BILL NUMBER: SB 455 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Pavley
FEBRUARY 16, 2011
An act to amend Section 4604 of, to add Section 4629 to,
and to add Article 7.6 (commencing with Section 4595) to
Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of, the Public Resources Code,
relating to forestry.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 455, as amended, Pavley. Forestry: watersheds: timber
harvesting plans.
(1) The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a
person from conducting timber operations unless a timber harvesting
plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been
submitted to, and approved by, the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection. A violation of the act is a crime.
The bill would authorize a person to file a watershed timber
harvest plan (WTHP), as defined, for the purpose of conducting timber
operations. The bill would require the WTHP to be prepared by a
registered professional forester and filed with the department in
writing and would require the forester to certify and provide a
report describing the inspection of the WTHP area. By creating a new
crime in the act, the bill would impose a state mandated-local
program.
The bill would require the WTHP to contain certain information,
including the name and address of the timber owner and timberland
owner. The bill would require the WTHP to include all
information otherwise required of a timber harvest plan relating to
environmental impacts, mitigation measures, and feasible
alternatives, and a sustained timber production assessment that
includes certain information, including a summary table of wildlife
habitat relationships , compositions , and
state structure types. The bill would require the WTHP to also
include a watershed assessment and planning segment and a fish and
wildlife assessment, as specified.
The bill would require the department to provide notice of the
filing of the WTHP and any amendments to the WTHP to
a any person who requests it, and would
require the department to place the WTHP, or a copy, in a file
available for public inspection and to post a copy on the department'
s Internet Web site. The bill would authorize the department to
assess an application fee for its appropriate costs in reviewing a
WTHP and accompanying environmental impact report.
The bill would require a compliance report to be filed every 2
years with the department by every landowner with an approved WTHP.
The bill would require the director of the department to determine
whether the WTHP conforms with the rules and regulations of the
State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. If the director
determines that the WTHP would violate any applicable rule, law, or
regulation, the bill would require the director to return the WTHP
stating his or her reasons. The bill would provide the
permit a person to whom the WTHP is returned
has the right to request a public hearing before
the board, as provided.
The bill would require that an approved WTHP and the
related environmental impact report to be
effective for an unspecified a period
of 20 years.
The bill would authorize the plan submitter to submit a
proposed amendment to the approved WTHP, as provided
require the director in conjunction with all responsible and trustee
agencies to conduct a comprehensive review at each 2-year interval of
a WTHP and, if a plan is found to be out of compliance, to suspend
the plan until the director determines that the WTHP is amended and
in compliance . The bill would require the plan submitter to
notify each county recorder in which lands subject to the WTHP are
located. The bill would authorize the WTHP landowner to cancel the
WTHP by submitting written notice to the department. The bill would
require the WTHP landowner to file a notice with the department if he
or she plans to conduct timber operations on the land within a given
year. The bill would require the director to disapprove
approve a notice of WTHP activities in specified
circumstances , unless the information contained in
the notice is incorrect, incomplete, or misleading in a material way,
or inconsistent with the WTHP .
The bill would require the landowner, upon completion of WTHP
activities, to file a report of satisfactory completion. The bill
would require the landowner to file with the department a compliance
report within 2 years of the approval date of the WTHP, and for every
2 years thereafter, until all units in the WTHP area have received
completion reports.
The bill would require the director to report to the Legislature,
beginning December 31, 2017, and every 5 years thereafter, on these
provisions and any amendments needed to these provisions. The
bill would require that timberland conversions of greater than one
acre to nonforest uses, including all harvesting necessary to
complete a timberland conversion, be fully mitigated,
including, but not limited to, mitigation for any depletion of
current or future carbon stocks.
(2) The act requires the department to provide an initial
inspection of the area in which timber operations are to be conducted
within 10 days from the date of filing of the timber harvesting plan
or a nonindustrial timber management plan, or a longer period as may
be mutually agreed upon by the department and the person submitting
the plan.
This bill would require the department to also provide an initial
inspection of the area in which timber operations are to be conducted
within in 10 days from the date of filing of a WTHP.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
(3) The act requires a person who owns timberlands that are to be
devoted to uses other than the growing of timber, to file an
application for conversion with the board.
This bill would require landowners who convert lands so that the
land is no longer used for the commercial production of timber, among
other things, to fully mitigate the loss of biological carbon stocks
and the loss of future sequestration capacity associated with the
conversion. The bill would require the carbon emission mitigation to
meet the standards of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of
2006. The bill would require the State Air Resources Board, in
consultation with various entities, to adopt regulations to implement
these provisions.
The bill would require a county where a conversion occurs to
ensure that mitigation is implemented and authorizes the county to
charge an administrative fee to offset its costs to do so. The bill
would also require the county to provide an annual report to various
entities that includes a brief description of conversions that
occurred, among other things, thereby imposing a state-mandated
program.
(4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known as the California Watershed and
Forestland Conservation Act of 2011 2012
.
SEC. 2. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that it
is the policy of the state to encourage prudent and responsible
long-term forest management of timberlands to maintain the economic
use of those timberlands and their climate and public benefits,
minimize the cost of project review for state and local government
and associated impacts to the General Fund, and provide for an
efficient and predictable permitting process for the landowner,
effective regulatory oversight, and comprehensive environmental
impact analysis, mitigation, and protection.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish an optional,
voluntary, watershed-scale timber harvest permitting process that
coordinates the permitting requirements of the various responsible
and trustee agencies involved in the review of watershed-scale timber
harvest plans, including, but not limited, to the Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection, the appropriate California regional
water quality control board, the Department of Fish and Game, the
Department of Conservation, and other public agencies.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the timber harvest
permitting process established by this act lead to measurable climate
benefits in existing biological carbon stocks on the timberlands
covered by this permitting process, while fostering other public
benefits, and that long-term sustained yield include analysis of
carbon stocks that demonstrates attainment of these objectives.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that timberland enrolled
in the watershed-scale permitting program established by this act
shall be maintained as forestland, and not converted to nonforest
uses during the effective period of the permit.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature to maintain and enhance
the climate benefits of California's timberlands by ensuring that any
loss of timberland due to conversion to a nonforest use is
mitigated.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that any watershed timber
harvest plans (WTHP) prepared under the permitting authority
established by this act will support the issuance of state permits
necessary to conduct timber operations over a 20-year period and that
agencies and departments with regulatory permitting authority for
activities necessary to implement timber operations concur with the
WTHP in writing prior to approval by the department. Responsible and
trustee agencies are expected to conduct joint field inspections to
resolve interagency disagreements because discussions about resource
management are often more effective when they occur in the field.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage forests to be
managed for structural and biological diversity, to create more
structurally diverse wildlife habitat, to enhance resilience to
climate change and wildfire, to increase carbon sequestration, and to
protect public trust resources.
(h) It is not the intent of the Legislature to constrain the
authority of any responsible or trustee or other public agency with
review authority over a WTHP. However, it is the intent of the
Legislature that this environmental analysis and permit will achieve
the needs of all state agency timber harvest-related permits
concurrently.
(i) It is the intent of the Legislature that the state agencies
involved in the review of a WTHP have the staff and fiscal resources
to be fully engaged in the review and approval of the WTHP, its
environmental analyses, and the other activities enumerated in
Article 7.6 (commencing with Section 4595) of Chapter 8 of Part 2 of
Division 4 of the Public Resources Code.
(j) It is the intent of the Legislature to recognize that
landowners with an interest in providing conservation benefits should
be allowed to participate in mitigation activities, including
mitigation banking, that add economic value to the conservation
activities undertaken pursuant to this act and other specified,
beneficial environmental actions.
SEC. 3. Article 7.6 (commencing with Section 4595)
is added to Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the
Public Resources Code , to read:
Article 7.6. Watershed Timber Harvest Plan
4595. Notwithstanding Section 4521, unless the context requires
otherwise, the following definitions govern the construction of this
article:
(a) "Assessment area" means a portion of the ownership that has
similar geological, climatic, and hydrological conditions. An
assessment area may include land not owned or controlled by the plan
submitter, as necessary to create a logical assessment unit. The
assessment area shall be comprised of one or more planning
watersheds. A watershed timber harvest plan (WTHP) may be comprised
of one or more assessment areas.
(b) "Ownership" means the land owned by the timberland owner or
timber owner.
(c) "Planning watershed" means a planning watershed as delineated
in the California Interagency Watershed Mapping Committee (CalWater)
planning watershed maps.
(d) "Watershed timber harvest plan" or "WTHP" means a 20-year
management plan and timber harvesting permit for timberlands that are
located within an assessment area that establishes objectives of
sustained yield, and increasing biological carbon and structural
diversity for each parcel or group of parcels for which timber
harvesting is authorized pursuant to this article.
