BILL NUMBER: AB 671 CHAPTERED 10/09/01 CHAPTER 627 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 9, 2001 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 8, 2001 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 14, 2001 PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 13, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 7, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 10, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 11, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 17, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2001 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Strom-Martin FEBRUARY 22, 2001 An act to amend Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code, relating to forest resources. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 671, Strom-Martin. Timber harvesting. Existing law authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, upon a determination that the exemption is consistent with the purposes of the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, to exempt from the provisions of that act, among other things, any person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to the one-time conversion of less than 3 acres to a nontimber use. This bill would prohibit a person, whether acting as an individual or as a member of a partnership or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, from obtaining more than one exemption in a 5-year period. The bill would authorize the board to adopt regulations for a waiver of the 5-year limitation, as specified, including a process for appeal of a denial of a waiver. The bill would require the board to adopt regulations requiring documentation of a bona fide intent to complete the conversion and requiring the exemption to expire upon a change in timber or timberland ownership. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 4584. Upon determining that the exemption is consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the board may exempt from this chapter or portions thereof, any person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to any of the following: (a) The cutting or removal of trees for the purpose of constructing or maintaining a right-of-way for utility lines. (b) The planting, growing, nurturing, shaping, shearing, removal, or harvest of immature trees for Christmas trees or other ornamental purposes or minor forest products, including fuelwood. (c) The cutting or removal of dead, dying, or diseased trees of any size. (d) Site preparation. (e) Maintenance of drainage facilities and soil stabilization treatments. (f) Timber operations on land managed by the Department of Parks and Recreation. (g) (1) The one-time conversion of less than three acres to a nontimber use. No person, whether acting as an individual or as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, may obtain more than one exemption pursuant to this subdivision in a five-year period. If a partnership has as a member, or if a corporation or any other legal entity has as an officer or employee, a person who has received this exemption within the past five years, whether as an individual or as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, then that partnership, corporation, or other legal entity is not eligible for this exemption. "Person," for purposes of this subdivision, means an individual, partnership, corporation, or any other legal entity. (2) (A) Notwithstanding Section 4554.5, the board shall adopt regulations that become effective and operative on or before July 1, 2002, and do all of the following: (i) Identify the required documentation of a bona fide intent to complete the conversion that an applicant will need to submit in order to be eligible for the exemption in paragraph (1). (ii) Authorize the department to inspect the sites approved in conversion applications that have been approved on or after January 1, 2002, in order to determine that the conversion was completed within the two-year period described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1104.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. (iii) Require the exemption under this subdivision to expire if there is any change in timberland ownership. The person who originally submitted an application for an exemption under this subdivision shall notify the department of a change in timberland ownership on or before five calendar days after a change in ownership. (iv) The board may adopt regulations allowing a waiver of the five-year limitation described in paragraph (1) upon finding that the imposition of the five-year limitation would impose an undue hardship on the applicant for the exemption. The board may adopt a process for an appeal of a denial of a waiver. (B) The application form for the exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) shall prominently advise the public that violations of the conversion exemption, including conversions applied for in the name of someone other than the person or entity implementing the conversion in bona fide good faith, is a violation of this chapter and penalties may accrue up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 4601). (h) Easements granted by a right-of-way construction agreement administered by the federal government if any timber sales and operations within or affecting these areas are reviewed and conducted pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.). (i) The cutting, removal, or sale of timber or other solid wood forest products from the species Taxus brevifolia (Pacific yew), provided that the known locations of any stands of this species three inches and larger in diameter at breast height are identified in the exemption notice submitted to the department. Nothing in this subdivision is intended to authorize the peeling of bark from, or the cutting or removal of, Taxus brevifolia within a watercourse and lake protection zone, special treatment area, buffer zone, or other area where timber harvesting is prohibited or otherwise restricted pursuant to board rules. (j) (1) The cutting or removal of trees in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 which eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuelbreak for a distance of not more than 150 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted structure that complies with the California Building Code, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision. For purposes of this subdivision, an "approved and legally permitted structure" includes only structures that are designed for human occupancy and garages, barns, stables, and structures used to enclose fuel tanks. (2) (A) The cutting or removal of trees pursuant to this subdivision shall be limited to cutting or removal that will result in a reduction in the rate of fire spread, fire duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of the tree crowns and shall be in accordance with any regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this section. (B) Trees may not be cut or removed pursuant to this subdivision by the clearcutting regeneration method, by the seed tree removal step of the seed tree regeneration method, or by the shelterwood removal step of the shelterwood regeneration method. (3) (A) Surface fuels, including logging slash and debris, low brush, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire shall be chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations pursuant to this subdivision. (B) (i) All surface fuels that are not chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations may be determined to be a nuisance and subject to abatement by the department or the city or county having jurisdiction. (ii) The costs incurred by the department, city, or county, as the case may be, to abate the nuisance upon any parcel of land subject to the timber operations, including, but not limited to, investigation, boundary determination, measurement, and other related costs, may be recovered by special assessment and lien against the parcel of land by the department, city, or county. The assessment may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary ad valorem taxes, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as is provided for ad valorem taxes. (4) All timber operations conducted pursuant to this subdivision shall conform to applicable city or county general plans, city or county implementing ordinances, and city or county zoning ordinances. Nothing in this paragraph is intended to authorize the cutting, removal, or sale of timber or other solid wood forest products within an area where timber harvesting is prohibited or otherwise restricted pursuant to the rules or regulations adopted by the board. (5) (A) The board shall adopt regulations, initially as emergency regulations in accordance with subparagraph (B), that the board considers necessary to implement and to obtain compliance with this subdivision. (B) The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be adopted in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code). The adoption of emergency regulations shall be deemed to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, or general welfare.