BILL NUMBER: AB 904 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 19, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 21, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chesbro
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to add Article 7.7 (commencing with Section 4597) to
Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to forest resources.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 904, as amended, Chesbro. Forest practices: working forest
management plans.
The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person
from conducting timber operations on timberland unless a timber
harvesting plan has been prepared by a registered professional
forester and has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection and approved by the Director of Forestry and Fire
Protection or the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. A
violation of the act is a crime.
The bill would authorize a person who intends to become a working
forest landowner, as defined, to file a working forest management
plan with the department, with the long-term objective of an uneven
aged timber stand and sustained yield through the implementation of
the plan. The bill would require the plan to be prepared by a
registered professional forester, be public record, and contain
certain information, including the name and address of the timberland
owner. The bill would require the department to provide a public
comment period 90 days from the date of the receipt of the plan. The
bill would require the department to determine if the plan is
accurate, complete, and in proper order. The bill would require the
director to return the plan if the director determines that the plan
is not in conformance, as provided.
The bill would require the working forest landowner who owns,
leases, or otherwise controls or operates on all or any portion of
any timberland within the boundaries of an approved plan and who
harvests any of the timber during a given year to file a working
forest harvest notice, as defined, with the department in writing.
The bill would require the notice to be public record and to include
certain information, including a statement that state or
federally listed rare, threatened , or endangered
plant or animal species have not been discovered in the harvest area
since the approval of the plan.
The bill would require the director to convene an
interdisciplinary review team, as described, every 5 years to review
an approved plan's administrative record and any other information
relevant to the plan. The bill would authorize the department to
cancel a previously approved plan if the department determines that
the objectives of uneven aged management and sustained yield are not
being met or if there are other persistent violations, as provided.
The bill would require the board to adopt regulations that tailor
the plan program for landowners with 160 or fewer acres or 320 or
fewer acres of timberlands, depending upon the location of the forest
district.
The bill would require the board to adopt regulations needed to
implement the above provisions by January 1, 2016.
Because a violation of these provisions is a crime, the bill would
impose a state-mandated local program.
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.
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. Article 7.7 (commencing with Section 4597) is added to
Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, to
read:
Article 7.7. Working Forest Management Plan
4597. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The nonindustrial timber management plan established pursuant
to Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 4593) has been successful in
meeting the intent of this chapter by encouraging prudent and
responsible forest management and discouraging accelerated timberland
conversion by private nonindustrial forest landowners.
(b) There have been 693 763
nonindustrial timber management plans approved by the department
covering a combined area of 283,000 15,000
acres.
(c) Building upon the model provided by the nonindustrial timber
management plan, it is the policy of the state to encourage long-term
planning, increased productivity of timberland, and the conservation
of open space on a greater number of nonindustrial working forest
ownerships and acreages.
(d) It is the policy of the state to encourage prudent and
responsible forest resource management of nonindustrial timberlands
by approving working forest management plans in advance and allowing
ministerial working forest timber harvest notices.
(e) To ensure long-term benefits such as added carbon
sequestration, local and regional employment and economic activity,
sustainable production of timber and other forest products,
aesthetics, and the maintenance of ecosystem processes and services,
the working forest management plan shall comply with rigorous timber
inventory standards that are subject to periodic review and
verification.
4597.1. Notwithstanding Section 4521, unless the context
otherwise requires, the following definitions govern construction of
this article:
(a) "Long-term sustained yield" means the average annual growth
sustainable by the inventory predicted at the end of a 100-year
planning horizon, or a shorter planning horizon if the forest
encompassed by the working forest management plan has reached a
balanced state balance between growth and
yield .
(b) "Major stand type" means a stand that occupies an area equal
to or greater than 25 percent of a working forest management plan.
(c) "Planning unit" "Management unit"
means a geographically identifiable polygon
area delineated for silviculture or management purposes
that is integrated into developing a harvest schedule for
the planning horizon . A planning
management unit may be as large as a stand or smaller
when necessary to address specific resource sensitivities or to
schedule future harvest activity across the planning horizon for
sustained yield is intended to
reflect an area scheduled for harvest under the plan in any given
year, but may also be designated to address specific resource
sensitivities .
