Senate Standing Committee on Governmental Organization

As many of you know, we'll be holding both a bill hearing and an informational hearing today. We're going to begin with our bill hearing. We have eight bills on today's agenda. Before we hear a presentation on the bills. Well, we're not going to establish the quorum yet. We'll move to Senator Laird. You have file item number one, SB 416.

Good morning, Mr. Chair and members. SB 416 deals with the building standards for state buildings. In 2012, Governor Jerry Brown issued an executive order that said that any new or majorly renovated state buildings had to obtain lead silver certification or higher. Since I'm on a campaign against acronyms, I should say that it's leadership in energy and environmental design. It's the most widely used green building standard in the world. It was created by the Green Building Alliance. It's a framework for healthy, efficient, cost saving buildings. So points are done to get lead certification. And if it's certified, it's a certain thing.

Next up is silver. Next up is gold. And next up is platinum. We are right now in a platinum lead certified building. That is what the swing space is. And what this bill would do is take the standards that were in the executive order and bump it up one. So, in essence, future state buildings would have the goal of being gold or better. And there are 273 buildings that meet this already that are state, and this will hold the state accountable.

And after we upped our and dealt with climate goals last year, this has just really helped in meeting the climate goals. And it should be said that over time, this is also cheaper because when you save electricity, you save water, you align the windows. Over time, it's much less to operate than it was in a conventional building that did not have lead standards. And so the bill has no registered opposition.

With me to answer questions is Mike West with the state, technical questions, with the state building and construction Trades Council, and I would respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, Senator. We'll now move on to lead witnesses in support no formal. We've got technical. Mr. West?

Yes. Mike West, on behalf of the State Building and Construction Trades Council, here to answer any technical questions. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Any other support witnesses here in the room this morning? Any witnesses in opposition to this bill? Nobody in the room in opposition to this bill. Okay, can we move on to witnesses on the teleconference? Moderator, are you there and can you ask for queuing up for or against this bill?

Absolutely. Ladies and gentlemen, if you'd like to ask a question, please press one, then zero on your telephone keypad. You may withdraw your question at any time by repeating the 1-0 command. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up the handset before pressing the numbers. Once again, if you have a question or comment, you may press one and then zero at this time. And there is no one queuing up at this time, Mr. Chair.

Okay, thank you very much. We'll bring it back to the Committee. Any comments? Question, Senator.

So the difference between gold and silver. Maybe your technical expert can help us with that a little bit.

So the difference between gold and silver may just be a matter of a point or two, because it's 10 points difference between the two. So when we discuss this with different entities, it may be just a small, I don't want to say price, but a small condition in the difference between gold and silver. I hope that answered your question.

Well, let me add to it. That points are based on wastewater, water use, access to alternative transportation, a whole host of issues. So when he says that a point or two out, it would be that something is better about one of those categories that bumps the building up.

So is any related to the materials that are used to build the buildings themselves?

Yes, that's a piece of it.

My concern gets into, while this is what the cost benefit is, when you're looking at between the silver and the gold, what we already do versus the cost, a lot of the cost nowadays is potential delays in acquiring materials and whether that difference is worth the cost difference. Is there a cost analysis that's done to be able to give us an idea? Because I think the taxpayers would like the most bang for their buck. And if we're not getting that big of a benefit, it's kind of like, why switch?

And let me help with that. It's different by every building based on what the factors are by every building. And it may be that if it takes three years to get the materials, but you've achieved the savings in water or window coverings or transportation. You get there otherwise, and many state buildings meet this already. This is just codifying what's there and moving it up. And then the contractor or Department of General Services can make the decision based on the individual factors that are present when they're actually dealing with the building.

And our current building is a platinum building, right?

Yes. We're at the top of the line.

Right. Okay. They need some adjustments. I can tell you that the toilet upstairs flushes every two minutes whether somebody's there or not. Okay. We're not going to talk about the elevator incident yesterday. Anyway. Thank you so much. I appreciate the answers.

A quorum, committee secretary please call the role.

[Roll Call]

Okay. We've got a quorum. We're going to continue with this bill, and then we'll move to the consent items after this SB 416. Any other questions on this bill? I had a similar situation, and I think this is a good bill, and we always ought to be striving to have the best to be a model for everybody else, particularly when the State of California has regulations or will mandating buildings and cities and counties throughout the State of California.

We ought to be a leader in doing the same. But I think using this building as an example once again, and not that you're responsible, Senator Laird, but it was very interesting when we came in here, we had like level one chargers for electric vehicles, and the reason was given to me was because if we had level three, we might not make the platinum standard. And that's kind of always one of those things, I guess.

Do you know, or Mr. West, is there a way to appeal those standards? Because it sure seems to me if we're going to an all electric system, perhaps lead in there, look at, they've been on this process. I think now we were lead back. So they've been around, what, 15, roughly 15-20 years. But there ought to be a way to be able to appeal some of these things that we're finding in practice that may not be working all that well.

I think it goes back to a question that I answered with Mr. Seyarto. This is real management, and so the people that are putting this together in the precise instance that you named. They should decide they're getting the points elsewhere and go for the right charger. And so it's in the management that you make the assessment of what you go to and what you do. I sometimes debrief with state agencies after bills, and if I debrief after this bill, I'll say, here's what I heard.

And I know that when I was an administrator, we faced this all the time. And we had discussions about the new resources building because I didn't get the benefit of ever being in it, but I had the toil of having to plan it. And we had discussions about precisely this because that is a top of the line lead building.

I should report. The good news is we have plenty of level two chargers at this point in time. But. Mr. West, do you have anything to add?

Yeah, I'm going to look into the appeal process, but I can say that if you go on the DGS website and type in lead certified buildings, I'm proud to say that in my time in the field, I worked on the Franchise Tax Board building and led a crew of 25 glazers and iron workers on that building. One of which, of those three achieved lead silver, and because of modifications made after the fact, then achieved lead gold. So I know there is an opportunity to upgrade after the fact, sir.

Okay, perfect. Any other questions or comments? Is there a motion? We have a motion by Senator Wilk. Senator. Laird, would you like to close?

Appreciate the discussion. Respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Okay, so we have a motion by Senator Wilk. The motion is do passed to environmental quality Committee. Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

That has six votes. We'll put that Bill on call. Thank you, Senator. I will now move to the consent items. Is there a motion for the consent? Who was that? Senator Bradford made the motion. Secretary, please call the roll on the consent calendar.

[Roll Call]

Bill has eight votes. We'll place that on call. Will now move to Senator Gonzalez. Good morning. She has file item number two, SB 435. Senator Gonzalez, please feel free to begin when you're ready.

Sure thing. Good morning, everyone. Mr. Chair and Members. I'm here to present a Senate Bill 435, which will take the necessary first step to uncover trends and potential disparities that are often hidden in aggregated health data information for Latinos and Indigenous Mesoamericans. Latinos make up 40% of California's population. However, within the Latino community, there are several ethnic subgroups that have diverse health outcomes.

The National Health Interview Survey found that Puerto Rican Americans actually have a higher prevalence of asthma in the United States mainland at 16%, compared to Mexicans, who have a lower percentage prevalence at 5.4%. These distinctions hide in the monolithic term of Latino, and we also know that during the height of the pandemic, indigenous communities could not access timely and reliable information to access vaccines in California and suffered, unfortunately, a higher death rate as a result. So, SB 435 will do a few things.

We'll address these shortcomings by requiring that the Department of Healthcare Services, Department of Public Health, Department of Social Services, Department of Aging, and Healthcare Access Information will collect and release disaggregated data for specified Latino subgroups. It will also ensure that health data collected by the state reflects the diversity of various subgroups within these populations. Testifying in support of this measure today, I have Mar Velez with the Latino Coalition for Healthy California and Eugenia Melesio from Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño.

That's CBDIO that will come up and testify in support of SB 435, and I ask for your aye vote respectfully.

Thank you. We'll now move on to lead witnesses support. Good morning.

Good morning. Chair and members of the committee, my name is Mar Velez, Director of Policy with the Latino Coalition for Healthy California. LCHD is a proud co-sponsor of SB 435, authored by Senator Lena Gonzalez, which will collect and desegregate anonymous demographic data and language data for Latinx subgroups and Indigenous Mesoamericans in California. The goal of SB 435 is to uncover and reduce underlying health disparities, both clinical and those related to the social determinants of health, such as housing for Latinx and Indigenous nations in California.

Research shows that more specific, high-quality demographic data is beneficial to address and effectively meet the health needs of diverse populations. During the pandemic, Latinos were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. We are 1.7 times more likely to contract Covid and 2.8 times more likely to die from the virus. We now know that people who have underlying medical conditions are the most at risk for serious complications with COVID, and Latinos are more likely to have multiple chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes.

More specific data could allow public health departments and health systems to provide culturally competent and responsive information and care to address these disparities. California must also start collecting specific data for indigenous Mesoamerican nations in California who spoke more than 560 languages and dialects during the pandemic. Indigenous Mesoamericans were also disproportionately impacted, but California does not currently collect data for this population. Indigenous Mesoamerican nations also face language barriers to accessing timely and reliable information, such as on COVID.

California must start collecting data on Mesoamerican indigenous languages to understand the specific needs of these communities to equitably access and utilize healthcare programs, social services, and other resources. And lastly, as the Senator stated, Latinos are not a monolith. We are diverse in terms of national origin, race, culture, language, and other demographic factors. And Latinita is not all-encompassing and often erases Indigenous identity. SB 435 highlights and brings awareness to our unique and diverse differences and ensures health equity for Indigenous and Latinos across California.

With that, I respectfully ask for your. I vote for SB 435.

Thank you very much. Any other lead witness? I think you had two.

Yes. And we have our translator as well.

Yes. Okay.

Good morning. Welcome.

Thank you.

[Foregin Language]

Hello, my name is Judith Martinez. I'm with the Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño. Eugenia did speak her native language. It's Mixteco.

Many times, she says she's put into this category, which she's put as a Latina, but many times, indigenous languages are not taken into consideration. This is especially true when getting assistance from agencies and programs on important topics like health and wellness. And with great respect, we ask you to vote yes on SB 435.

Thank you very much. Now, let's hear from any other support witnesses here in the room. Please come forward.

[Forgein Language] My name is Vanessa Terán. I'm a Policy Director with the Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project. I'm in strong support and respectfully ask for your aye vote on SB 435. Thank you.

