BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 124
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 15, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 124 (Morrell) - As Introduced: January 14, 2013
SUBJECT : State responsibility areas: fire prevention fees
SUMMARY : Repeals the state fire prevention fee, which is
collected to fund fire prevention activities in areas where the
financial responsibility of preventing and suppressing fires is
primarily the responsibility of the state.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(Department), which is responsible for the fire protection,
fire prevention, maintenance, and enhancement of the state's
forest, range, and brushland resources, contract fire
protection, associated emergency services, and assistance in
civil disasters and other nonfire emergencies.
2)Creates within the Department the State Board of Forestry and
Fire Protection (Board) consisting of nine members appointed
by the Governor. The Board is required to protect the state's
interest in forest resources on private lands, which includes
establishing adequate forest policy and determining general
policies for the Department.
3)Requires the Board to classify all lands within the state for
the purpose of determining areas in which the financial
responsibility of preventing and suppressing fires is
primarily the responsibility of the state. These areas are
known as "state responsibility areas" or "SRA."
4)Requires the Board to include within SRA all of the following
lands: (a) lands covered wholly or in part by forests or by
trees producing or capable of producing forest products; (b)
lands covered wholly or in part by timber, brush, undergrowth,
or grass, whether of commercial value or not, which protect
the soil from excessive erosion, retard runoff of water, or
accelerate water percolation, if such lands are sources of
water that is available for irrigation or for domestic or
industrial use; and (c) lands principally used or useful for
range or forage purposes that are contiguous to the lands
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described in "(a)" and "(b)."
5)Prohibits the Board from including within SRA any of the
following lands: (a) lands owned or controlled by the federal
government or any agency of the federal government; (b) lands
within the exterior boundaries of any city, except a city and
county with a population of less than 25,000 if, at the time
the city and county government is established, the county
contains no municipal corporations; and (c) any other lands
within the state that do not come within any of the classes
that are described above in "4)."
6)Declares that it is necessary to impose a fire prevention fee
to pay for fire prevention activities in the SRA that
specifically benefit owners of structures in the SRA.
7)Requires the Board to adopt regulations to establish a fire
prevention fee in an amount not to exceed $150 to be charged
on each "structure" on a parcel that is within an SRA.
"Structure" is defined as a building used or intended to be
used for human habitation, including a mobile home or
manufactured home. The Board is required to exclude building
types that require no structural fire protection services
beyond those provided to otherwise unimproved lands.
8)Pursuant to the regulations adopted by the Board, requires a
fire prevention fee of $150 per "habitable structure" located
in the SRA. "Habitable structure" is a building that contains
one or more "dwelling units" or that can be occupied for
residential use. A "dwelling unit" is a unit providing
independent living facilities for one or more persons,
including provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and
sanitation. Incidental buildings, such as detached garages,
barns, outdoor sanitation facilities, and sheds, are not
subject to the fee. These regulations provide a reduction of
$35 for each habitable structure that is also within the
boundaries of a local agency that provides fire protection
services.
9)Requires on July 1, 2013 and annually thereafter that the
Board adjust the fire prevention fees to reflect the
percentage of change in the average annual value of the
Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government
Purchases of Goods and Services for the United States, as
calculated by the United States Department of Commerce for the
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12-month period in the third quarter of the prior calendar
year, as reported by the Director of Finance.
10)Requires the fire prevention fees to be deposited in the SRA
Fire Prevention Fund (Fund), which is available to the Board
and the Department to expend for fire prevention activities
that benefit the owners of structures within the SRAs who are
required to pay the fire prevention fee. These fire
prevention activities are limited to the following: (a) local
assistance grants established by the Board; (b) grants to Fire
Safe Councils, the California Conservation Corps, or certified
local conservation corps for fire prevention projects and
activities in the SRAs; (c) grants to a qualified nonprofit
organization with a demonstrated ability to satisfactorily
plan, implement, and complete a fire prevention project
applicable to the SRAs; (d) inspections by the department for
compliance with defensible space requirements around
structures in the SRAs; (e) public education to reduce fire
risk in the SRAs; (f) fire severity and fire hazard mapping by
the Department in the SRAs; and (g) other fire prevention
projects in the SRAs that are authorized by the Board. The
amount expended to benefit the owners of structures within an
SRAs shall be commensurate with the amount collected from the
owners within that SRA.
11)Allows a person to petition for a redetermination of whether
the fire prevention fee applies to him or her within 30 days
after being served with a notice of determination (i.e. the
notice from the Department stating that a person must pay the
fire prevention fee).
12)Requires by January 1, 2013 and annually thereafter that the
Board submit to the Legislature a written report that includes
information on (a) the status and uses of the Fund, (b) the
benefits received by counties based on the number of
structures in the SRAs within their jurisdiction, (c) the
effectiveness of the Board's grant programs, (d) the number of
defensible space inspections in the reporting period, (e) the
degree of compliance with defensible space inspections in the
reporting period, (f) the degree of compliance with defensible
space requirements, (g) measures to increase compliance, if
any, and (h) any recommendations to the Legislature.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
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COMMENTS :
1)Background. California's SRA covers over 31 million acres and
includes land in every county except San Francisco and Sutter.
