BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2575|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2575
Author: Chesbro (D), et al
Amended: 8/5/10 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE : 6-3, 6/29/10
AYES: Pavley, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Padilla, Simitian, Wolk
NOES: Cogdill, Hollingsworth, Huff
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-3, 8/2/10
AYES: Kehoe, Alquist, Corbett, Price, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Ashburn, Emmerson, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Leno, Walters
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 45-29, 6/2/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Resources: watersheds
SOURCE : Forests Forever
DIGEST : This bill requires the Department of Forestry
and Fire Protection to meet specified criteria when
implementing pilot projects to protect riparian zones
during timber harvesting, and requires the Board of
Forestry or an advisory committee to develop
recommendations for providing electronic public access to
documents related to timber harvesting.
ANALYSIS :
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Existing law:
1. Requires the Board of Forestry (BOF) to adopt rules to
address the unreasonable effects of timber operations on
the beneficial uses of waters. These rules must address
effects from:
A. Construction of logging roads and tractor trail
stream crossings.
B. Damage to streamside vegetation and streambeds
from skidding or hauling logs across streams,
operating heavy equipment in streambeds, constructing
log landings.
C. Slash, debris, or fill that may be discharged into
streams, and erosion.
2. Requires, under Section 916.9 of the California Code of
Regulations, the BOF and the Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection (CDF) to implement two pilot projects
using site-specific or non-standard operational measures
to minimize cumulative and planning impacts of timber
harvesting on watersheds. CDF must recommend guidelines
to the BOF for adoption by June 30, 2011.
This bill:
1. Requires CDF and the BOF, when implementing a pilot
project to protect and restore the riparian zone in
watersheds with listed anadromous salmonids, to comply
with all of the following:
A. CDF shall implement a pilot project on state
forest land only when a private landowner is not
willing to undertake a pilot project on private
lands.
B. Provide the industry, agencies, and public the
public with the opportunity to participate in the
development of a pilot project in a transparent
manner.
C. Develop guidelines for conducting a cumulative
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effects evaluation on a planning watershed scale;
address potential project-specific planning watershed
cumulative effects of timber harvesting activities.
In particular, the guidelines shall require the
following:
(1) The spatial scale of the cumulative effects
analysis to be consistent with the site-specific
and cumulative impacts of the project in the
watershed and its physical processes.
(2) The use of reproducible, quantitative
methods of evaluation as the primary means of
determining baseline physical, chemical, or
biological parameters, in estimating cumulative
impacts, and in monitoring implementation of
mitigation measures.
(3) Documentation of the conclusions and
recommendations.
(4) An evaluation by a person or entity with
relevant training and experience.
D. Consult with and seek comment from appropriate
scientific experts in order to develop evaluation
guidelines that are feasible, enforceable, and
protective of the public trust.
2. Specifies goals for a pilot project, including
restoration of fisheries and wildlife habitat; reducing
the risk of wildfire; reducing sedimentation and soil
loss; achieving long-term carbon sequestration; and
restoring unique attributes of a given planning
watershed.
3. Requires funding for the development and implementation
of a pilot project to be drawn from existing CDF and the
BOF resources and any additional funding to be sought
from private and public sources.
4. Requires the BOF or a technical advisory committee shall
develop recommendations for providing electronic public
access to all relevant documents that assist CDF in
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administering timber harvest regulations for actions
that occur on a planning watershed scale.
5. Requires all documents that form the basis for the pilot
projects that are developed to be posted on CDF's
Internet Web site.
Background
The BOF and the CDF are required to adopt rules that
implement state laws governing timber harvesting. These
agencies are also to prevent unreasonable effects of timber
operations on the beneficial uses of waters. As part of a
rule-making procedure completed in 2009, the BOF and the
CDF have additional responsibilities to protect and restore
the riparian zone in watersheds with listed anadromous
salmonids. These rules must address effects from:
Construction of logging roads and tractor trail stream
crossings.
Damage to streamside vegetation and streambeds from
skidding or hauling logs across streams, operating heavy
equipment in streambeds, and constructing log landings.
Slash, debris, or fill that may be discharged into
streams, and erosion.
Section 916.9 of the California Code of Regulations
requires the BOF and the CDF to implement two pilot
projects using site-specific or non-standard operational
measures to minimize cumulative and planning impacts of
timber harvesting on watersheds. CDF must recommend
guidelines to the BOF for adoption by June 30, 2011.
A technical advisory committee will recommend at least two
pilot projects under criteria that are nearly completed.
One project under consideration in a coastal watershed
would involve placement of large wood into a stream to
assist in restoring salmon habitat. A second, inland
project would consider management activities along a
watershed's riparian zones that would reduce the chance of
wildfire. In both situations, a rapid watershed assessment
process would be developed that can assess the impacts both
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on a project scale and on a planning watershed scale.
These are incremental steps in improving the cumulative
impact analyses of timber operations that have been
suggested in the professional literature for several years.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Fund
Overseeing pilot projects Absorbable within existing
resources General
Performing pilot projects Potential costs in the tens
of thousands Special*/
in state forests General
Publicizing information Potential costs in the tens
of thousands General
* Forest Resources Improvement Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/15/10)
Forests Forever (source)
California Forestry Association
California Native Plant Society
Sierra Club
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Sierra Club California contends
that numerous federal and state agency reviews of the
current forest practice rules have concluded that the
current rules are inadequate to protect watersheds and
salmon habitat. It believes that the pilot projects
authorized in this bill will enable the state to improve
its evaluation of cumulative impacts in our watersheds.
The California Native Plant Society is especially
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supportive of the provisions for public involvement in the
development of the pilot projects.
The bill's sponsor, Forests Forever, maintains that
evaluating and addressing the cumulative impacts of
multiple timber harvests in a watershed over time is
crucial to protecting watershed health, endangered species,
public safety, and the long-term economic value of
timberlands.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Hill, Huffman, Jones, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza,
Monning, Nava, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson,
Torrico, Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Blakeslee,
Caballero, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Emmerson, Fletcher,
Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Huber,
Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, Norby, Silva, Smyth, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Tom Berryhill, Galgiani, Lieu, Audra
Strickland, Torres, Vacancy
CTW:mw 8/5/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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