Thank you.

[Foregin Language] Good morning to all. My name is Alondra Mendoza. I am an advocate with the Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project. I am in strong support of SB 435. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning, Chair and Members. Jennifer Robles with Health Access California in support.

[Forgein Language] Good morning. My name is Juvenal Solano, community organizer with Mixteco Indigena Community Organizing Project from Ventura County, and I am here in strong support of the SB 435. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay, we'll move. And is there any lead witnesses in opposition? Is there anybody in the room in opposition to this bill? Please come forward.

Now, seeing none, let's hear from the teleconference service moderator. Is there any witnesses waiting to testify via the teleconference service? This will either be in support or opposition.

We do have some queuing up for comment at this time. Just bear with us, sir. Okay, our first comment will be from line nine.

Good morning, Chair and Members. Sandra Poole, Western Center for Law and Poverty and support. Thank you. And there are others lining up as well.

The next comment is from line number 14. Your line is now open.

Good morning, Committee and Chair Dodd. My name is Beth Spitler, and I'm calling in support of SB 435 on behalf of the California Food and Farming Network, the California Farmworkers Advocacy Working Group, and Pesticide Action Network. Thank you.

Thank you.

And our next comment is from line number 10.

And we have no further comments at this point. Mr. Chair. Thank you very much. Now, having heard from support and actually no opposition witnesses, we'll bring the discussion back to the Members. Anybody wishing to address this Bill? Seeing none. Senator Gonzalez, would you like to close?

Good morning, Mr. Chair and Members. Ronald Coleman Baeza here on behalf of the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network and also having our state coalition in strong support. Thank you.

And we have no further comments at this point. Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much. Now, having heard from support and actually no opposition witnesses, we'll bring the discussion back to the Members. Anybody wishing to address this bill? Seeing none. Senator Gonzalez, would you like to close?

I just want to say thank you for entertaining this bill. There's over 200,000 different indigenous communities or indigenous people in California, and there's a large Oaxacan community, of course, in Los Angeles. But outside of that, so many vibrant communities, as you've seen here, just want an opportunity for equity in their health data. So, with that, I respectfully ask for aye vote.

Thank you, Senator. That's Senator Roth moves the bill. The motion is do passed to Judiciary Committee. Secretary, can we please call the roll?

[Roll Call]

Not voting for Jones.

[Roll Call]

Bill has seven votes. We'll put that Bill on call. We'll now move on to file item number five. This is SB 787. Senator Jones will present on behalf of Senator Dahle.

Mr. Chair, if it's okay, I have a real simple presentation. I can make it from here, or I can go to the lectern if you'd prefer for me to.

Wherever you feel the best is fine with me.

I think in expedition, I'll just give my opening comments, if that's okay.

That's okay.

SB 787 authorizes ABC to issue 10 new general sale licenses in Nevada County. I respectfully ask for everybody's aye vote.

Thank you. Senator Jones, is there any lead witnesses in support? Are there any witnesses in support in the room? Are there any witnesses of any kind in opposition to this bill in the room? Seeing none. You're right, Senator Jones. We'll move to the teleconference service. Moderator, would you please prompt individuals waiting to testify in support or opposition to SB 787?

If you would like to make a comment on this bill, please press ten at this time. And there are no comments at this point, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, moderator. Appreciate that. Do any of our Members have any questions or comments? Okay, Senator Jones, would you like to close? Did you do it from over there? Please go ahead.

Please vote aye.

All right, perfect. We have a motion. Wilk moves. We have a motion by Wilk. So the motion is do passed to appropriation.

Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Bill has nine votes. I will say, Senator Jones. I'm not sure Senator Dali could have done that. Fantastic job. Please do so. That bill has nine votes, and we'll hold that bill on call. Before we take up the last bill, I want to let Members know that we're nearing the end of our bill hearing. This is more for people that are not here. And we have bills on call.

If all Members could please return to the hearing room so we can finish lifting the calls without delay. We'll now move on to file item number eight, SB 650, which is my bill. So I'll be on hand to hand over the gavel to Senator Wilk in hopes that you do as well as Senator Jones did on that last bill.

Thank you very much, Senator. Let me begin by thanking the majority of the Members of this Committee for Co-Authoring SB 650, which would eliminate the January 12024 sunset on the 50/50 raffle program. Since its inception eight years ago, the 5050 raffle program has raised millions of dollars for a diverse group of local charities throughout the state.

Thank you very much, Senator. Let me begin by thanking the majority of the Members of this committee for co-authoring SB 650, which would eliminate the January 1, 2024 sunset on the 50/50 raffle program. Since its inception eight years ago, the 5050 raffle program has raised millions of dollars for a diverse group of local charities throughout the state.

For instance, the San Francisco Giants Community Fund has now been able to serve 30,000 youth annually, a new record for the fund's 31 history. The 50/50 raffle is directly responsible for the expansion of the Giants Community Fund, which has allowed the fund to renovate three youth baseball fields for the junior Giants to play on. We also cannot forget about the second, third, or maybe the fourth-best baseball team in California, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Come on, you can laugh.

Just last year, the Dodgers were able to raise more than $2.5 million through their 50/50 raffle program. Just fantastic. All jokes aside, Members, this program has proven to be a tremendous success and is self-sustaining. As the analysis points out, the audits by the DOJ have found that no major issues with the program whatsoever. As chair of the Senate GO, I think it's time to make this program permanent. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you for your testimony. Do we have any lead witnesses in support? Welcome.

Committee Members. I'm Amy Tovar, General Counsel of the San Francisco Giants, and I wanted to speak about the tremendous impact that the 50/50 raffle has had on our Giants Community Fund. It has been a total game-changer. It's now our largest fundraising source. As we've maintained and continued all of our other fundraising efforts, the 50/50 raffle has really allowed us to expand the reach of our programs.

As Senator Dodd was mentioning, we're now serving 30,000 youth through our Junior Giants program, which is a co-educational baseball and softball program serving underserved youth throughout Northern California and beyond. We've been able to expand into schools. So, just in 2021, we launched the Junior Giant Schools program and are now serving 7000 youth in Bay Area schools. We're able to outfit the players in full uniform gloves, giving them the pride of being able to wear a Giants uniform.

We are also expanding our scholarship program for former Junior Giants participants. We've just increased that program to $10,000 per student, up from $5,000, as Senator Dodd mentioned. In the last two years, we've renovated three fields, creating more access to baseball. So this has just been a complete add to the reach of our programs, and the fans love it. It's been become part of our culture. People will come to the games, come in, get a hot dog, get their 5050 raffle ticket, and enjoy the game.

And it's really made a difference for a lot of participants who have been able to win the raffle. So I also wanted to add that we've been able to allow nonprofits to come in and be able to have the benefit of raffle nights, and so it's really expanded our reach for other nonprofits as well. So, thank you so much for your support. This has been a complete game-changer for the Giants Community Fund. So, I appreciate your support. Thank you.

Chair members of the committee: Andrew Governor, on behalf of the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and Oakland A's, also the San Francisco 49ers in support of the bill. When this legislature passed this bill in 2015, it was intended to allow the fans to help provide funding for their local communities and nonprofits. It's been a tremendous success. In 2018, we extended it another five years. So, the program has been in place for eight years.

If you would like to make a comment on this bill, please press one and then zero at this time. And there is one queuing up. Okay, the covenant will be coming from line number 18.

All of the forms that the teams do, all of the money they raise are online at the Department of Justice. There's three levels of audits that provide transparency for this program. We believe it's time for the sunset to be eliminated so that teams can continue to raise millions of dollars for charities around the state. With that, I ask for your support.

Thank you other witnesses in the room in support. This is me too time.

Tim Lynch, on behalf of the Golden State Warriors, and we're in support of the bill. Thank you.

McKay Carney, on behalf of the San Jose Sharks, in support.

Thank you. All right, now let's hear from those witnesses in opposition. Do we have any lead witnesses in the room in opposition? Seeing none. Do we have any witnesses at all in the room in opposition? Seeing none. Secretary, let's move to teleconference.

Yes, Mr. Chair? Members of the committee: for Pechanga Band of Indians, we just want to make sure that the audit provisions are done correctly on this new, expanded form of gaming, and we'll stay in touch with them.

Thank you. Mr. Moderator. Any others in the queue?

And there are no further comments at this time.

Thank you, sir. We'll now pull it back to the committee members for questions, comments, and concerns. I see a motion from Senator Roth. Mr. Glazer.

Mr. Chair. Floor is mine. I appreciate hearing the testimony from some wonderful teams here, but sometimes we get information that's not always clear. And I did hear, and I appreciate the sponsor, if you could speak to this.

And given their reputation, it doesn't surprise me that the Dodgers and the Lakers were opposing this bill. Is that true?

That's not true, Senator.

No. I thought it was a rumor. And given their reputation, it wouldn't have surprised. But good to hear.

You're out of order, Senator Glazer.

Although I do like your new haircut.

I think this is my fault for the demeanor of the meeting that I've been holding here. And little humor goes only far, Senator.

So before we take it to a vote, I just got a couple of comments. One, I cannot believe it's been eight years already. Time flies. That's incredible. And then secondly, I was not surprised to learn that Dodger fans are way more generous than giant fans. I think you quoted $2.5 million. So good for us with that. Any other questions? Okay. Senator Rubio. Okay. Senator Rubio.

Good morning, everyone. I'm a co-author to the bill. I just want to thank the great senator from Napa. I think it's important to support our local youth programs. As a former educator, I know how long these scholarships can go for the underserved and students that can't afford college and other opportunities. So I want to thank all the programs out there, all the teams and I think we need to make it a little higher. There's a lot of need out there.

But nonetheless, happy to co-author and thank you for taking care of our communities.

And with that secretary. Call the roll. Oh, yeah. I guess you can close if you like.

Respectfully ask for your aye vote good.

SB 650 motion is do passed to Appropriations Committee. [Roll Call]

Okay, 13 aye vote. So it gets out, and we will, I guess, keep the roll open for Senator Portantino. And now I turn the gavel back over to our Chairman.

We have a hearing after this, so just want to make sure all the Members know that are going to stay. So let's start with the consent calendar.

[Roll Call]

How many?

14.

That bill has 14 votes, and we'll put that on call. File item number one, SB 416, senated by Senator Laird. Call the roll, please. Open the roll.

