BILL NUMBER: AB 2859 CHAPTERED 09/27/08 CHAPTER 365 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 27, 2008 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 27, 2008 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 14, 2008 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 19, 2008 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 11, 2008 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 7, 2008 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 23, 2008 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2008 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gaines FEBRUARY 22, 2008 An act to amend Sections 4527 and 4716 of the Public Resources Code, relating to public resources. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2859, Gaines. Public resources: fire prevention and control: forest protection. (1) Existing law, the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, is intended to create and maintain an effective and comprehensive system of regulation and use of all timberlands to ensure, among other things, that productivity of timberlands is restored, enhanced, and maintained, where feasible. The act defines timber operations to mean the cutting or removal, or both, of timber or other solid wood forest products, including Christmas trees, from timberlands for commercial purposes, together with all the incidental work, including, but not limited to, construction and maintenance of roads, fuelbreaks, firebreaks, stream crossings, landings, skid trails, and beds for the falling of trees, fire hazard abatement, and site preparation that involves the disturbance of soil or burning of vegetation following timber harvesting activities conducted after a certain date, but excludes preparatory work such as treemarking, surveying, or roadflagging. This bill would exclude from the definition of timber operations the removal of certain size trees from firebreaks and fuelbreaks that meet specified criteria, including that the project and project-based review for projects on forested landscapes be prepared by or in consultation with a registered professional forester. (2) Existing law requires owners of timber or timberlands to control or eradicate insect pests and plant diseases on lands they own or control. Whenever the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection determines that an area is infested or infected with insect pests or plant diseases injurious to timber or forest growth and the infestation is a menace to adjacent owners' timber or timberland, the director, with approval of the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, is authorized to declare a zone of infestation or infection, and the department may go upon state or private lands, within the zone. The department is required to eradicate or control the infestation or infection in a manner approved by the board. The bill would set parameters authorizing the department to take certain preventative actions within a zone of infestation or infection. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 4527 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 4527. (a) (1) "Timber operations" means the cutting or removal, or both, of timber or other solid wood forest products, including Christmas trees, from timberlands for commercial purposes, together with all the incidental work, including, but not limited to, construction and maintenance of roads, fuelbreaks, firebreaks, stream crossings, landings, skid trails, and beds for the falling of trees, fire hazard abatement, and site preparation that involves disturbance of soil or burning of vegetation following timber harvesting activities conducted after January 1, 1988, but excluding preparatory work such as treemarking, surveying, or roadflagging. (2) "Commercial purposes" includes (A) the cutting or removal of trees that are processed into logs, lumber, or other wood products and offered for sale, barter, exchange, or trade, or (B) the cutting or removal of trees or other forest products during the conversion of timberlands to land uses other than the growing of timber that are subject to Section 4621, including, but not limited to, residential or commercial developments, production of other agricultural crops, recreational developments, ski developments, water development projects, and transportation projects. (b) For purposes of this section, the removal of trees less than 16 inches in diameter at breast height from a firebreak or fuelbreak does not constitute "timber operations" if the removal meets all of the following criteria: (1) It is located within 500 feet of the boundary of an urban wild land interface community at high risk of wildfire, as defined on pages 752, et seq. of Number 3 of Volume 66 (January 4, 2001) of the Federal Register, as that definition may be amended from time to time. For purposes of this paragraph, "urban wildland interface community at high risk of wildfire" means an area having one or more structures for every five acres. (2) It is part of a community wildfire protection plan approved by the department or part of a department fire plan. (3) The trees to be removed will not be processed into logs or lumber. (4) The work to be conducted is under a firebreak or fuelbreak project that has been subject to a project-based review pursuant to a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or environmental impact report in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)). For projects to be conducted on forested landscapes, as defined in Section 754, the project and the project-based review shall be prepared by or in consultation with a registered professional forester. (5) The removal of surface and ladder fuels is consistent with paragraph (9) of subdivision (k) of Section 4584. SEC. 2. Section 4716 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 4716. (a) Whenever the director determines that there exists an area that is infested or infected with insect pests or plant diseases injurious to timber or forest growth and that the infestation or infection is of such a character as to be a menace to the timber or timberlands of adjacent owners, the director, with the approval of the board, may declare the existence of a zone of infestation or infection, and describe and fix its boundaries. (b) If the director declares the existence of a zone of infestation or infection pursuant to subdivision (a), the department or its agents may go upon state and private lands within the zone of infestation or infection and shall cause the infestation or infection to be eradicated or controlled in a manner that is approved by the board. (c) (1) Within a zone of infestation or infection, the department may remove live vegetation directly adjacent to dead or dying vegetation that is substantially at risk of infestation or infection. (2) The department may also remove soil that harbors or could reasonably harbor insects or pathogens injurious to timber or forest growth, and that have the potential to facilitate the spread of insects or pathogens to live trees or could substantially increase the risk of subsequent infestations or infections.