(e) "Watershed timber harvest plan notice" or "WTHP notice" means
a document that provides public notice of timber harvest operations
to be conducted pursuant to and consistent with an approved WTHP that
meets the requirements of this article.
4595.1. (a) Except as modified in this article, the provisions
set forth in this chapter, and applicable regulations adopted by the
board that implement this chapter, shall apply.
(b) Except as provided in this article, applicable provisions of
the California Endangered Species Act (Article 3 (commencing with
Section 2080) of Chapter 1.5 of Division 3 of the Fish and Game
Code), the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13
(commencing with Section 21000), the Porter-Cologne Water Quality
Control Act (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 13000) of Division 7
of the Water Code, and other provisions of state law apply to timber
operations authorized pursuant to this article.
(c) All timber operations within an approved WTHP shall be
conducted pursuant to this article.
4595.2. (a) A WTHP shall be filed with the department in writing.
A WTHP shall be prepared by a registered professional forester and
it shall be a public record and the WTHP and any modifications
thereto shall be available electronically to the public.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 4581, a person may conduct timber
operations pursuant to a WTHP, as authorized pursuant to this
article.
4595.3. The WTHP shall include all information otherwise required
of a timber harvest plan relating to environmental impacts,
mitigation measures, and feasible alternatives. All feasible
mitigation measures necessary to reduce environmental impacts to a
less than significant level shall be incorporated into and shall be
enforceable under the WTHP. The analysis of environmental impacts
shall be conducted for the entire watershed and assessment area with
sufficient detail to allow contemplated timber operations to proceed
without the need for further environmental review, except as provided
by this article.
4595.3.1. A WTHP shall also include all of the following
information:
(a) Name and address of the timber owner and timberland owner.
(b) Ownership description and location, including legal
descriptions and maps depicting the ownership and management units,
which shall be at a scale sufficient to allow the director to
determine the area covered by the WTHP.
(c) Management objectives for resources addressed in the WTHP,
including forest products, carbon sequestration, and structural
retention.
(d) A general narrative description of the forest types, fish and
wildlife habitats, and watercourses and lakes.
(e) Descriptions of the assessment area and rationale for
assessment area selection.
(1) The assessment area shall not exceed 100,000 acres unless
designation of a larger area is explained and justified in the WTHP
and determined by the director to be consistent with an approved
habitat conservation plan or natural community conservation plan.
(2) All planning watersheds included in the assessment area shall
be adjacent to or hydrologic subparts of, that assessment area.
(f) Identification and mapping of planning watersheds classified
as sensitive watersheds and descriptions of the measures taken to
protect resources within those watersheds.
(g) Other provisions deemed necessary by the board in order to
provide the information necessary to function as the basis for an
interagency permit.
4595.4. (a) A WTHP shall include a sustained timber production
assessment that clearly demonstrates consistency with the protection
of soil, water, air, carbon sequestration, fish, and wildlife
resources, and how the submitter will achieve maximum sustained
production of high-quality timber products while giving consideration
to regional economic vitality and employment at planned harvest
levels during the planning horizon.
(b) If the WTHP is based upon data on file with the director, the
data shall be updated no sooner than 10 years and no later than 11
years after the WTHP's initial approval. Proprietary information
shall be treated as provided in Section 21160.
(c) The sustained timber production assessment required by
subdivision (a) shall include all of the following:
(1) A summary table of wildlife habitat relationship (WHR)
compositions and stand structure types, or comparable stand structure
types within forest vegetation types with their respective acreage.
For an ownership's specific stand structure types, the registered
professional forester shall provide a written description of the
stand structure and characteristics that define each type, and
comparisons of those types to WHR typing. The WHR system and its uses
as described in "A Guide to the California Wildlife Habitat
Relationships System," California Department of Fish and Game, March
1988 is herein incorporated by reference.
(2) An estimate of the long-term sustained yield of the lands
proposed to be included in the WTHP, which shall be stated in terms
of board feet per year or cubic feet per year and include a
description of how the estimate was reached. If the ownership has not
attained long-term sustained yield, the WTHP shall estimate and
justify the transition period necessary to achieve long-term
sustained yield.
(3) A projection of growth and harvest for each WHR type or
comparable stand structure type within forest vegetation type over
each 10-year period in the planning horizon for each planning
watershed and a description, in narrative form, of the accuracy and
methodology used to estimate growth.
(4) An initial projection and periodic demonstration of sustained
and measurable increases in forest carbon stocks on the timberlands
both inside and outside of any wildlife protection zones during the
period covered by the WTHP, which shall be provided to the director
and electronically displayed to the public at the end of every fifth
year of the WTHP.
(5) An initial projection and periodic demonstrations of achieving
and sustaining structural retention over the life of the permit,
which shall be provided to the director and electronically displayed
to the public at the end of every fifth year of the WTHP.
(6) A discussion of the accuracy of the inventory data for the
management unit. Inventory data, models and growth and harvest
projections utilized for harvest scheduling projections shall be
available for confidential audits by reviewing agencies along with
the basis for this data, including, but not limited to, the cruise
design and sample plot data and the statistical validity of those
estimates.
(7) A description of the silvicultural prescriptions applied to
each stand type, along with projected changes in WHR types or stand
structure types at five-year intervals that reflects planned
silvicultural application and growth of harvested and unharvested
stands.
(8) On lands controlled by the WTHP landowner, a disclosure of
those projected areas intended to be harvested within the period
covered by the WTHP permit, and the planned silvicultural method.
(d) The landowner shall include maps in the WTHP that show spatial
and temporal information about areas to be harvested, including
silvicultural method over the life of the permit. Every four years
the landowner shall provide the agencies and the public with more
specific maps that are consistent with the initial projection. If the
quadrennial updates differ significantly from the initial
projection, the WTHP shall be amended pursuant to this chapter.
4595.5. A WTHP shall include a fish and wildlife assessment that
shall contain all of the following:
(a) The geographic area covered by the fish and wildlife impacts
assessment that shall be the same area as the assessment area level
in the WTHP. Areas outside the ownership shall be included at the
request of a responsible or trustee agency when necessary for its
analysis of the individual or cumulative effects of proposed timber
operations.
(b) Provisions that address threatened, endangered, and sensitive
species and nonlisted fish, and wildlife species upon which timber
operations could cause significant adverse individual or cumulative
impacts. The fish and wildlife assessment shall address those species'
habitat needs and the availability, shapes, and distribution of
habitats in relation to harvest schedule and growth projections and
the impacts of harvesting on those habitats. The WTHP shall discuss
and include all feasible measures planned to avoid or mitigate
potentially significant adverse environmental effects on fish and
wildlife.
(c) Maps by assessment area showing changes to wildlife habitat
relationship types or stand structure types that are likely to result
from projected timber operations.
(d) A description and demonstration that operations shall retain
and accrue, if necessary to comply with this article, structural
elements, including large live trees, dead snags and downed logs to
provide appropriate structure for wildlife.
4595.6. (a) Operations under a WTHP shall ensure that lands stay
in timber production, are managed in a manner that results in an
increase in total sequestered forest carbon both inside and outside
of any wildlife protection zones, and maintain a structurally and
biologically diverse landscape, resilient to climate change and
natural fire regimes.
(b) Lands enrolled in a WTHP shall be managed for timber
production for the life of the permit. If any timberland covered by
the permit is converted to a nontimber use or zoning is changed to a
status that would facilitate a nontimber use, the WTHP shall be
suspended pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) of Section
4595.28.
(c) Timberlands covered by the WTHP shall be managed in a manner
that increases the total volume of forest carbon by at least ____
percent across actively managed timberlands on the subject property
over the life of the permit and shall be assessed and demonstrated to
the department in a public document in five-year intervals.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that lands managed under a
WTHP shall result in a landscape with significant structural
diversity, which persists over time. It is the intent of the
Legislature to establish specific requirements in this section that
result in substantial postharvest structural retention in order to
enhance the diversity and resilience of managed timberlands
throughout the area comprising the WTHP.
(e) Forest structure within each clearcut harvest unit along
corridors of federal or state highways will be retained at one of the
following levels, up to a maximum of one mile from the highway:
(1) High retention - in areas that the registered professional
forester determines to be directly visible from a federal or state
highway, an average of at least eight trees per acre, 16 inches
diatmeter-at-breast-height or greater, will be retained. The spacing
of retained trees will average approximately 50-75 feet or clumped to
mimic natural openings. Retained trees will be representative of the
stand.
(2) Moderate retention - in areas that the registered professional
forester determines to have partial screening due to topography,
slope, distance, or adjacent stands, an average of at least six trees
per acre, 16 inches diameter-at-breast-height or greater, will be
retained. The spacing of retained trees will average approximately
75-100 feet or clumped to mimic natural openings. Retained trees will
be representative of the stand.
