BILL NUMBER: SB 1595 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 366
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 27, 2008
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 27, 2008
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 20, 2008
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2008
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 15, 2008
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 24, 2008
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 9, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 29, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 24, 2008
INTRODUCED BY Senator Kehoe
FEBRUARY 22, 2008
An act to amend Sections 51175, 51177, 51178, 51182, 51183, and
51189 of the Government Code, and to amend Sections 4202 and 4291 of
the Public Resources Code, relating to public resources.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1595, Kehoe. Public resources: fire protection: fuels
management: forest protection.
(1) Existing law requires that a person who owns, leases,
controls, operates, or maintains an occupied dwelling or occupied
structure in, upon, or adjoining a mountainous area, forest-covered
lands, brush-covered lands, grass-covered lands, or land that is
covered with flammable material that is within a very high fire
hazard severity zone, as designated by a local agency, maintain at
all times a firebreak by removing all brush, flammable vegetation, or
other combustible growth for a prescribed number of feet from the
occupied dwelling or occupied structure, with exceptions, as well as
take other required fire prevention actions.
A person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains a
building or structure in, upon, or adjoining a mountainous area,
forest-covered lands, brush-covered lands, grass-covered lands, or
land that is covered with flammable material, within a state
responsibility area, is required to maintain at all times a firebreak
by removing all brush, flammable vegetation, or other combustible
growth for a prescribed number of feet from the dwelling or
structure, with exceptions, as well as taking other required fire
prevention actions. A violation of these provisions is a crime.
This bill would change the current brush clearance requirements
and would instead require the owner or person in control of a
qualified property to significantly reduce the risk of ignition of a
habitable structure by maintaining defensible space, as prescribed,
within a certain number of feet from the above-described dwellings,
buildings, or structures. The bill would require the Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection to develop, periodically update, and
post on its Internet Web site a guidance document on fuels
management.
Because this bill would change the definition of a crime, it would
impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would add to the criteria under which the Director of
Forestry and Fire Protection designates an area as a very high fire
hazard severity zone. The bill would also define various terms for
purposes of these provisions and revise legislative findings and
declarations concerning fire risks and site fuel management.
(2) This bill would make conforming changes and delete obsolete
provisions.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 51175 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
51175. The Legislature hereby finds and declares as follows:
(a) Wildfires are extremely costly, not only to property owners
and residents, but also to local agencies. Wildfires pose a serious
threat to the preservation of the public peace, health, or safety.
The wildfire front is not the only source of risk since embers, or
firebrands, travel far beyond the area impacted by the front and pose
a risk of ignition to a structure or fuel on a site for a longer
time. Since fires ignore civil boundaries, it is necessary that
cities, counties, special districts, state agencies, and federal
agencies work together to bring raging fires under control.
Preventive measures are therefore needed to ensure the preservation
of the public peace, health, or safety.
(b) The prevention of wildland fires is not a municipal affair, as
that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California
Constitution, but is instead, a matter of statewide concern. It is
the intent of the Legislature that this chapter apply to all local
agencies, including, but not limited to, charter cities, charter
counties, and charter cities and counties. This subdivision shall not
limit the authority of a local agency to impose more restrictive
fire and public safety requirements, as otherwise authorized by law.
(c) It is not the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
chapter to limit or restrict the authority of a local agency to
impose more restrictive fire and public safety requirements, as
otherwise authorized by law.
SEC. 2. Section 51177 of the Government Code is amended to read:
51177. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Defensible space" means the area adjacent to a structure or
dwelling where wildfire prevention or protection practices are
implemented to provide defense from an approaching wildfire or to
minimize the spread of a structure fire to wildlands or surrounding
areas.
(b) "Director" means the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(c) "Fuel" means any combustible material, especially
petroleum-based products and wildland fuels.
(d) "Fuel management" means the act or practice of controlling
flammability and reducing resistance to control of fuels through
mechanical, chemical, biological, or manual means or by fire, in
support of land management objectives.
(e) "Local agency" means a city, county, city and county, or
district responsible for fire protection within a very high fire
hazard severity zone.
