementing this paragraph.
(12)After the timber operations are complete, the department shall conduct an onsite inspection to determine compliance with this subdivision and whether appropriate enforcement action should be initiated.
|
Date
|
Status
|
|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2016 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 80. Noes 0.) |
| Sep 7, 2016 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 12 p.m. |
| Aug 29, 2016 | Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 6388.). |
| Aug 29, 2016 | Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. |
| Aug 24, 2016 | In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 26 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77. |
| Aug 23, 2016 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 5304.). |
| Aug 23, 2016 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. |
| Aug 16, 2016 | Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. |
| Aug 15, 2016 | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (August 11). |
| Aug 8, 2016 | Referred to APPR. suspense file. |
| Aug 2, 2016 | Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Aug 1, 2016 | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 28). |
| Jun 9, 2016 | Referred to Com. on N.R. & W. |
| Jun 2, 2016 | In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. |
| Feb 16, 2016 | Read first time. To print. |
| Jun 1, 2016 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 5096.) |
| Jun 1, 2016 | Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. |
| May 31, 2016 | Read second time. Ordered to third reading. |
| May 27, 2016 | Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. |
| May 27, 2016 | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 20. Noes 0.) (May 27). |
| May 4, 2016 | In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. |
| Apr 21, 2016 | Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Apr 20, 2016 | Read second time and amended. |
| Apr 19, 2016 | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (April 18). |
| Mar 28, 2016 | Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES. |
| Mar 18, 2016 | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on NAT. RES. Read second time and amended. |
| Mar 17, 2016 | Referred to Com. on NAT. RES. |
| Feb 17, 2016 | From printer. May be heard in committee March 18. |
|
Date
|
Description
|
Location
|
Votes
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 29, 2016 | AB 2029 DAHLE Concurrence in Senate Amendments | Assembly Floor |
Passed |
|
| Aug 23, 2016 | Assembly 3rd Reading AB2029 Dahle By Hueso | Senate Floor |
Passed |
|
| Aug 11, 2016 | Do pass as amended | Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| Aug 8, 2016 | Placed on suspense file | Senate Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| Jun 28, 2016 | Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] | Senate Standing Committee on Natural Resources and Water |
Passed |
|
| Jun 1, 2016 | AB 2029 DAHLE Assembly Third Reading | Assembly Floor |
Passed |
|
| May 27, 2016 | Do pass as amended. | Assembly Standing Committee on Appropriations |
Passed |
|
| Apr 18, 2016 | Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] | Assembly Standing Committee on Natural Resources |
Passed |
This list shows positions taken on this bill by organizations on the date displayed, which is linked to the original source.
Positions by individuals are not included.
|
Organization
|
Position
|
Date
|
|---|---|---|
| Altura Centers for Health | * Support | Jun 27, 2018 |
| American Insurance Association | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Associated California Loggers | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Cal Fire Local 2881 | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Calforests | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| California Cattlemen'S Association | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| California Chamber Of Commerce | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| California Farm Bureau Federation | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| California Licensed Foresters Association | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| California Native Plant Society | ** Against | Aug 23, 2016 |
| California Professional Firefighters | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| California Ski Industry Association | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| California State Association Of Counties | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Center For Biological Diversity, Inc. | ** Against | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Central Coast Forest Association | ** Support | Apr 18, 2016 |
| Central Coast Health Network | * Support | Jun 27, 2018 |
| Clinicas Del Camino Real | * Support | Jun 27, 2018 |
| Clinicas Del Camino Real | * Support | Jun 27, 2018 |
| Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch | ** Against | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Environmental Protection Information Center | ** Against | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Forest Landowners Of California | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Gardner Health Services | * Support | Jun 27, 2018 |
| Green Diamond Resource Company | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Humboldt Redwood Company, LLC | ** Support | Apr 18, 2016 |
| Lyme Redwood Forest Company | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Mendocino and Humbolt Redwood Companies | * Support | Apr 18, 2016 |
| Mendocino Redwood Company | ** Support | Apr 18, 2016 |
| Michigan-California Timber Company | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| One individual | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Pacific Forest Trust | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Personal Insurance Federation Of California | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Placer Land Trust | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Property Casualty Insurers Association of America | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Roseburg | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Rural County Representatives of California | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Sierra Business Council | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Sierra Club California | ** Against | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Sierra Foothill Conservancy | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Sierra Pacific Industries | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| SMUD | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Truckee Donner Land Trust | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
| W.M. Beaty & Associates | ** Support | Aug 23, 2016 |
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
CSA1 Bill Id:AB 2029
Author:(Dahle, et al.)
As Amended Ver:August 16, 2016
Majority vote
ASSEMBLY: | 80-0 | (June 1, 2016) | SENATE: | 39-0 | (August 23, 2016) |
Original Committee Reference: NAT. RES.
SUMMARY: Extends the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project (Pilot) from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2021, and expands it by allowing larger trees to be harvested in forest land without a timber harvest permit (THP).
The Senate amendments:
- Remove authorization of construction or reconstruction of temporary roads of 600 feet or less.
- Shorten the sunset extension from January 1, 2023 to January 1, 2021.
- Require, on or before December 31, 2017, Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) to review and submit a report to the Legislature on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of the exemptions from THPs. Require the report to also include recommendations on how to improve the use of those exemptions.
- Specify that expansion of areas where pilot activities may take place and the expansion in the size of trees that maybe harvested do not take effect until CAL FIRE completes its report or January 1, 2018, whichever occurs first.
EXISTING LAW, pursuant to the Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act (FPA):
- Prohibits timber operations unless a THP has been prepared by a registered professional forester (Forester) and approved by CAL FIRE.
- Considers a THP the functional equivalent of an environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
- Requires a THP to contain a description of the location of the planned harvest, the harvest method, measures to avoid excessive erosion, timeframe of operations, and other information required by forest practice rules (FPR) adopted by the Board.
