Existing law requires the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to adopt emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee in an amount not to exceed $150 to be charged on each habitable structure, as defined, on a parcel that is within a state responsibility area, as defined. Existing law requires the state board to adjust the fire prevention fee annually using prescribed methods, and requires the state board, until January 31, 2017, to submit a report to the Legislature every January 31 on the status and uses of the fund, containing specified information and recommendations.

This bill would instead require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to submit that report to the Legislature and the board, and would extend to January 31, 2021, the time until which the state board report is required to submit the report to the Legislature, and be submitted. The bill would additionally require that the report include specified information on each program, subprogram, and element for which the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection department uses money generated from that fire prevention fee, and other information regarding fund expenditures, as provided.

Existing law requires the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to adopt emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee in amount not to exceed $150 to be charged on each habitable structure, as defined, on a parcel that is within a state responsibility area, as defined. Existing law requires the state board to adjust the fire prevention fee annually using prescribed methods, and requires the state board, until January 31, 2017, to submit a report to the Legislature every January 31 on the status and uses of the fund, containing specified information and recommendations.

This bill would extend to January 31, 2021, the time until which the state board is required to submit the report to the Legislature, and would additionally require that the report include specified information on each program and subprogram program, subprogram, and element for which the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection uses money generated from that fire prevention fee. fee, and other information regarding fund expenditures, as provided.

Existing law requires the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to adopt emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee in amount not to exceed $150 to be charged on each habitable structure, defined as a building used or intended to be used for human habitation, as defined, on a parcel that is within a state responsibility area, as defined. Existing law requires the state board to adjust the fire prevention fee annually using prescribed methods, and requires the state board, until January 31, 2017, to submit a report to the Legislature every January 31 on the status and uses of the fund. fund, containing specified information and recommendations.

This bill would extend to January 31, 2021, the time until which the state board is required to submit the report to the Legislature, and would additionally require that the report include specified information on each program and subprogram for which the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection uses money generated from that fire prevention fee.

Existing law requires the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to adopt emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee in amount not to exceed $150 to be charged on each structure, defined as a building used or intended to be used for human habitation, on a parcel that is within a state responsibility area, as defined. Existing law requires the state board to adjust the fire prevention fee annually using prescribed methods, and requires the state board, until January 31, 2017, to report to the Legislature every January 31 on the status and uses of the fund.

This bill would extend to January 31, 2021, the time until which the state board is required to report to the Legislature, and would additionally require that the report include specified information on each program for which the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection uses money generated from that fire prevention fee.

Date of Hearing: June 29, 2016

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Lorena Gonzalez, Chair

SBPCA Bill Id:SB 1136

Author:(Morrell) – As Amended Ver:June 15, 2016

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill extends the sunset date and adds additional reporting requirements to the annual report regarding the expenditure of state responsibility area (SRA) fire fees. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires CalFire rather than the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) to prepare and submit the report.
2. Extends the sunset date on the report to from January 31, 2017, to January 31, 2021.
3. Adds specific information to the report on expenditures from each program, subprogram, and element for which CalFire uses funds generated by the fee. Adds a reporting requirement for actual and current year fiscal expenditures and budgeted expenditures.
4. Requires an accounting of expenditures for equipment, staff positions associated with all expenditures, and a description of the grants awarded and how the funds were spent.

FISCAL EFFECT:

Any additional Calfire reporting costs are absorbable.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author, the expenditure reporting for the SRA fee has been inadequate and confusing. This bill clarifies what must be reported and changes the reporting responsibility from the Board to CAL FIRE.
2. Background. The state is responsible for wildland fire protection in state responsibility areas (SRA), which are generally defined to include most nonfederal timberlands, rangelands and watersheds thinly populated and not within the boundaries of a city. Over 31 million acres, much privately owned, are located in SRA. In the past, SRA lands were largely unpopulated. In recent years, however, local governments have allowed increased housing development in SRA but at a level of density that maintains the state's obligation to provide wildland fire protection.

As housing development in SRA increased, so did state fire protection costs. In 1996-97, the department spent $475 million on fire protection; in more recent years, CALFIRE's annual fire protection costs neared or surpassed $1 billion.