(d) "Stand" means a geographically identifiable group of trees
sufficiently uniform in age-class distribution, composition, and
structure and growing on a site of sufficiently uniform quality to be
a distinguishable unit.
(e) "Stand type" means a class of stand defined for
silvicultural or management purposes, "Strata" means a
grouping of similar stand defined for silvicultural or management
purposes, usually according to similarities in stand
composition, structure, and age.
(f) "Sustained yield" means the yield of commercial wood that an
area of commercial timberland can produce continuously at a given
intensity of management consistent with required environmental
protection and that is professionally planned to achieve over time a
balance between growth and removal. Sustained yield management
implies continuous production planned so as to achieve, at the
earliest practical time, a balance between growth and harvest.
(g) "Uneven aged management" means the
forest management of a specific forest, with
the goal of establishing a well-stocked stand of various age
classes, which permits the periodic harvest of individual or small
groups of trees to realize the yield and continually
establish a new crop achieve sustained yield
objectives of the working forest management plan, and provide for
regeneration of trees and maintenance of age class structure .
(h) "Working forest harvest notice" means notice of timber harvest
operations, pursuant to an approved working forest management plan,
which meets the requirements of Section 4597.11.
(i) "Working forest landowner" means an owner of timberland with
less than 15,000 acres who has an approved working forest management
plan and is not primarily engaged in the manufacture of forest
products.
(j) "Working forest management plan" means a management plan for
working forest timberlands, with an objective of an
maintaining, restoring, or creating uneven aged
managed timber stand and conditions and
achieving sustained yield for each parcel or group of
contiguous parcels, which meets , consistent with
the requirements of Section 4597.2.
(k) "Working forest timberlands" means timberland owned by a
working forest landowner.
4597.2. A working forest management plan may be filed with the
department in writing by a person who intends to become a working
forest landowner with the long-term objective of an uneven aged
timber stand and sustained yield through the implementation of a
working forest management plan. The management plan shall be prepared
by a registered professional forester. It shall be public record and
shall include all of the following information:
(a) The name and address of the timberland owner.
(b) A description of the land on which the plan is proposed to be
implemented, including a United States Geological Survey quadrangle
map or equivalent indicating the location of all streams, the
location of all proposed and existing logging truck roads, and the
boundaries of all site I classification timberlands to be stocked in
accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 4561 and any other site
classifications if the board establishes specific minimum stocking
standards for other site classifications.
(c) A description of the silviculture methods to be
applied and the type of yarding equipment to be used.
by the registered forester of the inventory design and timber stand
stratification criteria that demonstrates that the inventory
supporting the growth and yield calculations used to determine
long-term sustained yield for the working forest management plans
meets the following minimum standards:
(1) For major stand or strata, the
inventory estimate shall be within 15 percent of the mean at one
standard error.
(2) For stand or strata that make up
greater than 10 percent and less than 25 percent of the working
forest management plan area, the estimate shall be no greater than 25
percent of the mean at one standard error.
(3) Inventory estimates and growth and
yield shall be projected for the purposes of determining long-term
sustained yield and volumes available for harvest by stand or strata
and aggregated for the area covered by the working forest
management plan to develop the long-term sustained yield estimate.
Long-term sustained yield estimates shall reasonably reflect
constraints applicable to the working forest timberlands on forest
management activities.
(d) A description and discussion of the methods to be used to
avoid significant sediment discharge to watercourses from timber
operations. This shall include disclosure of erosion sites, erosion
control implementation plans, and an erosion control implementation
schedule. To avoid duplicative work, this subdivision does not apply
to the extent that the working forest landowner does both of the
following:
(1) Is complying with substantially similar requirements in
existing law.
(2) Submits information to the department that details how they
are complying with existing law.
(e) Special provisions, if any, to protect any unique area within
the boundaries of the proposed working forest management plan.