4595.7. (a) In the plan the registered professional forester
shall describe in sufficient detail to provide for review and
evaluation information on all of the following:
(1) The types of trees and structural elements that will be
retained and the objective intended to be achieved by retention.
(2) The planned distribution and quantity of retained trees and
the intended duration of the retention.
(3) Any potential future conditions or events reasonably known to
the forester that would allow harvest of retained trees.
(b) (1) Retention for this article may be either dispersed or
aggregated.
(2) Dispersed retention shall be measured in average basal area
per acre and at a minimum shall equal ____ percent of the Resource
Conservation Standards for minimum stocking basal areas, contained in
paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 912.7 of Title 14 of the
California Code of Regulations.
(3) Where retention is aggregated into groups that are greater
than or equal to ____ acres, the percentage of harvest unit area
shall be the standard. The sum of all areas within groups divided by
harvest unit acres will be used to determine the percentage of
aggregated retention in the harvest unit. The minimum aggregate
structural retention standard shall be ____ percent of the harvest
unit acres.
(c) Areas and trees located within the boundaries of a WLPZ
identified in the forest practice rules will be excluded from
calculating retention pursuant to subdivision (b).
(d) Trees designated for structural retention that are intended
for future harvest and decadent trees, hardwoods, or snag recruitment
trees shall be retained for the life of the permit.
4595.8. A WTHP shall include a watershed assessment and planning
segment that shall include all of the following:
(a) The minimum assessment area, which shall not be less than a
planning watershed.
(b) An analysis of potentially significant adverse environmental
impacts, including cumulative impacts, of the planned operations and
other projects, including, but not limited to, impacts on ambient
water quality, retention of forest structure, fisheries, wildlife,
and other environmental values, including forest carbon stocks.
(c) (1) A description of the individual planning watersheds in
sufficient detail to allow a review of the analysis of impacts.
(2) For all planning watersheds in the assessment area within a
forest district, descriptions shall include, as appropriate, either
or both of the following:
(A) General maps and descriptions of unstable areas and unstable
soils known to the plan submitter to be actively or potentially
discharging sediment, as well as those mapped by public agencies.
(B) A description of the rules, regulations, and practices to be
used to minimize erosion from timber operations. A description of the
rules, regulations, and practices that are implemented to maintain
water temperatures that meet or exceed the standards established in
relevant basin plans and other applicable provisions of the
Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Division 7 (commencing with
Section 13000) of the Water Code).
(3) For all planning watersheds in which harvesting will take
place, descriptions shall include, as appropriate, either or both of
the following:
(A) A map of all public roads, which includes United States Forest
Service cost-shared roads within the WTHP area, as well as an
inventory and plan for management of all the permanent, seasonal, and
temporary roads controlled by the landowner. On roads controlled by
the landowner, the road inventory shall do all of the following:
(i) Identify problem areas that are discharging sediment in
violation of basin plan standards to waterways or that are
threatening to discharge sediment to waterways, or are otherwise
causing environmental harm or in need of maintenance.
(ii) Prioritize road-repair sites.
(iii) Schedule repair of the road sites.
(B) An identification of areas known to be sensitive to ground
disturbance that may become sources of erosion and sediment in
streams.
(d) A discussion of feasible measures included in the plan that
will mitigate or avoid significant adverse impacts on traffic
associated with log hauling on public roads that may be used for
timber hauling, including a discussion of any measures necessary to
mitigate impacts on the adjacent community.
(e) A discussion of the range of projected impacts of climate
change in the region covered by the WTHP and a discussion of
management considerations and desired future forest conditions that
will promote a resilient forest in the future.
4595.9. The registered professional forester preparing the WTHP
shall certify and provide a report describing his or her, or a
designee's, inspection of the WTHP area.
4595.10. The notice of receipt of the proposed WTHP shall be
given by the department within two working days following submission
of the proposed WTHP. The method of notice shall be by United States
Postal Service, or at the discretion of the department, may be sent
electronically. The person submitting the WTHP shall provide to the
department a list of the names and addresses of persons to whom the
notice is to be mailed.
4595.11. (a) The department shall provide notice of the filing of
the WTHP and any amendments to the WTHP to any person who requests,
either in writing or through electronic means. Upon receipt of the
WTHP, the department shall place it, or a true copy of the WTHP, in a
file available for public inspection in a county in which timber
operations are proposed under the WTHP. The department shall also
post a copy of the notice electronically on the department's Internet
Web site.
(b) For the purpose of coordinated interdisciplinary and
multiagency review, the department shall transmit a written or
electronic copy of the WTHP to the Department of Fish and Game,
Department of Conservation, the appropriate California regional water
quality control board, the county planning agency, and all other
public agencies having jurisdiction by law over natural resources
affected by the proposed WTHP.
(c) To the extent necessary to cover expenses associated with the
review and approval of the WTHP submitted, the department and trustee
or responsible agencies may
assess a fee to cover the WTHP review and approval costs, not to
exceed a total of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).
(d) Prior to approval of a WTHP, all state trustee and responsible
agencies, which have jurisdiction over resources that may
potentially be impacted by proposed operations, shall jointly conduct
at least one comprehensive field review of the proposed WTHP.
(e) The director shall only approve the WTHP upon written
concurrence from the trustee and responsible agencies that the
operations conducted pursuant to the WTHP will enable compliance with
their respective statutory and regulatory obligations and that the
WTHP analyzes all significant environmental effects and includes
feasible mitigation measures to minimize environmental impacts,
consistent with Section 4595.3.
4595.12. The WTHP landowner shall file with the department a
compliance report within two years of the approval date of the WTHP,
and every two years thereafter, until all units in the WTHP have
received completion reports from the department. The report shall
address the findings of any inspection conducted under Section 4604
or 4595.29 since the date of the last compliance report. The report
shall include a certification by the registered professional forester
that the WTHP has been carried out in compliance with the provisions
of the WTHP and other applicable laws and regulations.
4595.13. In addition to any other field review of the WTHP or its
annual operations, the department shall require a mandatory field
review at year 10, with the full participation of all responsible and
trustee agencies, to evaluate whether the WTHP is in compliance with
this article. If the WTHP is found not to be in compliance, the
director shall suspend the WTHP and the landowner shall initiate an
amendment process pursuant to this chapter to ensure that the WTHP
will comply with all applicable laws and regulations.
4595.14. WTHPs shall be filed, reviewed, approved, amended, and
appealed according to the same procedures applicable to timber
harvest plans as set forth in this chapter. The director shall make a
determination whether the WTHP conforms with the rules and
regulations of the board, identifies and mitigates potentially
significant adverse environmental effects, and conforms to the
requirements of this chapter.
4595.15. (a) If the director determines that the WTHP would
violate an applicable rule, law, or regulation, the director shall
return the WTHP, stating his or her reasons, and advise the person
submitting the WTHP of the person's right to a hearing before the
board.
(b) If the director is unable to approve a WTHP due to
nonconcurrence by a review team agency, that agency shall explain the
reason in writing within 10 days.
(c) A person to whom a WTHP is returned may, within 10 days from
the receipt of the WTHP, request a public hearing pursuant to this
section. The board shall conduct a public hearing with the
participation of the appropriate California regional water quality
control board, the Department of Fish and Game, and all other
reviewing trustee, responsible, or other public agencies, to evaluate
the WTHP and determine if the WTHP conforms with the rules and
regulations of the board and other provisions of this chapter.
(d) The board shall act no later than 30 days after the date of
the filing of the appeal, or a longer period mutually agreed upon by
the board and the person filing the appeal.
4595.16. (a) An approved WTHP shall be effective for a period of
20 years.
(b) Every two years after the initial WTHP approval, the director,
in conjunction with all trustee and responsible agencies, shall
conduct a comprehensive review of the WTHP at each two-year interval
of a WTHP to ensure compliance with this article. If found to be out
of compliance, the director shall suspend the WTHP until the director
determines that the WTHP is amended and in compliance.
(c) Upon approval, the WTHP shall constitute the environmental
analysis for all appropriate and required timber harvest-related
permits from responsible and trustee agencies as well as the
department, and the terms of each of those permits shall be 20 years,
notwithstanding any other provision of law.
4595.17. Upon approval of the WTHP, the plan submitter shall
notify each county recorder in which lands subject to the WTHP are
located and shall cause to be filed with that county a notice that
shall be recorded in sufficient detail for a title search to disclose
the existence of the WTHP. If there is a change of ownership of the
land described in the WTHP, the WTHP shall expire 90 days from the
date of change of ownership, unless the new timberland owner notifies
the department in writing of the change of ownership and his or her
assumption of the WTHP. The new owner is responsible for completing
any mitigation required pursuant to any logging operations that have
not been deemed completed by the department, and shall comply with
the mitigation or other activities required pursuant to the other
permits associated with the WTHP.