1. SRA Fire Protection Fees. In 2011 the Legislature passed ABx1 29 (Blumenfield), requiring the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to adopt emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee. The fee, not to exceed $150 on each structure, was to raise $50 million to fund CALFIRE fire prevention activities. In January 2012, the board issued its regulation, establishing a fee of $150 per habitable structure on a parcel located within SRA, with a $35 reduction for each habitable structure that is also within the boundaries of a local agency that provides fire protection services. Revenues from the fee are to be used exclusively for fire protection. In authorizing the fee, the Legislature recognized that individual owners within SRA received a disproportionately larger benefit from fire prevention activities than realized by the state’s residents generally.

As allowed by law, the Board adjusted the fee for inflation and it is currently $152.33 per habitable structure outside a fire protection district and $117.33 for habitable structures within a fire protection district. Approximately 10% of those required to pay the fee have not paid any amount since the fee was established. Almost $40 million in fees remain uncollected.

Analysis Prepared by: Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: June 13, 2016

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES

Das Williams, Chair

SBPCA Bill Id:SB 1136

Author:(Morrell) – As Amended Ver:April 5, 2016

SENATE VOTE: 37-0

SUBJECT: Fire prevention: state responsibility areas: report

SUMMARY: Extends the sunset and adds reporting requirements to the annual report from the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) regarding the expenditure of state responsibility area (SRA) fire fees.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Requires the Board to classify all lands within the state for the purpose of determining areas in which the financial responsibility of preventing and suppressing fires is primarily the responsibility of the state. (i.e., SRAs.)
   
2. Declares that it is necessary to impose a fee to pay for fire prevention activities in the SRA that specifically benefit owners of structures in the SRA.
   
3. Requires the Board to adopt regulations to establish the fee in an amount not to exceed $150, and allows the Board to adjust the fee every year for inflation. Requires the fee to be charged on each “structure” on a parcel that is within the SRA. Defines “structure” as a building used or intended to be used for human habitation, including a mobile home or manufactured home. Reduces the fire prevention fee by $35 if the structure is also within the boundaries of a local agency that provides fire protection services. Defines “owner of a habitable structure” as the person that is the owner of record of a habitable structure in the county tax assessor rolls or as recorded by the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on July 1 of the state fiscal year for which the fee is due. Requires the Board of Equalization (BOE) to collect the fee.
4. Requires the fee to be deposited in the State Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund, which is available to the Board and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) to expend for fire prevention activities that benefit the owners of structures within the SRA. Limits fire prevention activities to the following:
   

a) Local assistance grants established by the Board;

b) Grants to Fire Safe Councils, the California Conservation Corps, or certified local conservation corps for fire prevention projects and activities in the SRA;

c) Grants to a qualified nonprofit organization with a demonstrated ability to satisfactorily plan, implement, and complete a fire prevention project applicable to the SRA;

d) Inspections by CAL FIRE for compliance with defensible space requirements around structures in the SRA;

e) Public education to reduce fire risk in the SRA;

f) Fire severity and fire hazard mapping by CAL FIRE in the SRA; and,

g) Other fire prevention projects in the SRA that are authorized by the Board.

1. Requires the Board, until January 31, 2017, to submit a report to the Legislature every January 31 on the status and uses of the fund, containing specified information and recommendations.

FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.

COMMENTS:

1. Background. California’s SRA covers over 31 million acres and includes land in every county except San Francisco and Sutter. CAL FIRE operates more than 200 fire stations within the SRA, contracts with other firefighting agencies, and has a proposed wildland fire protection budget of $1.8 billion for this fiscal year. The fire protection budget includes, among other things, fire prevention activities, such as brush clearance, defensible space inspections, fire breaks, and other measures to reduce the cost of firefighting, property loss, injury to firefighters, and damage to the environment.
   

CAL FIRE’s fire protection budget has seen a steady increase over the years and is the largest budget in the Natural Resources Agency. In the 1996-97 fiscal year, CAL FIRE’s fire protection budget was $266 million. This increase has been attributed in large part to the significant housing development at the boundaries between wildlands and urban areas, the heightened risk of catastrophic fires due to fire suppression activities over the last century, and increased staff costs.

