BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1369|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1369
Author: Kuehl (D)
Amended: 5/12/04
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WILD. COMMITTEE : 6-2, 3/23/04
AYES: Kuehl, Alpert, Bowen, Ortiz, Sher, Torlakson
NOES: Oller, Hollingsworth
NO VOTE RECORDED: Denham
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-1, 5/3/04
AYES: Alpert, Bowen, Burton, Escutia, Johnson, Karnette,
Machado, Murray
NOES: Aanestad
NO VOTE RECORDED: Battin, Ashburn, Poochigian, Speier
SUBJECT : Fire protection
SOURCE : Planning and Conservation League
Sierra Club California
DIGEST : This bill extends the requirements for a
firebreak around houses located in very high fire hazard
severity zones from 30 to 100 feet, extends the firebreak
requirement for homes in state responsibility areas from 30
to 100 feet, allows liens to be placed on property in state
responsibility areas if these clearances are not achieved,
allows, property insurance companies, in the context of a
contract with landowners, to require greater distances for
certain homes, and requires the owners of new and re-built
homes to self-certify to their insurance company as to
CONTINUED
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their compliance with state and local building codes.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, for homes state responsibility
areas, Section 4291 of the Public Resources Code requires a
firebreak of 30 feet around structures. Section 51182 of
the Government Code requires a firebreak of 30 feet around
such homes in local responsibility areas. Insurance
companies do not have the flexibility under existing law to
increase these distances when necessary, nor is there an
existing requirement that new and rebuilt homes located in
"very high fire hazard severity zones" must comply with
building codes.
"Very high fire hazard severity zones" are designated by
the Director of the State Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection (DFFP) and are updated approximately every five
years. Fire suppression in local responsibility areas is
typically a matter for local fire agencies, although DFFP
frequently responds to such fires as a matter of mutual
aid. Local jurisdictions are required to adopt these
designations by ordinance. They are allowed to show that
certain areas should be added or excluded from the zones
designated by the Director. Transferors of real estate in
such zones are required to disclose this designation to
buyers.
State responsibility areas are also divided by the Director
into various hazard severity zones. These are lands for
which the state has the primary responsibility for
non-structural fire suppression. Local agencies frequently
respond to fires in these areas. Historically, these lands
have been forestlands, chaparral, or grasslands. However,
population densities on many such lands are rapidly
increasing. Updates to designations of these lands by the
State Board of Forestry also occur every five years.
The Public Resources Code and Government Code have similar
requirements for vegetation management. Both have a 30
foot minimum clearance requirement around houses. For
properties in state responsibility areas, the Director may
increase that distance to 100 feet because of
extra-hazardous conditions. Both codes exempt specimen
trees, ornamental shrubbery, and other plantings that do
not pose a fire risk to structures.
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Additionally, both codes require removal of tree limbs that
hang above chimneys, require screens over chimneys, and
exempt structures that are constructed with nonflammable
materials.
Both codes are subject to criminal enforcement as
infractions, and third violations are misdemeanors.
Additionally, the Government Code (local responsibility
area lands) allows for local governments to undertake the
necessary vegetation removal and to impose a lien on the
property if a landowner fails to comply. There are no
similar provisions for lands in the state responsibility
areas.
Last year, AB 1216 (Vargas) required the State Fire Marshal
to propose building standards to strengthen fire protection
standards for attached components (including porches and
balconies) of homes and openings (including vents and
windows) into homes. These new building standards are to
apply to homes in very high fire hazard severity zones in
both state and local responsibility areas. AB 1216 also
defined the "urban-wildland interface" and requires the new
building codes to apply to homes in the interface zone as
well. The interface is defined as the communities
designated at-risk from wildfire in a 2001 report from
DFFP. The State Fire Marshal is to make its
recommendations about building code improvement by 2005.
It will then be up to the State Building Code Commission to
determine whether to adopt those recommendations.
This bill:
1. Establishes identical firebreak criteria of 100 feet for
homes in state responsibility areas as well as those in
local responsibility areas when the homes are in very
high fire hazard severity zones.
2. Allows property insurance carriers to require more
expansive firebreaks based on conditions facing its
prospective policyholder.
3. Requires the owner of new construction and owners who
are re-building structures damaged in very high fire
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hazard severity zones to self-certify to their insurance
carriers that the construction complies with all
applicable state and local building standards, including
those that will be developed pursuant to AB 1215
(Vargas).
4. Creates a parallel process to that which already exists
in local responsibility areas for the state to impose
liens on property where the owner fails to comply with
the firebreak requirements.
According to the author's office, as a result of the most
recent series of fires in Southern California, homes and
other structures in the state's regions that are vulnerable
to wildfire should have their ability strengthened to
withstand future wildfires. Various reports commissioned
by the state and scientific analyses of fire behavior have
identified the lack of enforceable firebreak legislation in
California as a major contributing cause to the spread of
wildfire. The recommendations of these reports, many of
which are collected on the DFFP web site, have never been
fully implemented. Recommendations about extending
firebreaks are scattered throughout these reports. The 100
foot limit represents the best available science from the
United States Forest Service. "My research results
indicate that the big flames of high intensity wildland
fires do not directly ignite homes at separation distances
beyond 100 feet." (Cohen, Thoughts on the Wildland-Urban
Interface Problem , 2003).
Although arson caused several of the recent fires, the fact
remains that fires in southern California, regardless of
cause, will continue to target houses so long as those
houses are vulnerable. Houses and other buildings are a
fuel source for wildfire. This bill is an attempt to
reduce the vulnerability of those houses and thereby to
enhance public safety.
It is also important to acknowledge the role of the
insurance industry in coping with the risk of wildfires and
property losses in California. It is obvious that the
exposure of the industry to fire-related losses will
decrease if it is able to make case-by-case determinations
that minimum firebreak clearances are inadequate for homes
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in particularly dense forestland or on particularly steep
slopes. Fire scientists concur that the type of vegetation
and the slope of the land are two of the most salient
factors to control, if homes are to be better protected.
Compliance with building codes, including the
recommendations of the State Fire Marshal pursuant to AB
1216, will also help ensure that new and rebuilt
structures are as safe as possible for the occupants and
will be designed and constructed with materials that
decrease the exposure of the insurance industry to
fire-related losses. The approach in the bill relies on
owner self-certification, and not a mandate to local
governments or the insurance industry. Those who wish to
build homes in high fire hazard severity zones need to
provide their insurance company with a certificate from the
relevant local government agency that the proposed home
will comply with applicable state and local building codes.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2004-05 2005-06
2006-07 Fund
Forestry and fire ---------minor, if any
costs--------- General
protection --potentially significant
savings--General
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/12/04)
Planning and Conservation League (co-source)
Sierra Club California (co-source)
California Forestry Association
CDF Firefighters
Defenders of Wildlife
Regional Council of Rural Counties
State Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : DFFP Firefighters support the bill
because of the extended firebreaks in very high fire
severity zones. That organization also believes that the
bill reflects a sensible approach to fire science and the
"practical, real world responsibility of responding to an
alarm."
The Sierra Club and the Planning and Conservation League
support the firebreak and the building code provisions of
the bill. They contend that the firebreak language will
assist homeowners in protecting their homes and that
building code compliance "is one of the most important
actions that can be taken to avoid loss of property during
a fire."
CP:mel 5/12/04 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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