4595.18. The WTHP landowner may cancel or suspend the WTHP by
submitting a written notice to the department. Once timber operations
have commenced pursuant to a WTHP notice, cancellation is not
effective on land covered by the notice until a report of
satisfactory completion and stocking has been issued pursuant to
Sections 4585, 4586, and 4587.
4595.19. (a) The WTHP landowner who owns, leases, or otherwise
controls or operates on all or any portion of timberland within the
boundaries of an approved WTHP, and who plans to harvest the timber
thereon during a given year pursuant to the specifications in the
WTHP, shall file a WTHP notice with the department. The department
shall, within two working days, transmit a written or electronic copy
of the notice to agencies and members of the public who participated
in the initial review or who have requested notification of the WTHP
and shall display the proposed notice on a publicly available
Internet Web site.
(b) A WTHP notice shall be filed at least 30 days prior to the
harvesting of any timber, and shall describe all operations to be
conducted under the notice for no less than 12 months or more than 18
months and may include operations that were planned but not
completed in previous notifications.
(c) If the person who files the WTHP notice is not the WTHP
landowner, the person filing the notice shall notify the forest
landowner by certified mail that the notice has been submitted, and
shall certify that mailing to the department. It shall also be posted
on the department's Internet Web site.
(d) This article does not invalidate previously approved timber
harvesting plans for lands included in a WTHP. These timber
harvesting plans may remain effective at the option of the plan
submitter. If the landowner elects to have these existing plans
continue, the operational effects of these timber harvesting plans
shall be part of the analysis included in the WTHP.
4595.20. The notice shall be a public record and shall include
all of the following information:
(a) The name and address of the timber owner.
(b) The name and address of the timber operator.
(c) The name and address of the registered professional forester
preparing the notice.
(d) A description of the land on which the work is proposed to be
done.
(e) A statement that archeological areas identified in the WTHP
and any discovered during notice preparation will be protected or
appropriately managed.
(f) A statement that rare, threatened, or endangered plant or
animal species identified in the WTHP or during notice preparation
will be protected or managed appropriately.
(g) A statement that there have been no physical environmental
changes in the notice area that are so significant as to require an
amendment of the WTHP.
(h) Information demonstrating all of the following:
(1) The proposed operations are within the geographic area covered
by the WTHP.
(2) The proposed operations are consistent with the WTHP.
(3) The proposed operations will implement all applicable
mitigation measures set forth in the WTHP.
(4) A statement identifying any minor deviation from the plan as
defined in Section 898.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of
Regulations. The director shall have five working days in which to
concur that the proposed deviation is minor, and is not a substantial
deviation pursuant to Section 898.1 of Title 14 of the California
Code of Regulations. A determination that a proposed deviation is
substantial would require an amendment to the WTHP.
(5) There have been no substantial changes with respect to the
circumstances under which the proposed operations are to be
undertaken.
(6) There is no new information of substantial importance, which
was not known and could not have been known with the exercise of
reasonable diligence at the time the WTHP was approved. For purposes
of this section, the listing of a new species under either the state
or federal endangered species acts shall not be considered new
information if the WTHP analyzed impacts to such species and
incorporated feasible mitigation measures, if the Department of Fish
and Game, or other appropriate wildlife agency, finds that the WTHP
analysis and any proposed mitigation reflects application of the best
available scientific information.
(i) A certification by the registered professional forester that
the information in the notice is accurate and will conform with the
applicable rules, regulations, and practices designated in the WTHP
for protection of the beneficial uses of water, soil stability,
forest productivity, and wildlife.
(j) Special provisions, if any, to protect any identified unique
area within the area of timber operations.
(k) The expected dates of commencement and completion of timber
operations.
(l) Satisfaction of any other applicable legal requirements.
4595.21. (a) Within 10 days of the receipt of the WTHP notice
required pursuant to Section 4595.20, the director shall contact
responsible and trustee agencies for the purpose of determining the
need for field inspections notwithstanding those required by Section
4595.16. Within 20 days of the receipt of the WTHP notice, or a
mutually agreeable longer time, the director shall complete the field
review of proposed operations if necessary.
4595.22. Operations may commence within 30 days of filing the
notice, if all the following conditions are satisfied:
(a) Public notice has been provided, including notice to
responsible and trustee agencies.
(b) The director conducts a field review of the proposed
operations if determined necessary to confirm compliance with the
provisions of the WTHP or if there is new information indicating a
new significant environmental impact not already addressed in the
WTHP.
(c) The director has confirmed that the notice contains the
information required in Section 4595.20 and that all such information
is accurate.
(d) No trustee or responsible agency has objected that the notice
does not contain the information required in Section 4595.20.
(e) The registered professional forester certifies that planned
operations are consistent with the WTHP notice and will not take
protected or listed plant or animal species present within the
proposed harvest area, or that all conditions of an incidental take
permit will be fulfilled.
(f) The registered professional forester certifies that all
operations will be conducted pursuant to this article and its
applicable operational regulations pursuant to this chapter.
(g) The registered professional forester certifies that all
necessary work has been completed preparatory to operations such as
identification of watercourse and lake protection zone, roads, stream
crossing design, tree marking, unit layout, harvest boundary
delineation, and any other requirements established by the director.
(h) The licensed timber operator has been provided operational
guidance in a format that is acceptable to the director and that is
included as part of the WTHP notice of operations.
4595.23. When a responsible or trustee agency nonconcurs with a
WTHP notice, the nonconcurrence shall be resolved utilizing the
appeals process defined in Section 4582.9. Operations shall not
commence until the nonconcurrence is resolved. The hearing shall be
held within 30 days of the nonconcurrence unless consultation among
the trustee and responsible agencies is undertaken pursuant to
Section 4595.24 in which case the hearing, if necessary, shall be
conducted within 30 days of the conclusion of consultation.
4595.24. The director may initiate consultation among the trustee
and responsible agencies when nonconcurrence with a WTHP notice
occurs in an attempt to achieve agreement among the agencies that
would eliminate the basis of such nonconcurrence and that is adopted
in a plan amendment. Except as provided in paragraph (6) of
subdivision (h) of Section 4595.20, an amendment to a notice shall be
required if the presence of threatened, endangered, or candidate
species was not previously evaluated.
4595.25. The director shall approve a WTHP notice unless the
information contained in the notice is incorrect, incomplete, or
misleading in a material way, or inconsistent with the WTHP. If the
findings required for a notice to authorize harvest operations cannot
be made, the plan submitter shall not commence the proposed timber
operations until amending the WTHP to cover the proposed operations
or account for changed environmental circumstances or new information
regarding environmental impacts. The amendment to the WTHP shall be
limited to addressing only the proposed timber operations that were
not included and analyzed in the WTHP, or new environmental
conditions or information regarding environmental impacts which was
not known and could not have been known with the exercise of
reasonable diligence at the time the WTHP was approved.
4595.26. Upon the completion of activities pursuant to the WTHP
notice, the landowner shall file a report of satisfactory completion
pursuant to Section 4585 and a stocking report pursuant to Section
4587. The director shall comply with Section 4586. The completion
report shall identify those areas in which operations were conducted.
The registered professional forester who prepares the WTHP, notice,
or report, or any other registered professional forester who is
employed by the WTHP landowner or operator, shall report to the owner
or operator and the department if there are deviations from the
WTHP.
4595.27. If the board finds that a registered professional
forester has made a material misstatement in a WTHP, notice, or
report under this article, the board shall take disciplinary action
against him or her as provided in Section 775.
4595.28. (a) A WTHP shall be suspended by the department if any
of the following conditions apply:
(1) It is determined by the department that the provisions of the
WTHP are not being met.
(2) The WTHP landowner fails to file a compliance report,
certified by a registered professional forester, as required under
Section 4595.12.
(3) Persistent violations of the WTHP are detected.
(4) Timber operations are causing violations of permits issued by
the department, the Department of Fish and Game, a California
regional water quality control board, or any other trustee,
responsible, or other reviewing public agency.
(5) The landowner files an application for a timberland conversion
permit pursuant to Article 9 (commencing with Section 4621) for
lands within the boundaries of an approved WTHP or a party proposes
to remove lands from within the boundaries of an approved WTHP or
from a timberland production zone pursuant to the California
Timberland Productivity Act of 1982 (Article 1 (commencing with
Section 51100) of Chapter 6.7 of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of
the Government Code).