- Authorizes the Board to develop alternative stocking standards for the average point count method and the average residual basal area of stocking if those standards address the variables in forest characteristics and achieve suitable resource conservation.
- Requires any person who owns timberlands that are to be devoted to uses other than the growing of timber to file a timberland conversion permit with the Board. Prohibits the Board from approving a timberland conversion permit unless the Board makes written findings.
- Exempts various tree removal activities from THPs, including Christmas tree farms; rights-of-way for utility lines; conversions of less than three acres; fire prevention; defensible space; and dead, dying, and diseased trees. Requires ministerial permits for certain exemptions, called a notice of exemption (NOE), and subjects projects to inspection by CAL FIRE.
- Creates an exemption from THP known as the Pilot Exemption. Limits harvesting under the exemption to the following:
- Only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter;
- Tree harvesting must decrease fuel continuity and increase quadratic mean diameter of the stand;
- No new road construction or reconstruction;
- No known sites of rare, threatened, or endangered plants or animals will be disturbed, threatened, or damaged; and,
- The activates are limited to the Sierra Nevada Region or the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Modoc, Sonoma, Siskiyou, or Trinity.
- Requires CAL FIRE to maintain records regarding the use of exemptions granted in order to evaluate the impact of the exemptions on fuel reduction and natural resources in areas where an exemption has been used.
- Requires CAL FIRE to conduct an onsite inspection to determine compliance with the Pilot.
- Sunsets the Pilot three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the Board (January 1, 2018).
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: California has regulated forest practices on private lands since at least 1945. The Legislature assessed the effectiveness of this approach and concluded that the industry could not be relied on to ensure proper water quality, forest health, and adequate timber supply. In 1957, the state Senate Interim Committee on Soil and Beach Erosion found that timber harvesting and logging road construction contributed to stream erosion and resultant impacts to fish populations. In 1962, the Assembly Interim Committee on Natural Resources, Planning, and Public Works concluded that timber regulations were inadequately enforced, leading to deleterious effects on water quality, fishing, and recreation. In 1967, after three years of study, the Assembly Subcommittee on Forest Practices and Watershed Management recommended that the basic state policy governing forest practices should be broadened and strengthened. These collective findings, coupled with a 1971 report that identified logging as a primary factor in an 80% decline of salmon and steelhead populations, motivated the Legislature to pass the FPA in 1973. The FPA requires THPs, which are a complex discretionary permit that acts as an EIR under CEQA.
AB 1492 (Budget Committee), Chapter 289, Statutes of 2012, extended the life of THPs from three years to five years with an option for a two-year extension. AB 1492 also shifted state fees for a THP to an assessment on all lumber products to fund agency review. However, a THP can still cost landowners tens of thousands of dollars to prepare.
Since 2015, there have been 27 Pilot projects treating the forest to prevent fire with one violation for harvesting trees over 24 inches. CAL FIRE has not yet evaluated whether the Pilot has been effective at preventing fires. CAL FIRE has also not been able to demonstrate that overall diameter is increasing on areas using the exemption. As an exemption, CAL FIRE has no ability to work with applicants to ensure projects are strategically located to be most effective in fire prevention. The exemption has also been used mostly by large timber operators who are in a better positon to afford conducting a THP than small land owners. Therefore, it is unclear what the value of the Pilot has been. However, this bill requires an evaluation of this exemption and recommendations to improve the use of exemptions.
Analysis Prepared by: Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0004528
Office of Senate Floor Analyses (916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) 327-4478 | AB |
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2029
:
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 7-0, 6/28/16
AYES: Pavley, Stone, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson, Monning, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 6-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/1/16 - See last page for vote
DIGEST: This bill extends the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project (Pilot Project) from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2021, expands the diameter of larger trees that could be harvested on forest land without a timber harvest plan and requires a report to the Legislature, as specified.
ANALYSIS: Existing law, pursuant to the Z’Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act and other statutes:
- Prohibits timber operations unless a timber harvest plan (THP) has been prepared by a registered professional forester and approved by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF).
- Considers a THP to be the functional equivalent of an environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act.
- Requires a THP to contain a description of the location of the planned harvest, the harvest method, measures to avoid excessive erosion, timeframe of operations, and other information required by forest practice rules adopted by the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board).
- Establishes numerous statutory exemptions from the above provisions that include Christmas tree farms, rights-of-way for utility lines, conversions of less than three acres, fire prevention, defensible space, and dead, dying and diseased trees.
- Provides that these exemptions do not require the interagency review that is required of THPs, and they are often approved ministerially based only on a submission from the landowner or a registered professional forester hired by the landowner. Such submissions are called a notice of exemption.
- Provides a separate exemption for the emergency removal of fuel hazards that allows for trees to be removed that are up to 30 inches in diameter without a THP.
- Names one of these exemptions as the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project. This Pilot Project exemption is subject to the following restrictions on harvesting as well as other conditions:
- Only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter are eligible;
- Tree harvesting must decrease fuel continuity and increase quadratic mean diameter of the stand;
- No new road construction or reconstruction;
- No known sites of rare, threatened, or endangered plants or animals will be disturbed, threatened, or damaged;
- The activities are limited to the Sierra Nevada Region or the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Modoc, Sonoma, Siskiyou, or Trinity;
- CDF is required to conduct an onsite inspection after harvest operations to determine compliance with the provisions of this exemption;
- The exemption may be used on parcels of 300 acres or less; and
- The Pilot Project sunsets three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the Board which in this case is January 1, 2018.
This bill extends the Pilot Project from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2021, expands the diameter of larger trees that could be harvested on forest land without a THP and requires a report to the Legislature, as specified.