[Roll Call]

That has 12 votes. We'll keep that roll open. We'll now move to file item number two. SB 435 by Senator Gonzalez. And if Senator Glazer were in the room on time, he would know that I voted yes on this bill. So please open the roll.

SB 435. [Roll Call] That's 10.

That has 10 votes. We'll keep that on call. File item number eight, SB 650. What's that? Okay, 787 by Senator Dahle. File item number five. Open roll, please.

Absent Members [Roll Call] 13.

File item number eight. That bill is still on call. File item number eight, SB 650. Please open the roll.

Absent Members [Roll Call]

How many? 13 votes. We're still waiting for Senator Portantino; what do you want to do with this consultant? We'll recess this meeting. Okay. Senator Portantino apparently has two bills that he has in public safety. So, at this point in time, the business before the GO meeting is concluded. This meeting is adjourned. We will, uh -

I've got to go present bill, so I'm going to turn the gavel over to Senator Wilk to open this committee hearing, and I'll be back as soon as possible. So I've been advised that probably the best way to do this, because Senator Wilk also has a bill, is to recess for five minutes or so until we can return.

Thank you very much for your patience. We're going to open the Senate Governmental Organization Hearing, Building Resilience: Evaluating California's Recent Wildfire Emergency Preparedness and Response Efforts.

Once again, the Senate continues to welcome the public and has provided access to both in-person and teleconference parts participation for a public comment. For individuals wishing to provide public comment via the teleconference service, the participant toll free number is 877-226-8163, the access code is 7362834. For today's hearing, we'll be hearing all of the panel's panel witnesses on the agenda prior to taking any public comment.

Once we have heard all the witnesses, we will have a public comment period for those who wish to comment on the topics of today's agenda. Despite all this rain lately, we all know just how devastating wildfires have been to life and property of thousands of Californians. And while the rain is needed, we also know that it's bringing life back to the fuel of future fires.

When I became Chair of this Committee back in 2017, I had no idea what the most catastrophic wildfires in California history were about to ignite. For example, the October 2017 Northern California firestorm burned at least 245,000 acres in and around my district. These wildfires were the costliest group of wildfires on record at the time, causing about $14.5 billion in damages. Then, the following year, the Camp Fire became the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history and the most expensive natural disaster in the world in 2018.

It was clear that we had to act, and we did. This hearing is intended to look back at policies and budget augmentations that have since been made to address this new normal as the climate continues to change and fires rage. Examples include my SB 209, establishing the Wildfire Forecast and Threat Intelligence Integration Center. We should have an acronym for that, frankly, as much as we hate acronyms. And SB 109, establishing CAL FIRE's Office of Wildfire Technology Research and Development.

I look forward to hearing about their implementation body today. Additionally, gaps in our alerting system were exposed and legislators got to work with stakeholders and the public to address identified needs. I look forward to hearing more about that work as well as we continue to learn from the past to better address the evolving wildfire environment, I'd like now to invite our Vice Chair, Senator Wilk, if he was here, to make some remarks. We'll allow him to do that at a later time, so thank you.

Are there any Senators who would like to make a comment before we start this hearing? Seeing none. So we will hear from the California Office of Emergency Services in CAL FIRE. Come on up. No. All right. So we have a little snafu here. The first panel is a Legislative Analyst Office. Sorry about that.

Okay. Good morning. Thank you. Mr. Chair, Members of the Committee, we appreciate you having us today. My name is Jared Sippel. I'm with the Legislative Analyst Office. We prepared a handout for you today. Hopefully you all have it in your materials. If not, I think the Sergeant may have a couple of extra copies available for you, anyone in the audience or listening in from your home or office. It's also available on the Committee website as well as the LAO website.

To just give you a brief overview today of kind of what my remarks will be, we were asked to provide some high-level context on a few different topics, including the roles and responsibilities of different state agencies in wildfire preparedness and response. Some of the emergency alert systems that are used to alert the public in the event of a wildfire, some of the recent wildfire related technology and other communication related budget augmentations.

And then to just give a brief overview of one of those augmentations on the Wildfire Forecast and Threat Intelligence Integration center, which they do refer to it as WFTIIC for short, to help with brevity. And so with that, I will turn to page one on the handout. And I think it's important to note at the start that there are a number of different state agencies that have roles and responsibilities in wildfire preparedness and response.

For the purposes of this handout, we focus on just a few that are particularly relevant to today's hearing. So the first one that we highlight is OES, which OES often refers to itself kind of as air traffic control in the event of an emergency or disaster, really making sure that the right state agencies and the right people and the right assets are in place to respond to and prepare for emergencies.

They also operate many of the communications and alert systems, such as the State Warning Center, as well as the Next Generation 911 system. We also highlight CAL FIRE, which is the main state entity involved in fire response and protecting state responsibility wildland areas, as well as implementing a number of different wildfire-related technologies and research.

And then finally, we note a few of the other agencies, such as the California Military Department, which helps combat large wildfires, as well as the California Public Utilities Commission, which has various roles and responsibilities in reducing the role of utilities in causing wildfires, as well as protecting consumers and public safety officials in the event of one. I'll then move on to page two of our handout.

In the event of a wildfire or other emergencies or disasters, there are several different types of alert systems that federal, state and local officials use to alert people who may be impacted. The first one that we highlight is the wireless emergency alert system. So this is one in which local or public state officials can pinpoint a geographic area and anyone in that area would receive a text-like message alerting them of the potential emergency.

So I imagine most, if not all people in this room have received one of these types of messages. If you've ever received an Amber Alert and you get that short message with the accompanying tone and vibration, that was most likely sent with the wireless emergency alert system. We also highlight some of the subscription services, alert services where people would sign up for alerts and other notifications from their local or regional public safety agency websites.

They would provide their information, contact information, and identify areas of address of interest. So this could be their home, their work, or their child's school address. And in the event that an emergency or a wildfire may impact one of those addresses, they would similarly receive a notification at their preferred contact information.

And then moving on to page three of our handout. In response to the severe wildfires in the 2017, 2018 and 2020 wildfire seasons, the Legislature has made a number of different augmentations related to wildfire technology and communications, and so I won't get into all of them on this particular page, but I might just highlight a couple of them. So on the technology sides, one of the more major augmentations includes the Fire Integrated Real-time Intelligence System, or FIRIS for short.

That one provides funding to support aircraft that have specialized cameras that are deployed and they go up and they capture various imagery and other video which can then be used for near-time fire modeling.

We also, on the communications side, highlight a number of different systems to ensure that public safety agencies can remain in contact both with each other as well as the general public, including the Next Generation 911 system, which the augmentations are currently transitioning that from an analog to a digital one in order to improve resiliency and redundancy.

We should also note that the Governor does have a '23/'24 budget proposal for the Next Generation 911 system, as well as the California Public Safety Microwave Network, which would complete the build-out of those systems, as well as support ongoing maintenance and operation cost. And then I'll just move to the last page which gives a brief overview of one of the augmentations that we mentioned on the previous page, which is the Wildfire Forecast and Threat Intelligence Integration Center.

So, as the Chair mentioned, this was established by SB 209. It was jointly established by OES and CAL FIRE and includes a number of different agencies, which are intended to collect, assess, and analyze threat indicators, fire related intelligence, as well as atmospheric conditions.

OES, CAL FIRE and the other agencies are in the process of staffing and standing up that center and starting to pull data from a variety of different data sources to produce a daily intelligence product, which is pushed out to public safety agencies, as well as is available to the general public on the center's website. So with that, I wanted to keep our remarks short, but my colleagues and I are happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you very much. Any questions at this time from any of the members? Yes.

Thank you for the brief and bulleted presentation. I have a question from page one around CAL FIRE and the response. Can you tell me a little bit about how CAL FIRE interacts with local and federal agencies when a wildfire does not begin on state lands?

And I would point out the Department is actually also here, so they may be able to provide a more detailed response in terms of how they integrate. But I think often it's really sort of ground up. Right?

Like if there's a fire, usually it's locals who are first on the scene, right? So they're the ones who are ground zero for seeing the fire, responding to the fire. And then they usually, if it's, you know, will sort of elevate it to the extent that they need additional support. And so that could go then to support. Ultimately, CAL FIRE may come if a local agency needs support. Also, obviously, if it's on federal land, many of these wildfires are on federal land.

And so then the primary response agency would be the US Forest Service rather than CAL FIRE. But again, often CAL FIRE comes in to support those agencies because it's really kind of a one fight. And so there's, I think, a big emphasis on all the different entities involved working together to try to meet that end goal of making sure that we address wildfires as needed.

So in the circumstance of U. S. Forest Service, so who takes the lead role? So how does that determined?

So I think generally they would be the initial lead role, but then they do have an integrated sort of, the emergency management system does ultimately create sort of a one, there's essentially one entity that will take control, and will have other entities potentially wrapped in with that. Again, the departments can probably provide more detailed response on exactly how they manage those roles and responsibilities.

But again, I think if it's a federal, on federal land, I think often the US Forest Service would be that initial entity and would often be in charge of that response.

Thank you, Senator. Anybody else? I do have a few questions. Can you talk about the $78 million for the Public Safety Microwave Network? Do we know how the upgrade from the analog system, them to the digital, which you referenced, how that's going right now?

So for that particular, this is for the California Public Safety microwave network. So that one is in the process of being, as I mentioned, updated. And my understanding is that it is supposed to, this last amount of funding that's being proposed as part of the 23-24 budget will complete the build-out of that system, and then it'll be in kind of operations and maintenance mode from that point in time afterwards.

All right. Thank you. And then can you talk a little bit more about the funding? The Legislature is dedicated to the wildfire cameras and what the current status of the state's wildfire camera monitoring system is.

The departments may be able to better give some overview of kind of what the status of those fire detection cameras are. But if my colleagues have any additional remarks.

Yeah, I don't think we have probably the most updated information on that. I understand it is that they have been working on that there was money that was provided a couple of years ago, and I understand that that's being implemented, but I think they may be able to provide more specifics on exactly where they are.

Do we need to invest more money into installing more cameras? It sounds like that might be a better question for them as well.

Yeah, I think it's important also to think about both the cameras that the state has, as well as what's happening on the utility side, and look at the whole system. But I think one of the things that also the state has focused on in recent years, and the Legislature is focused on is trying to get information on how all of those systems, what CAL FIRE has, what the utilities have, what also other departments are doing, how they all integrate.