(b) A WTHP suspended under subdivision (a) shall remain suspended
until the director finds the WTHP is in compliance with the approved
WTHP and other applicable law. If, based on substantial evidence, the
director determines the noncompliance to be severe, he or she may
cancel or revoke the WTHP.
(c) Upon the suspension of a WTHP, no additional timber operations
shall occur pursuant to the current WTHP notice, and no additional
notices shall be accepted by the department until appropriate
corrections are completed.
(d) Upon suspension or cancellation of the WTHP, tree removal
operations pursuant to an active WTHP notice are prohibited. Once
operations on the WTHP notice have ceased, all required erosion
control and the application of site-specific mitigation and road
maintenance described in the WTHP to avoid adverse environmental
impacts shall be completed.
(e) During a period of WTHP suspension or cancellation, a
landowner may submit timber harvesting plans to the department for
approval under Section 4581, and, if approved, may operate pursuant
to those plans while the conditions described in this section are
under consideration by the director. However, if the impacts of those
harvest plans are equivalent or more significant than the operations
evaluated in the WTHP, those plans shall not be approved.
(f) A landowner whose WTHP is suspended or canceled under this
section may, within 10 days from the date of receipt of the director'
s action on the WTHP, request a public hearing before the board to
determine if the director's action was appropriate.
4595.29. In addition to an inspection provided for under Section
4604, the department shall provide a compliance inspection of the
area in which timber operations are being or are to be conducted
pursuant to an approved notice within one year of the approval date
of the WTHP, and every year thereafter, during the effective period
of the WTHP, to ensure compliance with this chapter and the rules and
regulations of the board. This section does not limit the authority
of an agency to inspect pursuant to any other law.
4595.30. (a) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government
Code, on or before December 31, 2017, and every five years
thereafter, the director shall inform the Legislature of his or her
evaluation of this article, including the identification of any
recommended amendments.
(b) A report submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
4595.31. Timberland conversions of greater than one acre to
nonforest uses, including all harvesting necessary to complete a
timberland conversion, shall be fully mitigated, including, but not
limited to, mitigation for any depletion of current and future carbon
stocks.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares the
following:
(a) One of the primary threats to maintaining carbon sequestration
in the forest sector is loss of forestland to conversion to other
uses. Existing state policies call for avoiding or mitigating this
loss so as to retain California's current and future carbon
sequestration capacity.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a range of
incentives to accommodate a variety of responses to forestland
conversion, and to adopt an array of mitigation options for
forestland conversions, and not to prohibit future conversions.
(c) It is further the intent of the Legislature that the
mitigation activities that are undertaken pursuant to Section 4629 of
the Public Resources Code may properly provide economic benefits to
participating landowners who may undertake the necessary stewardship
activities on their lands that will help achieve the carbon
objectives of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5
(commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code and
the scoping plan prepared pursuant to that act.
(d) Forest conversion is a serious threat to California's
forestlands and the jobs, resources, and services they provide. Since
1973, California has lost 1.2 million acres of forestland, and
continues to convert 18,000 acres of oak woodlands alone every year.
(e) California's forestlands provide important environmental and
economic benefits including timber production, which was valued at
four hundred and seventy-four million dollars ($474,000,000) in 2007,
watershed protection, carbon sequestration and storage, biomass for
energy production, recreation, and habitat for wildlife.
(f) The Legislature finds and declares that it is the policy of
the state to encourage prudent and responsible long-term forest
management of timberlands to maintain the economic use of those
timberlands, minimize the cost of project review for state and local
government and associated impacts to the General Fund, provide for an
efficient permitting process for the landowner, effective regulatory
oversight, and provide for comprehensive environmental impact
analysis, mitigation, and protection.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish an optional,
voluntary, watershed-scale timber harvest permitting process that
coordinates the permitting requirements of the various responsible
and trustee agencies involved in the review of watershed-scale timber
harvest plans, including but not limited to the Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection, the appropriate California regional
water quality control board, the Department of Fish and Game, the
Department of Conservation, and other public agencies.
(h) It is the intent of the Legislature that the timber harvest
permitting process established by this act lead to measurable climate
benefits in existing biological carbon stocks on the timberlands
covered by this permitting process and that long-term sustained yield
include analysis of carbon stocks that demonstrates attainment of
these objectives.
(i) It is the intent of the Legislature that timberland enrolled
in the watershed-scale permitting program established by this act
shall be maintained as forestland, and not converted to nonforest
uses during the effective period of the permit.
(j) It is the intent of the Legislature that the environmental
impact reports prepared under this permitting authority established
by this act will support the issuance of state permits necessary to
conduct timber operations and that agencies and departments with
regulatory permitting authority for activities necessary to implement
timber operations concur with the environmental impact report in
writing prior to approval by the department. Responsible and trustee
agencies are strongly encouraged to conduct joint field inspections
to resolve interagency
disagreements because discussions about resource management are
often more effective when they occur in the field.
(k) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage forests to be
managed for structural and biological diversity, to create more
structurally diverse wildlife habitat, to enhance resilience to
climate change, to increase carbon sequestration, and to result in
the focused protection of public trust resources.
(l) It is not the intent of the Legislature to constrain the
authority of any responsible or trustee or other public agency with
review authority over a watershed timber harvest plan.
(m) It is the intent of the Legislature that the state agencies
involved in the review of watershed timber harvest plans (WTHP) have
the staff and fiscal resources to be fully engaged in the review and
approval of the WTHP, its environmental analyses, and the other
activities enumerated in this article.
(n) It is the intent of the Legislature to recognize that
landowners with a genuine interest in conservation should be allowed
to participate in mitigation activities, including mitigation
banking, that adds economic value to the conservation activities
undertaken pursuant to this act and other specified, beneficial
environmental actions.
SEC. 3. Article 7.6 (commencing with Section
4595) is added to Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public
Resources Code, to read:
Article 7.6. Watershed Timber Harvest Plan
4595. Notwithstanding Section 4521, unless the context requires
otherwise, the following definitions govern the construction of this
article:
(a) "Assessment area" means a portion of the ownership that has
similar geological, climatic, and hydrological conditions that
support similar management practices. An assessment area may include
land not owned or controlled by the plan submitter, as necessary to
create a logical assessment unit. The assessment area shall be
comprised of planning watersheds. A watershed timber harvest plan
(WTHP) may be comprised of one or more assessment areas.
(b) "CEQA" means the California Environmental Quality Act
(Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)).
(c) "Ownership" means the land owned by the timberland owner or
timber owner.
(d) "Planning watershed" means a planning watershed as delineated
in the California Interagency Watershed Mapping Committee (CalWater)
planning watershed maps.
(e) "Watershed timber harvest plan" or "WTHP" means a long-term
management plan and timber harvesting permit for timberlands with an
objective of sustained yield for each parcel or group of parcels
meeting the requirements of this article and for which the department
has certified an environmental impact report pursuant to CEQA.
(f) "Watershed timber harvest plan notice" or "WTHP notice" means
a document that provides public notice of timber harvest operations
pursuant to an approved WTHP that meets the requirements of this
article.
4595.1. (a) Except as modified in this article, the provisions
set forth in CEQA and this chapter and regulations adopted by the
board shall apply to this article.
(b) All timber harvesting activity within the area within an
approved WTHP shall occur pursuant to this article.
4595.2. (a) A watershed timber harvesting plan may be filed with
the department in writing. A WTHP shall be prepared by a registered
professional forester and it shall be a public record.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 4581, a person may conduct timber
operations pursuant to a WTHP, as authorized pursuant to this
article.
4595.3. In addition to information required by CEQA, a WTHP shall
include all of the following information:
(a) Name and address of the timber owner and timberland owner.
(b) Ownership description and location, including legal
descriptions and maps depicting the ownership and management units,
which shall be at a scale sufficient to allow the director to
determine the area covered by the WTHP.
(c) Management objectives for resources addressed in the WTHP,
including timber products.
(d) A general narrative description of the forest types, fish and
wildlife habitats, and watercourses and lakes.
(e) Descriptions of the assessment area and rationale for
assessment area selection.
(1) The assessment area shall not exceed 100,000 acres unless
designation of a larger area is explained and justified in the WTHP
and determined by the director to be consistent with an approved
habitat conservation plan or natural community conservation plan.
(2) All planning watersheds included in the assessment area shall
be hydrologic subparts of that assessment area.
(f) Identification and mapping of planning watersheds classified
as sensitive watersheds and description of the measures taken to
protect resources within those watersheds.
4595.4. (a) Consistent with the protection of soil, water, air,
fish, and wildlife resources, a WTHP shall include a sustained timber
production assessment that clearly demonstrates how the submitter
will achieve maximum sustained production of high-quality timber
products while giving consideration to regional economic vitality and
employment at planned harvest levels during the planning horizon.