Comments
Accountability and the legislative report. CDF and the Board are required to review and submit a report to the Legislature regarding the Pilot Project and exemptions, among other things, by December 31, 2017. Should the report not be submitted, the appropriate Senate Budget Sub-Committee or the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee are required to hold a hearing.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill has unknown costs (Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund), to the CDF.
American Insurance Association
Associated California Loggers
CAL FIRE Local 2881
Calforests
California Cattlemen’s Association
California Chamber of Commerce
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Licensed Foresters Association
California Professional Firefighters
California Ski Industry Association
California State Association of Counties
Forest Landowners of California
Forest Products Industry National Labor Management Committee
Green Diamond Resource Company
Lyme Redwood Forest Company
Michigan-California Timber Company
Pacific Forest Trust
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Personal Insurance Federation of California
Placer Land Trust
Property Casualty Insurers Association of America
Roseburg
Rural County Representatives of California
Sierra Business Council
Sierra Foothill Conservancy
Sierra Pacific Industries
SMUD
Soper-Wheeler Company
Truckee Donner Land Trust
W.M. Beaty & Associates
One individual
OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/15/16)
California Native Plant Society
Center for Biological Diversity
Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch
Environmental Protection Information Center
Sierra Club California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, the Pilot Project has thus far treated about 2,000 acres and those who have used the exemption have reported barriers which include: (1) lack of access to land which is why the author seeks language to include a road construction amendment; (2) lands in counties that have some lands within the boundaries of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy but some lands not within the conservancy are unable to use the exemption on those lands not within the conservancy’s boundaries; (3) the diameter limitation of 24 inches is too restrictive; and (4) the 2018 sunset is fast approaching and California continues to face a high risk of catastrophic wildfire.
Numerous other supporters include timber companies and others in the timber business, regional organizations and land trusts from the Sierra, firefighter organizations, landowner associations, and others all of whom make basically the same points:
- Too much of California’s forests are unnaturally dense because of decades of fire suppression. The treatment authorized by the exemption could help improve the resilience of California’s forests to fire, pests, and disease.
- Forest jobs are important in rural counties and offer a counterpoint to the trend of the underground drug economy.
- The ongoing drought is damaging forests with a huge die-off of trees. If consumed by wildfires, not only will the result be greenhouse gas emissions, but the ability of the forests to sequester carbon and provide other environmental benefits such as wildlife habitat and contributions to the state’s water supply will be adversely affected.
- Two companies that used the exemption, Beaty and Associates and Green Diamond, complained that the exemption is economically infeasible, in part because the prohibition on harvesting larger diameter trees could not then offset the costs of removing smaller diameter trees. In two other situations, the companies said that the 24 inch limitation prevented the removal of unhealthy or overstocked trees that were greater than 24 inches in diameter.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: There is significant opposition to this bill from three environmental organizations with extensive forestry experience: the Sierra Club, the Environmental Protection Information Center, and the Center for Biological Diversity. Their points include:
- The alleged benefits of thinning forests are scientifically disputed although there is general agreement that removing small diameter trees that are densely packed together have positive benefits on reducing fire risk.
- Larger trees are more resilient to fire, and provide numerous environmental benefits, including carbon sequestration, so expanding the diameter of trees is counter-intuitive, except for their commercial value as logs. Large trees serve as a seed source following a fire.
- The proposed increase in tree diameter smacks of commercial logging without any environmental review.
- Removal of larger trees increases the likelihood that more flammable ground vegetation and smaller trees will proliferate.
- Larger trees are already in short supply because of over-logging, and removing more of them will impair forest health in many stands.
- This bill is premature and, although the exemption has been expanded by previous legislation, there has been no evaluation of the exemption by CDF.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/1/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
8/16/16 18:04:06
**** END ****
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2029 (Dahle) - Timber harvesting plans: exemptions
Version: | Policy Vote: |
Urgency: | Mandate: |
Hearing Date: | Consultant: |
*********** ANALYSIS ADDENDUM – SUSPENSE FILE ***********
The following information is revised to reflect amendments
adopted by the committee on August 11, 2016
Bill Summary:
AB 2029 extends the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project (Pilot) from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2023. The bill also allows specified road construction to occur and expands the tree diameter that may be harvested on forest land without a Timber Harvest Plan (THP).
Fiscal Impact:
- Unknown costs (Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund), to the California Department of Fire and Forestry Protection.
Author Amendments:
- Technical, nonsubstantive amendments.
Committee Amendments:
- Strike provision exempting temporary forest roads.
- Sunset the bill in 2021, instead of 2023.
-- END --
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2029 (Dahle) - Timber harvesting plans: exemptions
Version: May 27, 2016 | Policy Vote: N.R. & W. 7 - 0 |
Urgency: No | Mandate: No |
Hearing Date: August 8, 2016 | Consultant: Narisha Bonakdar |
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary:
AB 2029 extends the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project (Pilot) from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2023. The bill also allows specified road construction to occur and expands the tree diameter that may be harvested on forest land without a Timber Harvest Plan (THP).
Fiscal Impact:
- One-time costs of approximately $200,000 (Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund) to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFIRE).
- Approximately $647,515 annually (Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund) to CalFIRE for staffing costs.
Background: Forest Practices. California has regulated forest practices on private lands since at least 1945. In 1973, after discovering, among other things that logging was a primary factor in an 80 percent decline of salmon and steelhead populations, the legislature passed the Z’Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act (Act). The Act prohibits timber operations unless a timber harvest plan (THP) has been prepared by a registered professional forester and approved by the CalFIRE. The THP is a functional equivalent of an environmental impact report required under the California Environmental Quality Act.
AB 1492 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 289, Statutes of 2012) extended the life of THPs from three years to five years with an option for a two-year extension. AB 1492 also shifted state fees for a THP to an assessment on all lumber products. However, a THP can still cost tens of thousands of dollars to complete.
