BILL NUMBER: AB 904 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 13, 2013
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 , and to add Article 7.8
(commencing with Section 4598) 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 of at least 90 days from the date of the
receipt of the plan. plan, as specified.
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, candidate, 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 , plan summary
information, as specified, and any other information relevant
to verify that operations have been conducted in accordance with
the plan and applicable laws . The bill would
authorize require 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 a registered professional forester to
provide a preoperations notice, with specified information, to any
person who owns land that adjoins or includes a watercourse that is
1,000 feet downstream from a proposed timber harvest operation in the
Southern Subdistrict of the Coast Forest District.
The bill would require the board to adopt regulations
that tailor the plan program to create a management
plan for landowners with 160 or fewer acres or
320 or fewer acres of timberlands, depending upon
the location of the forest district. timberlands. The
bill would require the regulations to include certain provisions,
including that harvest in any given area of the property shall not
exceed 80 % of growth since the last harvest.
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. (a) The Legislature finds and
declares all of the following:
(a)
(1) 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)
(2) There have been 763 nonindustrial timber management
plans approved by the department covering a combined area of
15,000 315,000 acres.
(c)
(3) 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)
(4) 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 authorizing
working forest timber harvest notices.
notices to be filed ministerially.
(e)
(5) 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.
(b) This article shall be implemented in a manner that complies
with the applicable provisions of this chapter and other laws,
including, but not limited to, the Timberland Productivity Act of
1982 (Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section 51100) of Division 1 of
Title 5 of the Government Code), the California Environmental Quality
Act of 1970 (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000), the Porter
Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Division 7 (commencing with
Section 13000) of the Water Code)), and the California Endangered
Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of the Fish
and Game Code).
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
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) "Management unit" means a geographically identifiable area
delineated for silviculture or management purposes .
purposes. A management unit 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) "Strata" means a grouping of similar stand
stands 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 forest management 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 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
objectives of maintaining, restoring, or creating uneven aged
managed timber stand conditions and
conditions, achieving sustained yield , consistent
with the requirements of Section 4597.2. yield, and
promoting forestland stewardship that protects watersheds, fisheries
and wildlife habitats, and other important values.
(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 by the registered professional
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 active
erosion sites, sites from roads, skid trails,
crossings, or any other structures or sites that have the potential
to discharge sediment attributable to timber operations into waters
of the state in an amount deleterious to the beneficial uses of
water, an erosion control implementation plans,
plan, and an a schedule
to implement erosion control implementation schedule.
To avoid duplicative work, this controls that
prioritizes major sources of erosion. This subdivision
does shall not apply to the extent that the
working forest landowner does both of the following:
registered professional forester provides
documentation to the department that the working forest management
plan is in compliance with similar requirements of other applicable
provisions of law.
(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, provisions
to protect any unique area
areas, if any, within the boundaries of the
proposed working forest management plan.
(f) A description of the 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) (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 cavities 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 and wildlife 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.
(3) Notwithstanding the definition of late succession forest
stands in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of
Regulations, and for the sole purpose of this article, "late
succession forest stands" means stands of dominant and predominant
trees that meet the criteria of the California Wildlife Habitat
Relationships System class 5D, 5M, or 6 with an open, moderate, or
dense canopy closure classification, often with multiple canopy
layers, and are at least 10 acres in size. Functional characteristics
of late succession forest stands include large decadent trees,
snags, and large down logs.
(h) Disclosure of state or federally listed threatened,
candidate, 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) (1) A description of the following for
each management unit:
(1)
(A) 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)
(B) Yarding methods to be used.
(3)
(C) Management units shall be mapped.
(2) (A) For long-term sustained yield projections, pursuant to
subdivision (c), that project a reduction in quadratic mean diameter
of trees greater than 12 inches in diameter or a reduced level of
inventory for a major stand type or for a stand or strata that make
up greater than 10 percent and less than 25 percent of the working
forest management plan area, an assessment shall be included that
does all of the following:
(i) Addresses candidate, threatened, endangered, and sensitive
species, and other fish and wildlife species that timber operations
could adversely impact by potential changes to habitat.
(ii) Addresses species habitat needs utilizing the "WHR system"
described in "A Guide to the California Wildlife Habitat
Relationships System," California Department of Fish and Wildlife,
1988, or comparable typing system.
(iii) Addresses constraints to timber management, the impact of
the availability and distribution of habitats on the ownership and
within the cumulative impacts assessment area identified in the plan
in relation to the harvest schedule, and the impacts of the planned
management activities utilizing the existing habitat as the baseline
for comparison.
(iv) Discusses and includes feasible measures planned to avoid or
mitigate potentially significant adverse impacts on fish or wildlife,
which can include, but is not limited to, recruitment or retention
of large down logs greater than 16 inches in diameter and 20 feet in
length, retention of trees with structural features such as basal
hollows, cavities, large limbs, or broken tops, retention of
hardwoods, and retention or recruitment of snags greater than 24
inches in diameter and 16 feet in height.
(j) A certification by the registered professional forester
preparing the plan that the forester or a designee has personally
inspected the plan area.