But certainly we think the departments would be able to provide a good update on where they are and what they think the gaps are.

The only other thing we would note is that we do think as part of the 2022-23 budget, there is budget Bill Language that would require OES to provide a strategic plan. And part of that is supposed to include things such as a detailed description of what current resource it has for emergency response, as well as resources for other key state entities such as CALl FIRE, as well as the California Military Department.

And that's intended both to give that kind of detailed description for the resources that they have, establish kind of goals and then objectives for achieving those goals, and then identifying gaps in current resources and then a plan for closing those gaps. And so we think that will be very helpful to the Legislature once that's available in January of next year.

All right. Thank you. And finally, can you talk some more about the $4 million in 2020 and the 7 million ongoing for 24 positions to implement the Technosylva fire sim and firecast wildfire forecasting technologies.

Thanks for that question. Yeah. So again, I think the Department might be able to provide more detail. Our understanding was that they were in the midst of implementing that as we spoke. But again, I think they might have more details.

Very good. I think that concludes, I'm sorry, Senator Roth, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was just curious, you mentioned the Military Department. I'm looking at fire integrated real-time intelligence system. Are we still able to access and fully utilize the California Military Department and the National Guard's remotely piloted aircraft systems for fire monitoring and intelligence gathering in these big fires? There were issues in the past.

My understanding is that we are accessing that, that one of the challenges is that sometimes there's a delay in getting that information because there are national security concerns. And so sometimes it's not quite as real-time as some of the other sources, which is one of the reasons why there was the FIRIS system was proposed because we have a variety of different technologies, right. We have the FIRIS, the airplanes that are going in through the FIRIS system.

We have, as you say, great intelligence from the military that my understanding is the state is accessing or has been able to access. And then we have the cameras. We have a whole host of these different technology solutions. So I think it's really, again, one of these critical questions is given that we have all of these different technologies, what gaps remain?

And that's, I think, why this report will be so helpful, hopefully coming next year to look at that both in technology as well as in other things.

And then also, as was, I think, also referenced in our handout and in your materials, CAL FIRE has this research arm now pursuant to legislation that I know is near and dear to many here, that is also really going to, I think, be very important in looking at all these technologies and really vetting them and figuring out how they all play in, because the military is a very valuable source. Right. That's there. And my understanding has been very helpful.

Well, and I guess my question then is, as we move ahead, will the LAO or will someone else in report forum be doing a cost analysis of the various types of platforms that we utilize for this intelligence?

I mean, I'm a pilot, so I obviously like pilots and support airplanes, but there probably is a difference in cost and loiter time and the ability to access data over long periods of time between a piloted aircraft and a remotely piloted system that has loiter time of hours and hours and would be interesting to have that cost analysis to make sure we're using the assets that are available in the most effective and efficient way.

Yeah. And again, I think one of the reports that the departments are supposed to do is supposed to provide some of that cost benefit. So hopefully it will include some useful information there. But I think our office, that is always something our office is very focused on. It's a big priority. And as we look at Budget change proposals as well as we do our other work, we're always very focused on that as well as other priorities.

But certainly looking at those things, and those are the questions we asked when we were viewing, for example, the FIRIS proposal, some of the issues that we raised when we were looking at that is, what is the cost-benefit relative to some of the other potential technologies? So I think that point is right on, and I think we'll have to continue to look at that issue.

Thank you very much, ma'am. Good seeing you again.

Thank you for the question.

Drew Soderborg, Legislative Analyst Office, just to add on real quick to that, to provide a little bit more information on the reports that will be forthcoming, there's the gap analysis that we spoke about earlier. In addition, the Department of Finance is supposed to do sort of a baseline review of departments' budgets to see whether or not the current level of funding is consistent with what's needed to address the gaps or if any funding needs to be reallocated.

So there's a potential that we'd get some insight into whether or not funding we have budgeted for certain purposes now needs to be redirected to other purposes and how best to prioritize that funding.

Yeah, I certainly appreciate Senator Roth's question there, because I think that's going to be incumbent on the LAO's office. It's a little early right now to be making any determinations whether the systems are working or not working or what's been, because it's just not enough time. So this whole hearing is a result of the accountability standards. Our pro tem is put forward to each of our committees to really do the accountability standards, if you will, of if our expectations have been met through legislation and budget.

So I really appreciate the three of you being here this morning. Thank you very much for your time and information that you gave us today. Thank you. All right. Now, I gave a fire drill the last time for Members of the California Office of Emergency Services and CAL FIRE. Really appreciate you being here this morning, and welcome, and please introduce yourselves and proceed through the agenda when you're ready.

Good morning. Good morning. Chair, Vice Chair and Members of the Committee. My name is Brian Marshall and I am the Chief of Cal OES Fire and Rescue Branch. I oversee the coordination of the State Fire and Rescue Mutual Aid System, which moves local government fire resources across the state in support of all hazard emergency response. It benefits local, state, federal, and tribal fire organizations.

Although last year's fire season was not as devastating as we've seen in the past, and we did not endure the numerous large catastrophic fires that we've previously seen, our belief is that we can continue to contribute to the investments we've made in the threat identification, repositioning, and suppression tactics. This does not mean, however, that we've turned our focus away from the threat of wildfires.

Cal OES has been making investments that include the enhancement of real-time, all-hazard situational awareness, reconnaissance, intelligence, and information-sharing capabilities that amplify and accelerate our decision-making at every level. We are continuing to utilize and develop various types of technologies that work to detect and assess wildfires and other disaster responses. The Situational Awareness Collaboration Tool, known as SCOUT, provides an information-sharing environment to facilitate operational and tactical collaboration among emergency responders and the interagency situational awareness for local, tribal, state, and federal partners.

Not only for the extreme fires, but even on the small fires on a day-to-day basis, we have continued to utilize with great success the Fire Integrated Real-time Intelligence System, also known as FIRIS. The FIRIS aircraft include cutting-edge sensors that provide enhanced incident awareness, real-time fire perimeter maps, high-definition color and infrared video and photos, continuous wildfire spread modeling, and an all-hazard intel and specific incident modeling.

We've utilized FIRIS to quickly suppress a number of fires that could have proved extremely hazardous to structures if allowed to spread. I would like to mainly focus on one of our newest and most exciting capabilities, which is the Wildfire Forecast and Threat Intelligence Integration Center, what we call WFTIIC. The WFTIIC was initiated through the passage of SB 209 by Senator Dodd in 2019. The WFTIIC is the first-of-its-kind center in the nation.

Modeled after the National Hurricane Center, the WFTIIC is staffed with experts in wildfire modeling, fire science and technology, weather forecasting, and intelligence gathering. The WFTIIC products and services cover the entire spectrum, from generalized public information to complex decision support tools for fire managers, agency executives, and elected officials. The WFTIIC collects, assesses, and analyze fire weather data, atmospheric conditions, and threats to the public and our natural resources.

The WFTIIC serves as a central hub for gathering information, disseminating intelligence on the wildfire risk and hazards, and it shares that data with our federal, state, local, and tribal partners, our utilities and other public service providers, academic and scientific institutions, and nongovernmental organizations.

Building on what has already been accomplished and through the partnership between wildfire experts and academia, strategies will be developed to strengthen our wildfire and emergency preparedness and response, standardize environmental monitoring and assessment, enhance forecasting and detection capabilities, and, as always, expand public knowledge and awareness of the threat and risk from wildfires. The WFTIIC will serve as an integration hub for the information and intelligence sharing obtained by SCOUT, FIRIS and CAL FIRE's Technosylva Tactical Analyst Tool and other systems that are currently being used or maybe under development.

The state partners in the WFTIIC include not only the Office of Emergency Services and CAL FIRE, but also the California Military Department, the California Public Utilities Commission, and the National Weather Service and CUEA. The state has implemented the baseline functions of the WFTIIC, which went live on January 1, 2022. The WFTIIC has launched a web hub for fire weather information. That web hub is at fireforecast.caloes.ca.gov, and each day produces a statewide week ahead fire threat potential and weather forecast product.

The web hub also includes information on red flag warnings, current active fires, the threat indices, and a GIS-based wildfire situational awareness dashboard. These baseline WFTIIC services have been presented to FIRESCOPE and the California Wildfire Coordinating Group. This highlights our current available products for use and it also seeks feedback from the fire service community to include our federal firefighting partners. The core WFTIIC agencies continue to meet bi-weekly to implement the full complement of the WFTIIC services.

Additionally, the core WFTIIC agencies and key future partners, including the National Weather Service and the California Utilities Emergency Association, met on February 17 of this year to develop the strategy for the next phase of implementation. We want to continue to update our WFTIIC hub with active incidents not only hourly, but daily, provide weather and initial attack weather feeds prior to this summer.

We want to be able to produce data for CAL FIRE dispatch map viewer prior to this summer, create an automated preposition form and mapping functions prior to the end of the year, and complete our MOU between our principal state agencies prior to the end of the year.

We continue to conduct initial outreach and preliminary partnering discussions with universities and our utility partners. That is absolutely key to our success and develop the plan and integrate CUEA, National Weather Service, and our U.S. Forest Service partners into the WFTIIC. Though the forecast looks as though the threat of our wildfire in our state will continue to increase as time goes on.

I'm confident that the tools and procedures at our disposal will be able to meet these challenges to create a more resilient California for decades to come. That concludes my comments, and I thank you for the opportunity to speak before you today, and I look forward to answering any questions you may have.

Thank you. We're going to save most of the questions to the end, but Senator Wilk, our Vice Chair, has a question.

Yeah, I just had a quick question because you were just powering through and I didn't want to stop your momentum. I don't know all the acronyms. WFTIIC. Wictic. What is that?

WFTIIC is our Wildfire Threat Intelligence Integration Center.

You know, Senator Laird is on a mission to abolish all acronyms, so fortunately, he's not on this Committee. Thank you. I figured it was something like that, but I just wanted to make sure. All right. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Good morning, Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee. My name is Marv Green and I'm the Cal OES Deputy Director of Logistics. The logistics directorate includes the Public Safety Communications Team, which serves the State of California by providing public safety communications to the state, first responders, oversight of the 911 system, and oversight of the new 988 system that we have here in California. I'd like to talk today about our state's emergency alerting systems.