1. Fire Prevention Fee. In early 2011, the state was facing a $26.6 billion budget deficit, and an annual structural deficit of up to $21.5 billion was projected into the future. In March 2011, the Legislature passed $13.4 billion in budget solutions (consisting mostly of spending cuts) to address the deficit; however, there was still a shortfall of $10.8 billion. To assist in addressing the budget shortfall, the Legislature passed, among other bills, ABX1 29 (Blumenfield), Chapter 8, Statutes of 2011-12, First Extraordinary Session, which required the Board to adopt emergency regulations to establish a “fire prevention fee” not to exceed $150 for each structure on a parcel that is within the SRA. The fee was intended to fill a hole created by a $50 million General Fund cut to CAL FIRE in the 2011 budget bill. The fee generates around $80 million a year in revenues, which is used to enhance statewide fire prevention work, including local assistance grants. Recent local assistance grant awards have focused on responding to the tree mortality crisis in California where 29 million trees have died. The local assistance grants help locals reduce wildfire and tree fall risks near homes in high tree mortality areas.
2. Amendments. The author believes that the expenditure reporting for the SRA fee has been inadequate and confusing. This bill clarifies what must be reported. However, part of the confusion maybe that the reporting requirement is placed on the Board when it is CAL FIRE that holds the data for the report. The author and committee may wish to consider requiring CAL FIRE to complete the report and present it to the Board and Legislature. In addition, the author and committee may also wish to consider technical amendments to correct drafting errors.
3. Related/Prior Legislation.

SB 1347 (Nielsen) also extends the sunset for the annual report from the Board regarding the expenditure of SRA fire fees. The bill is awaiting hearing in this committee.

AB 1642 (Obernolte) extends the deadlines to either pay the SRA fire prevention fee or file a petition for redetermination of the fee from 30 days to 60 days. This bill was held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

AB 2048 (Dahle, Chesbro, and Gordon), Chapter 895, Statutes of 2014, among other things, reduces the penalties for unpaid fees and simplifies the appeals process.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

Sen. George Runner, Member, State Board of Equalization

City of Big Bear Lake

Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

Riverside County Board of Supervisors

Rural County Representatives of California

San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors

Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors

45 Individuals

Opposition

None on file

Analysis Prepared by: Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: SB 1136

Author:

:

Vote:

SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 9-0, 3/29/16

AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson, Monning, Vidak, Wolk

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8

SUBJECT:

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST: This bill extends the sunset and adds reporting requirements to the annual report from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) regarding the expenditure of state responsibility area (SRA) fire fees.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Enacts the SRA fire prevention fee following the signing of ABX1 29 (Blumenfield, Chapter 8, Statutes of 2011-12 First Extraordinary Session) in July 2011. The law approved the new fee to pay for fire prevention services within the SRA. The fee is applied to all habitable structures within the SRA.
2. Requires an annual report on SRA fire fee expenditures. The sunset date on these reports is January, 2017. In a recent informational report from last year, CDF summarized expenditures for the three fiscal years 2012-15. That report is available on the CDF Web site.

This bill:

1. Extends the sunset date on the report to January 31, 2021.
2. Adds reporting requirements that require specific information on expenditures from each program, subprograms, and element for which CDF uses money from the fee. It also adds a reporting provision for actual and current year fiscal expenditures.
3. Provides that additional reporting requirements pertain to equipment expenditures, personnel positions that are associated with each expenditure, and descriptions and expenditures on each SRA grant awarded.

Comments

The additional reporting requirements reflect frustration on the part of some legislators regarding the information provided them regarding this fee, which is unpopular in some areas of the state. The author acknowledged that he has received most, if not all, of the information he requested in an acceptable format. If there is an open question regarding this bill it is whether the Legislature should codify an information request that has already been satisfied.

The SRA fee generates approximately $74 million annually. Effective July 1, 2014, the fee is levied at the rate of $152.33 per habitable structure, which is defined as a building that can be occupied for residential use. Owners of habitable structures who are also within the boundaries of a local fire protection agency will receive a reduction of $35 per habitable structure.

According to the CDF Web site, this fee funds a variety of important fire prevention services in the SRA. Such activities include fuel reduction activities that lessen risk of wildfire to communities and evacuation routes. Other activities include defensible space inspections, fire prevention engineering, emergency evacuation planning, fire prevention education, fire hazard severity mapping, implementation of the state and local Fire Plans and fire-related law enforcement activities such as arson investigation.

The legality of the fee is being challenged in court, and it is not clear when the trial will occur. The argument is that the fee should have been enacted as a tax with a 2/3 vote.