(f) A description of the existing stand, its current
projected growth, how long-term sustained yield will be achieved,
alterations required to achieve the management objectives, projected
timber volumes and tree sizes to be available for harvest, and
projected frequencies of harvest. This description shall include
disclosure of existing or expected late seral habitat and how it will
be managed sustainably to preserve its late seral characteristics
property and planned activities including acres and
projected growth, existing stand types, major stand types or strata,
its current projected growth by strata, silvicultural applications to
be applied to strata to achieve long-term sustained yield, projected
timber volumes and tree sizes to be available for harvest, and
projected frequencies of harvest .
(g) A delineation of stand types and planning units. To develop an
adequate estimate of current growth and potential long-term growth
based on the sustained yield policy, major stand types shall have an
inventory precision as measured by the standard error that is no
greater than 15 percent of their respective inventory estimate. For
other stand types that individually represent 10 percent or more of
the working forest management plan, the inventory precision as
measured by the standard error shall be no greater than 25 percent of
their respective inventory estimate.
(g) (1) A description of late succession forest stands in the plan
area and how the total acreage of this type of habitat will be
maintained across the plan area under a constraint of no net loss.
Nothing in this requirement shall be interpreted to preclude active
management on any given acre of an approved plan if the management is
conducted in a manner that maintains or enhances the overall acreage
of late succession forest stands that existed in the plan area upon
initial plan approval. An exception to the no net loss constraint may
be granted in the event of a catastrophic loss due to emergency
factors such as wildfire, insect, and disease activity. The
description shall include the following:
(A) Retention measures for existing biological legacies such as
snags, trees with cavaties or basal hollows, and down logs, and
address how those legacies shall be managed over time appropriate
with the forest type, climate, and landowner's forest fire fuels
management objectives.
(B) Hardwood forest tree species and how they will be managed over
time.
(2) Late succession forest stand types or strata shall be mapped.
(h) Disclosure of state or federally listed threatened,
endangered, or rare plant or animal species located within the
biological assessment area, their status and habitats, take avoidance
demonstration methodologies, enforceable protection measures for
species and habitats, and how forest management will maintain these
over time.
(i) A description of the following for each management unit:
(1) Acres by stand or strata and estimated growth and yield for
each planned harvest entry covering the period of time the long-term
sustained yield plan establishes as necessary to meet growth and
yield objectives. The growth and yield estimates may be based on
weighted average of yield for the stand types or strata within the
area included in the management unit.
(2) Yarding methods to be used.
(3) Management units shall be mapped.
(h)
(j) A certification by the registered professional
forester preparing the plan that the forester or a designee has
personally inspected the plan area.
(i)
(k) Any other information the board requires by
regulation to meet its rules and the standards of this chapter.
4597.3. The board shall adopt regulations regarding the notice of
receipt of the proposed working forest management plan. The notice
shall be given within two working days following submission of the
proposed management plan and shall be consistent with all applicable
laws. In adopting the regulations, the board shall take account of
the extent of the administrative burden involved in giving the
notice. The method of notice shall include, but not be limited to,
mailed notice. The regulations may require the person submitting the
working forest management plan to provide to the department a list of
the names and addresses of persons to whom the notice is to be
mailed.
4597.4. The department shall provide notice of the filing of
working forest management plans and working forest harvest
notices to any person who requests , in writing
, that notification.
4597.5. Upon receipt of the working forest management plan, the
department shall place the plan, or a true copy of the plan, in a
file available for public inspection in the county in which timber
operations are proposed under the plan. For the purpose of
interdisciplinary review, the department shall also transmit a copy
to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the appropriate California
regional water quality control board, the county planning agency, and
all other agencies having jurisdiction by law over natural resources
affected by the plan. The department shall invite, consider, and
respond in writing to comments received from public agencies to which
the plan has been transmitted and shall consult with those agencies
at their request.
4597.6. (a) The department shall provide a public comment period
of 90 days from the date of the receipt of a working forest
management plan.
(b) Before a working forest management plan may be approved, all
of the following requirements shall be met:
(1) Within 20 30 working
days of the receipt of a working forest management plan, or within
30 40 working days of the receipt of a
plan to which a road management plan is appended, the department
shall determine if the plan is accurate, complete, and in proper
order, and if so, the plan shall be filed.
