BILL NUMBER: SB 455 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 13, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 7, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 11, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 25, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Pavley
FEBRUARY 16, 2011
An act to amend Section 4621 of, and to add Section 4622.5 to, the
Public Resources Code, relating to forestry.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 455, as amended, Pavley. Forestry: timberlands: conversion
mitigation.
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 act also requires a person who
owns timberlands, which are to be devoted to uses other than the
growing of timber, to file an application for conversion with the
State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection.
This bill would prohibit the department from approving an
application for conversion of timberlands of 3 or more acres unless
specific mitigation requirements are met. The bill would provide an
exception for a county that adopts a timberland conversion and
mitigation ordinance that meets or exceeds the mitigation
requirements. The bill would authorize a timberland conversion permit
applicant to contract with the state, among others, to implement
mitigation activities. The bill would establish a continuously
appropriated fund to be administered by the Natural Resources Agency
and would require that moneys received under a contract to mitigate a
conversion of timberlands be deposited in the fund and expended for
that purpose. The bill would also allow the department to collect a
fee for permits applicable to the conversion of timberlands of 3 or
more acres to cover its costs and the costs of the Department of Fish
and Game in approving timberland conversion permits and ensuring
that mitigation requirements are met.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to maintain California's
current acreage of timberlands in order to provide for the
environmental and watershed amenities of timberlands and to maintain
the economic productivity of those lands.
(b) It is also the intent of the Legislature to maintain
California's timberlands to help achieve the state's greenhouse gas
reduction goals.
(c) It is further the intent of the Legislature that the impacts
of the conversion of timberlands to nonforest uses be mitigated in a
way that provides a mechanism to help maintain California's
timberland base will create economic incentives for
other landowners to manage their lands to restore, maintain, and
enhance timberland .
(d) It is further the intent of the Legislature that those who
convert timberlands to nonforest uses, mitigate those impacts, which
will create economic incentives for other landowners to manage their
lands to maintain and restore timberland to help achieve the state's
climate goals.
(d) In mitigating the loss of
timberland, it is the intent of the Legislature that the mitigation
actions include reforesting an area at least as large as the
conversion to prevent the continued loss of timberland acreage.
Additional actions may be required to fully mitigate the ecological
and climate impacts of the conversion.
SEC. 2. Section 4621 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4621. (a) Any person who owns timberlands, which are to be
devoted to uses other than the growing of timber, shall file an
application for conversion with the board. The board shall, by
regulation, prescribe the procedures for, form, and content of, the
application. An application for a timberland conversion permit shall
be accompanied by an application fee, payable to the department, in
an amount determined by the board pursuant to subdivision (b).
(b) The board shall establish, by regulation, a system of
graduated timberland conversion permit fees to finance the cost of
administering this article.
(c) For permits applicable to the conversion of timberlands of
three or more acres, the department may collect a fee, as necessary,
to cover its costs and the costs of the Department of Fish and Game
in approving these timberland conversion permits and ensuring that
mitigation requirements occur and are maintained over time.
SEC. 3. Section 4622.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to
read:
4622.5. (a) An application for conversion of timberlands of three
or more acres shall not be approved unless the department ,
based on information provided by the applicant, finds all
of the following:
(1) All of the environmental impacts of the conversion, including
impacts on wildlife, habitat values, and forest type are fully
mitigated. This determination shall be made in consultation
with the approval of the Department of Fish and
Game.
(2) The mitigation pursuant to paragraph (1)
occurs on California timberlands and , is
limited to the actions described in subdivisions (b) and (c),
complies with the greenhouse gas reduction principles identified in
subdivision (d) of Section 38562 of the Health and Safety Code ,
and is in accordance with guidance developed in consultation with
the State Air Resources Board .
(3) The mitigation pursuant to paragraph (1) includes
shall fully mitigate the loss of carbon in
above-ground and below-ground biomass and the loss of future ongoing
carbon sequestration. The mitigation shall be consistent
with the greenhouse gas methodologies approved by the State Air
Resources Board The reduction of greenhouse gas
impacts shall occur over the same time period as, and shall be
equivalent to, the greenhouse gas emissions and losses of
above-ground and below-ground biomass that result from the conversion
.
(4) The mitigation pursuant to paragraph (1) will be implemented
as required under subdivision (e).
(b) All mitigation associated with conversion projects shall be on
lands that secure the mitigation with a permanent conservation
easement and include, but not be limited to, the reforestation of a
previously forested area at a minimum acreage ratio of one-to-one.
The lands on which this mitigation occurs shall historically
have been in forest cover but shall not have been in forest
cover for at least 10 years.
(c) To the extent the reforestation activity in subdivision (b)
does not fully mitigate the impacts of the conversion
project identified in subdivision (a) loss
of carbon in above-ground and below-ground biomass and the
loss of future ongoing carbon sequestration caused by the conversion
project , the applicant shall undertake one or a combination
of the following actions:
(1) Avoid the loss of carbon in above-ground and below-ground
biomass by preserving timberland at risk of conversion.
(2) Manage timberlands to sequester additional carbon in
above-ground and below-ground forest biomass.
(3) Additional reforestation activities.
(d) All mitigation shall be the responsibility of the timberland
conversion permit applicant.
(e) All mitigation shall be implemented
completed within one year two years
of the conversion to nonforest use and in either of the
following ways:
(1) The permit applicant may undertake the mitigation directly, if
the department finds that the mitigation will comply with this
section.
(2) The permit applicant may undertake the mitigation through
contracts or other agreements with the state, or if the department
finds that the mitigation will comply with this section, with third
parties that have expertise in managing timberlands, including local
conservation corps, nonprofit organizations, or private landowners
if the contract or agreement is provided to the department and
contains terms specifically authorizing the department to enforce any
such contract or agreement .
(3) The department and the applicant shall enter into an
enforceable agreement to ensure that the mitigation is completed,
which shall include the county, at its request, and shall include the
county when changes in local land use planning would be required to
implement the conversion or mitigation.
(f) (1) The Timberland Conversion Services Fund is hereby created
in the State Treasury, to be administered by the Natural Resources
Agency.
(2) All moneys received by the agency pursuant to an agreement
authorized under paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) shall be deposited
in the fund and expended to mitigate the timberland conversion that
is the subject of that agreement.
(3) The moneys in the fund shall be continuously appropriated to
the agency for purposes of this section.
(g) Conversions that comply with subdivision (g) of Section 4584
are exempt from this section.
(h) The department may exempt from this section a county that
adopts a timberland conversion and mitigation ordinance that it finds
meets or exceeds the mitigation requirements of this section.
(i) The department shall develop guidelines to assist in
compliance with this section. Any guidelines shall be developed in
consultation with and approved by the State Air Resources Board and
, to the extent feasible, shall be consistent with
the an existing relevant
greenhouse gas accounting method developed by the State Air Resources
Board. The State Air Resources Board and the
department may seek reimbursement of their
its costs from any appropriate source including the fund
established in paragraph (1) of subdivision (f). The State Air
Resources Board may seek reimbursement of its costs from the Air
Pollution Control Fund established in Section 43015 of the Health and
Safety Code.
(j) The requirements imposed by this section for the approval of a
timberland conversion permit are in addition to any other
requirements established by law or regulation.