The systems used for wirelessly alerting the public about a wildfire varies among local agencies. Local agencies use a variety of technologies that support wireless alerts and comply with the requirements of the FEMA-integrated Public Alert and Warning System, also known as IPAWS. Cal OES has also provided an alerting system option for all local alerting authorities using a designated vendor at no cost. There are currently 20 agencies that use the state system, with another 40 that are in the implementation process right now.

I'll briefly walk you through how the wireless alert system works for the emergencies that qualify to use the FEMA Integrated Public Alert and Warning Systems. From the point in time a fire is reported and how it reaches the public who are at risk, there are a few things that happen. First, it's important to understand that the IPAWS includes the wireless emergency alert system and the emergency alert system.

The first one manifests itself in a message that comes from your cell phone, and the second one manifests itself in an emergency alert broadcast, like you hear on the radio with that annoying sound, or like you may see a banner going across the top of your television. Typically, the reporting begins, I'm sorry, in some cases, an emergency alert system alert will also be sent out over a broadcast, radio, and TV.

These types of alerts are sent to all those areas selected to receive the alert and do not require anyone to sign up or opt-in or subscribe to the alert system. There are no requirements to sign up. There is another group of alerts that do require users to sign up. These alerts are considered to impact the public, but do not rise to the level of a WEA or an emergency alert system. An example might be a road closure for a parade route.

Public safety alerts also include the ability to alert wireline and VoIP users, and since the location of these users are known, they do not have to sign up to receive these alerts. Since the location of wireless users are not known, they have to sign up to receive public alerts that are not part of the emergency system that I've previously described. Another example of the WEA system is the action that took place on September 6.

Last year, 2022 Cal OES sent a WEA, wireless emergency alert, to the public in 27 counties, equating to 35 million Californians, or 89% of the California population, encouraging conservation of the energy and advising of the risk to our grid with the heat dome emergency. As a result of this action, the California Independent State Operation saw an immediate and significant drop in emergency use, providing some alert to the state grid.

What I'll say on that is that as we saw the demand and the capability peak with the ISO, that alert went out and in four minutes we saw a complete drop off of energy demand, so it's very effective. Specific roles and responsibilities for operating and maintaining the wireless alert systems do vary between Cal OES, the county, and the cities. The local agencies must sign up for and complete the training to be certified as a FEMA IPAWS alerting authority. Cal OES assists in this training.

Any alert system that is procured at the local level is maintained by the local agencies based on the contract that they have with that alerting vendor. The state alerting system is maintained by the vendor that Cal OES selected through a competitive bid process. Local systems are funded using local funding and grant funds. The state system is funded using the State Emergency Telephone Number Account, or SETNA.

Before I conclude, I wanted to touch on three bills from 2018 and 2019 that Cal OES has implemented and have bolstered our capabilities. Senate Bill 833, signed in 2018, required OES to deliver voluntary guidelines for alerting and warning the public of emergency and required OES to develop an alert and warning training which has happened. Assembly Bill 1877, also signed in 2018, required OES to create a library of translated emergency notifications and a translation style guide.

The Bill also required designating authorities, alerting authorities to consider using the library and translation style guide while using the emergency notifications to the public. And I would say in this most current winter storm events that we're having, we've done multiple multilingual alerts and have been very effective.

And lastly, Senate Bill 670, which was signed in 2019, required telecommunications service providers to submit a specified outage alert to OES with an outage impacting 911 service and emergency notifications occur every morning at 09:00 a.m.. I get an automatic email from this system, tells me what's been down on 911 legacy systems over the last day and what is currently down.

As of an example, yesterday we had 43 outages of the legacy system, primarily in areas where we were having high winds, and all of those were resolved as of this morning, 09:00 a.m., had zero. So it's very effective tool for us to make sure the carriers respond very rapidly on fixing these. These requirements have allowed us to better serve our state during a disaster response by ensuring that all Californians are notified on all alerts of impending hazards or threats.

I want to thank you for allowing me some time today to give an overview about our state's emergency alerting system, and I welcome any questions you may have or later. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll wait for those until the panel is done. Next speaker.

Good morning, Chair Dodd and Members of the Committee. By way of introduction, my name is Scott Gregory. I'm the Deputy Director of technology for CAL FIRE, and I appreciate the opportunity to provide the Committee with an update on CAL FIRE's Office of Wildfire Technology Research and Development, created by Chair Dodd's Senate Bill 109, which was passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor in 2021.

In my presentation today, I will review the responsibilities of the Office, our progress so far, and our goals for the coming year. The Office of Wildfire Technology Research and Development is tasked with studying, testing, and advising on emerging technologies and tools available to more effectively prevent and suppress wildfires in California. After consulting with public, private, and nonprofit entities to identify these new technologies and tools, the office will make recommendations on the most effective and useful technologies and tools for use in the fire service.

CAL FIRE received funding to staff the office in July of last year, and I'm pleased to report that six of the seven positions of the Office have been hired. The final remaining position is a uniformed assistant chief, and we are currently reviewing applications as of this week to fill that position. Concurrently, positions for the Wildfire Technology Research and Development Advisory Board are undergoing the appointment process, but as advancements in technology move quickly, so have we.

The Office has already begun to assess technologies related to remote sensing communication and connectivity in remote areas, which can be a significant issue during wildland firefighting efforts. Right now, the office is conducting field tests in the Jackson Demonstration State Forest located in Mendocino County, in collaboration with programs within CAL FIRE, as well as external departments and vendors. We have collaborated with several CAL FIRE staff and identified internal subject matter experts and key contacts that will assist the Office in its research.

These are the people who will provide feedback on new and emerging technologies that the Office identifies from proposals and industry white papers. The Office is also working on solidifying partnerships with external organizations and agencies to assist in its research and innovation, such as the U.S. Forest Service, NASA, and other federal agencies and academic institutions.

We have created the framework and organizational structure for both the Office and the Advisory Board and collaborated with our legal office to ensure that an appropriate legal structure, such as NDAs or nondisclosure agreements, MOUs, and ethical and intellectual property rights are appropriately addressed as new technologies are introduced to us for consideration. Per SB 109, the Office serves as the state's central organizing hub to identify emerging wildfire technologies.

We are leveraging in-house expertise to develop the technology required to support this work by building a master database of all interactions, research, and solutions, as well as using technologies such as AI or artificial intelligence and cognitive search to help us organize and catalog large amounts of research papers, documents, and other information.

While we are committed to reviewing new wildfire technology ideas from outside the Department, we are also targeting key issues identifying CAL FIRE's Fire Protection Program to help us proactively seek solutions for problems facing us today. So what's next? We are going to launch public resources for external parties to submit ideas, research papers, products, and other proposals to the Office for consideration. The Office is also finalizing internal procedures and processes for leveraging CAL FIRE resources to help complete research and evaluations of technologies.

These include, but are not limited to, prescribed fire and demonstration state forests, access to existing CAL FIRE equipment, and staff time for expertise in testing we will continue field testing and evaluating ideas submitted to the Office, and we hope to issue many requests for information in the coming year to help address the wildfire threat facing California. Thank you again for the opportunity to update the Committee on the Progress of our Office of Wildfire Technology Research and Development.

I'll now turn it over to Chief Curtis Brown to expand on other wildfire technologies used by CAL FIRE.

Thank you, Scott. Good morning, Chair Dodd and Members of the Committee. My name is Curtis Brown. I'm the Deputy Director of Fire Protection for Cal FIRE. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today about the various wildfire technologies CAL FIRE currently utilizes, in part thanks to the investments of the Legislature and Administration towards this important cause. I'd first like to highlight the significant investments that have been made in fire behavior modeling and prediction.

In 2019, Governor Newsom implemented the request for innovation ideas, or RFI-squared process, which was intended to provide a new approach to problem-solving where instead of a state entity asking a vendor for a product, the state instead asked for a solution to a problem.

Governor tasked CAL FIRE, with support from the Department of General Services and the Department of Technology, with becoming the first state entity to successfully implement this process through Executive Order N0419, which resulted in a multiyear contract with Technosylva for wildland fire simulation, modeling, and forecasting. There have been many significant enhancement to custom fuels to match observed fire behavior from extended attack fires. 21 new custom fuel models have been developed, tested, validated, and implemented operationally. These result in more accurate spread modeling compared to observed fire behavior.

We also leverage Cal Guard's Fire Guard Program for early detection and ongoing assessment. During an incident. We can hire vendors for fire perimeter updates, high-resolution imagery, and full-motion video. The data collected is processed by an overwatch imager which automatically renders a fireline perimeter and fire intensity. This has sped up the post-processing for initial damage to structure and infrastructure. We also leveraged Alert California, formerly known as Alert Wildfire Camera Network, for validation and greater situational awareness.

The Fire Guard data is also used in machine learning and AI to improve the fire modeling and spread predictions within our fire modeling software. Technosylva I would also like to speak briefly on our new CAL FIRE Hawks. Thanks to support and investment from the Legislature and the Administration, CAL FIRE has purchased 12 new Sikorsky S70i firefighting helicopters. These new generation helicopters are replacing CAL FIRE's aging fleet of 12 Super Huey helicopters.

In fiscal year 22 and 23, additional funding was approved to purchase four more S70i Firehawks to increase search capacity and to maintain operational capabilities during mandatory maintenance cycles. These helicopters can carry 1000 gallons of water and can fly at night, something our Super Hueys couldn't do. In fact, one of our Firehawks was used at night on the mosquito fire near Forest Hill last year with great success and was a credit to reducing the threat to the town of Forest Hill.

Additional night firefighting flights occurred on the Electra Fire, Oak Fire, and the Fairview Fire. CAL FIRE is grateful for these amazing aviation tools to assist in our fire protection and prevention efforts. Lastly, the Committee asked me to give a brief update on the status of the Livestock Pass Program created by AB 113 in 2021, which tasked the Office of the State Fire Marshal with creating a curriculum for a Livestock Pass Program.

This program allows certain individuals associated with livestock production to take training and obtain a pass to access their property during an emergency in order to care for their livestock. The State Board of Fire Services approved the incident safety for agriculture, land, and livestock producers course plan earlier this year, and the course plan is posted on our state fire training webpage. These classes are going to be delivered throughout the County Agricultural Commissioner or other agency designated by their County Board of Supervisors.

Thank you for the opportunity to update this Commission on some of the many technology CAL FIRE utilizes to help us meet our mission. We're happy to answer any questions you may have at this time. Thank you.

