BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1300
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1300 (Fletcher)
As Amended May 6, 2009
Majority vote
NATURAL RESOURCES 8-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Skinner, Gilmore, |Ayes:|De Leon, Nielsen, |
| |Chesbro, | |Ammiano, |
| |De Leon, Hill, Huffman, | |Charles Calderon, Davis, |
| |Knight, Logue | |Duvall, Fuentes, Hall, |
| | | |Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |John A. Perez, Price, |
| | | |Skinner, |
| | | |Solorio, Audra |
| | | |Strickland, Torlakson, |
| | | |Krekorian |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Authorizes the California Department of Forestry (CAL
FIRE) to develop and implement a fuels reduction grant program.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes CAL FIRE to develop and implement a fuels reduction
program that provides competitive grants or other financial
incentives to communities located in the wildland-urban
interface or very high fire hazard severity zones to conduct
fuel reduction efforts that minimize the risk or decrease the
intensity of a wildfire in or around a community. CAL FIRE
may structure a grant or offer additional incentives to offset
the costs of transporting fuels to a biomass energy facility.
2)Authorizes CAL FIRE to make grants to cities, counties,
districts, and nonprofit organizations. The department must
develop criteria for the review and approval of grant
applications. CAL FIRE may waive or reduce the cost sharing
requirements for projects that directly benefit or occur in a
disadvantaged community or if the funding source prohibits a
cost sharing requirement.
3)Requires an eligible community to meet all of the following
criteria and any other criteria the department deems
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appropriate:
a) Be a wildland-urban interface community at high risk of
wildfire;
b) Be designated as a "firewise" community or have a
community wildfire protection plan approved by CAL FIRE;
c) Have a plan approved by CAL FIRE or the State Fire
Marshal to reach full compliance with existing defensible
space requirements; and,
d) Partner with a community-based nonprofit organization
that has among its primary objectives wildfire prevention,
planning, or education.
4)Requires CAL FIRE to seek funding for the grant program from
new state, federal, or private funds dedicated to fire
prevention efforts, to the extent the funds are available for
those efforts. The program must not be funded through the
General Fund.
5)Requires CAL FIRE, if it develops and implements a fuels
reduction grant program, to report to the Legislature no later
than 12 months after the program's initiation, and every 12
months thereafter, including a summary of the amount of grants
awarded, grant recipients, funding sources, program
accomplishments and effectiveness, and any legislative or
other recommendations.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Creates the California Forest Improvement Program (Chapter
1181, Statutes of 1978), which authorizes CAL FIRE to provide
technical and financial assistance to small forest landowners
for a wide range of forest management activities, including
preparation of management plans, reforestation, timber stand
improvement, forest land conservation and fish and wildlife
habitat improvement. Landowners are required to provide at
least a 10% cost share for grants.
2)Proposition 40 (2002) makes eligible for grants nonprofit
organizations and public agencies that implement projects that
protect or enhance watershed values through the manipulation
AB 1300
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of vegetation to reduce fuel loading and fire risk on
nonfederal lands in 15 Sierra Nevada counties.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, cost pressures to CAL FIRE, potentially in the
millions of dollars annually, to make grants for fuels reduction
and to administer their award.
COMMENTS : According to the author's office: despite existing
laws, programs and grants to reduce fuel loads in the
wildland-urban interface (WUI) "?more can be done to reduce the
threat and protect the environment by incentivizing the removal
of brush and so-called ladder fuels in the WUI. Existing
programs funded by the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, for example,
provide a financial incentive to remove this type of foliage;
however, there isn't a concerted effort or program dedicated to
this purpose. This program will enhance the commercial value
for small timber, shrubbery or chaparral by subsidizing the
transportation of the brush to biomass facilities."
The recent catastrophic fires in the state have highlighted the
significant increase in residential development in the WUI and
the association between climate change and more intense or
frequent fires. In response, the state has, among other things,
adopted building codes to lower the risk of fire ignition,
increased enforcement of defensible space requirements, and
funded fuel reduction efforts in at-risk communities. Since
2003, the state has awarded over $16 million in grants to Fire
Safe Councils, local governments, fire districts for various
fuels reduction and forest health projects. The federal
government has provided nearly $9 million in federal funds and
lowered local government match requirements to reduce hazardous
fuels in California. These efforts have resulted in the
treatment of thousands of acres annually on state and federal
lands in the WUI.
Despite these efforts, there is concern that fuels loads in the
WUI remain at unsafe levels and that existing programs or
regulatory exemptions do not provide sufficient economic
incentive to encourage more fuel reduction work. This bill
gives CAL FIRE express authorization to make grants to
communities located in the wildland-urban interface or very high
fire hazard severity zones to conduct fuel reduction efforts
that minimize the risk or decrease the intensity of a wildfire
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in or around a community. CAL FIRE may structure a grant or
offer additional incentives to offset the costs of transporting
fuels to a biomass energy facility.
While the bill does not specify a funding source for these
grants, one possible source is the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, which provides $500 million to
the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) for "Wildland Fire Management"
activities, $250 million of which must be spent for hazardous
fuels reduction, forest health protection, rehabilitation and
hazard mitigation activities on federal lands. The remaining
$250 million is allocated for similar activities, including
ecosystem improvement, on state and private lands. Of the total
amount, $50 million is available for "wood-to-energy" grants to
promote increased use of biomass from federal, state, and
private lands.
CAL FIRE has submitted a list of potentially eligible projects
totaling $176 million to the USFS. On this list is a "Biomass
Woods-to-Power-Plant Transportation Incentive" valued at $6
million.
Analysis Prepared by : Dan Chia / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092
FN: 0001134