BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1252
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 20, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1252 (Portantino) - As Amended: May 5, 2009
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:6-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection (CalFire) to post timber plans on the Internet.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires CalFire, by July 1, 2010, to establish an online
database of all timber harvest plans (THPs) and nonindustrial
timber management plans, and to post, online, comment letters
on those timber plans from relevant state agencies or
departments no later than seven days after receipt.
2)Requires CalFire, by January 1, 2011, to post, online, past
THPs dating back to those approved in 2005 for all regions,
searchable by geographical region, affected watershed, and
other parameters that the department determines useful.
3)Specifies that CalFire is to design its timber harvest online
database using a user-friendly graphic interface and to be
searchable according to geographical region, affected
watershed, and other parameters that the department determines
are useful to the public.
4)Specifies that, on and after July 1, 2010, the legally
required comment periods on THPs shall not begin until the
complete timber plan or has been posted online.
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5)Requires CalFire, by January 1, 2012, to report to the
Legislature on the feasibility of posting online THPs approved
in 2004 and earlier.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time costs of about $150,000 to CalFire to complete
feasibility study report (FSR). (GF)
2)One-time General Fund (GF) costs of $500,000 to $800,000 to
CalFire to develop and establish an online database with the
functionality described in the bill. (CalFire estimated costs
of $1 million to $5 million.)
3)Ongoing annual costs in the range of a few hundred thousands
of dollars to CalFire to maintain the online database. (GF)
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . According to the author's office, this bill is
necessary to better allow Californians to participate in the
management of their natural resources. The author contends
online posting of timber plans is necessary, given short THP
notice requirements, remote and limited locations to review
THP documents, and costly reproduction costs.
2)Background . In 1973, the Legislature enacted the Forestry
Practices Act in response to the apparent and severe effect of
logging on fish and game, forest ecosystems, and water
quality. Under the Act, a logging operation must comply with
a THP, which describes the proposed logging methods and
projected production from an area, as well as any
environmental mitigation measures that the timber harvesters
will undertake to prevent or offset damage to natural
resources, such as fish or wildlife. CalFire has statutory
responsibility to review these plans, approve or deny them,
and to monitor compliance with the plan during logging
operations. In addition, the Department of Conservation, the
State Water Resources Control Board and the Department of Fish
and Game participate in review and enforcement. The costs of
THP review are paid from the GF.
3)Little Hoover Recommended Extending THP Review Time . A 1994
Little Hoover Commission report recommended that THP comment
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period be extended beyond existing (and current) 15 day
commend period and that the public be alerted when THPs are
amended. Additionally, the report suggested that the public
be noticed when a THP is first submitted (rather than when it
is accepted for filing) and then notified again when it is
forwarded to CalFire for approval after review by relevant
agencies.
4)CalFire Posts THPs Online. In 2005, CalFire initiated an
online THP pilot program, posting timber plans from the north
coast region. CDF also posts online summaries of various
notices related to timber plans. As of January 2009, CalFire
has posted THPs and related documents for all its regions.
This information dates back to 2005 for the north coast region
and to 2008 for the state's other regions.
However, the Web site uses a file-transfer protocol technology
(instead of a graphic interface) with document naming
conventions that are unintelligible to lay users. Safe to say,
CalFire's Web interface is not user friendly as that term is
used in this bill.
5)Related Legislation. SB 744 (Kuehl, 2006) required the Board
of Forestry to adopt regulations requiring THPs to be made
available on the Internet. The Governor vetoed the bill
citing the development of CalFire's pilot program to post
timber plans online. SB 744 passed the Assembly 71-0.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081