SB 1297: Regional wildfire partnerships.

Existing law establishes in the Department of Conservation the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program to support regional leadership to build local and regional capacity and develop, prioritize, and implement strategies and projects that create fire adapted communities and landscapes by improving ecosystem health, community wildfire preparedness, and fire resilience. Existing law requires the department, upon appropriation, among other things, to provide block grants to regional entities, as defined, to develop regional strategies and projects that create fire adapted communities and landscapes, as provided. Existing law authorizes regional entities to implement collaborative planning efforts with specified local entities and develop regional priority strategies that develop and support specified goals.

This bill would authorize regional entities to form regional wildfire mitigation collaboratives, consisting of specified local government entities, special districts, and tribal governments, and would further authorize these collaboratives to take the form of a joint powers authority. The bill would require these collaboratives to form cooperative agreements with specified entities, as provided. The bill would authorize the collaboratives to develop wildfire mitigation plans to implement projects across the region that mitigate against the risk of wildfire, including projects related to, among other things, structure hardening and retrofitting. The bill would require the plans to consider projects that accomplish specified goals, including, among other things, improve the availability and affordability of property insurance in the region. revise and recast the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program. The bill would, among other things, authorize regional entities to (1) implement collaborative planning efforts with insurance companies, private and public utilities, and other private and public entities, and (2) develop regional priority strategies that develop and support fire-resistant homes, businesses, and public buildings, as provided. The bill would authorize a public regional entity, or an entity or entities designated by a public regional entity, to organize a regional wildfire partnership, defined as either a partnership between a public regional entity and specified private entities or a joint powers authority, as provided, in order to support the regional priority strategies. The bill would require a regional wildfire partnership to submit an annual report to the Department of Conservation, as provided, and would require the department to make the reports publicly available on its internet website.

Existing law, the Bergeson-Peace Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank Act, establishes the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (I-Bank) within the Governors Office of Business and Economic Development and, among other things, authorizes the I-Bank to make loans, issue bonds, and provide financial assistance for various types of projects that qualify as economic development or public development facilities, as provided.

This bill would authorize the I-Bank, in coordination with the Treasurer and the Department of Conservation, to issue revenue bonds to finance wildfire mitigation plans developed by regional wildfire mitigation collaboratives. regional priority strategies developed by regional wildfire partnerships. The bill would establish the Regional Wildfire Mitigation Collaborative Partnership Revolving Fund (revolving fund) in the State Treasury, require moneys generated from the sale of bonds to be deposited in the revolving fund and used exclusively to support the regional wildfire mitigation collaboratives, a regional wildfire partnership, and continuously appropriate moneys in the revolving fund to the I-Bank to support the regional wildfire mitigation collaboratives. a regional wildfire partnership. By establishing a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require a regional wildfire mitigation collaborative regional wildfire partnership receiving funds from the I-Bank to enter into a repayment and participation agreement with the bank, specifying the funding commitments and reporting obligations. The bill would also authorize the I-Bank to provide technical assistance to regional wildfire partnerships.