BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 455
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Date of Hearing: August 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 455 (Pavley) - As Amended: August 7, 2012
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:6-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill specifies procedures and conditions by which state
agencies are to consider an application to convert three or more
acres of timber land to nontimber uses. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Requires CAL FIRE to find certain conditions in order to
approve an application to convert three or more acres of
timberland to nontimber uses, including:
a) Mitigation will occur within one year of the conversion.
b) All environmental effects are fully mitigated as,
determined in consultation with DFG, on California
timberland and in compliance with the principles codified
in the state's greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction law.
c) The mitigation accounts for the loss of carbon in
above-ground and below-ground biomass and future ongoing
carbon sequestration, consistent with GHG methodologies
approved by the Air Resources Board (ARB).
2)Provides certain automatic exemptions and conditional
exemptions to the permitting requirements of this bill.
3)Authorizes the CAL FIRE to collect a fee, from applicants for
a permit to convert three or more acres of timber land to
nontimber use, in an amount necessary to cover the costs of
CAL FIRE and the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to approve
such permits and ensure mitigation is realized.
4)Creates the Timberland Conversion Services Fund, to be
administered by the Natural Resources Agency, to receive
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monies from permitees, by agreement with CAL FIRE, available
as a continuous appropriation to fund state mitigation of
timberland conversions.
5)Requires CAL FIRE to develop guidelines, in consultation with
and approved by ARB, for the implementation of the
requirements of this bill.
6)Authorizes CAL FIRE and ARB to seek reimbursement for their
costs to develop the guidelines from any appropriate source,
including the Timberland Conversion Services Fund.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time costs to CAL FIRE and ARB, likely in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars, to develop timberland conversion
guidelines (special funds, reimbursed from revenue in the
Timberland Conversion Services Fund).
2)Annual costs of an unknown amount, but potentially in the
hundreds of thousands of dollars, to CAL FIRE and DFG to
review applications to convert three or more acres of
timberland to nontimber use (special funds). These costs
should be fully covered by the fee authority provided to CAL
FIRE.
3)Annual minor costs, no more than the low tens of thousands of
dollars, to the Natural Resources Agency to administer monies
in the Timberland Conversion Services Fund (Timberland
Conversion Services Fund).
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The author intends this bill to provide standards
and processes for mitigation of timberland. The author
contends the bill will provide incentives to timberland owners
to maintain and improve their timberland, rather than convert
it to nontimber uses, such as vineyards.
2)Background. When a timberland owner proposes to convert
timberland to nontimberland uses, he or she must submit to CAL
FIRE an application for timberland conversion permit (TCP)
and timberland conversion plan, unless exempted from the need
to so. A TCP, which must comply with the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), exempts the timberland owner
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from timber stocking requirements of the forest practice rules
or, where immediate rezoning is sought, grants the right to
obtain final rezoning from local government.
The Board of Forestry reports that timberland owners are under
increasing pressure to convert their timberlands to other,
more profitable uses. From the state's perspective, such
conversion is potentially problematic, for a number of
reasons: loss of timberland may result in destruction of
wildlife habitat, degradation of stream water quality and
flood control, and release of GHGs stored in the timber and
land, as well as a loss of future storage of GHGs. Current
law does not explicitly require CAL FIRE to consider GHG loss
and mitigation when reviewing an application for timberland
conversion.
3)Support. This bill is supported by the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees, the Nature Conservancy
and Pacific Forest Trust, which argue the bill brings
necessary clarity to the timberland conversion process,
especially as it concerns GHGs.
4)Opposition. This bill is opposed by the California Licensed
Foresters Association, which contends the bill adds more
bureaucracy to forestry practices and that conservation of
timberland would be better served by reforming regulations to
promote in-state production of forest products.
Analysis Prepared by : Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081