(b) If the WTHP is based upon data on file with the director, the
data shall be updated no sooner than 10 years and no later than 11
years after approval. Proprietary information shall be treated
consistent with Section 21160.
(c) The sustained timber production assessment required by
subdivision (a) shall include all of the following:
(1) A summary table of wildlife habitat relationships (WHR)
compositions and stand structure types, or comparable stand structure
types within forest vegetation types with their respective acreage.
For an ownership's specific stand structure types, the registered
professional forester shall provide a written description of the
stand structure and characteristics that define each type, and
comparisons of those types to WHR typing. The WHR system and its uses
as described in "A Guide to the California Wildlife Habitat
Relationships System," California Department of Fish and Game, March
1988 is herein incorporated by reference.
(2) An estimate of the long-term sustained yield of the lands
proposed to be included in the WTHP, which shall be stated in terms
of board feet per year or cubic feet per year and include a
description of how the estimate was reached. If the ownership has not
attained long-term sustained yield, the WTHP shall estimate and
justify the transition period necessary to achieve long-term
sustained yield.
(3) A projection of growth and harvest for each WHR type or
comparable stand structure type within forest vegetation type over
each 10-year period in the planning horizon for each planning
watershed and a description, in narrative form, of the accuracy and
methodology used to estimate growth.
(4) A demonstration of measurable climate benefits in existing
biological carbon stocks on the timberlands during the period covered
by the WTHP.
(5) A discussion of the accuracy of the inventory data for the
management unit. Inventory data, models and growth and harvest
projections utilized for harvest scheduling projections shall be
available for confidential audits by reviewing agencies along with
the basis for this data, including, but not limited to, the cruise
design and sample plot data and the statistical validity of those
estimates.
(6) A description of the silvicultural prescriptions applied to
each stand type, along with projected changes in WHR types at
five-year intervals that reflects planned silvicultural application
and growth of harvested and unharvested stands.
(7) On lands controlled by the WTHP landowner, a disclosure of
areas intended to be harvested within the period covered by the WTHP
permit, and the planned silvicultural method.
(d) The landowner shall include maps in the WTHP that show the
spatial and temporal information by silvicultural method for areas to
be harvested under the plan.
4595.5. A WTHP shall include a fish and wildlife assessment that
shall contain all of the following:
(a) The area for the fish and wildlife impacts assessment, which
shall be the same area as the management unit under the WTHP. Areas
outside the ownership shall be included as necessary to assess the
potential individual or cumulative effect of timber operations. In
areas with multiple ownerships, landowners may cooperate to establish
a management unit and develop a fish and wildlife habitat assessment
for inclusion in the WTHP, pursuant to regulations adopted by the
board.
(b) Provisions that address threatened, endangered, and sensitive
species and nonlisted fish, and wildlife species to which timber
operations could cause significant adverse individual or cumulative
impacts. The fish and wildlife assessment shall address, those
species' habitat needs and the availability, shapes, and distribution
of habitats in relation to harvest schedule and growth projections
and the impacts of harvesting on those habitats. The WTHP shall
discuss and include all feasible measures planned to avoid or
mitigate potentially significant adverse environmental effects on
fish and wildlife.
(c) Maps by management unit showing changes to wildlife habitat
relationship types or stand structure types that are likely to result
from projected timber operations.
(d) A description and demonstration that the harvest units in the
WTHP shall retain and accrue structural elements, including live
trees, dead snags, and downed logs. Harvest units within a WTHP shall
retain postharvest not less than ____ percent of the preharvest
basal area in merchantable live trees native to the site. This
retention may be aggregated or dispersed, but the target shall be met
on any ____ acre area.
4595.6. A WTHP shall include a watershed assessment and planning
segment that shall include all of the following:
(a) The minimum assessment area, which shall not be less than a
planning watershed.
(b) An analysis of potentially significant adverse impacts,
including cumulative impacts, of the planned operations and other
projects, on ambient water quality, carbon sequestration, fisheries,
wildlife, and other environmental values.
(c) A description of the individual planning watersheds in
sufficient detail to allow a review of the analysis of impacts.
(1) For all planning watersheds in the management unit within a
forest district descriptions shall include, as appropriate, either or
both of the following:
(A) General maps and descriptions of unstable areas and unstable
soils known to the plan submitter to be actively or potentially
discharging sediment, as well as those mapped by public agencies.
(B) A description of the rules, regulations, and practices to be
used to avoid erosion from timber operations, or increases in water
temperature, at a level of detail sufficient for the California
regional water quality control board to evaluate whether the WTHP
meets the permitting requirements and water quality standards of the
relevant Basin Plan and other applicable provisions of the
Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act (Division 7 (commencing with Section
13000) of the Water Code).
(2) For all planning watersheds in which harvesting will take
place, descriptions shall include, as appropriate, either or both of
the following:
(A) A map of all public roads within the WTHP area, as well as an
inventory and plan for management of all the permanent, seasonal, and
temporary roads controlled by the landowner. On roads controlled by
the landowner, the road inventory shall do all of the following:
(i) Identify problem areas that are discharging sediment to
waterways or that are threatening to discharge sediment to waterways,
or are otherwise causing environmental harm or in need of
maintenance.
(ii) Prioritize road-repair sites.
(iii) Create a time schedule for repair of the road sites.
(B) A general description of areas known to be sensitive to ground
disturbance and present sources of erosion.
(d) A discussion and inclusion of feasible measures planned to
mitigate or avoid significant adverse impacts including impacts
associated with public roads that may be used for timber hauling, a
discussion of any measures necessary to mitigate impacts on the
adjacent community.
4595.7. The registered professional forester preparing the WTHP
shall certify and provide a report describing his or her, or a
designee's, inspection of the WTHP area.
4595.8. The notice of receipt of the proposed WTHP shall be given
by the department within two working days following submission of
the proposed WTHP. The method of notice shall be by United States
Postal Service, or at the discretion of the department, may be sent
electronically. The person submitting the WTHP shall provide to the
department a list of the names and addresses of persons to whom the
notice is to be mailed.
4595.9. (a) The department shall provide notice of the filing of
the WTHP to any person who requests, either in writing or through
electronic means. Upon receipt of the WTHP, the department shall
place it, or a true copy of the WTHP, in a file available for public
inspection in a county in which timber operations are proposed under
the WTHP. The department shall also post a copy of the notice
electronically on the department's Internet Web site.
(b) For the purpose of coordinated interdisciplinary and
multiagency review, the department shall transmit a written or
electronic copy of the WTHP to the Department of Fish and Game, the
appropriate California regional water quality control board, the
county planning agency, and all other public agencies having
jurisdiction by law over natural resources affected by the proposed
WTHP. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the duration of
regulatory permits issued by a California regional water quality
control board, the Department of Fish and Game, or other state
trustee or responsible agency may be adjusted to conform to the
initial term of a 10-year WTHP permit as approved.
(c) To the extent the department's staffing and resources are
required to fully review the WTHP, the accompanying environmental
impact report, and notices of operations submitted pursuant to an
approved WTHP, as well as the staffing and resources of responsible
and trustee departments and local governments, the department, a
trustee, a responsible agency, or local government shall, subject to
a fee schedule, assess an application fee or a fee for its
appropriate costs in reviewing a WTHP and its accompanying
environmental impact report.
(d) Prior to approval of a WTHP, all state trustee and responsible
agencies shall jointly conduct at least one comprehensive field
review of the proposed WTHP.
(e) The director shall only approve the WTHP and associated
environmental impact report upon written concurrence from the trustee
and responsible agencies that the operations conducted pursuant to
the WTHP will enable compliance with their respective statutory and
regulatory obligations.
4595.10. A compliance report shall be filed every two years with
the department by every landowner with an approved WTHP, that
addresses issues identified by the director as developed in
consultation with the responsible and trustee agencies. The report
shall include a certification from the registered professional
forester that the WTHP is being implemented in compliance with this
chapter.
4595.11. In addition to any other field review of the WTHP or its
annual operations, the department shall require a mandatory
five-year field review, with the full participation of all
responsible and trustee agencies.
4595.12. (a) No later than ____ days from the date that the
initial inspection pursuant to Section 4604 is complete, or a longer
period mutually agreed upon by the director and the plan submitter,
the director shall determine whether the WTHP conforms with the rules
and regulations of the board, identifies and mitigates potential
significant adverse effects, and conforms to the requirements of this
chapter.
(b) The draft WTHP, upon determination by the department, may
become the notice of preparation submitted to the Office of Planning
and Research pursuant to CEQA guidelines and the timelines and
procedures in CEQA shall be applied thereafter, except where modified
in this article. The director shall make a finding whether the
responsible and trustee agencies have concurred, in writing, that the
WTHP and its accompanying environmental impact report provide
sufficient information to address, analyze, evaluate, and mitigate
site-specific characteristics through the issuance of annual notices
as provided in this chapter.