(f) "Single specimen tree" means any live tree that stands alone
in the landscape so as to be clear of buildings, structures,
combustible vegetation, or other trees, and that does not form a
means of rapidly transmitting fire from the vegetation to an occupied
dwelling or structure or from an occupied dwelling or structure to
vegetation.
(g) "State responsibility areas" means those areas identified
pursuant to Section 4102 of the Public Resources Code.
(h) "Vegetation" means all plants, including trees, shrubs, grass,
and perennial or annual plants.
(i) "Very high fire hazard severity zone" means an area designated
by the director pursuant to Section 51178 that is not a state
responsibility area.
(j) "Wildfire" means an unplanned, unwanted wildland fire,
including unauthorized human-caused fires, escaped wildland fire use
events, escaped prescribed fire projects, and all other wildland
fires where the objective is to extinguish the fire.
SEC. 3. Section 51178 of the Government Code is amended to read:
51178. The director shall identify areas in the state as very
high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide
criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to
prevail in those areas. Very high fire hazard severity zones shall
be based on fuel loading, slope, fire weather, and other relevant
factors including areas where Santa Ana, Mono, and Diablo winds have
been identified by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as
a major cause of wildfire spread.
SEC. 4. Section 51182 of the Government Code is amended to read:
51182. (a) A person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or
maintains an occupied dwelling or occupied structure in, upon, or
adjoining any mountainous area, forest-covered land, brush-covered
land, grass-covered land, or any land that is covered with flammable
material, which area or land is within a very high fire hazard
severity zone designated by the local agency pursuant to Section
51179, shall at all times do all of the following:
(1) Maintain defensible space no greater than 100 feet from each
side of the structure, but not beyond the property line unless
allowed by state law, local ordinance, or regulation and as provided
in paragraph (2). The amount of fuel modification necessary shall
take into account the flammability of the structure as affected by
building material, building standards, location, and type of
vegetation. Fuels shall be maintained in a condition so that a
wildfire burning under average weather conditions would be unlikely
to ignite the structure. This paragraph does not apply to single
specimens of trees or other vegetation that are well-pruned and
maintained so as to effectively manage fuels and not form a means of
rapidly transmitting fire from other nearby vegetation to a structure
or from a structure to other nearby vegetation. The intensity of
fuels management may vary within the 100-foot perimeter of the
structure, the most intense being within the first 30 feet around the
structure. Consistent with fuels management objectives, steps should
be taken to minimize erosion.
(2) A greater distance than that required under paragraph (1) may
be required by state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation.
Clearance beyond the property line may only be required if the state
law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation includes findings that such
a clearing is necessary to significantly reduce the risk of
transmission of flame or heat sufficient to ignite the structure, and
there is no other feasible mitigation measure possible to reduce the
risk of ignition or spread of wildfire to the structure. Clearance
on adjacent property shall only be conducted following written
consent by the adjacent landowner.
(3) An insurance company that insures an occupied dwelling or
occupied structure may require a greater distance than that required
under paragraph (1) if a fire expert, designated by the fire chief or
fire official from the authority having jurisdiction, provides
findings that such a clearing is necessary to significantly reduce
the risk of transmission of flame or heat sufficient to ignite the
structure, and there is no other feasible mitigation measure possible
to reduce the risk of ignition or spread of wildfire to the
structure. The greater distance may not be beyond the property line
unless allowed by state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation.
(4) Remove that portion of any tree that extends within 10 feet of
the outlet of any chimney or stovepipe.
(5) Maintain any tree, shrub, or other plant adjacent to or
overhanging any building free of dead or dying wood.
(6) Maintain the roof of any structure free of leaves, needles, or
other vegetative materials.