(2) The initial inspection shall be conducted
initiated within 20 working days from the date
of filing of the working forest management plan , and completed
no more than 30 working days from the date of filing .
(3) Upon completion of the initial inspection, the department
shall have 30 up to 45 working days to
conduct the final interagency review of the plan.
(4) The public comment period shall end 20 working days
after the completion of the final interagency review of the plan
or until the requirement in subdivision (a) is met, whichever is
greater .
(5) After the final interagency review and public comment period
has ended, the department shall have up to 30 working days
to review the public input, to consider recommendations and
mitigation measures of other agencies, to respond in writing to the
issues raised, and to determine if the plan is in conformance with
the applicable rules adopted by the board.
(c) If after final interagency review the director
determines that the plan is not in conformance with the rules and
regulations of the board or this chapter, the director shall
deny and return the plan, stating the reasons for the
return denial and advising the person submitting
the plan of the person's right to a hearing before the board.
(d) If the director does not act within the time periods provided
in paragraphs (1) through (5) in subdivision (b), the director and
the working forest landowner submitting the working forest management
plan shall negotiate and mutually agree upon a longer period for the
director to review the plan. If a longer period cannot be mutually
agreed upon, the working forest management plan shall be deemed
denied and returned to the working forest landowner submitting the
plan.
(e) (1) A working forest landowner to whom a plan is
returned denied pursuant to subdivision (c) or (d)
may, within 10 30 working days
from the receipt of the plan, request the board for a public hearing
before the board. The board shall schedule a public hearing to review
the plan to determine if the plan is in conformance with the rules
and regulations of the board and this chapter.
(2) Board action shall take place within 30 working
days from the filing of the appeal, or a longer period mutually
agreed upon by the board and the person filing the appeal.
(3) If the plan is not approved on appeal to the board, the
director, within 10 days of board action, may determine that the plan
is in conformance if the working forest landowner revises the plan
to bring it into full conformance with the rules and regulations of
the board and this chapter.
(3) If the director's decision to deny the plan is overturned by
the board, the board shall prepare findings and return the plan to
the department for preparation of response to public comments and
approval by the director. The director shall have 30 working days to
prepare the response to comments unless a mutually agreeable date
extending the 30-day period is agreed to by the plan submitter.
(4) If the plan is not approved on appeal to the board, the
director, within 10 working days of board action, shall advise the
plan submitter regarding changes needed to the plan to determine that
the plan is in conformance. The plan submitter shall have 45 working
days from the date of the notification letter, or longer, if
mutually agreeable to the department and the plan submitter to revise
the plan to bring it into full conformance with the rules and
regulations of the board and this chapter. Upon receipt the
information requested of the plan submitter, the department shall
recirculate the plan and reopen the public comment period for 30
working days. The director shall have 30 working days to review
public input and consider recommendations and mitigation measures of
other agencies, and to respond in writing to issues raised.
4597.7. The working forest landowner may submit a proposed
amendment to the approved plan and shall not take any action that
substantially deviates, as defined by the board, from the approved
plan until the amendment has been filed with the director and the
director has determined either of the following:
(a) The amendment is in compliance with the current rules and
regulations of the board and the provisions of this chapter.
(b) The amendment is in compliance with the rules and regulations
of the board and the provisions of this chapter that were in effect
at the time the working forest management plan was approved. The
director may only make this determination if the director
finds professional forester certifies both of
the following:
(1) The adherence to new or modified rules or laws would cause
unreasonable additional expense to the working forest landowner.
(2) Compliance with the rules and regulations of the board and the
provisions of this chapter that were in effect at the time the
working forest management plan was approved will not result in any
significant degradation to the beneficial uses of water, soil
stability, forest productivity, or wildlife.
(c) Review timelines for substantial deviations of working forest
management plans shall conform to the direction provided in Section
4582.7, except for amendments that add acreage covered by the
original working forest management plan that exceeds 10 percent or
500 acres, whichever is greater. Amendments that add acreage in
excess of 10 percent or 500 acres shall be reviewed pursuant to the
procedures specified in Section 4597.6.