Existing law exempts various tree removal activities from THPs. These include Christmas tree farms; right-of-ways for utility lines; conversions of less than three acres; fire prevention; defensible space; and dead, dying, and diseased trees. However, a ministerial permit, called a notice of exemption (NOE), is required for certain exemptions, and exempt projects are subject to inspection by CalFIRE.
Proposed Law:
This bill extends the Pilot from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2023, and expands the activities eligible under the exemption. Specifically, the bill:
- Makes findings and declarations about the benefits of the thinning of forests.
- Exempts the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads of 600 feet or less on slopes of 40 percent or less from THP.
- Expands the allowable tree stump diameter from 24 inches to 26 inches (measured at eight inches above ground level).
- Expands the territory allowed to participate to include Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, or Yuba Counties, or in any combination of these areas (from the Sierra Nevada Region, Modoc, Siskiyou, or Trinity)
- Specifies that the amendments made to the exemption become operative on January 1, 2018, or when the report required in this bill is submitted to the Legislature, whichever occurs first.
- Sunsets the Pilot on January 1, 2023.
- Requires CalFIRE and the Board, on or before December 31, 2017, to submit a report to the Legislature on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of the exemptions and emergency notice provisions, and to make recommendations to improve the use of those exemptions and emergency notice provisions.
- Requires that the CDFW, regional water quality control boards, and the public have the opportunity to participate in the development of the report. Sunsets the report provision on January 1, 2019.
Related Legislation:
AB 417 (Dahle, Chapter 182, Statutes of 2015) expanded Board authority to develop alternative stocking standards, when necessary, to include the average residual basal area approach of stocking.
AB 1958 (Wood, 2016) creates an exemption for the restoration of oak woodlands that would allow landowners to remove conifer trees that are crowding out oak without a timber harvest plan, if various restrictions are met. This bill is pending hearing in Senate Appropriation Committee.
Staff Comments:
Purpose. According to the author, the pilot project has thus far treated about 2,000 acres and those who have used the exemption have reported barriers which include: (1) Lack of access to land which is why the author seeks language to include a road construction amendment; (2) Lands in counties that have some lands within the boundaries of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy but some lands not within the conservancy are unable to use the exemption on those lands not within the conservancy’s boundaries; (3) The diameter limitation of 24 inches is too restrictive; and (4) the 2018 sunset is fast approaching and California continues to face a high risk of catastrophic wildfire.
Fiscal notes. According to CalFIRE, since CalFIRE is still required to monitor projects submitted under an Exemption Notice and conduct onsite inspections following timber operations, this bill would increase the Department’s workload. The increase in the complexity of the monitoring of these projects due to the evaluation of forest roads for proper location, construction, and maintenance would require 3.0 Forester I positions for a total cost of $647,515 annually, with one-time costs of $199,000 for equipment. This increased workload could continue for up to four years following the sunset date of this bill since landowners would have a year following submittal of an Exemption Notice to complete timber operations and any road construction in watersheds with anadromous salmonids would need to be monitored for three years following the completion of timber operations.
-- END --
SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2029 Hearing Date: June 28, 2016
Author: | |||
Version: |
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Urgency: | Fiscal: | ||
Consultant: | |||
Subject: Timber harvesting plans: exemptions
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
Pursuant to the Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act (FPA) and other statutes, the following are existing provisions of state law:
- There is a prohibition on timber operations unless a timber harvest plan (THP) has been prepared by a registered professional forester and approved by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF).
- A THP is considered a functional equivalent of an environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
- A THP is required to contain a description of the location of the planned harvest, the harvest method, measures to avoid excessive erosion, timeframe of operations, and other information required by forest practice rules (FPR) adopted by the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board).
- There are numerous statutory exemptions from the above provisions that include
Christmas tree farms, rights-of-way for utility lines, conversions of less than three acres, fire prevention, defensible space, and dead, dying and diseased trees.
- These exemptions do not require the interagency review that is required of THPs and they are often approved ministerially based only on a submission from the landowner or a registered professional forester hired by the landowner. Such submissions are called a notice of exemption (NOE).
- Construction of roads of less than 600 feet in length may be approved as a minor deviation from a THP upon notice to CDF.
- A separate exemption regarding the emergency removal of fuel hazards allows for trees to be removed that are up to 30 inches in diameter without a THP.
- One of the exemptions is known as the Pilot Exemption and is subject to the following restrictions on harvesting as well as other conditions:
- Only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter;
- Tree harvesting must decrease fuel continuity and increase quadratic mean diameter of the stand;
- No new road construction or reconstruction;
- No known sites of rare, threatened, or endangered plants or animals will be disturbed, threatened, or damaged;
- The activities are limited to the Sierra Nevada Region or the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Modoc, Sonoma, Siskiyou, or Trinity;
- CDF is required to conduct an onsite inspection after harvest operations to determine compliance with the provisions of this exemption;
- The exemption may be used on parcels of 300 acres or less; and
- Sunsets three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the Board which in this case is January 1, 2018.
PROPOSED LAW
This bill would extend the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2023, and expands it by allowing specified road construction to occur and expands the diameter of larger trees that could be harvested on forest land without a THP.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
According to the author, the pilot project has thus far treated about 2,000 acres and those who have used the exemption have reported barriers which include: (1) Lack of access to land which is why the author seeks language to include a road construction amendment; (2) Lands in counties that have some lands within the boundaries of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy but some lands not within the conservancy are unable to use the exemption on those lands not within the conservancy’s boundaries; (3) The diameter limitation of 24 inches is too restrictive; and (4) the 2018 sunset is fast approaching and California continues to face a high risk of catastrophic wildfire.
Note--Assembly amendments added provisions for temporary road construction on slopes of less than 40%, included the remainder of the counties’ lands that are otherwise included in the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, and increased the diameter of trees that could be harvested from 24 to 26 inches.
