BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 904
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 904 (Chesbro)
As Amended April 22, 2013
Majority vote
NATURAL RESOURCES 8-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Chesbro, Grove, Bigelow, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Garcia, Muratsuchi, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Patterson, Skinner, | |Calderon, Campos, |
| |Williams | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Hall, Ammiano, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Creates the Working Forest Management Plan (WFMP)
program, which is a long-term forest management plan for
nonindustrial landowners with less than 15,000 acres of
timberlands if the landowner commits to uneven aged management
and sustained yield. Specifically, this bill :
1)Creates the WFMP for nonindustrial timberland owners that
commit to uneven aged management 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 the Board of Forestry (Board) 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 WFMP or NTMP landowner on the sole grounds that the
restoration work is a condition of an approved harvesting
plan.
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EXISTING LAW : Pursuant to the Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice
Act (Forest Practice Act):
1)Establishes Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(CALFIRE), 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)Establishes within CALFIRE the Board, which consists 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 CALFIRE.
3)Authorizes a nonindustrial tree farmer (an owner of timberland
with less than 2,500 acres) with the long-term objective of an
uneven aged timber stand and sustained yield to file an NTMP
with CALFIRE. An NTMP shall be prepared by a registered
professional forester and is considered to be the functional
equivalent of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the
purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
4)Requires a nonindustrial tree farmer with an NTMP to file a
nonindustrial timber harvest notice with CALFIRE when he or
she plans to harvest timber. The notice shall be effective
for a maximum of one year and include information that
indicates whether the harvesting complies with the Forest
Practice Act and Forest Practice Rules and conforms to the
approved NTMP.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, absorbable costs to CALFIRE and unknown, likely
absorbable, inspection costs to the Department 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 (THP).
COMMENTS : The NTMP (which is what the WFMP is modeled off of)
was created by the Legislature in 1990 to allow landowners with
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no more than 2,500 acres to apply for a timber harvesting
document that would allow for long-term approval with certain
conditions under a known set of forest practice rules. The
program requires the use of uneven aged forest management and
proof that operations provide for sustained yield. Through an
NTMP, a nonindustrial timberland owner first prepares a
management plan that is subject to a multi-agency review process
and acts as the functional equivalent of an EIR under CEQA. 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 good
for no more than seven years, an NTMP lasts in perpetuity and
the additional cost is recaptured over time because subsequent
NTMP harvest entries can be conducted under a much simpler
notice to CALFIRE that is tiered off of the NTMP.
By relieving these landowners of some of the costs and burdens
of meeting the regulatory requirements designed for industrial
timber companies, NTMPs help keep ranches and other
non-industrial forest properties economically viable and make
them less likely to be subdivided for housing or converted into
golf courses or vineyards. By prohibiting large clear-cuts and
requiring a long-term, conservation approach to logging, NTMPs
help preserve scenic values, protect water quality, and preserve
habitat for fish and wildlife.
Today, NTMPs cover approximately 333,512 acres of California
forests. Raising the acreage limit to 15,000 acres through the
WFMP will make hundreds of thousands of additional timberland
acreage eligible for long-term, sustainable management. A
preliminary review of timberland ownership shows that there are
at least 81 landowners who would qualify under the new WFMP
program. Of these 81, at least 60 used even aged management
(i.e., clear cutting) at some point. These landowners would
have an incentive to commit to long-term uneven aged management
under the WFMP.
Additionally, NTMP landowners who are close to the NTMP's 2,500
acreage limit will have an incentive to purchase additional
timberlands by transferring to the WFMP. Several NTMP
landowners near the 2,500 acre limit have indicated that they
plan to acquire more timberlands if the WFMP program is enacted.
Benefits to the State . In 2003, CALFIRE issued a report on the
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NTMP program. The report explained that the NTMP program
provides significant benefits to the state in terms of
regulatory cost savings and societal and economic benefits.
The report states that "[a]lthough more time may be invested by
the agencies in the up-front review of the NTMP, this is soon
offset by not having to process individual THPs each time the
property is entered. The inspections and enforcement of timber
operations do not differ however, and are triggered each time a
Notice of Operation is filed."
As for societal benefits, the report states that "[r]etaining
our non-industrial private forest lands in forest use provides
tremendous?benefits, including retention of open space,
protection of watersheds, water quality and forest soils,
maintenance of diverse habitat for fish and wildlife,
preservation of important cultural and historical sites, and
promotion of recreational opportunities."
The "[e]conomic benefits include wood products from sustainable
sources, income for timber owners, and jobs for employees and
contractors working to harvest, transport, and process forest
products. Sales by local businesses of equipment used for the
management of forest lands; and the profits of manufacturers,
wholesalers, and retailers of forest products - which are then
converted into houses, commercial buildings and consumer
products - generate much additional economic activity."
"These benefits are all enhanced by the commitment of forest
landowners to the long term stewardship and sustainable
production requirements of a NTMP. On the broad statewide
scale, the overarching public benefit is in encouraging owners
of these small wooded parcels to take advantage of their rich
forest soils, to enrich and improve their timber stands, to
manage them sustainably into the future, and cumulatively retain
that part of the state's rural, working landscape that
characterizes California's private timberlands."
The 2003 report concluded that "the NTMP program is meeting the
uneven-aged management requirement of the Forest Practice
Act?[and given] sufficient time to implement current NTMP
management prescriptions, landowners will also be able to show
that they are meeting the sustained yield requirement.
Therefore, [CALFIRE] has determined that the NTMP program is
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improving California's timberlands and recommends that the
program be continued." Additionally, the report recommended
that the NTMP acreage limit be increased to bring more
timberlands into the program. "This change would benefit both
landowners and the state by providing an opportunity for these
additional timberlands to be placed into a sustained yield and
uneven-aged management regime." This bill essentially
implements this recommendation by allowing larger nonindustrial
timberland owners to participate in the WFMP program.
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0000979