The Department operates over 200 fire stations within the
SRA, contracts with other firefighting agencies, and has a
wildland fire protection budget of $661 billion. The fire
protection budget includes, among other things, fire
prevention activities such as brush clearance, defensible
space inspections, fire breaks, and other measures to reduce
the cost of firefighting, property loss, injury to
firefighters, and damage to the environment.
The Department's fire protection budget has seen a steady
increase over the years. In 1996-97, the Department's fire
protection base budget was $266 million. These costs have more
than doubled since then. This increase has been attributed in
large part to the significant housing development at the
boundaries between wildlands and urban areas, the heightened
risk of catastrophic fires due to fire suppression activities
over the last century, and increased staff costs.
2)Prelude to a Fee. The LAO has supported the concept of an SRA
fee since at least 2002. To support its recommendation in
2002, the LAO provided the Legislature with a comparative
analysis showing how other western states impose such a fee on
landowners to pay for fire protection.
In 2003, a budget trailer bill (SB 1049) created the "state
responsibility area fire protection benefit fee," which was an
annual $35 fee on each parcel of land located, in whole or in
part, within the SRA. The purpose of the fee was "to sustain
service levels associated with the department's recent
protection levels, to maintain sufficient depth of forces, and
to maintain the ability to provide state assistance under
various mutual aid arrangements." In 2004, before the fire
protection benefit fee was ever collected, another bill (SB
1112) repealed the fee. According to the LAO, the repeal was
the result of concerns raised over the inequity of a flat fee:
an owner of a small parcel would pay the same fee as an owner
of a large parcel even though it would cost more to protect
the larger parcel.
After the repeal of the fee, the LAO issued several more
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reports recommending an SRA fee. In these reports, the LAO
mainly argued that since "the Department's fire protection
provides?private benefits (the protection of timber lands and
houses in SRA) it is appropriate that private beneficiaries
contribute to the state's cost of doing so." To address the
concerns raised against a per parcel fee, the LAO recommended
a per-acre fee because "the benefits of fire protection are
generally proportionate to land area." Additionally, the LAO
recommended an assessment on parcels with structures and/or a
development fee on new house construction in the SRAs,
concluding that such an assessment and/or fee may encourage
more "fire smart" development decisions at the local level.
Before 2011, two more attempts were made to pass an SRA fee.
Ultimately, these bills (SB 1617 in 2008 and ABX3 41 in 2009)
failed in the Legislature.
3)Fire Prevention Fee (ABX1 29). Going into 2011, the state was
facing a $25.4 billion budget deficit (which grew to $26.6
billion after the governor cancelled the sale of several state
buildings) and an annual structural deficit of up to $21.5
billion was projected into the future. In March 2011, the
Legislature passed $13.4 billion in "solutions" (consisting
mostly of spending cuts) to address the deficit; however,
there was still a shortfall of $10.8 billion. To help address
the budget shortfall, the Legislature passed, among other
bills, ABX1 29, which required the Board to adopt emergency
regulations to establish a "fire prevention fee" not to exceed
$150 for each structure on a parcel that is within the SRA.
The fee was intended to fill a hole created by a $50 million
General Fund cut directed at the Department in the 2011 budget
bill. It has been well documented in news articles and
political colloquy that the Legislature was compelled to
establish the fee because it had to produce substantial
General Fund cuts, and other budget options, such as
increasing revenues through additional sales and income taxes,
were politically infeasible due to the two-thirds vote
requirement for such measures.
4)The consequences of this bill. If this bill is enacted, ABX1
29 and its fire prevention fee will be repealed on January 1,
2014. Once the fee is repealed, and assuming that there is no
extra General Fund moneys to transfer to the Department, there
could be major cuts to the state's fire prevention program.
Such cuts would obviously reduce the Department's fire
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prevention activities. These cuts would also place a larger
burden on some local firefighting agencies, the cost of which
could pass down to property owners by way of increased local
assessments. Similarly, without the Department's fire
prevention program, many property owners with structures in
the SRAs could face higher property insurance premiums because
there would be a higher fire risk against which to insure.
Lastly, if the state compromises its fire prevention program,
the risk of fires will increase and the state, as well as
local governments, could be faced with greater firefighting
costs.
5)Related Legislation. This bill is exactly the same bill as AB
23 (Donnelly). AB 468 (Chesbro) repeals ABX1 29 and its fire
prevention fee; however, AB 468 is a comprehensive bill that
also funds planning and response for other types of disasters
(e.g. earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, as well as manmade
disasters, like pipeline explosions).
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Board of Equalization Member George Runner, 2nd District
California Farm Bureau Federation
California State Association of Counties
CalTax
Central Coast Forest Association
County of San Bernardino
Fresno County Fire Protection District
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Los Osos Community Services District
Rural County Representatives of California
Sacramento County Board of Supervisors
San Diego County Board of Supervisors
Western Growers Association
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
AB 124
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