Numerous other supporters include timber companies and others in the timber business, regional organizations and land trusts from the Sierra, firefighter organizations, landowner associations, and others all of whom make basically the same points:
- Too much of California’s forests are unnaturally dense because of decades of fire suppression. The treatment authorized by the exemption could help improve the resilience of California’s forests to fire, pests, and disease.
- Forest jobs are important in rural counties and offer a counterpoint to the trend of the underground drug economy.
- The ongoing drought is damaging forests with a huge die-off of trees. If consumed by wildfires, not only will the result be greenhouse gas emissions, but the ability of the forests to sequester carbon and provide other environmental benefits such as wildlife habitat and contributions to the state’s water supply will be adversely affected.
- Allowing temporary roads provides access to forest stands that are otherwise not accessible and allows for the use of equipment that would not otherwise be able to enter those areas.
- Two companies that used the exemption, Beaty and Associates and Green Diamond, complained that the exemption is economically infeasible, in part because the prohibition on harvesting larger diameter trees could not then offset the costs of removing smaller diameter trees. In two other situations, the companies said that the 24 inch limitation prevented the removal of unhealthy or overstocked trees that were greater than 24 inches in diameter.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
There is significant opposition to this bill from three environmental organizations with extensive forestry experience: the Sierra Club, the Environmental Protection Information Center, and the Center for Biological Diversity. Their points include:
- The alleged benefits of thinning forests are scientifically disputed although there is general agreement that removing small diameter trees that are densely packed together have positive benefits on reducing fire risk.
- Larger trees are more resilient to fire, and provide numerous environmental benefits, including carbon sequestration, so expanding the diameter of trees is counter-intuitive, except for their commercial value as logs. Large trees serve as a seed source following a fire.
- Allowing road construction without environmental review is likely to lead to more erosion, with impacts to water quality and salmon.
- The proposed increase in tree diameter smacks of commercial logging without any environmental review.
- Removal of larger trees increases the likelihood that more flammable ground vegetation and smaller trees will proliferate.
- Larger trees are already in short supply because of over-logging, and removing more of them will impair forest health in many stands.
- The bill is premature and, although the exemption has been expanded by previous legislation, there has been no evaluation of the exemption by CDF.
COMMENTS
- This exemption was first created in 2004 by AB 744 (La Malfa). It allowed for removal of trees 18 inches in diameter with other provisions to reduce the risk of wildlife. Data maintained by CDF indicated that the LaMalfa exemption treated an average of 1190 acres/year.
- AB 744 (Dahle) in 2013 expanded the exemption by allowing removal of trees up to 24 inches in diameter and expanded the geographic eligibility of the exemption to the lands covered by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy. In 2014, AB 2142 (Chesbro) expanded the range of the exemption to include northern coastal coastal counties. AB 744 resulted in the treatment of approximately 2000 acres per year.
- As noted by some of the supporters, the purpose of AB 744 pilot project was to evaluate if an increase in the diameter of the trees that could be removed under the LaMalfa exemption would increase the use of this exemption and contribute to reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire. That evaluation has not occurred.
- As noted earlier, numerous exemptions from the THP requirement exist. In data maintained by CDF, the following facts emerge:
- Approximately 8000 exemptions have been processed since 2011 covering approximately 280,000 acres;
- Over the same time frame, there have been approximately 450,000 acres actually harvested under ministerial permits (no interagency review) for an average of 90,000 acres per year.
- CDF approved harvest plans covering 648,000 acres with THPs, for an annual average of approximately 130,000 acres per year. THPs have a shelf life of 7 years compared to the one year shelf life of an exemption.
- The conclusion from these numbers is that about 40% of the acres (not harvest volume) approved for harvest each year do not undergo multiagency review.
- In separate information provided by the author from the Board of Equalization, approximately 30% of the volume of timber harvested in California in 2015 was through an exemption or emergency notice.
- The department has identified 14 different types of exemptions and 8 different types of emergencies that can be conducted under a non-discretionary ‘notice of operations’.
- The above explains the rationale for a proposed amendment in AB 1958 (Wood) in which the Committee recommendations directs CDF and the other trustee agencies to make recommendations to the Legislature on how the use of these exemptions can be reduced, and how multi-agency review of harvesting activities can be increased. Staff notes that multi-agency review was the primary intent of AB 1492 (Cmte. on Budget, c.289, statutes of 2012) which established the fee on lumber products that is paid by consumers. This direction to CDF could also involve some participation by the public, which would strengthen the final work product. To the extent feasible, any agency costs for developing these recommendations should come from the fund balance in the AB 1492 special fund, and not the general fund. The recommendations would be due on or before December 31, 2017.
- Several of the existing exemptions also target improved resiliency to fire which is one of the author’s primary concerns. There are two exemptions to remove trees in order to safeguard houses (one for trees within 150 feet, another for trees out to 300 feet), two exemptions to harvest dead, dying, and diseased trees (depending on whether less than10% or more than 10% of the trees are dead or dying), a new drought mortality exemption, an exemption for substantially damaged timberland, and a forest fire prevention exemption. A homeowner who uses any of these exemptions may not be able to sell the logs commercially, but it is possible that the company that does the tree removal is able to do so.
- On October 30, 2105, the Governor issued an executive order on the dead tree crisis in California that especially plagues high hazard fire zones across the state. That order directed the removal of dead trees, expanded the use of prescribed burns, directed several agencies to cooperate to extend contracts on biomass plants, and suspended both the California Environmental Quality Act and competitive bidding requirements to get these tasks done. Additionally, the administration proposed a significant expenditure of $130 million in the FY 2016-17 budget from cap and trade funds for its Healthy Forests initiative that is still being considered in the context of the overall cap and trade expenditure plan.
