BILL ANALYSIS
SB 505
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Date of Hearing: August 19, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
SB 505 (Kehoe) - As Amended: July 13, 2009
Policy Committee: Local
GovernmentVote:5-0
Natural Resources 6-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill expands contents of safety elements of general plans
that encompass state responsibility area lands (SRA) and very
high fire hazard severity zones. The bill specifically requires:
1)The Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) to update
its "Fire Hazard Planning" document on or before January 1,
2011.
2)Cities and counties, prior to January 1, 2015, and thereafter
upon each revision of the housing element, to review and
update their safety elements as needed to address the risk of
fire for land classified as SRA and land classified very high
fire hazard severity zones. The reviews are required to
consider the advice included in the most recent publication of
OPR's "Fire Hazard Planning" document, various information
about fire hazards, a set of goals related to minimizing
wildfire risks, and feasible implementation measures.
3)The State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) to
review safety element updates and report to the planning
agency within 60 days its written recommendations related to
land use and wildland fire prevention in SRAs and very high
fire hazard severity zones.
4)OPR to prepare proposed changes to its guidelines related to
environmental impact reports to take into account issues
related to fire hazard impacts for projects located in SRAs.
Requires the Natural Resources Agency to certify and adopt the
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proposed guideline changes.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)CalFire asserts that the minimum cost to comply with the
bill's requirements would be $153,000 (GF) for a half-time
position for guideline assistance and a full-time position to
provide the Board with the resources to meet their review
requirements.
2)To effectively review safety elements and consult on CEQA
issues, CalFIRE indicates it would need to update its
vegetation maps, which are currently out of date. CalFIRE
estimates this would require about $1 million (GF) in annual
IT and related operational expenditures (assuming that maps
covering about one-sixth of the state would be updated each
year.)
3)About $20,000 one-time cost to OPR to develop and update its
guidelines.
COMMENTS
1)Background . Existing law defines state responsibility areas
(SRAs) as areas of the state in which the financial
responsibility of preventing and suppressing fires has been
determined by the Board of Forestry to be primarily the
responsibility of the state.
It also requires local governments to adopt a general plan
that includes 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. The Board is
authorized, but not required, to make written recommendations
to the planning agency within 60 days of the receipt of the
draft or existing safety element.
Under CEQA, lead agencies with the principal responsibility
for carrying out or approving a proposed discretionary project
are required to prepare a negative declaration, mitigated
declaration, or environmental impact report. OPR is required
to prepare and develop proposed guidelines to implement CEQA,
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and submit them to the Secretary of the Natural Resources
Agency for certification and adoption. OPR is also required
to review CEQA guidelines at least every two years and
recommend changes or amendments to the Secretary of the
Natural Resources Agency for certification and adoption.
In its analysis of the 2008-09 budget, LAO found that
CalFIRE's budget has increased 150% since 1997-98. One of
the factors behind the expenditure increase is expanding
development in the rural areas. Despite the fact that the
total acreage in SRAs has remained stable over the last 15
years, the number of housing units in SRAs has increased by
15% over this period.
2)Rationale . The purpose of the bill is to require local
governments to take into account fire protection issues when
making land use decisions. The author's office asserts that it
is in the state's best interest to ensure that cities and
counties do all they can to engage in comprehensive and
consistent fire prevention.
Analysis Prepared by : Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081