Before anybody goes, I just want to, because on your last point on the Livestock Pass Program, which I think is outstanding, it's something that's incredibly necessary, that extends to agriculture in general, doesn't it? Not just livestock.

I'm not sure.

We really need to get an understanding of that. We've got very valuable crops, for example, that are sometimes in those areas. In Napa County, for example. In Sonoma County, they did have it through the Ag Committee, same program, I think. But I really like to make sure that we coordinate that and are consistent from county to county.

It's a great point.

Thank you, Senator Roth.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm just curious, has there been any progress on the acquisition of the C-130 Firefighting Platform? Coast Guard Department of Defense.

As a matter of fact, we had an Executive Steering Committee meeting yesterday. And right now, the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Coast Guard have put a new schedule out. As far as getting the C-130s, there is a lot of progress been made within the last three to six months. We look forward to seeing a new schedule from the U.S. Air Force by June 1.

Seems like we've been talking about that for a long time.

We have been talking.

So I term out in 2024. You think I might see them on a flight line somewhere?

According to the new schedule? No.

There's a new opportunity for you, Senator.

We're going to have to.

Yes.

My colleague, Senator Laird, mentioned in another setting that we probably should get involved with our colleagues in Washington, D.C. and see if we can't speed this thing along, by the time you get them, there'll be some jet-powered transport that will be coming off the line and available. So this is sort of outrageous, and it's not your fault and it's not the state's fault, but I know the Federal Government moves at snail pace, but the snail isn't even moving in this case. One other quick question.

You heard my previous question to the LAO regarding the military Department National Guard's MQ9 Platform?

Just curious if you all are still able to access that, given its remotely piloted status and long loiter time, and if you are, how useful that is.

Yes.

We are still able to access that, and I can't speak to how often we use it. If that was the second part to your question. We are able to access it. Yes.

I'd be interested to know because I know we have manned aircraft that are providing surveillance. And I'll be curious to get a report, hopefully from you all or from the LAO or from both of you, as to those two platforms and how they measure up and the cost-effectiveness of one over the other and a data analysis as to whether one platform is better than the other for your purposes in identifying hotspots and trying to prevent loss of life.

Thank you.

Thank you. Senator Seyarto.

Thank you. So way back, before I retired, we were having the constant transfer, the interoperability issue with the radios. Has that ever been completely accomplished with no holes for any of the agencies, or are we still working on trying to improve those communications on the fire ground when we have multiple agencies?

Communications has always been the weak link in emergency response, and the new systems that are coming online, the Cal CRIS radio system, Firescope, annually puts out interoperable radio frequencies. And the coordination we have now has never been better. Yeah. Can we get better? Yes, we can always get better. And I think our 700 mhz CRIS radio system, as we incorporate that in statewide response, will vastly improve our operations.

And we have the resources we need to accomplish that?

We continue to build out, and I will defer to Mr. Green on that. But as it gets incorporated into the fire service, we will require some additional support with radios and such. The one thing we're looking at is having multi-ban radios where you can, no matter where you're at, you have the ability to change frequencies and communicate great.

Yeah. We are currently executing one of the BCPs we have for the CRIS radio system and working through with our partners throughout the emergency management community to get them to see the value of the system and to use that as the baseline for future purchases for radios and so forth. Also, I have a tactical communications unit that when we fire up with one of these emergencies, are on the ground and available.

And we were able to provide 28 CRIS radios and a base station to Mono county because of some potential gaps in communication. So we have the ability to insert ourselves tactically into different environments if we need to with that system, and it's very well received.

Okay.

Because as you had stated, on fire ground, that has always been the big issue, and that's the fastest way that incidents go south, is the inability to communicate between agencies that are responding. And so keeping us apprised of that most important thing so that we can ensure that we have the support you guys need to ensure that. That, because it is an evolving thing, too. It's always changing. It's like the radios we put into operation back in 2012 were obsolete now.

And so that's an ongoing funding issue. We can't just buy them one year and expect them to last for 50 years. Thank you.

I've got a few questions. Ms. Gregory, you did talk about doing an information call for different technologies and everything, so this question may be a little bit ahead of its time, but what wildfire threat intelligence products has the center developed pursuant to the statutory direction? So I know you're getting on it. Let me just kind of get to the question. We have had as legislators, so many people coming directly to us. I've got this product, and I'm just going like, really?

But there are a lot of amazing products out there, and I know that it's certainly not going to be your first priority in this area.

But there are a lot of products that I've seen out there and been demonstrated that you can spray on outbuildings, houses and everything that really work. I've seen the demonstration. It's mind blowing. Any of those products on your list of things that you would be looking at? Because I think the public, there's a lot of area here that's just ripe for misrepresentation.

So instead of waiting until there is a lot of misrepresentation, people's homes burned down, can we get ahead of this type of thing?

Yeah.

Excellent, excellent question, Chair Dodd. We do receive, just as you do, a significant amount of interest, and our role is to prove some of the efficacy and benefit of that for the people of California. I am aware of the item that you just had mentioned. I actually attended a demonstration of that. I think what's very unique about this office and our ability to go forward and investigate some of these technologies and really prove them out is that our operating environment allows us to do that.

So we do engage with our partners in uniform and not within the Department to determine are some of these technologies beneficial for the work that we see daily on the ground and how we address it.

Where there is a nexus between those two, that's where we begin to focus some of our efforts and really begin to catalog it and understand it, not just from a high level, let's say, elevator pitch perspective, but really getting into the weeds and understanding how it's built, how it's developed, and how we could benefit from it. So, yes, there are multiple ways in which we address those, but they do come from many directions, and we do our very best to field them.

And then for any of you, how is the integration of AI into wildfire prevention and suppression efforts improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of wildfire management? Are there any specific AI applications that have really proven to be worthy of future consideration as well?

Quite a few, Chair Dodd.

One in particular I can share is smoke detection. For example, some of the work we're engaged in through the authority of the office that was created through Senate Bill 109 is to test technologies just like that. Currently, right now, we have a mesh network deployed within the Jackson Demonstration Forest that takes into account AI in processing minute signatures of smoke within the air before even eyes can see it or the noes can smell it.

What's interesting about this is it allows us in a mesh network throughout a very austere environment deep in the Jackson Forest, to be able to communicate that information not only from the ground, but sniffing the air, pushing it to the cloud, back to an operations center for us to analyze it further, triangulate that information as another inject into the Intel process. AI has become somewhat of a revolution.

As we've all heard in the news, we are cautiously optimistic about some of the benefits and promises that it reports. But we are seeing some fantastic results, specifically through early fire detection, smoke detection and modeling as well.

Great. We want to get on to the next panel with a couple of other questions that I asked the first panel that we needed to ask to you. Are the camera systems, obviously, I believe they're effective, I'm sure you believe they're effective, but are there enough of them? is there enough budget to give you what you need? Is there a shortfall?

The camera systems are effective and we utilize them. As a matter of fact, last year, within my program, as an Intel program, and on our report on conditions, I asked that we add a link to the cameras during initial attack fire so that those that receive that report on conditions can automatically click the link to that and see in real time what's going on around that initial attack or extended attack fire or major fire for that point. And so, yes, they are very beneficial to everyone.

And my understanding as of last week, we're up to 192 cameras. As far as being supported with funding, I haven't heard any complaints about funding.

Is there a shortfall threat?

I haven't heard that or felt that, yeah.

Okay, perfect. The other question was about the Technosylva fire sim and wildfire firecast, wildfire forecasting technologies. Sounded like that was going just fine.

Yeah, it's perfect. It's actually integrated, it's actually integrated into the WFTIIC daily product Tehchnosylva.

I think there's a takeaway here though, on the WFTIIC and that, is that what the WFTIIC looks like today? It's not going to look that in a couple of years. We expect technology to take us to different levels. And so we have a mindset of growing technology in the system in this space.

Before we close, do you have something?

Go ahead, please.

Sorry. Before we close, I just want to say how impressed I am of the technology and the resources we have in California. And being that I live in the mountain regions, a lot of my neighbors, communities, businesses, ag lands are susceptible to the wildfire season year after year. And if I would have it my way, I would have CAL FIRE be in charge of every single fire here in California. But we all know that that's not the way things work.

So can you say a little bit more about the question that I had for our previous panel about how we coordinate leadership with our local agencies as well as with our federal agencies, and if there's an opportunity for us to streamline so that CAL FIRE can take a lead in some of these wildfires that continue to devastate our communities.

You want to take it from mutual aid?

An excellent question. And all incidents begin small, begin local, and then they grow. My job at OES is to coordinate that mutual aid system. Whether the fire is on federal land or state responsibility area, local government responds and assists those firefighting agencies. And that's a system that doesn't exist anywhere in the nation. Right here in California, it doesn't matter what color your fire engine is, what patch you have on your shoulder, everybody responds to the emergency.

And I have a saying at OES, no one stands alone. And that is a true statement here in California, how we respond to emergencies. And I'll turn it back to Chief Brown.

Yeah, he said it best. All fires start local, and there's various mutual aid agreements for other agencies to support locally. But thank you for your comment.

Senator Ashby.

Thank you, chair Dodd. I didn't want to..

Excuse me one second.

Sure.

She had one more.

Yes.

So thank you for highlighting the efforts of our local agencies because without them, small fires turn into incendiary infernos. I also realize that we have so many fire stations that are closing at the local level, and our mountain communities, our rural communities, really rely on those fire stations to stay open.

And I've heard of all different reasons why resources are not going to our local fire stations, anything from just kind of upgrading the facilities, ensuring that we have a plan for infrastructure so that we're protecting our firefighters against carcinogens, and really just ensuring that we have enough local fire stations throughout the rural communities.

So can you say a little bit about how the state supports local jurisdictions in terms of making sure that we have the resources so that they can fight these fires on the ground to prevent us from having these large infernos?

Well, again, I'll go back to the mutual aid system. When an incident starts, whether it's a wildfire or the flooding incidents that we're facing right now here in California. When an incident becomes too much for a local jurisdiction, they pick up the phone and they call for help. And the closest resources start responding, either through the mutual aid system and as seen during this recent winter storm event, the state's mission, tasking CAL FIRE to respond.

So it's really a seamless integration to support those smaller rural fire departments that need help. We are inventorying our entire fire and rescue mutual aid system right now to get a better grasp of what's out there and figure out how we can support them. But the bottom line, they can pick up the phone and call for mutual aid and firefighters will come.