- These comments are intended to indicate that there is a lot of ongoing activity regarding improving forest health above and beyond what occurs pursuant to the pilot project exemption, although it is safe to say that many do not believe that the state is doing enough.
- Because the provisions of AB 744 have not been evaluated, staff recommends that the provisions of the exemption itself not be changed further, despite the Assembly amendments that increased tree diameter, expanded the geographic range of the exemption, and allow for temporary road construction. Instead, staff recommends that AB 744 be extended 2 more years which will allow time for an evaluation as well as the review contained in Comment 5. (Amendment 1)
SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS
AMENDMENT 1
Restore original language of exemption and extend sunset two years.
SUPPORT
American Insurance Association
Associated California Loggers
CAL FIRE Local 2881
Calforests
California Cattlemen’s Association
California Chamber of Commerce
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Licensed Foresters Association
California Professional Firefighters
California Ski Industry Association
California State Association of Counties
Forest Landowners of California
Forest Products Industry National Labor Management Committee
Green Diamond Resource Company
Lyme Redwood Forest Company
Michigan-California Timber Company
Pacific Forest Trust
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Personal Insurance Federation of California
Placer Land Trust
Property Casualty Insurers Association of America
Roseburg
Rural County Representatives of California
Sierra Business Council
Sierra Foothill Conservancy
Sierra Pacific Industries
SMUD
Soper-Wheeler Company
Truckee Donner Land Trust
W.M. Beaty & Associates
One Individual
OPPOSITION
California Native Plant Society
Center for Biological Diversity
Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch
Environmental Protection Information Center
Sierra Club California
-- END --
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
ATR Bill Id:
Author:(Dahle, et al.)
As Amended Ver:May 27, 2016
Majority vote
Committee | Votes | Ayes | Noes |
Natural Resources | 9-0 | Williams, Jones, Cristina Garcia, Gomez, Hadley, Harper, McCarty, Mark Stone, Wood | |
Appropriations | 20-0 | Gonzalez, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Calderon, Chang, Daly, Eggman, Gallagher, Eduardo Garcia, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Obernolte, Quirk, Santiago, Wagner, Weber, Wood |
|
SUMMARY: Extends the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project (Pilot) from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2023, and expands it by allowing road construction and larger trees to be harvested in forest land without a timber harvest permit (THP).
EXISTING LAW, pursuant to the Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act (FPA):
- Prohibits timber operations unless a THP has been prepared by a registered professional forester (Forester) and approved by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). Considers a THP the functional equivalent of an environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
- Requires a THP to contain a description of the location of the planned harvest, the harvest method, measures to avoid excessive erosion, timeframe of operations, and other information required by forest practice rules (FPR) adopted by the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board).
- Exempts various tree removal activities from THPs, including Christmas tree farms, rights-of-way for utility lines, conversions of less than three acres, fire prevention, defensible space, and dead, dying and diseased trees. Requires ministerial permits for certain exemptions, called a notice of exemption (NOE), and subjects projects to inspection by CAL FIRE.
- Creates an exemption from THP known as the Pilot Exemption. Limits harvesting under the exemption to the following:
- Only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter;
- Tree harvesting must decrease fuel continuity and increase quadratic mean diameter of the stand;
- No new road construction or reconstruction;
- No known sites of rare, threatened, or endangered plants or animals will be disturbed, threatened, or damaged; and,
- The activates are limited to the Sierra Nevada Region or the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Modoc, Sonoma, Siskiyou, or Trinity.
- Requires CAL FIRE to maintain records regarding the use of exemptions granted in order to evaluate the impact of the exemptions on fuel reduction and natural resources in areas where an exemption has been used.
- Requires CAL FIRE to conduct an onsite inspection to determine compliance with the Pilot.
- Sunsets the Pilot three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the Board (January 1, 2018).
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriation Committee:
- Increased personnel costs and workload for CAL FIRE to perform on-sight inspections and monitor projects including the evaluation of roads for proper location, construction and maintenance. CAL FIRE estimates they will require an additional three Forester I positions at an annual cost of $650,000 (Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund).
- Potential one-time costs in the $200,000 range for initial hiring and equipment purchases. (Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund).
COMMENTS:
- Background. California has regulated forest practices on private lands since at least 1945. The Legislature assessed the effectiveness of this approach and concluded that the industry could not be relied on to ensure proper water quality, forest health, and adequate timber supply. In 1957, the state Senate Interim Committee on Soil and Beach Erosion found that timber harvesting and logging road construction contributed to stream erosion and resultant impacts to fish populations. In 1962, the Assembly Interim Committee on Natural Resources, Planning, and Public Works concluded that timber regulations were inadequately enforced, leading to deleterious effects on water quality, fishing, and recreation. In 1967, after three years of study, the Assembly Subcommittee on Forest Practices and Watershed Management recommended that the basic state policy governing forest practices should be broadened and strengthened. These collective findings, coupled with a 1971 report that identified logging as a primary factor in an 80% decline of salmon and steelhead populations, motivated the Legislature to pass the FPA in 1973. The FPA requires THPs, which are a complex discretionary permit that acts as an EIR under CEQA.
AB 1492 (Budget Committee), Chapter 289, Statutes of 2012, extended the life of THPs from three years to five years with an option for a two-year extension. AB 1492 also shifted state fees for a THP to an assessment on all lumber products to fund agency review. However, a THP can still cost landowners tens of thousands of dollars to prepare.
- Author's statement:
The Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Program regulations took effect January 2015. Since then 2087 acres have been treated. During this time a few issues have come up in regards to access, counties eligible, diameter and the sunset. We propose allowing a temporary access road up to 600 feet in order to allow access to hard to reach stands in order to be able to treat more acres. We realized in doing AB 744 we neglected to capture complete counties so we want to correct this by including the whole county of the existing list, no new counties are being added. Another issue has come up in regards to older stands. These stands have larger trees and are much more dense. In order to be able to utilize the exemption and treat more land we would like to see a diameter increase to 28 inches. This will allow older stands to be treated while still keeping the overall stand diameter increasing. In light of these adjustments we want to make, we would like to extend the sunset out another 5 years to 2022 in order to get a more concise accounting of how it's working.