Since its adoption, the Legislature has considered many bills to repeal the fee, none of which were passed. It also passed bills allowing a landowner to apportion the fee with a prospective buyer, to index the fee for inflation, and to exempt structures destroyed by natural disasters from the fee.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:

SUPPORT: (Verified 4/25/16)

Former State Senator George Runner

Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

San Bernardino County

46 individuals

OPPOSITION: (Verified 4/25/16)

None received

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, he (and the co-authors) were not receiving adequate information about SRA fire fee expenditures despite the annual report. He believes that SRA grant fee expenditures are reported much more transparently than the fire prevention activities that are also funded from SRA fire fees. At the request of the author, CDF provided a much more detailed report on SRA fire prevention activities that he believes is an adequate precedent for future reports should this bill be enacted.

Prepared by:

4/27/16 15:57:22

**** END ****

SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER

Senator Fran Pavley, Chair

2015 - 2016 Regular

Bill No: SB Hearing Date: March 29, 2016

Subject: Fire prevention: state responsibility areas: report

BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW

The State Responsibility Area (SRA) fire prevention fee was enacted following the signing of Assembly Bill X1 29 in July 2011. The law approved the new fee to pay for fire prevention services within the SRA. The fee is applied to all habitable structures within the SRA and generates approximately $74 million annually.

Effective July 1, 2014, the fee is levied at the rate of $152.33 per habitable structure, which is defined as a building that can be occupied for residential use. Owners of habitable structures who are also within the boundaries of a local fire protection agency will receive a reduction of $35 per habitable structure.

According to the website of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF), this fee funds a variety of important fire prevention services in the SRA. Such activities include fuel reduction activities that lessen risk of wildfire to communities and evacuation routes. Other activities include defensible space inspections, fire prevention engineering, emergency evacuation planning, fire prevention education, fire hazard severity mapping, implementation of the State and local Fire Plans and fire-related law enforcement activities such as arson investigation.

The legality of the fee is being challenged in court, and it is not clear when the trial will occur. The argument is that the fee should have been enacted as a tax with a 2/3 vote.

Since its adoption, the Legislature has considered many bills to repeal the fee, none of which were passed. It also passed bills allowing a landowner to apportion the fee with a prospective buyer, to index the fee for inflation, and to exempt structures destroyed by natural disasters from the fee.

An annual report on SRA fire fee expenditures is required by law. The sunset date on these reports is January, 2017. In a recent informational report from last year, CDF summarized expenditures for the three fiscal years 2012-15. That report is available on the CDF website.

Some legislators were concerned that they (and the public) were not getting adequate information about SRA fire fee expenditures despite this report and other information provided to them by CDF.

PROPOSED LAW

This bill would amend the annual reporting statute for SRA fee expenditures by requiring that each report include a description of each program and subprogram element for which the department uses money generated from the fire prevention fee, including an itemized accounting of expenditures for each program and subprogram. The bill would also require reporting on equipment expenditures, personnel positions that are associated with each expenditure, descriptions and expenditures on each SRA grant awarded by CDF, and past year, current year, and budget year expenditures for each annual report. It also directs the department to make any appropriate recommendations to the Legislature. The bill extends the sunset on the reporting provisions until January 31, 2021.

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT

According to the author, CDF does report its SRA grant fee expenditures much more transparently than it reports its fire prevention activities that are also funded from SRA fire fees. At the request of the author, CDF provided a much more detailed report on SRA fire prevention activities that he believes is an adequate precedent for future reports should this bill be enacted.

ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION

None received

COMMENTS

The author acknowledged that the department has provided the expenditure information he sought in an acceptable format. The question before the committee is whether that fulfilled request should now be codified, or whether the author can obtain agreement on another way to obtain a commitment from the department for the expenditure information to be available to the public without the need for a bill. That question may be resolved at this hearing or at any future point in the process.

AMENDMENTS

The author has requested three technical amendments that he will adopt as author’s amendments as well as adding co-authors:

1. Page 3, in subdivision (f) include in the Cal Fire report past year actuals, current year, and budget year estimates.
2. Page 3, include a comma in line 27 after the word “subprogram”
3. Page 3, include a comma in line 30 after the word “subprogram”
4. Add Senate co-authors Berryhill, Fuller, Bates, and Runner and Assembly co-authors Gallagher, Jones, Wagner, and Olbernolte.

SUPPORT

Senator George Runner (Ret.)

Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

46 Individuals

OPPOSITION

None Received

-- END --