(c) If the director does not act within the time periods provided
in subdivision (a), a longer period may be negotiated and mutually
agreed upon by the director and the person submitting the WTHP. If a
longer period cannot be mutually agreed upon, the WTHP shall be
deemed denied and returned to the person submitting the WTHP.
4595.13. (a) If the director determines that the WTHP would
violate an applicable rule, law, or regulation, the director shall
return the WTHP, stating his or her reasons, and advising the person
submitting the WTHP of the person's right to a hearing before the
board.
(b) A person to whom a WTHP is returned may, within 10 days from
the receipt of the WTHP, request a public hearing before the board.
The board shall conduct a public hearing with the participation of
the appropriate California regional water quality control board, the
Department of Fish and Game, and all other reviewing trustees,
responsible or other public agencies, to evaluate the WTHP and
determine if the WTHP conforms with the rules and regulations of the
reviewing trustee, responsible and other public agencies, and this
chapter. If a determination is made that the WTHP conforms with the
rules and regulations of the reviewing trustee, responsible and other
public agencies and this article, the director may forward the WTHP
to the Office of Planning and Research as a draft notice of
preparation, if the director certifies that the department has
received written concurrence from the trustee and responsible
agencies that they agree that the plan is lawful.
(c) The board shall act no later 30 days after the date of the
filing of the appeal, or a longer period mutually agreed upon by the
board and the person filing the appeal.
(d) If the WTHP is not approved on appeal to the board, the
director, within 30 days of board action, may determine that the WTHP
conforms with the rules and regulations of the board and this
chapter, if the WTHP is subsequently revised to conform with all
applicable statutes and regulations. The WTHP and accompanying
environmental impact report shall be recirculated pursuant to the
provisions of the CEQA guidelines.
4595.14. (a) An approved WTHP and the related environmental
impact report shall be effective for a period of ____ years. The
disclosure of planned operations pursuant to a WTHP shall encompass a
minimum period of 20 years.
(b) All state trustee and responsible agencies shall jointly
conduct a comprehensive field review of the WTHP at each two-year
interval of a WTHP to ensure compliance with this article.
(c) The director, in conjunction with the board and the
responsible and trustee agencies, shall develop guidelines for the
adaptive management and protection of public trust resources designed
to facilitate the use of a WTHP that will be consistent with
applicable law.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that the environmental
impact report for a WTHP shall be the basis for all required permits
from responsible and trustee agencies, as well as the department, and
the terms of each of those permits shall be ____ years,
notwithstanding any other provision of law.
4595.15. The WTHP plan submitter may submit a proposed amendment
to the approved WTHP but shall not take an action that substantially
deviates from the approved WTHP until the amendment has been filed,
accepted by the director, and circulated in a manner consistent with
applicable CEQA guidelines.
4595.16. Upon approval of the WTHP, the plan submitter shall
notify each county recorder in which lands subject to the WTHP are
located and shall cause to be filed with that county a notice that
shall be recorded in sufficient detail for a title search to disclose
the existence of the WTHP. If there is a change of ownership of the
land described in the WTHP, the WTHP shall expire 90 days from the
date of change of ownership, unless the new timberland owner notifies
the department in writing of the change of ownership and his or her
assumption of the WTHP. The new owner is responsible for completing
any mitigation required pursuant to any logging operations that have
not been deemed completed by the department, and shall comply with
the mitigation or other activities required pursuant to the other
permits associated with the WTHP.
4595.17. The WTHP landowner may cancel the WTHP by submitting a
written notice to the department. Once timber operations have
commenced pursuant to a WTHP notice, cancellation is not effective on
land covered by the notice until a report of satisfactory completion
and stocking has been issued pursuant to Sections 4585, 4586, and
4587.
4595.18. (a) The WTHP landowner who owns, leases, or otherwise
controls or operates on all or any portion of timberland within the
boundaries of an approved WTHP, and who plans to harvest the timber
thereon during a given year, shall file a WTHP notice with the
department. The department shall, within two working days, transmit a
written or electronic copy of the notice to agencies and members of
the public who participated in the initial review or who have
requested notification of the WTHP and shall display the proposed
notice on a publicly available Internet Web site.
(b) A WTHP notice shall be filed at least 45 days prior to the
harvesting of any timber, and shall describe all operations to be
conducted under the notice for no less than 12 months or greater than
18 months and may include operations that were planned but not
completed in previous notifications.
(c) If the person who files the WTHP notice is not the WTHP
landowner, the person filing the notice shall notify the forest
landowner by certified mail that the notice has been submitted, and
shall certify that mailing to the department. It shall also be posted
on the department's Internet Web site.
(d) This article does not invalidate previously approved timber
harvesting plans for lands included in a WTHP. These timber
harvesting plans may remain effective at the option of the plan
submitter. If the landowner elects to have these existing plans
continue, the operational effects of these timber harvesting plans
shall be part of the analysis included in the WTHP.
4595.19. A WTHP notice required pursuant to Section 4595.18 shall
include all of the information required for a program timberland
environmental impact report pursuant to Section 1092.01 of Title 14
of the California Code of Regulations.
4595.20. (a)
Within 10 days of the receipt of the WTHP notice required pursuant to
Section 4595.18, the director shall contact responsible and trustee
agencies for the purpose of determining the need for field
inspections. Within 20 days of the receipt of the WTHP notice, or a
mutually agreeable longer time, the director shall complete the field
review of proposed operations.
(b) If a WTHP notice is determined to be inadequate, the applicant
may modify and resubmit the notice. If the modifications are minor,
as determined by the director, and would achieve compliance with this
article, the director may thereafter approve the WTHP notice if
there are no objections from responsible or trustee agencies.
4595.21. A WTHP notice may be included, as a tier of an approved
environmental impact report for purposes of Section 21093, in
accordance with CEQA, and operations may commence within ____ days of
that notice, if all the following conditions are satisfied:
(a) A period of public comment and review by responsible and
trustee agencies is established.
(b) The director authorizes a field review of the proposed
operations.
(c) The director has not received objections from trustee and
responsible agencies that the environmental impact report is
inadequate to analyze site specific conditions.
(d) The registered professional forester certifies that no
significant changes have occurred requiring an amendment or
supplement to the environmental impact report.
(e) The registered professional forester certifies that there will
be no take of protected or listed plant or animal species present
within the proposed harvest area or that all conditions of an
incidental take permit will be fulfilled.
(f) The registered professional forester certifies that all
operations will be conducted pursuant to this chapter and its
implementing regulations or this article.
(g) The registered professional forester certifies that all
necessary work has been completed preparatory to operations such as
identification of watercourse and lake protection zone, roads, stream
crossing design, tree marking, unit layout, harvest boundary
delineation, and any other requirements established by the director.
(h) The licensed timber operator has been provided operational
guidance in a format that is acceptable to the director and that is
included as part of the WTHP notice of operations.
4595.22. When a responsible or trustee agency objects to a WTHP
notice, the objection shall be resolved within ____ days, and
operations shall not commence until the objection is resolved.
4595.23. The director shall establish guidelines to resolve
circumstances in which trustee and responsible agencies offer a fair
argument to the director that modifications should be made to the
WTHP and environmental impact report to respond to conditions that
were not analyzed, mitigated, or reasonably anticipated. The director
shall require modifications if the presence of threatened,
endangered, or candidate species was not previously evaluated. The
director may institute an adaptive management program based on issues
raised by the trustee or responsible agencies when it is reasonably
certain the proposed mitigation for specific activities will be
inadequate over the term of the WTHP. On a site-specific basis, the
director may also require additional mitigation or alternative
practices. Timber operations shall not commence until the director
finds, after an opportunity for public comment, that any issue
specified in this section has been resolved.
4595.24. The director shall not approve a WTHP notice if the
notice proposes operations or activities in any of the following
circumstances or conditions:
(a) Boundaries of the area to be harvested are not clearly
delineated in the WTHP notice.
(b) Operations that propose alternative means of compliance with
applicable permits from a trustee or responsible agency that were not
approved by the appropriate regulatory agency.
(c) Activities that were not analyzed or evaluated in the WTHP
notice or environmental impact report.
(d) Public acquisition of the parcel for purposes that would be
impaired by timber harvesting, is legislatively authorized, funded,
and imminent.
(e) There is evidence that the information contained in the WTHP
notice is incorrect, incomplete, or misleading in a material way, or
is insufficient to evaluate significant environmental effects. The
sufficiency of the information provided in a WTHP notice to evaluate
significant environmental effects shall be judged in light of what is
reasonable and necessary.