(k) A certification by the registered professional forester
preparing the plan that the forester or a designee has clearly
explained to the working forest landowner that the plan is a
long-term commitment that may require ongoing investments, including
inventory sampling and road maintenance, for the purpose of managing
the plan.
(k)
(l) 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
receipt 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. notice and Internet-based 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 , the proposed plans, and
working forest harvest notices on its Internet Web site, and
to any person who requests, in writing, that notification.
4597.5. Upon receipt of the proposed working forest
management plan, the department shall place the proposed
plan, or a true copy of the proposed plan, in a
file location or on an Internet Web site
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 Conservation, 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 time period for
public comment period of 90 days
comment, starting from the date of the receipt of a working
forest management plan. plan, as follows:
(1) Ninety days for a working forest management plan for less than
5,000 acres.
(2) One hundred ten days for a working forest management plan for
between 5,000 and 9,999 acres.
(3) One hundred thirty days for a working forest management plan
for between 10,000 and 14,999 acres.
(b) Before a working forest management plan may be approved, all
of the following requirements shall be met:
(1) Within 30 working days of the receipt of a working forest
management plan, or within 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. An unfiled plan shall be
returned to the applicant with an explanation that includes
provisions for resubmitting the plan.
(2) The initial inspection shall be 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 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 and other applicable provisions of law
.
(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 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 denied
pursuant to subdivision (c) or (d) may, may
request, within 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 director's decision to deny the plan is overturned by
the board, the board shall prepare findings and its rationale
for overturning the decision, 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 that would
achieve compliance with this chapter and other applicable provisions
of the law . 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 of the
information requested of the plan submitter, the department shall
recirculate the plan and reopen the public comment period for 30
working days. The Prior to determining
whether to approve the proposed revised plan, 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 , after completion of the interagency
review and public comment period, 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 registered
professional forester explains, justifies, and
certifies both of the following:
(1) The adherence to new or modified rules or laws
and regulations of the board 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 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,
candidate, 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 of
the California Natural Diversity Database or other public
databases for any species
listed as threatened, endangered, candidate, 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 initial
year after the plan is approved. When a notice of operations is
filed after the intial initial 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, candidate, 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 that are state or federally
listed as threatened, endangered, candidate, 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
take avoidance and mitigation 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 protect
the beneficial uses of water, soil stability, forest productivity,
and wildlife as required by the current operational rules of
the board. as provided by the rules and regulations of
the board and other applicable provisions of law.
(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 and regulations of the
board would cause unreasonable additional expense to the
working forest landowner.
(i) Special provisions, if any, provisions
to protect any unique area
areas, if any, 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) An update on erosion control mitigation measures for the
harvest area and any appurtenant roads if conditions have changed
since the working forest management plan was approved and a
certification from the registered professional forester that no
additional listings of water bodies to the Section 303(d) of the
Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1313(d)) list have occurred on the
lands of the plan.
(l)
(m) Any other information the board provides by
regulation to meet its rules and the standards of this
chapter. chapter and other applicable provisions of
law.
4597.11.1. (a) At least 10 days prior to submitting to the
department a working forest harvest notice that proposes timber
harvest operations in the Southern Subdistrict of the Coast Forest
District, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California
Code of Regulations, the registered professional forester shall
provide a preoperations notice to any person who owns land that
adjoins or includes a Class I, II, or IV watercourse that is 1,000
feet downstream from the proposed harvest area. The preoperations
notice shall include both of the following:
(1) Information about the proposed timber harvest operations,
including the location of the harvest area and identification of
watercourses that the operations may affect.
(2) A request that the notice recipient provide information on any
of his or her legal domestic surface water intake systems located
within 1,000 feet downstream from the proposed harvest area.
(b) A working forest harvest notice for which a preoperations
notice is required pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not be submitted
to the department until the preoperations notice period has expired.
The working forest harvest notice shall include a certification by
the registered professional forester that the forester has complied
with subdivision (a). If the registered professional forester
receives information pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a),
the forester shall certify either of the following:
(1) (A) Based on the information received in response to the
preoperations notice, a deviation is required to the working forest
management plan to protect legal surface domestic water intake
systems. This deviation includes a description of the legal domestic
surface water intake systems and protection measures to be approved
pursuant to Section 4597.7 or 4597.8 prior to the commencement of
operations.
(B) For the purpose of paragraph (1), if a deviation requires an
amendment pursuant to Section 4597.7, timber operations under the
working forest harvest notice may still occur while the department
processes the amendment; however, only log hauling on existing roads
may be conducted within 300 feet of the new legal surface domestic
water intake systems. All other operations within 300 feet of the new
legal domestic surface water intake system shall not commence until
the amendment has been processed by the department.
(2) Based on the information received in response to the
preoperations notice, no deviation is required from the working
forest management plan because the plan identifies all known legal
surface domestic water intake systems and includes measures that
provide adequate protection.
(c) The preoperations notice may be mailed or personally delivered
to each person required to receive notice pursuant to subdivision
(a).
