BILL ANALYSIS AB 666 Page 1 GOVERNOR'S VETO AB 666 (Jones) As Amended September 1, 2009 2/3 vote ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |57-19|(June 3, 2009) |SENATE: |24-12|(September 4, | | | | | | |2009) | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |59-18|(September 9, | | | | | | |2009) | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: L. GOV. SUMMARY : Requires the legislative body of a county to make three specified findings before approving a tentative map or a parcel map for an area located in a state responsibility area (SRA) or a very high fire hazard severity zone as designated by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE). The Senate amendments specify that the provision of this measure shall not supersede regulations established by CAL FIRE or local ordinances that provide equivalent or more stringent minimum requirements than those contained within this measure. EXISTING LAW : 1)Requires, pursuant to the Subdivision Map Act (Map Act), the legislative body of a city or county to deny approval of a tentative map or a parcel map for which a tentative map was not required, if it makes certain findings. 2)Requires the Director of CAL FIRE (Director) to identify areas in the state as very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas as determined by AB 666 Page 2 fuel loading, slope, fire weather, and other relevant factors. 3)Defines SRAs as areas of the state in which the financial responsibility of preventing and suppressing fires has been determined by the Board of Forestry (Board) to be primarily the responsibility of the state. 4)Requires the Board to identify as SRAs all lands where the state has the primary financial responsibility for preventing and suppressing fires. 5)Requires the Board to map SRAs and provide this map to county assessors and update this map every five years. 6)Excludes from SRAs, federal lands and lands within the exterior boundaries of any city, except a city and county with a population of less than 25,000 if, at the time the city and county government is established, the county contains no municipal corporations. 7)Requires CAL FIRE, within SRAs, to provide wildland fire prevention and firefighting personnel and equipment, and may provide rescue, first aid, and other emergency services if the activity does not require additional funds. 8)Requires the Director to classify and update or reclassify, if necessary, SRAs into fire hazard severity zones for the purposes of fire prevention and suppression. 9)Requires local governments to adopt a general plan that includes, among other things, a safety element; and, requires a local government with SRAs or a very high fire hazard severity zone to submit a draft safety element to the Board for its review and comment prior to its adoption or amendment. AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill: 1)Stated that before approving a tentative map, or a parcel map for which a tentative map was not required, for an area located in an SRA or a very high fire hazard severity zone, as designated by CAL FIRE, the legislative body of a county shall make the following three findings: AB 666 Page 3 a) A finding supported by substantial evidence in the record that the design and location of each lot in the subdivision and subdivision as a whole would allow improvements to be made consistent with any regulations promulgated by the Board; b) A finding based on substantial evidence in the record that sufficient structural fire protection and suppression services will be available for the subdivision through: i) a county, city, special district, or political subdivision of the state or another entity organized solely to provide fire protection services that is monitored and funded by a county or other public entity; or, ii) CAL FIRE; and, c) A finding that ingress and egress for the subdivision meets the regulations adopted for road standards for fire equipment access. 2)Required, prior to January 1, 2011, the Board to open a rulemaking process to consider adopting regulations requiring a minimum of two separate access roads for a subdivision located in an SRA or very high fire hazard severity zone. 3)Specified that if the Board adopts a rule to require two separate access roads, the rule shall be based on among other things, the geographical and topographical situation of a subdivision, the feasibility of requiring two separate access roads, ownership patterns, the ability of future phases to provide access, and the predominant known wind patterns. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, there are: 1)Minor costs of less than $125,000 to CAL FIRE to consider adoption of regulation as described in this bill. AB 666 Page 4 2)Nonreimbursable costs of an unknown amount to local government. COMMENTS : According to the author, over the last few decades counties have approved new subdivisions in rural areas that are subject to a high risk of fire danger at a rapid pace due to California's population growth and growing demand for homes away from urban areas. According to a USA Today analysis, building in fire prone areas in California has been running at twice the state average. At the same time, CAL FIRE keeps expanding the area it considers dangerously fire-prone. From 2000-2005, land designated as SRAs increased by 284,812 acres due to more accurate assessments by CAL FIRE and the Board. Accelerated climate change is exacerbating the problem. There is near consensus among fire scientists and climatologists that fires will be more intense and more frequent due to global warming. While the author believes that significant progress has been made in the areas of stricter building standards and requirements for defensible space for homes already approved for fire-prone areas, he also believes that more emphasis should be put on whether the homes should be approved in the first place, and what a county that wishes to approve such a development should have to demonstrate in order to proceed. This bill takes an approach to approving development pursuant to the Map Act in areas of high fire risk somewhat similar to that taken by SB 221 (Kuehl), Chapter 642, Statutes of 2001, which requires proof of adequate water supply prior to map approval, and by SB 5 (Machado), Chapter 364, Statutes of 2007, which prohibits map approval for specified flood-prone areas unless the city or county makes findings concerning the adequacy of flood protection for the area. This bill requires that before a county approves a tentative map or parcel map if the proposed map is in an SRA or a very high fire hazard severity zone as designated by CAL FIRE, the county must make findings that the proposed development is located and designed in a way that conforms with state fire prevention regulations, that sufficient structural fire protection will be available, either from a local agency or from CAL FIRE through contracting, and that residents and firefighters will be able to get in and out AB 666 Page 5 from more than one direction in the event of a fire, with specified exceptions. One significant difference between this bill and the SB 221 and SB 5 model is that, while the latter places the responsibility for determining the adequacy of water supply or flood protection on the agencies that actually provide those services, this bill places that responsibility on the county, whether or not the county is the actual provider of fire protection services. The Legislature may wish to consider if it would be appropriate for the county to consult with the designated fire suppression and protection agency that will be serving a subdivision prior to making a determination that adequate coverage would be available or not. This measure is substantially similar to AB 2447 (Jones) of 2008, which was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. However, the veto message references components of previous versions of AB 2447, not the final version that was passed by the Legislature. GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE : "I support strong fire safety standards for new developments, especially when they are located in high fire hazard severity zones. However, I have many concerns with this bill in its current form. "This bill would place an increased workload on the State without additional staff or other resources to meet the workload. Without funding to ensure this bill can be implemented, this piece of legislation cannot help prevent wildfires in our State. "In addition, it is not clear why these new requirements would be placed on counties but not cities as well. Certainly, many cities in California are as at risk for wildfires as counties." Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916) 319-3958 AB 666 Page 6 FN: 0003327