BILL NUMBER: SB 1595 CHAPTERED 09/27/08 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.