4597.8. The working forest landowner may take actions that do not
substantially deviate from the approved plan without the submission
of an amendment, but those actions shall be subsequently reported to
the department. The board shall specify, by regulation, those
nonsubstantial deviations that may be taken. The board shall specify
the requirements for reporting those deviations.
4597.9. In the event of a change of ownership of the land
described in the working forest management plan, the plan
shall expire 180 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 plan
the working forest landowner shall notify the new landowner of
the existence of the plan and the need to notify the department of
the new landowner's intent regarding assumption of the plan.
Notification shall be in writing with a copy to the department of the
new landowner's intent regarding assumption of the plan. The new
landowner shall have one year from the date of the receipt
of the notification by the department to notify the department in
writing of his or her assumption of the plan. If the department does
not receive notification within this period, the plan shall expire
one year from the date the new landowner is advised by the department
of the necessity to assume the plan .
4597.10. The working forest landowner may cancel the working
forest management plan by submitting a written notice to the
department. Once timber operations have commenced pursuant to a
working forest harvest notice, cancellation is not effective on land
covered by the notice until a report of satisfactory completion has
been issued pursuant to Sections 4585, 4586, and 4587.
4597.11. The working forest landowner who owns, leases, or
otherwise controls or operates on all or any portion of any
timberland within the boundaries of an approved working forest
management plan, and who plans to harvest any of the timber during a
given year, shall file a working forest harvest notice with the
department in writing. A notice shall be filed prior to the
harvesting of any timber and shall be effective for a maximum of one
year from the date of filing. If the person who files the notice is
not the owner of the timberland, the person filing the notice shall
notify the timberland owner by certified mail that the notice has
been submitted and shall certify that mailing to the department. 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 working forest management plan.
(d) A description of the land on which the work is proposed to be
done.
(e) A statement that no archaeological sites have been discovered
in the harvest area since the approval of the working forest
management plan.
(f) A statement that state or federally listed rare,
threatened, or endangered plant or animal species have not been
discovered in the harvest area since the approval of the working
forest management plan. Prior to submitting the notice, a review
for any species listed as threatened, endangered, or rare,
or species that meet the criteria of endangered or rare as provided
in Section 15380 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations,
shall be conducted after the initial year after the plan is approved.
Any changes to the working forest management plan's species, species
status, habitats, or protection measures for species or habitats
shall be submitted to the department as an amendment to the plan
before commencing operations. of the California
Natural Diversity Database or other public databases for any species
listed as threatened, endangered, or rare, or species that meet the
criteria of endangered or rare as provided in Section 15380 of Title
14 of the California Code of Regulations, shall be conducted after
the intial year after the plan is approved. When a notice of
operations is filed after the intial year the plan is approved, it
shall comply with the following:
(1) Documented occurrences obtained from a review of public and
readily available sources of species state or federally listed as
threatened, endangered, or rare within the biological assessment area
and outside the area identified in the working forest harvest notice
not addressed in the approved plan shall be submitted to the
director as a minor deviation concurrently with the filing of a
working forest harvest notice.
(2) Occurrences of species state or federally listed as
threatened, endangered, or rare discovered inside the area identified
in the working forest harvest notice not addressed in the approved
plan shall be submitted to the director as an amendment to the plan
prior to filing a working forest harvest notice. The amendment shall
contain protection measures if no such information is currently
contained within the approved plan.
(g) A statement that there are no physical environmental changes
in the harvest area that are so significant as to require any
amendment of the working forest management plan.
(h) A certification by the registered professional forester that
states either of the following:
(1) The notice as carried out will implement best management
practices for protection of the beneficial uses of water, soil
stability, forest productivity, and wildlife as required by the
current operational rules of the board.
(2) Compliance with the rules and
regulations of the board and the provisions of this chapter that were
in effect at the time the working forest management plan was
approved will not result in any significant degradation to the
beneficial uses of water, soil stability, forest productivity, or
wildlife. This paragraph shall only apply if the forester certifies
that adherence to current or modified rules or laws would cause
unreasonable additional expense to the working forest landowner.