(7) Prior to constructing a new dwelling or structure that will be
occupied or rebuilding an occupied dwelling or occupied structure
damaged by a fire in that zone, the construction or rebuilding of
which requires a building permit, the owner shall obtain a
certification from the local building official that the dwelling or
structure, as proposed to be built, complies with all applicable
state and local building standards, including those described in
subdivision (b) of Section 51189, and shall provide a copy of the
certification, upon request, to the insurer providing course of
construction insurance coverage for the building or structure. Upon
completion of the construction or rebuilding, the owner shall obtain
from the local building official, a copy of the final inspection
report that demonstrates that the dwelling or structure was
constructed in compliance with all applicable state and local
building standards, including those described in subdivision (b) of
Section 51189, and shall provide a copy of the report, upon request,
to the property insurance carrier that insures the dwelling or
structure.
(b) A person is not required under this section to manage fuels on
land if that person does not have the legal right to manage fuels,
nor is a person required to enter upon or to alter property that is
owned by any other person without the consent of the owner of the
property.
(c) The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shall develop,
periodically update, and post on its Internet Web site a guidance
document on fuels management pursuant to this chapter. Guidance shall
include, but not be limited to, regionally appropriate vegetation
management suggestions that preserve and restore native species,
minimize erosion, minimize water consumption, and permit trees near
homes for shade, aesthetics, and habitat; and suggestions to minimize
or eliminate the risk of flammability of nonvegetative sources of
combustion such as woodpiles, propane tanks, wood decks, and outdoor
lawn furniture.
SEC. 5. Section 51183 of the Government Code is amended to read:
51183. (a) The local agency may exempt from the standards set
forth in Section 51182 structures with exteriors constructed entirely
of nonflammable materials, or conditioned upon the contents and
composition of the structure, and may vary the requirements
respecting the management of fuels surrounding the structures in
those cases. This subdivision does not authorize a local agency to
vary a requirement that is a building standard subject to Section
18930 of the Health and Safety Code, except as otherwise authorized
by law.
(b) An exemption or variance under subdivision (a) shall not apply
unless and until the occupant of the structure, or if there is no
occupant, then the owner of the structure, files with the local
agency a written consent to the inspection of the interior and
contents of the structure to ascertain whether Section 51182 is
complied with at all times.
SEC. 6. Section 51189 of the Government Code is amended to read:
51189. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that site and
structure defensibility is essential to reduce the risk of structure
ignition as well as for effective fire suppression by firefighters.
This need to establish defensibility extends beyond the site fuel
management practices required by this chapter, and includes, but is
not limited to, measures that increase the likelihood of a structure
to withstand ignition, such as building design and construction
requirements that use fire resistant building materials, and provide
standards for reducing fire risks on structure projections,
including, but not limited to, porches, decks, balconies and eaves,
and structure openings, including, but not limited to, attic,
foundation, and eave vents, doors, and windows.
(b) No later than January 1, 2005, the State Fire Marshal, in
consultation with the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection and
the Director of Housing and Community Development, shall, pursuant to
Section 18930 of the Health and Safety Code, recommend building
standards that provide for comprehensive site and structure fire risk
reduction to protect structures from fires spreading from adjacent
structures or vegetation and to protect vegetation from fires
spreading from adjacent structures.
SEC. 7. Section 4202 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4202. The director shall classify lands within state
responsibility areas into fire hazard severity zones. Each zone shall
embrace relatively homogeneous lands and shall be based on fuel
loading, slope, fire weather, and other relevant factors present,
including areas where winds have been identified by the department as
a major cause of wildfire spread.
SEC. 8. Section 4291 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4291. (a) A person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or
maintains a building or structure in, upon, or adjoining a
mountainous area, forest-covered lands, brush-covered lands,
grass-covered lands, or land that is covered with flammable material,
shall at all times do all of the following:
(1) Maintain defensible space no greater than 100 feet from each
side of the structure, but not beyond the property line unless
allowed by state law, local ordinance, or regulation and as provided
in paragraph (2). The amount of fuel modification necessary shall
take into account the flammability of the structure as affected by
building material, building standards, location, and type of
vegetation. Fuels shall be maintained in a condition so that a
wildfire burning under average weather conditions would be unlikely
to ignite the structure. This paragraph does not apply to single
specimens of trees or other vegetation that are well-pruned and
maintained so as to effectively manage fuels and not form a means of
rapidly transmitting fire from other nearby vegetation to a structure
or from a structure to other nearby vegetation. The intensity of
fuels management may vary within the 100-foot perimeter of the
structure, the most intense being within the first 30 feet around the
structure. Consistent with fuels management objectives, steps should
be taken to minimize erosion.
