BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                    Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
          
                                           1369 (Kuehl)
          
          Hearing Date:  4/19/2004        Amended: 3/26/04       
          Consultant:  Karen French           Policy Vote: NR&W  6-2
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          BILL SUMMARY: 
          
          SB 1369 extends from 30 to 100 feet the requirements for  
          firebreaks around structures. 
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                          Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions                    2004-05             2005-06   
                      2006-07            Fund

           DPR & CalTrans         ---------Unknown, potentially  
          major-----------    General &
                                                                  
          Special
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          STAFF COMMENTS:  This bill meets the criteria for referral  
          to the Suspense File.

          Existing law (Government Code) requires firebreaks of 30 to  
          100 feet around all  inhabited  structures that are located  
          in very high fire hazard severity zones within local  
          responsibility areas (LRAs).  Existing law (Public  
          Resources Code) also requires 30 to 100 foot firebreaks  
          around all structures located in very high fire hazard  
          severity zones within state responsibility areas (SRAs).   
          Responsibility for compliance with these provisions applies  
          to any person owning, leasing, controlling, or managing the  
          structure.  For the purposes of Division 4, Part 2 of the  
          PRC a "person" is defined as including any state or local  
          agency as well as individuals and business entities.  The  
          Government Code also broadly defines person, but the  
          governing statute specifically excludes land or water areas  
          acquired or managed for various habitat, open space or  
          scenic purposes (Government Code 51184).
          










          This bill could result in increased non-reimbursable costs  
          to local agencies and increased direct costs to state  
          agencies for compliance with the provision requiring a 100  
          foot firebreak around any structure within a SRA.  Any  
          structure would include sheds, restrooms, pergolas, etc.   
          The Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) operates 277  
          parks within SRAs, of which 150 have fire management plans  
          that may be in conflict with the requirements of this bill.  
           DPR would incur significant increased costs to revise the  
          plans and to increase firebreaks.  In addition, CalTrans  
          maintains numerous structures throughout  the state located  
          on or near highways traversing SRAs.  Staff is unable to  
          quantify the number of structures or determine costs at  
          this time.
          
          As proposed to be amended, the definition of "person" for  
          the purposes of the PRC section would not apply to state or  
          local government, thus eliminating costs.