4597.12. (a) For an approved working forest
management plan, the director shall convene a meeting with the
interdisciplinary review team, as that term is used in
subdivision (a) of Section 1037.5 of Title 14 of the California
Code of Regulations, every five years to review the plan's
administrative record , information obtained pursuant to
subdivision (b), and any other information relevant to
verify that operations have been conducted in accordance with
the plan and applicable laws and regulations .
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 inspection is necessary to verify
the plan's compliance with the appropriate rules and regulations
that operations have been conducted in accordance with
the plan and applicable laws and regulations , then a field
inspection may be conducted.
(b) For the purposes of subdivision (a), the board, in
consultation with the review team agencies, shall adopt regulations
that require the department to develop a plan summary before each
five-year review that allows the review team to analyze information
including, but not limited to, the number of notices of timber
operations, the acreage operated under each notice, the violations
received, and the volume harvested in relation to projections of
harvest in the plan. If the department or a review team agency does
not have direct access to information needed for the plan summary,
the department may require the landowner to provide this information.
(c) For the purpose of allowing the public to monitor a working
forest management plan, the department shall provide the public, in
writing or on its Internet Web site, notice of each five-year review
and a copy of the plan summary. The public may submit to the review
team additional information relevant to the purpose of the five-year
review and the review team may consider this information when
conducting its review.
(d) This section does not authorize the public disclosure of
proprietary information without first obtaining the landowner's
consent.
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 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.
4597.18. A participating landowner, in conjunction with the
preparation of an application for a working forest management plan
filed with the department, may also seek approval of a safe harbor
agreement from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife,
pursuant to Article 3.7 (commencing with Section 2089.2) of Chapter
1.5, of Division 3, of the Fish and Game Code. All review costs
associated with the safe harbor agreement approval process incurred
by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife pursuant to this
section shall be paid from the fund created in Section 4629.3.
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.
4597.21. This article does not affect the applicability of county
rules adopted pursuant to Section 4516.5 nor any court decision made
by a court of competent jurisdiction.
SEC. 2. Article 7.8 (commencing with Section 4598)
is added to Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the
Public Resources Code , to read:
Article 7.8. Small Forest Unevenaged Management Plan
4598. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) Small nonindustrial landowners own approximately one-fourth of
the timberland in California, and often have different economic
pressures and management goals than owners of lands managed for
timber production.
(b) These smaller landowners often want to manage their forest for
multiple uses, which include residential and recreation uses,
wildlife habitat, and water resources in large part so that their
ranch and forest properties can be passed on intact to the next
generation. However, scale and timber value make this economically
difficult, which increases the possibility of these lands being sold
and subdivided, resulting in loss of open space, fish and wildlife
habitat, and other important public trust values.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to create a streamlined
discretionary permit, subject to multiagency and public review, that
facilitates long-term stewardship of the property with a high level
of conservation. Once the permit is approved, it is the intent of the
Legislature to allow the small nonindustrial landowner to file
ministerial timber harvest notices that are in compliance with the
permit.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Board of Forestry
promulgate the regulations necessary to implement this article,
using the general framework of the Nonindustrial Timber Management
Plan, combined with the permit streamlining approach reflected in the
Modified Timber Harvest Plan.
4598.1. (a) The Board of Forestry, in consultation with the
entities identified in subdivision (a) of Section 1037.5 of Title 14
of the California Code of Regulations, shall adopt regulations
creating a Small Forest Unevenaged Management Plan. The regulations
shall follow the general structure of the Nonindustrial Timber
Management Plan, pursuant to Article 7.7 (commencing with Section
4597) and include all of the following provisions:
(1) The plan shall be applicable to lands of 320 acres and less.
(2) (A) Harvest in any given area of the property shall not exceed
80 percent of growth since the last harvest, nor shall it exceed 40
percent of harvestable inventory.
(B) When the property reaches a fully regulated condition the
landowner may update the forest inventory and thereafter harvest 100
percent of growth.
(3) 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.
(4) Any road construction or reconstruction on slopes over 50
percent shall include consultation by a professional geologist
licensed in the State of California.
(5) Harvest units shall not be reentered more frequently than
every 10 years, with exception in the conduct of sanitation or
salvage operations, timber stand or habitat improvement, or
operations necessary to promote a fire safe condition.
(b) Recognizing that this section requires increasing inventory,
the board may develop initial inventory requirements that are less
rigorous than used in other plans, with the provision that the
inventory be updated to a level of appropriate statistical
significance if the landowner intends to exercise the option in
subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a).
(c) A plan submitter who is in compliance with the regulations
adopted pursuant to this section shall not be required to prepare a
cumulative impact assessment unless a fair argument based on
substantial evidence, as that term is used in Section 15384 of Title
14 of the California Code of Regulations, is raised that such an
assessment is required.
(d) For the purpose of this section, "fully regulated condition"
means the technical, in contrast to the administrative and business,
aspects of controlling stocking, harvests, growth, and yields to meet
management objectives including sustained yield.
SEC. 2. 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.