(2) A greater distance than that required under paragraph (1) may
be required by state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation.
Clearance beyond the property line may only be required if the state
law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation includes findings that such
a clearing is necessary to significantly reduce the risk of
transmission of flame or heat sufficient to ignite the structure, and
there is no other feasible mitigation measure possible to reduce the
risk of ignition or spread of wildfire to the structure. Clearance
on adjacent property shall only be conducted following written
consent by the adjacent landowner.
(3) An insurance company that insures an occupied dwelling or
occupied structure may require a greater distance than that required
under paragraph (1) if a fire expert, designated by the director,
provides findings that such a clearing is necessary to significantly
reduce the risk of transmission of flame or heat sufficient to ignite
the structure, and there is no other feasible mitigation measure
possible to reduce the risk of ignition or spread of wildfire to the
structure. The greater distance may not be beyond the property line
unless allowed by state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation.
(4) Remove that portion of any tree that extends within 10 feet of
the outlet of a chimney or stovepipe.
(5) Maintain any tree, shrub, or other plant adjacent to or
overhanging a building free of dead or dying wood.
(6) Maintain the roof of a structure free of leaves, needles, or
other vegetative materials.
(7) (a) Prior to constructing a new building or structure or
rebuilding a building or structure damaged by a fire in an area
subject to this section, the construction or rebuilding of which
requires a building permit, the owner shall obtain a certification
from the local building official that the dwelling or structure, as
proposed to be built, complies with all applicable state and local
building standards, including those described in subdivision (b) of
Section 51189 of the Government Code, and shall provide a copy of the
certification, upon request, to the insurer providing course of
construction insurance coverage for the building or structure. Upon
completion of the construction or rebuilding, the owner shall obtain
from the local building official, a copy of the final inspection
report that demonstrates that the dwelling or structure was
constructed in compliance with all applicable state and local
building standards, including those described in subdivision (b) of
Section 51189 of the Government Code, and shall provide a copy of the
report, upon request, to the property insurance carrier that insures
the dwelling or structure.
(b) A person is not required under this section to manage fuels on
land if that person does not have the legal right to manage fuels,
nor is a person required to enter upon or to alter property that is
owned by any other person without the consent of the owner of the
property.
(c) (1) Except as provided in Section 18930 of the Health and
Safety Code, the director may adopt regulations exempting a structure
with an exterior constructed entirely of nonflammable materials, or,
conditioned upon the contents and composition of the structure, the
director may vary the requirements respecting the removing or
clearing away of flammable vegetation or other combustible growth
with respect to the area surrounding those structures.
(2) An exemption or variance under paragraph (1) shall not apply
unless and until the occupant of the structure, or if there is not an
occupant, the owner of the structure, files with the department, in
a form as the director shall prescribe, a written consent to the
inspection of the interior and contents of the structure to ascertain
whether this section and the regulations adopted under this section
are complied with at all times.
(d) The director may authorize the removal of vegetation that is
not consistent with the standards of this section. The director may
prescribe a procedure for the removal of that vegetation and make the
expense a lien upon the building, structure, or grounds, in the same
manner that is applicable to a legislative body under Section 51186
of the Government Code.
(e) The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shall develop,
periodically update, and post on its Internet Web site a guidance
document on fuels management pursuant to this chapter. Guidance shall
include, but not be limited to, regionally appropriate vegetation
management suggestions that preserve and restore native species,
minimize erosion, minimize water consumption, and permit trees near
homes for shade, aesthetics, and habitat; and suggestions to minimize
or eliminate the risk of flammability of nonvegetative sources of
combustion such as woodpiles, propane tanks, wood decks, and outdoor
lawn furniture.
(f) As used in this section, "person" means a private individual,
organization, partnership, limited liability company, or corporation.
SEC. 9. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.