AB 929, as introduced, Jones. State responsibility areas: structures: fees.
Existing law states that the Legislature finds and declares that fire protection of public trust resources on lands in state responsibility areas remains a vital interest to California and that it is necessary to impose a fire prevention fee to pay for fire prevention activities in the state responsibility areas that specifically benefit owners of structures in the areas.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that law.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 4210 of the Public Resources Code is
2amended to read:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
4(a) Fire protection ofbegin delete theend delete public trust resources on lands inbegin delete theend delete
5 state responsibility areas remains a vital interest to California.
6Lands that are covered in whole or in part by a diverse plant
7community prevent excessive erosion, retard runoff, reduce
P2 1sedimentation, and accelerate water percolation to assist in the
2maintenance of critical sources of water for environmental,
3irrigation, domestic, or industrial uses.
4(b) The presence of structures within state responsibility areas
5can pose an increased
risk of fire ignition and an increased potential
6for fire damage within the state’s wildlands and watersheds. The
7presence of structures within state responsibility areas can also
8impair wild land firefighting techniques and could result in greater
9damage to state lands caused by wildfires.
10(c) The costs of fire prevention activities aimed at reducing the
11effects of structures in state responsibility areas should be borne
12by the owners of these structures.
13(d) Individual owners of structures within state responsibility
14areas receive a disproportionately larger benefit from fire
15prevention activities than that realized by the state’s citizens
16generally.
17(e) It is the intent of the Legislature that the economic burden
18of fire prevention activities that are associated with structures in
19state responsibility areas shall
be equitably distributed among the
20citizens of the state who generally benefit from those activities
21and those owners of structures in the state responsibility areas who
22receive a specific benefit other than that general benefit.
23(f) It is necessary to impose a fire prevention fee to pay for fire
24prevention activities in the state responsibility areas that
25specifically benefit owners of structures in the state responsibility
26areas.
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