4595.25. Upon the completion of activities pursuant to the WTHP
notice, the landowner shall file a report of satisfactory completion
that includes, but is not limited to, stocking, pursuant to Sections
4585, 4586, and 4587. The completion report shall indicate which
areas of the notice have been operated.
4595.26. (a) The WTHP landowner shall file with the department a
compliance report within two years of the approval date of the WTHP,
and for every two years thereafter, until all units in the WTHP have
received completion reports from the department. The report shall
address the findings of any inspection conducted under Section 4604
or 4595.20 since the date of the last compliance report. The report
shall include a certification by the registered professional forester
that the WTHP has been carried out in compliance with the provisions
of the WTHP and applicable law.
(b) The registered professional forester who prepares the WTHP,
notice, or report, or any other registered professional forester who
is employed by the WTHP landowner or operator, shall report to the
owner or operator and the department if there are deviations from the
WTHP that could reasonably be concluded to threaten the attainment
of the resource conservation standards of the WTHP.
4595.27. If the board finds that a registered professional
forester has made a material misstatement in a WTHP, notice, or
report under this article, the board shall take disciplinary action
against him or her as provided under Section 775.
4595.28. (a) A WTHP shall be suspended by the department if any
of the following conditions apply:
(1) It is determined by the department that the goals or
provisions of the WTHP are not being met.
(2) The WTHP landowner fails to file a compliance report,
certified by a registered professional forester, as required under
Section 4595.10.
(3) Persistent violations of the WTHP are detected.
(4) Timber operations are causing violations of permits issued by
the department, the Department of Fish and Game, the California
regional water quality control board, or any other trustee,
responsible, or other reviewing public agency.
(5) The landowner files an application for a timberland conversion
permit pursuant to Article 9 (commencing with 4621), for lands
within the boundaries of an approved WTHP or a party proposes to
remove lands from within the boundaries of an approved WTHP from a
timberland production zone pursuant to the Timberland Productivity
Act (Article 1 ( commencing with Section 51100) of Chapter 6.7 of
Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the Government Code.)
(b) A WTHP suspended under subdivision (a) shall remain suspended
until the director finds the WTHP is in compliance with the approved
WTHP and other applicable law. If, based on substantial evidence, the
director determines the noncompliance to be severe, he or she may
cancel or revoke the WTHP.
(c) Upon the suspension of a WTHP, no additional timber operations
shall occur pursuant to the current WTHP notice, and no additional
notices shall be accepted by the department until appropriate
corrections are completed.
(d) Upon suspension or cancellation of the WTHP, tree removal
operations on an active WTHP notice are prohibited. Once operations
on the WTHP notice have ceased, all required erosion control and the
application of site-specific mitigation described in the WTHP to
avoid adverse environmental impact or road maintenance shall be
completed.
(e) During a period of WTHP suspension or cancellation, a
landowner may submit timber harvesting plans to the department for
approval under Section 4581, and may operate pursuant to those plans
while the conditions described in this section are under
consideration by the director. However, if the impacts of those
harvest plans are more significant than the operations evaluated in
the WTHP, the WTHP shall be considered permanently canceled.
(f) A person to whom a WTHP is suspended or canceled under this
section may, within 10 days from the date of receipt of the director'
s action on the WTHP, request a public hearing before the board.
4595.29. In addition to an inspection provided for under Section
4604, the department shall provide a compliance inspection of the
area in which timber operations are being or are to be conducted
within one year of the approval date of the WTHP, and every year
thereafter, during the effective period of the WTHP, for compliance
with this chapter and the rules and regulations of the board. This
section does not limit the authority of an agency to inspect pursuant
to any other law.
4595.30. (a) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government
Code, on or before December 31, 2017, and every five years
thereafter, the director shall inform the Legislature of his or her
evaluation of this article including the identification of any
recommended amendments.
(b) A report submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
SEC. 4. Section 4604 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4604. (a) The department shall provide an initial inspection of
the area in which timber operations are to be conducted within 10
days from the date of filing of the timber harvesting plan, watershed
timber harvest plan (WTHP), or nonindustrial timber management plan,
or a longer period as may be mutually agreed upon by the department
and the person submitting the plan, except that the inspection need
not be made pursuant to the filing of a timber harvesting plan if the
department determines that the inspection would not add substantive
information that is necessary to enforce this chapter. The department
shall provide for inspections, as needed, as follows:
(1) During the period of commencement of timber operations.
(2) When timber operations are well under way.
(3) Following completion of timber operations.
(4) At any other times as determined to be necessary to enforce
this chapter.
(b) (1) The Department of Fish and Game, the California regional
water quality control boards, or the State Water Resources Control
Board, if accompanied by Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
personnel and after 24-hour advance notification is given to the
landowner, may enter and inspect land during normal business hours at
any time after commencement of timber harvest plan activities on the
land and before the director issues a report of satisfactory
completion of stocking pursuant to Section 4588 or at any time before
the end of the first winter period following the filing of a work
completion report pursuant to Section 4585, whichever is later. A
member of the inspection party may utilize whatever measurement and
evaluation devices, including, but not limited to, photographic
equipment and temperature measurement devices, that are determined to
be necessary, when participating in an inspection of an area
pursuant to subdivision (a) or after commencement of timber
harvesting plan activities pursuant to this subdivision.
(2) Photographs taken during inspections shall be clearly labeled
as to time, date, and location and shall be the property of the
department and part of the inspection record. The inspection record
shall be subject to all provisions of the California Public Records
Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of
Title 1 of the Government Code).
(3) This subdivision does not limit the authority of an agency to
inspect pursuant to any other law.
SEC. 5. Section 4629 is added to the Public
Resources Code, to read:
4629. (a) Landowners who convert lands, as described in
subdivision (h), shall fully mitigate the loss of biological carbon
stocks and the loss of future sequestration capacity associated with
the conversion.
(b) Estimates of the greenhouse gas emissions to be mitigated
shall be calculated for the converted area based on all of the
following:
(1) The difference in biological carbon stocks before and after
the conversion.
(2) The total future sequestration potential of the converted
area.
(3) Any depletion of carbon stocks in the 10 years prior to the
conversion.
(c) (1) All carbon emissions mitigation shall meet the standards
of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5
(commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code) and
shall be administered in California on forestland in any of the
following ways:
(A) Through a qualified, state-approved third party.
(B) Through a public agency program, including a county program.
(C) By a project applicant on land owned by the applicant.
(2) To the extent feasible, mitigation shall occur on lands of
similar forest type and quality and in close geographic proximity to
the conversion.
(3) To the extent feasible, mitigation activities shall maintain
and support native species, habitats, and environmental cobenefits.
(d) Mitigation for a conversion that is implemented pursuant to
the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing
with Section 21000)) or another statute may contribute or fulfill the
requirements of this section provided all the requirements of this
section are met.
(e) A county in which a conversion occurs shall ensure that
mitigation pursuant to this article is implemented. It may do so in
conjunction with other actions necessary to approve the conversion.
It may charge an administrative fee to offset its costs.
(f) The State Air Resources Board, in consultation with the
Natural Resources Agency and any counties with an interest in
participating, shall adopt regulations to implement this article. The
regulations shall provide, but are not limited to, all of the
following:
(1) Methodologies to fully mitigate the carbon emissions of the
conversion that are consistent with the California Global Warming
Solution Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500)).
The methodologies shall ensure that the mitigation of carbon
emissions from the conversion occur within a comparable temporal
scale as the emissions and foregone sequestration from the
conversion.
(2) Provisions for monitoring and enforcement of the mitigation
activities by the state, county, or a qualified third party, and
establishing criteria for the use, when appropriate, of deed
restrictions, covenants, or other instruments that will ensure that
the mitigation is fully consistent with the California Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section
38500)).
(3) Provisions to authorize the State Air Resources Board to
temporarily or permanently administer this article in a county in
which the State Air Resources Board finds, after a public hearing,
that a county has failed to implement this article.
(g) A county in which a conversion occurs shall provide an annual
report to the State Air Resources Board and the Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection that includes a brief description of
conversions that occurred and mitigation that was required and its
ongoing monitoring pursuant to this division.
(h) For purposes of this section, "conversion" or "convert" means
either of the following:
(1) Those changes in the use of timberland, as defined in Section
4526, such that the land is no longer used for the commercial
production of timber.
(2) Those changes in the use of forestland, as described in
subdivision (c) of Section 12251, such that the biological carbon
stocks or sequestration capacity on those lands are diminished.
SEC. 6. SEC. 5. No reimbursement is
required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution for certain costs that may be incurred by a
local agency or school district because, in that regard, this act
creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction,
or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning
of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of
a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.
However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.