- Pilot. Since 2015, there have been 16 Pilot projects treating the forest to prevent fire with one violation for harvesting trees over 24 inches. CAL FIRE has not yet evaluated whether the Pilot has been effective at preventing fires. CAL FIRE has also not been able to demonstrate that overall diameter is increasing on areas using the exemption. As an exemption, CAL FIRE has no ability to work with applicants to ensure projects are strategically located to be most effective in fire prevention. The exemption has also been used mostly by large timber operators who are in a better positon to afford conducting a THP than small land owners. Therefore, it is unclear what the value of the Pilot has been. However, the Pilot has only been in effect for a year and half. One reason it might not be used more frequently is because of the tree mortality crisis. Forest land owners may be using the dead, dying, and diseased trees exemption instead because so many trees qualify for it.
Analysis Prepared by: Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: 0003107
Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2029
Author:(Dahle) – As Amended Ver:April 20, 2016
Policy Committee: | Natural Resources | Vote: | 9 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill extends the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project (Pilot) from January 1, 2018, to January 1, 2023, and expands it by allowing temporary road construction and larger trees to be harvested without a timber harvest permit (THP). Specifically this bill:
- Allows the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads of 600 feet or less on slopes of 40 percent or less.
- Increases size of trees allowed to be harvested from less than 24 inches to less than 26 in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground levels.
- Expands areas where harvest activities may be conducted to the Counties of Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, or Yuba. Currently only portions of some of the counties were included.
FISCAL EFFECT:
- Increased personnel costs and workload for CALFIRE to perform on-sight inspections and monitor projects including the evaluation of roads for proper location, construction and maintenance. CALFIRE estimates they will require an additional three Forester I positions at an annual cost of $650,000 (Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund).
- Potential one-time costs in the $200,000 range for initial hiring and equipment purchases. (Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund).
COMMENTS:
- Purpose. AB 744 (Dahle), Chapter 647, Statutes of 2013, created a 3-year Pilot project focused on the Sierra Nevada Region to allow the removal of trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter, with specific limitations designed to reduce fire risk and protect natural and archeological resources.
According to the author, since the enactment of the Pilot, a few issues have come up in regards to access, eligible counties, tree diameter and the sunset date of the program. This bill increases the size of trees forest land owners can harvest and allows them to build temporary roads into forest land without a THP.
- Background. The Forest Practices Act prohibits timber operations unless a timber harvest plan (THP) is prepared by a registered professional forester and approved by the Director of CALFIRE or the Board. A THP is the functional equivalent of an environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Various tree removal activities are exempt from the requirement to file THP’s, including Christmas tree farms, right-of-ways for utility lines, conversions of less than three acres, fire prevention, defensible space, and dead, dying and diseased trees. For certain exemptions an NOE, which is a ministerial permit, is required to be filed prior to any activities. Projects for which an NOE is filed are subject to inspection by CAL FIRE.
- Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project. Since 2015, there have been 16 Pilot projects using this exemption to treat the forest to prevent fire with one violation for harvesting trees over 24 inches. CAL FIRE has not yet evaluated whether the Pilot has been effective at preventing fires.
Analysis Prepared by: Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
Date of Hearing: April 18, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Das Williams, Chair
ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2029 (
Author:Dahle) – As Amended Ver:March 18, 2016
SUBJECT: Timber harvesting plans: exemptions
SUMMARY: Extends the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project (Pilot) from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2023, and expands it by allowing road construction and larger trees to be harvested in forest land without a timber harvest permit (THP).
EXISTING LAW, pursuant to the Z’Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act (FPA):
- Prohibits timber operations unless a THP has been prepared by a registered professional forester (Forester) and approved by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE).
- Considers a THP the functional equivalent of an environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
- Requires a THP to contain a description of the location of the planned harvest, the harvest method, measures to avoid excessive erosion, timeframe of operations, and other information required by forest practice rules (FPR) adopted by the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board).
- Authorizes the Board to develop alternative stocking standards for the average point count method and the average residual basal area of stocking if those standards address the variables in forest characteristics and achieve suitable resource conservation.
- Requires any person who owns timberlands that are to be devoted to uses other than the growing of timber to file a timberland conversion permit with the Board. Prohibits the Board from approving a timberland conversion permit unless the Board makes written findings.
- Exempts various tree removal activities from THPs, including Christmas tree farms, rights-of-way for utility lines, conversions of less than three acres, fire prevention, defensible space, and dead, dying and diseased trees. Requires ministerial permits for certain exemptions, called a notice of exemption (NOE), and subjects projects to inspection by CAL FIRE.
- Creates an exemption from THP known as the Pilot Exemption. Limits harvesting under the exemption to the following:
- Only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter;
- Tree harvesting must decrease fuel continuity and increase quadratic mean diameter of the stand;
- No new road construction or reconstruction;
- No known sites of rare, threatened, or endangered plants or animals will be disturbed, threatened, or damaged; and,
- The activates are limited to the Sierra Nevada Region or the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Modoc, Sonoma, Siskiyou, or Trinity.
- Requires CAL FIRE to maintain records regarding the use of exemptions granted in order to evaluate the impact of the exemptions on fuel reduction and natural resources in areas where an exemption has been used.
- Requires CAL FIRE to conduct an onsite inspection to determine compliance with the Pilot.
- Sunsets the Pilot three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the Board (January 1, 2018).
THIS BILL:
- Makes various findings about tree mortality and the benefits of thinning forests.
