BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 904
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          Date of Hearing:   May 24, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mike Gatto, Chair

                   AB 904 (Chesbro) - As Amended:  April 22, 2013 

          Policy Committee:                              Natural  
          ResourcesVote:8-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill creates the Working Forest Management Plan (WFMP)  
          program for nonindustrial landowners with less than 15,000 acres  
          of timberland.  Specifically, this bill: 

          1)Creates the MFMP for nonindustrial timberland owners that  
            commit to uneven aged managed and sustained yield.

          2)Allows landowners with Nonindustrial Timber Management Plans  
            (NTMP) to expand total timberland ownership to 2,500 acres or  
            more and transition into an expanded WFMP through an amendment  
            to the plan.

          3)Creates a modified WFMP for landowners with 160 or fewer acres  
            of timberlands in the Coast Forest District and 320 or fewer  
            acres of timberlands in the Northern Forest District or  
            Southern Forest District.

          4)Requires CalFire to adopt regulations to tailor the modified  
            WFMP to incentivize small landowners to develop modified small  
            working forest management plans.

          5)Precludes denial of a restoration grant application submitted  
            by a WRMP or NTMP on the sole grounds that the restoration  
            work is a condition of an approved harvesting plan.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Absorbable costs to CalFIRE.  

          2)Unknown, likely absorbable, inspection costs to the Department  








                                                                  AB 904
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            of Conservation and the State Water Resources Control Board.

          This bill applies to a small universe of nonindustrial  
          landowners, potentially under 80, who may be interested in this  
          program and are likely currently operating under timber harvest  
          plans (THPs).  
           
          COMMENTS  

           1)Background and Purpose  . The NTMP was created in 1990 to allow  
            landowners with 2,500 acres or less to apply for a timber  
            harvesting document that would allow for long-term approval  
            pursuant to specified forest practice rules. The program  
            requires the use of uneven aged forest management and proof  
            that operations provide for sustained yield.  
             
             The cost of preparing this management plan is about 25% to 50%  
            more than a typical THP, much of which comes from the required  
            sustained yield analysis.  However, unlike a THP, which is  
            limited to seven years, a NTMP lasts in perpetuity and the  
            additional cost is recaptured over time.  The WFMP is modeled  
            after this program.
             
             By relieving landowners of some of the costs and burdens of  
            meeting the regulatory requirements designed for industrial  
            timber companies, alternative plans will help keep ranches and  
            other non-industrial forest properties economically viable and  
            make them less likely to be subdivided for development.  

           2)A Multi-Stakeholder Process.   In December 2011, the author and  
            Assemblymember Dickinson convened a multi-stakeholder timber  
            harvest working group to discuss various ways to address  
            timber harvesting issues in the state.  The working group held  
            18 meetings, including a two-day workshop in the North Coast  
            focused solely on improving the NTMP program.  This bill is a  
            product of these working group meetings.  The bill includes  
            provisions suggested by landowners, foresters, agency staff,  
            and members of the environmental community.  




           Analysis Prepared by  :    Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081 









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