(i) Special provisions, if any, to protect any unique area within
the area of timber operations.
(j) The expected dates of commencement and completion of timber
operations during the year.
(k) A statement that the harvesting notice conforms to the
provisions of the approved management plan. If any aspects of the
proposed operation are less protective than the current forest
practices rules, an explanation of the deviation and how resource
values will be adequately protected.
(l) Any other information the board provides by regulation to meet
its rules and the standards of this chapter.
4597.12. For an approved working forest management plan, the
director shall convene a meeting with the interdisciplinary review
team, as that term is used in Section 1037.5 of Title 14 of the
California Code of Regulations, every five years to review the plan's
administrative record and any other information relevant to the
plan. Participation by review team agencies shall be at the
discretion of each agency. If at this meeting a member of the
review team determines that a field review
inspection is necessary to verify the plan's compliance with
the appropriate rules and regulations, then a field review
inspection may be conducted.
4597.13. The registered professional forester who prepares the
working forest management plan or prepares the notice of harvest, or
any other registered professional forester who is employed by the
owner or operator, shall report to the owner or operator if there are
deviations from the plan that, in the forester's judgment, threaten
the attainment of the resource conservation standards of the plan.
4597.14. If the board finds that a registered professional
forester has made any material misstatement in a working forest
harvest notice, working forest management plan, or report pursuant to
this chapter, the board shall take disciplinary action against the
forester as provided pursuant to Section 775.
4597.15. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, if
a registered professional forester certifies by written declaration,
on behalf of the timber owner or operator, that the working forest
harvest notice conforms to and meets the requirements of the approved
working forest management plan under which it is filed, timber
operations may commence immediately. If the notice has been filed by
mailing, operations may commence three days after the notice has been
mailed. Cancellation of the plan may be appealed by the plan
submitter or landowner utilizing the process prescribed in paragraph
(1) of subdivision (e) of Section 4597.6.
4597.16. If the department determines that the objectives of
uneven aged management and sustained yield are not being met by a
working forest landowner, or there are other persistent violations
detected that are not being corrected, the department shall cancel a
previously approved working forest management plan and any further
timber operations under the plan shall be terminated. In making a
determination to cancel a plan, the department may cite the findings
of a review conducted pursuant to Section 4597.12.
4597.17. If a landowner with a nonindustrial timber management
plan or a working forest management plan with less than 2,500 acres
expands his or her total timberland ownership to 2,500 or more acres,
the landowner may transition into a working forest management plan
for more than 2,500 acres through an amendment to the plan. The board
shall adopt regulations that establish this amendment process.
4597.18. (a) To encourage smaller landowners to engage in
long-term, sustainable forest management, the board shall adopt
regulations that tailor the working forest management plan program
for landowners with 160 or fewer acres of timberlands in the Coast
Forest District and landowners with 320 or fewer acres of timberlands
in the Northern Forest District or Southern Forest District. These
regulations shall establish rebuttable presumptions, including
presumptions related to inventory design, sustained yield
and cumulative effects, that err on the side of conservation but
provide the cost savings to incentivize small landowners to develop
modified small working forest management plans.
(b) The board shall adopt these regulations that are necessary to
support the rebuttable presumptions regarding inventory design,
cumulative effects and sustained yield. At a minimum, the
regulations shall include the following provisions:
(1) Harvest shall not exceed 80 percent of growth over any 10-year
period, nor exceed 20 40 percent of
harvestable inventory, whichever is less.
(2) Harvesting operations shall result in the full range of age
classes and species of trees appropriate to the location, well
distributed across the ownership. Retention of trees should
prioritize those with significant value to wildlife.
(3) Any road construction or reconstruction on slopes over 50
percent shall include consultation by a registered engineering
geologist.
4597.19. Notwithstanding any other law, if a person with a
working forest management plan or a nonindustrial timber management
plan applies for state restoration grant funding for a restoration
project that has a significant public benefit, the application shall
not be summarily denied on the basis that the project is a required
condition of the harvesting plan.
4597.20. The board shall adopt the regulations needed to
implement this article by January 1, 2016.
SEC. 2. 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.