- Extends the Pilot until January 1, 2023, and makes the following changes:
- Allows the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads of 600 feet or less;
- Increases size of trees allowed to be harvested to less than 28 inches; and,
- Expands areas where harvest activities may be conducted to the Counties of Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, or Yuba.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
- Background. California has regulated forest practices on private lands since at least 1945. The Legislature assessed the effectiveness of this approach and concluded that the industry could not be relied on to ensure proper water quality, forest health, and adequate timber supply. In 1957, the state Senate Interim Committee on Soil and Beach Erosion found that timber harvesting and logging road construction contributed to stream erosion and resultant impacts to fish populations. In 1962, the Assembly Interim Committee on Natural Resources, Planning, and Public Works concluded that timber regulations were inadequately enforced, leading to deleterious effects on water quality, fishing, and recreation. In 1967, after three years of study, the Assembly Subcommittee on Forest Practices and Watershed Management recommended that the basic state policy governing forest practices should be broadened and strengthened. These collective findings, coupled with a 1971 report that identified logging as a primary factor in an 80% decline of salmon and steelhead populations, motivated the Legislature to pass the FPA in 1973. The FPA requires THPs, which are a complex discretionary permit that acts as an EIR under CEQA.
AB 1492 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 289, Statutes of 2012, extended the life of THPs from three years to five years with an option for a two-year extension. AB 1492 also shifted state fees for a THP to an assessment on all lumber products to fund agency review. However, a THP can still cost landowners tens of thousands of dollars to prepare.
- Author’s statement:
The Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Program regulations took effect January 2015. Since then 2087 acres have been treated. During this time a few issues have come up in regards to access, counties eligible, diameter and the sunset. We propose allowing a temporary access road up to 600 feet in order to allow access to hard to reach stands in order to be able to treat more acres. We realized in doing AB 744 we neglected to capture complete counties so we want to correct this by including the whole county of the existing list, no new counties are being added. Another issue has come up in regards to older stands. These stands have larger trees and are much more dense. In order to be able to utilize the exemption and treat more land we would like to see a diameter increase to 28 inches. This will allow older stands to be treated while still keeping the overall stand diameter increasing. In light of these adjustments we want to make, we would like to extend the sunset out another 5 years to 2022 in order to get a more concise accounting of how it’s working.
- Pilot. Since 2015, there have been 16 Pilot projects treating the forest to prevent fire with one violation for harvesting trees over 24 inches. CAL FIRE has not yet evaluated whether the Pilot has been effective at preventing fires. CAL FIRE has also not been able to demonstrate that overall diameter is increasing on areas using the exemption. As an exemption, CAL FIRE has no ability to work with applicants to ensure projects are strategically located to be most effective in fire prevention. The exemption has also been used mostly by large timber operators who are in a better positon to afford conducting a THP than small land owners. Therefore, it is unclear what the value of the Pilot has been. However, the Pilot has only been in effect for a year and half. One reason it might not be used more frequently is because of the tree mortality crisis. Forest land owners may be using the dead, dying, and diseased trees exemption instead because so many trees qualify for it.
- This bill. This bill is intended to make the Pilot more attractive to forest land owners by increasing the size of trees they can harvest and allowing them to build roads into forest land without a THP. NOE’s are ministerial permits, and therefore if the NOE meets the requirements of forest practice rules, CAL FIRE must approve it. This leaves CAL FIRE in the position of only really understanding what happened in the harvest when inspecting it after it has already been conducted. Larger trees hold more commercial value and increase the chances of projects being driven for commercial purposes rather than forest health. Conducting thinning operations in larger, older forests increases the chances of harm to sensitive wildlife. The author and committee may wish to consider amending the bill to reduce the increase in diameter of trees that can be harvested. Allowing roads in forested areas without a THP creates sediment issues in coastal streams, which will have impacts on salmon and other fish species. The author and committee may wish to consider amending the bill to limit road construction on sloped areas that are a high risk for erosion. This committee has heard numerous exemptions to THPs in the past several years. The effectiveness of these exemptions has not been evaluated, and it is unclear why CAL FIRE’s Modified THP for Fuel Hazard Reduction cannot be used to deal with fire prevention projects. The modified THP is less onerous than a normal THP and allows CAL FIRE to review projects. As the bill moves forward the author may wish to consider asking CAL FIRE to evaluate the Pilot and the modified THP, and make recommendations on how to improve both.
- Prior/Related legislation.
AB 1958 (Wood) exempts the removal of trees from THP requirements if the purpose of the harvest is to restore and conserve California black or Oregon white oak woodlands and associated grasslands. This bill clarifies that restoration and conservation forest management activities do not require a timber conversion permit. This bill is awaiting hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 744 (Dahle), Chapter 647, Statutes of 2013, creates the Pilot, which is a 3-year pilot project focused on the Sierra Nevada Region that allows the removal of trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter, with specific limitations designed to reduce fire risk and protect natural and archeological resources.
AB 2142 (Chesbro), Chapter 307, Statutes of 2014, adds Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, and Sonoma Counties to the Pilot created by AB 744.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Insurance Association
Calforests
California Cattlemen’s Association
California Chamber of Commerce
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Ski Industry Association
California Licensed Foresters Association
California State Association of Counties
Central Coast Forest Association
Forest Landowners of California
Forest Products industry National Labor Management Committee
Green Diamond Resource Company
Humboldt Redwood Company
Mendocino Redwood Company
Michigan-California Timber Company
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Personal Insurance Federation of California
Property Casualty Insurers Association of America
Rural County Representatives of California
Sierra Pacific Industries
SMUD
Soper-Wheeler Company
Opposition
Center for Biological Diversity
Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch
Environmental Protection Information Center
Sierra Club
Analysis Prepared by: Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092
Bill Co-Author(s):