BILL NUMBER: AB 1300 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Fletcher
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act relating to fire protection. An act
to add and repeal Chapter 3.1 (commencing with Section 4310) of Part
2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, relating to fire
protection.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1300, as amended, Fletcher. Fire protection: local
volunteers. vegetation management: pilot program.
Existing law creates the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection within the Natural Resources Agency, and the department is
responsible for fire protection, fire prevention, maintenance, and
enhancement of the state's forest, range, and brushland resources,
contract fire protection, associated emergency services, and
assistance in civil disasters and other nonfire emergencies.
This bill would require the department to establish and implement
a vegetation management pilot program. The bill would require the
department to choose up to 10 applicant communities based upon
specified criteria and provide to those communities incentives for
fire prevention vegetation management projects by paying $20 per ton
for bone dry vegetation removed from the pilot program communities
during fire prevention projects. The bill would require the
department to seek funding from specified sources, as available for
fire prevention projects, and would limit the department's
administrative costs for selecting projects and preparing a report
that would be submitted to the Legislature to no more than 15% of the
value of the projects selected.
Existing law provides a method by which communities may petition
and hold an election in order to create a local district for the
purpose of providing fire protection services, rescue services, and
emergency medical services, among others.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation to provide financial support to local volunteer
associations that work, in cooperation with public authorities, to
make property less susceptible to fire.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 3.1 (commencing with Section
4310) is added to Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public
Resources Code , to read:
CHAPTER 3.1. VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PILOT PROGRAM
4310. The goals of the vegetation management pilot program
established pursuant to this chapter are as follows:
(a) To provide incentives for fire prevention in and around
communities by making the material removed during vegetation
management projects for fire prevention worth more to biomass
facilities, thereby offsetting more of the cost of doing the work.
(b) To determine if a small incentive payment on the final
disposition of the vegetation materials would statistically increase
the amount of fire prevention vegetation management work done.
4311. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the department shall
establish a vegetation management pilot program to provide incentives
for fire prevention vegetation management projects in selected
communities by paying twenty dollars ($20) per ton for bone dry
vegetation removed from the pilot program communities during fire
prevention projects and accepted by a biomass energy facility.
(b) The department shall take any action necessary, in its best
discretion, to implement the pilot program.
(c) The community taking part in the pilot program shall work with
a biomass energy facility to dispose of the vegetation materials
collected, including transportation of the materials.
(d) The department, in its best judgment when reviewing the
applications and based upon the funding available for the term
necessary to complete the projects in each community selected, shall
choose up to 10 applying communities for inclusion in the pilot
program. All of the following criteria shall be used in the selection
process:
(1) The community, or region where the program is taking place, is
within a ____-mile radius of a biomass energy facility.
(2) The community is a Firewise community, has a community
wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency, or can
otherwise show a concerted and dedicated effort towards wildfire
prevention.
(3) The community has a written plan in place to reach full
compliance with existing defensible space requirements.
(4) The community has made significant strides towards reaching
compliance with existing defensible space requirements and has
"buy-in" from the local firefighting agency.
(5) The community has significant wildland urban interface areas.
(6) The vegetation in the community poses a high hazard,
including, but not limited to, chaparral or forested areas.
(7) The types of vegetation surrounding the community are
appropriate for use as fuel in the biomass energy facility within
____ miles of the program area.
(8) The community has a local Fire Safe Council or other entity in
place that is willing and able to organize the actual project work
and manage the funding the comes through the pilot program.
(9) The department may also use other criteria it deems
appropriate to choose between two otherwise similarly eligible
communities after considering all of the requirements set forth in
paragraphs (1) to (8), inclusive.
(10) The department shall consider choosing communities for the
pilot program that are geographically widespread throughout the
state, but only after considering all of the requirements set forth
in paragraphs (1) to (9), inclusive.
4312. (a) The department shall seek funding for the pilot program
from the following sources, to the extent the funds are available
for fire prevention efforts:
(1) Fire Safe Council grants dedicated to fire prevention efforts.
(2) Sierra Nevada Conservancy grants dedicated to fire prevention
efforts.
(3) California Tahoe Conservancy grants dedicated to fire
prevention efforts.
(4) Other state, federal, or private funds dedicated to fire
prevention efforts.
(b) The pilot program projects shall not be funded through the
General Fund.
4313. The department shall report to the Legislature, no later
than six months after the completion of the final project of the
program, regarding the effectiveness of the program and whether its
goals were met.
4314. (a) The department's administrative costs for selecting
projects and preparing the report required under Section 4313 shall
not exceed more than 15 percent of the value of the projects
selected. The department may choose to waive its administrative costs
in order to fund more fire prevention projects.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "value of the projects
selected" means ____.
4315. This chapter shall remain in effect only until ____, and as
of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is
enacted before ____, deletes or extends that date.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to provide financial support to local volunteer
associations that work, in cooperation with public authorities that
provide fire protection services, to make property less susceptible
to fire.