SB 1370: Covered wildfire mitigation projects: consolidated and expedited review.

Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which is known as and may be referred to as CAL-FIRE. Existing law establishes in CAL-FIRE the Office of the State Fire Marshal and requires that office to establish the Community Wildfire Mitigation Assistance Program to coordinate regional and local efforts with state policies, strategies, and programs for community wildfire mitigation in order to improve wildfire preparedness and prevention, with an emphasis on the most vulnerable communities.

This bill would require that, notwithstanding any other law, any state-level environmental and resource permits, approvals, consultations, and reviews required for a covered wildfire mitigation project, as defined, be consolidated into a single coordinated review by a project review team, as defined, and administered jointly by the consolidated review agencies, defined as the Natural Resources Agency and in coordination with the California Environmental Protection Agency. The bill would require an applicant seeking authorization to undertake a covered wildfire mitigation project to submit a single, consolidated application package to the consolidated review agencies. The bill would require the consolidated review agencies to establish timelines to complete their review and issue a determination on a complete application. The bill would require the project to be approved an authorization to be rendered by the consolidated review agencies within 60 calendar days of receipt, as provided, and would authorize the applicant and the consolidated review agencies to agree to extend these timelines the 60-day timeline if both parties agree more information is required. The bill would require the determination authorization to be in writing and to include specified information, including, among other things, a description of the project and a list of permits, agreements, consultations, or authorizations covered by the waived by the review agencies authorization.

The bill would further provide for an expedited authorization, as defined, issued pursuant to these requirements, which would waive the requirement that the covered wildfire mitigation project comply with statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements, within the jurisdiction of boards, departments, commissions, and agencies within the consolidated review agencies. The expedited authorization would replace any other permit, agreement, or authorization required by state statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements that fall falls within the jurisdiction of boards, departments, and offices within the consolidated review agencies. The bill would require covered wildfire mitigation projects to be conducted in compliance with specified requirements and would impose a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each intentional, knowing, or negligent violation, as provided. The bill would require covered wildfire mitigation projects to be less than 3,000 acres limited in project size based on the type of project, as specified, and completed within 2 years of approval by the consolidated review agencies. The bill would further require CAL-FIRE to conduct a risk reduction cost per unit for all publicly funded projects.

The bill would also require, on or before July 1, 2029, the consolidated review agencies to review specified state requirements, as provided, review projects and conduct inspections and monitoring of a subset of projects to develop recommendations required pursuant to those state requirements, and post the review and recommendations on the internet websites of the consolidated review agencies. report to the Legislature on, among other required things, the implementation of all wildfire mitigation projects that were permitted pursuant to the above-described provisions, as provided.