BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 904
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 904 (Chesbro)
As Amended September 3, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |71-2 |(May 29, 2013) |SENATE: |35-1 |(September 6, |
| | | | | |2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: NAT. RES.
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.
The Senate amendments :
1)Clarify that the WFMP is to be implemented in a manner that
complies with the applicable provisions of various laws,
including the Forest Practice Act, the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Porter Cologne Water
Quality Control Act, and the California Endangered Species
Act.
2)Establish minimum standards for the WFMP sustained yield
requirements.
3) Specify that the erosion control plan required for a WFMP
must disclose active erosion 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. Require a schedule to
implement erosion controls that prioritizes major sources of
erosion.
4)Require a WFMP to maintain late succession forest stands in
the plan area under a constraint of no net loss. Define "late
succession forest stands" as 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,
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often with multiple canopy layers, and are at least 10 acres
in size. Explain that functional characteristics of late
succession forest stands include large decadent trees, snags,
and large down logs.
5)Require a WFMP to disclose 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 methodologies, enforceable
protection measures for species and habitats, and how forest
management will maintain these over time.
6)Require a WFMP to include a description of the 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 of the plan. Require a description of
yarding methods to be used and mapping of the management
units.
7)Require mitigation measures, as specified, for long-term
sustained yield projections 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%
and less than 25% of a WFMP.
8)Require the registered professional forester preparing a WFMP
to certify 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.
9)Require plans and notices to be posted to Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection's (CALFIRE) Internet Web site.
10)Extend the review times, both for the public and the
agencies, for various stages of the WFMP review process.
11)Require a working forest harvest notice to comply with the
following:
a) Documented occurrences obtained from a review of public
and readily available sources of species state or federally
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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 WFMP shall be submitted to
CALFIRE as a minor deviation concurrently with the filing
of a working forest harvest notice.
b) 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 WFMP shall be
submitted to CALFIRE as an amendment to the plan prior to
filing a working forest harvest notice. The amendment shall
contain take avoidance and mitigation measures if no such
information is currently contained within the approved
plan.
12)Require a working forest harvest notice to include an update
on erosion control mitigation measures for the harvest area
and any appurtenant roads if conditions have changed since the
WFMP 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.
13)Require, for an approved WFMP, CALFIRE to convene a meeting
with the interdisciplinary review team every five years to
verify that operations have been conducted in accordance with
the plan and applicable laws and regulations. Allow CALFIRE
to have a field inspection conducted if at the five year
review meeting, a member of the review team determines that a
field inspection is necessary. Require CALFIRE 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. Require CALFIRE to provide the public, in writing or on
its Internet Web site, notice of each five-year review and a
copy of the plan summary. Allow the public to 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. Do not authorize the
public disclosure of proprietary information without first
obtaining the landowner's consent.
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14)Authorize a participating landowner, in conjunction with the
preparation of an application for a WFMP, to also seek
approval of a safe harbor agreement from the Department of
Fish and Wildlife.
15)Delete the WFMP program designed for landowners with less
than 160 or 320 acres depending on location.
16)Exclude the Southern Subdistrict of the Coast Forest
District, as defined in Section 845.1 of Title 14 of the
California Code of Regulations, from the WFMP program.
EXISTING LAW : Pursuant to the Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice
Act (Forest Practice Act):
1)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 a
Nonindustrial Timber Management Plan (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.
2)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 Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)One-time costs of at least $150,000 from the Timber Regulation
and Forest Restoration Fund to the Board of Forestry for the
development of regulations as required by this bill.
2)One-time costs of approximately $75,000 from the Timber
Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund to the regional water
quality control boards (RWQCBs) for adoption and revision of
general waste discharge requirements.
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3)Assuming five WFMPs are submitted each year, annual costs of
approximately $500,000 - $750,000 in fiscal year (FY) 2014-15
and growing to $600,000 to $950,000 in FY 2018-19, from the
Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund to CALFIRE,
Department of Fish and Wildlife, the RWQCBs, and Department of
Conservation for the approval, then ongoing review, of WFMPs.
This cost will at least be partially offset by a decrease in
timber harvest plans (THP) submitted.
COMMENTS : The NTMP (which is what the WFMP is modeled off of)
was created by the Legislature in 1989 to allow landowners with
less than 2,500 acres to apply for a timber harvesting document
that allows for long-term approval if the landowner commits to
uneven aged management and 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 over 300,000 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.
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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. Some NTMP landowners
near the 2,500 acre limit have already 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
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."
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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
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: 0002637