So I'm going to bring us back to an on ground example, and if you can help, walk me through. So the Caldor Fire. So this is a fire that really devastated my Senate district and those of us who rely on the ecotourism of the mountain regions and this notion of watching and wait, watching a fire and waiting to see what it will do really took us down a path of devastation with the Caldor Fire. We lost entire communities like Grizzly Flats in El Dorado County.

I saw local jurisdictions do amazing stuff. For example, in Tahoe, you know saving the Christmas Valley. I think that was amazing work. What I'm concerned about is that we have lessons learned and we're still seeing these watch and wait patterns. Are they coming from the Federal Government? Where are those directives coming from? And what are we learning from fires like Caldor so we don't repeat those?

Well, as you know, CAL FIRE is an agency. We aggressively attack all fires because we know the devastation that they cause. And I think from the federal agencies of last year within region five, they also took that stance here within the region. And so I think everyone understands during certain times of the year and depending on the weather, is that you can't allow a fire to grow.

And so I think there's a move afoot. If it hasn't happened this year from the Federal Government, I can't speak for them, is to take the same stance they did last year with 100% suppression, I would hope.

Thank you.

Sure did a great job with that last year, I can tell you that. Senator Ashby.

Thank you, Chairman Dodd. Great questions from my colleague there, Senator Alvarado-Gil. I just want to take the opportunity to say thank you. I come from Sacramento, City of Sacramento. So often we're on the other side of the mutual aid where we're sending it in. Really proud of Sacramento's urban search and rescue team, which you all know has been all around the world making a big difference at 9/11 and Katrina and all across our state.

I think for me, and this may be more of a statement than a question, but if you have feedback, I'd be happy to hear it. I worry coming from a big city that's well funded for the fire service and has a surrounding county also well funded for its fire service. I worry about our call volume internally in the city and how that's impacted when we send resources out to other parts of the state when they're on call for mutual aid.

And one of the reasons I worry about it is because I think our EMS system for 911 system is antiquated, meaning I think particularly the fire department is overburdened with calls that they aren't necessarily the right entity to respond to. And I think for the long term trajectory, I'm a new Member, but I think in my time here, one of the things I'd like to look at is how from a state perspective, we could address that 911 system, how we could create opportunities.

I know there are lots of cities, not just mine, doing innovative work around hybrid models. Some of that has creatively come from the fire service themselves, where you put a behavioral tech person with fire EMTs and medics, and you go out and deal with a certain call volume that makes sense for that resource. So I'm just interested for the long term of the State of California. I would agree with you that mutual aid sets us apart.

It's really one of the things we do best in the State of California. And I'm very proud of it. Very proud to have been a champion of those resources in my own city and hope to continue that here. But would love to hear what you think about how we can protect those cities that are really providing all that, mutual aid doesn't come from nowhere, they're not sitting on the bench. They're coming out of stations here to go help somewhere where they close their station.

So I'd just love to hear your thoughts on that and kind of lay it out there as something that's really important and a priority for me in the time that I'll spend here.

To address your question on making sure the homeland is protected before mutual aid. And that is a serious consideration. And every fire chief and elected official really makes that decision on their level of comfort. We do know, however, that when you go help, you're probably going to need help in the future. And it's that win win, that mutual aid support, that neighbor helping neighbor benefits everybody. But ultimately the fire chief makes that decision.

Do we respond on mutual aid or do we have a threat at home where we need to stay back? And what we see here in California is this unprecedented climate change. With a fire season that's statewide, it does become challenging.

And that's where we get on the phone and we talk to our mutual aid partners and we make sure that we're understanding their needs, trying to plan out not today or tomorrow, but into week or two weeks out in front because these fires just don't go out. It is a challenge, but we continue to work through our various systems such as fire scope to make sure we are delivering the best service possible to the people of California.

And I also say that just depending on the level of staffing that left, the home front fire chief may decide to upstaff to replace those engines that are gone. And so there may not be a gap, although it appears to be one.

Also in your area. We haven't fully implemented next generation 911 in Sacramento. And when you see that come in, you're going to see new technology. We're basically dealing with 1950s and 60s technology right now with 911. So we're going to see new technology. We're going to see better geo information to help responders. So I can just say as we continue on the next gen 911 path, there is going to be some enhancements there that you should see and should be happy with.

Yeah, maybe you can come talk to me a little bit about that. I'd love to learn more. And just to be clear, Sacramento is a good actor. They love to respond to the mutual aid calls, and I'm proud of them for doing just as you're talking. All I can hear in the back of my local mind is mandatory overtime. So I appreciate you, though. Thank you.

I want to thank you for being here. Without getting into any history or anything, I just want to say it is really refreshing to see your two organizations working seamlessly together. It's critically important to the State of California, and we appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, we'll now move to our final panel for the frontline perspective. Please come forward and identify your name and organization and proceed through the agenda when you're ready. Thanks for your patience in waiting.

Good morning Chair, Vice Chair and Committee. My name is Jonathan Woldemariam, I'm with San Diego Gas and Electric. I'm the Director of Wildfire Mitigation and Vegetation Management with the company. I am happy to be here and thank you for the opportunity to testify here in this Committee. I wanted to represent the journey that SDG&E. San Diego Gas Electric has taken over the last 15 years, since the 2007 fires which devastated our county back then. And we've learned a lot.

We've come a long way since then, and it's been through preparing, preventing and protecting our community. And one of the main things that we've leveraged, of course, is technology and some of that technology is what I wanted to share with you this morning. It starts with situational awareness, and as we've heard from Calfire and others, it is indeed a key tool for us. It is a way for us to know what's happening out there and get an understanding of the environment before we can act.

And so, back in the early days, starting about 2010, we hired meteorologists, we brought in fire science experts. We also developed an expansive weather station network, along with camera network, that helps us with that situational awareness. And so we developed not only the tools and the view and the way to look at the situation, but also the way to measure things and put index out there. The file potential index in particular was a technology that we've leveraged since the Santa Ana Wildfire Threat Index.

And what these two indexes help us to do is to really gauge the level of threat from wildfire risk and be able to mitigate against that and prepare not only ourselves, but also our community. And so twice daily, we run the weather network, information that we gather through our supercomputers to really forecast what the weather is going to be doing. And that's one way that we prepare. The other way that we do that is through our emergency management program.

And our emergency management group leverages the incident command system and helps not only prepare our employees, but collaborates with community safety partners to prepare across our community so that we're ready for each Santa Ana wind peak conditions. We also leverage the collaboration with academia and being able to use technology to go to that next level and use AI to understand how we can better forecast our weather.

And our artificial intelligence capabilities have grown to the point where our AI is fairly accurate to the real conditions and real time situations. In fact, there's been many times where we've looked at our Santa Ana wind conditions and the AI and compared it to be just right on.

And it's been very effective in helping us manage and also prepare and understand what communities are going to be impacted and give them the proper notifications and proper preparation ahead of time so that communities are better set up for safety. In the prevention area, we've been able to really leverage our ability to use drones for inspections.

That technology has really gone beyond just using the close up view that drones can give you through the cameras and high quality images, but also to use artificial intelligence to take those millions of images that we've gathered over our inspections. In the last three years, we've inspected over 80,000 Poles, gathered about 2 million images, and using that provided machine learning to computers where the machines are now detecting issues. We can even detect a loose bolt on a pole.

And so with that capability, about 85% accuracy, we've been able to help keep our community safe, but also find and replace equipment that has problems. This has also taken us to the next level of notifications, through our PSPS app or Public Safety Power Shutoff app, to our community safety partners, to help telecommunication companies and others prepare ahead of time with generators and things like that, to be able to effectively then mitigate against public safety power shut offs and the impacts that that can bring.

Our risk models have also benefited from the information we're gathering, from this situational awareness, from the assets, from our door inspections, and including that in the models. So when we have our risk models that are leveraging the Technosylva model, which, by the way, we were the first to bring in Technosylva back in 2013, and leverage that tool that Technosylva developed specifically with us and for us to then share it with the state.

We wanted to have this transparent capability of sharing weather information as well as risk model information, understanding fire propagation when it does happen, but even before it happens, to be able to understand how fire behavior can come out of any issues that come out from utility infrastructure. And so that has helped us to prioritize our learnings from the AI, our learnings from the situation awareness, our learnings from the inspections, has helped us to prioritize where to harden our assets, our grid, basically.

And that has led us to a shift from our asset replacement program that we had, where we were replacing our infrastructure from barewire to larger barewire to covered conductor, but also to more undergrounding. We're shifting to more undergrounding because we want to reduce wildfire risk at a higher rate, but also to prevent the impacts of public safety power shut offs, and really try and get rid of that for the impact that it has on our communities.

And so with these advancements, it has led us to a plan. A 10 year plan where we're going to underground 1500 miles in the next 10 years, and then 370 miles of covered conductor. And so with that, we hope to have an 80 plus percent reduction of wildfire risk. And that's our goal.

We have a highly impactful vegetation management program that started in the 90's. We used to have about 400 outages or 400 contacts from the trees on our power lines that caused issues on our transmission and electric distribution lines. And now it's at 15 per year on average. And so over time, looking at what we can do with our AI and our distribution database, that has vegetation inventory of about 470,000 trees.

We've been able to look at growth rate of the trees, the species, what we did last, when was the last issue that we had with tree? When was it last in contact with an electric line and been able to take all of that and put a risk based approach. So now not only do we inspect every inventory tree that we have in our database every year, but twice a year in the high fire threat district.

So over 230,000 trees twice a year before Santa Ana wind conditions peak in September. And so we're able to then have additional mitigation against wildfire risk. And so we heard a discussion about helicopters earlier. When we look at how we protect our community, helicopters were key. And we learned that from our 2003 fire and the 2007 fires. And we have the largest helicopter, the air crane, which can hold about 2900 gallons of water.

And with that capability, we're able to have that resource dispatched out to the various areas when the need arises, as well as the firehawk that was mentioned earlier. So we have about three helicopters that we can deploy for resources when they are needed, as well as the AI that's integrated in our cameras, that's able to, with the technology that's there today to then detect smoke, as was mentioned earlier, from CAL FIRE.

But also the satellite technology is able to work along with the infrared cameras and triangulate their location and more accurately show where fires have started before they get big. And therefore, not only helps us to dispatch our resources, but helps the community safety partners like CAL FIRE, like other fire agencies, to get at these situations faster and act more quickly. And so with all of this, it's really shown to be effective. We haven't had a wildfire, catastrophic wildfire since 2007. Of course, we remain humble.

We do not want to challenge Mother Nature. Right. So we continue, though, to look for improvements. We continue to learn from others. We partner with our community safety partners, and we have seen a reduction of about 84% on our transmission faults and 45% from our distribution lines when it comes to wildfire risk.

And so we continue to now look at the next level that we can do with technology, and that has to do with trying to get ahead of the trying to use risk based approach for our inspections, risk based approach for our risk models, as well as looking at ways in which we could leverage better communication, like a private LTE network within our system. So thank you for the opportunity to speak, and I'll end there.

Thank you very much. Well done, sir.

Chair, Vice Chair and distinguished Members of the Committee thank you for this opportunity to discuss the impacts of your past legislation. I'll be focusing more on Senate Bill 794. This subject is very dear and near to the hearts of the residents of Sonoma county and me professionally. My name is Sam Wallis. I am the Community alert and warning manager for the Sonoma County Department of Emergency Management.

Following the wine country firestorms of October 2017, the County of Sonoma suffered catastrophic loss, with nearly 7000 structures destroyed and 22 lives lost. Our alert and warning program was probably on par with most counties in the state at the time, but it performed inadequately. I would like to take a moment, hopefully my slides come up here to go over briefly the alert and warning program that we had.

So I can put how this law actively improves our ability to alert into some context and show how it might be improved some more. Like most counties, we had several systems that were available to us at our disposal by choice and policy. Our primary system was a reverse 911 system called locally SoCoAlert, using a vendor's platform called Code Red. This system functions by the using of a database of addresses and phone numbers, allowing us to geo-target alerts with accuracy.

Although SoCoAlerts can send text messages and emails, the immense value of the system, as we learned in those fires, is our ability to have phones ring and send a recorded message. Our ability to do this effectively when people are sleeping is critically important to life's safety. A text or an email simply won't wake anybody up. We had another system that we used at the same time.

You may all be familiar with it, Nixle, as well as social media, and they're all good systems for getting out information, but they all have the same flaw. They don't wake anybody up. Nobody's ever been woken up by a Nixle. Our program relies on Nixle and social media to amplify and clarify our initial alerts, but it isn't our primary system simply because of that issue.

There has been some discussion here about a key system that we did not use during the 2017 wildfires that we do now, and that is the federal Integrated Public Alert & Warning System, or IPAWS. IPAWS is actually several interconnected systems. You're probably most familiar with the Wireless Emergency Alert system. It's been brought up here twice today, or WEA. Basically, it's amber alerts. And it is a good system. We absolutely use it. There are some challenges with WIA.

It is proposed that gets a hold of all people with cell phones in the area. Our testing doesn't support that. Depending on where it is. It may be a lower percentage of that. And I don't say that to denigrate the WEA system. It's an excellent one. But what it does tell us is no one system is going to be able to communicate with 100% of the population.

So we use WEA during disasters, but we also use our own homegrown system, other systems that we have in the IPAWS system you're all very familiar with, I'm sure. The emergency alert system, sending out those tones over radios and televisions. Again, a good system for us to get information out, but not a good alert and warning system as far as waking people up, unless you happen to be sleeping with your television on. You also may or may not be familiar with the NOAA weather radio system.

This is actually a fairly old system. It's been in use in the Midwest, primarily for tornado response. And for the last 30 plus years, we have leaned heavily on it in Sonoma county as an auxiliary communication system. Basically allows us to turn on a radio in somebody's home with a loud alarm and give them some basic information.

We aim towards this because what we realized during the Nuns Tubbs fire in 2017 is that the telephone system may not be able to perform in a large scale disaster. We lost 72 cell phone towers during that wildfire. So this gives us an ability to send out alerts above and beyond what we can do with the telephone system.

But with all that, what I would like to do is go back to that key system that we have in SoCoAlert and wrap this around about how it affects or how it's been affected by the passage of 794. And as a reminder, what 794 did is allow us to go to public utilities and get customer service databases. So basically their addresses and their phone numbers, which is what we need for this system. So I'm going to show you this highlighted area right here.

This is an actual alert that went out during that Nuns Tubbs fire at about three in the morning. It's a very large part of the northern part of City of Santa Rosa. In 2017, we targeted 7,967 phone numbers for that area. Now, to give you a reason why that is, is that at the time, we were using almost exclusively landline databases from AT&T, which we purchase on an annual basis. Well, the problem is that landlines have been dying off. They're being much reduced.

So now, let me show you the number that we get when we include primarily the customer service database from the utilities, as well as a few others people opting in today. If we do that same area, it's 25,256 phone numbers. So this is more than a 200% increase, obviously, in the effectiveness of our database because of that. But I also want to give you another kind of viewpoint on that, other than raw numbers, so that you can also put in perspective.

This area right here is one block of the City of Santa Rosa. You can see, hopefully, on the outline, all of the structures there. There's approximately 54 structures that are on here. Each one of those dots represents a phone number or multiple phone numbers that we have for that specific structure. In this case, as you can see, we only have seven structures that have a phone number and 14 phone numbers total.

And that is from the E911 database, which is basically your AT&T landline database. And as you can see, that's wholly insufficient. I want to show you that same block. Once we incorporate the E911, the Comcast local utilities, and PG&E, basically every structure at that point, we have a phone number associated with that area. Cities are good. I want to take a moment, if I may, to actually show you the same thing out in a rural area.

And in my opinion, this is actually more important. Rural areas, for instance, that previous one that I sent you also used the database from the local water agency. You don't necessarily have a water agency in a rural area. This is an area just outside of Bodega Bay, unincorporated Sonoma County. For this particular area, we had 28 phone numbers that were able to reach using the landline database. But when we incorporate PG&E, it goes up to 176.

So as you can tell, there is a substantial improvement in the efficacy of these systems once we're able to incorporate that utility database. So please allow me to summarize that my estimation the effectiveness of our alert and warning systems has been dramatically improved by the use of the SB 794 law. However, Sonoma County has been fortunate to have the resources and the drive to take advantage of this law. Many of my colleagues, especially in smaller counties, haven't been as fortunate.

I'm looking forward in the near future to working with the California Office of Emergency Services and the California Emergency Services Association to propose some possible changes to this code that would result in a substantial improvement to build on what has already been very effective legislation. The County of Sonoma appreciates the Committee's interest and efforts to address the effectiveness of your legislation on public safety. Thank you. And I look forward to answering your questions.

Thanks to both of you for this. I mean, just great information. We've got about 10 minutes for questions and public comments. So we've got to go to caucus, but Senator Rubio.

Yes, hello, thank you very much. And thank you for this presentation. And you've clearly highlighted all the systems that we're using to improve, I guess, reaching everyone in that community, or any community, for that matter. But I have a question for you. I know that it's a matter of using all systems together versus one or the other.

Is there anything that's in the works that you know about that you've heard of that's currently being developed that would take the place of all these different systems that might work? Is there something that should be on our radar or perhaps we should be looking into?

I'm not really aware of anything. There's really a whole bunch of different systems, applications and that sort of thing, but there's no really one system that is trying to bring it all together at this point. And unfortunately, the nature of technology, everybody gets their information their own way. Some people have smartphones. Some people have opted for flip phones. Some people are still holding on to their landline.

But the best chance that I have is getting the data, if you will, that allows me to communicate with everybody like that.

Okay. I would just say if there is something out there, whenever you hear about it, we'd like to know about it. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for that.

Thank you, Senator. Senator Alvarado-Gil.

I just wanted to thank you for highlighting the opportunities to improve our legislation to support small rural communities. And I would love to follow up with you afterwards to hear more about what your suggestions are for small rural communities.

Thank you, Chairman.

So I certainly appreciate being representing about the lower third of Stoma county and being pretty aware of what happened in 2017, the progress that you've been able to make over there. Do you feel like it appeared to me that the number of lines that you have right now, but we still have the situation of, are people reporting their cell phones all the time? How effective is it really? At the end of the day, you got more people, so you're contacting more. That's obviously outstanding.

But at the end of the day, what percentage do you think of the population we are contacting?

That's a great question, Senator, and it's something that I grapple with trying to find out exactly how effective our systems do. We're kind of unusual, I think, in Sonoma county, simply because of what happened during Nuns Tubbs, is that we do a lot of testing over alert and warning systems. In fact, in two days, I'm doing a live test of the SoCoAlert system for the northwest corner of our county. But the challenge always is we don't know how effective everything is at ground truth.

And I have been trying to come up with a system where we actually go out into the community, compare what our database is to what's actually on the ground. But it is one of those things that I don't have 100% surety of where we are. I know that based on my testing, that I'm looking at 80% to 86% efficiency, which is much better than what we used to have. But we're trying constantly to get to that 100%.

Guys like me that have this as far away from their bed as possible need to rethink what we're doing, I'm thinking. But thank you very much. And I will tell you that SDG&E you guys have really done amazing work. My visit to your center really was the impetus to a lot of the legislation that I put forward. So please accept my, our congratulations for just the great work and the example that you are to other utilities. And I'm seeing that other utilities. What is that?

Imitation is the finest form of flattery. I think the other utilities are coming along and following your lead.

Thank you very much. We really appreciate that. And welcome another visit. We invite you to another visit to our center anytime. And we're actually building a new one next year.

Great. I'd love to do that. It's really interesting how you've incorporated AI into that process that just takes the information you have and just that machine learning is kind of mind boggling, actually, in so many ways. So thank you very. I really. We got to move on now to call ins. Moderator, if you could prompt anybody wanting to provide public comment. Certainly appreciate you doing that now thank you.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. If you do have comments, please press one, then zero on your telephone keypad. A specialist will provide you with your line number with which you'll be identified. If you're using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing any buttons.

Mr. Chair, we have no lines in queue.

Okay. Really want to thank all of our speakers here today that gave us that information, all the information that we have. If anybody does have any comments that's listening out there, you can submit them in writing to the Senate Governmental Organization Committee or visit our website. Your comments and suggestions are important to us, and we want to include your comments and the testimony of the official hearing records.

Thank you.

And we appreciate a very, very big thank you to all our presenters today for taking time out of your day to come to Sacramento and update us on this important work. The Senate Governmental Organization Committee is now adjourned.