BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 1867
          Author:   Patterson (D), et al.
          Amended:  7/1/14 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMMITTEE  :  9-0, 6/24/14
          AYES:  Pavley, Cannella, Evans, Fuller, Hueso, Jackson, Lara,  
            Monning, Wolk

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  67-2, 5/23/14 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    Timber harvest plans:  exemption:  reducing  
          flammable materials

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill, until January 1, 2018, authorizes the  
          Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) to exempt some or  
          all requirements of the Forest Practices Act to allow the  
          cutting or removal of trees on the person's property to reduce  
          flammable materials and create defensible space.  This bill  
          extends the exemption that allows vegetation clearing from a  
          radius of 150 feet to 300 feet of habitable structures, although  
          it is technically proposed as a separate exemption.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law: 
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          1.Prohibits any person from conducting timber operations unless  
            a Timber Harvest Plan (THP) has been prepared by a registered  
            professional forester and approved by the Department of  
            Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE).  (The Secretary of  
            the Natural Resources Agency has certified that a THP is the  
            functional equivalent of an environmental impact report under  
            the California Environmental Quality Act.) 

          2.Requires a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or  
            maintains a building or structure in, upon, or adjoining a  
            mountainous area, forest-covered lands, brush-covered lands,  
            grass-covered lands, or land that is covered with flammable  
            material, to at all times maintain a defensible space of 100  
            feet from each side of the structure, but not beyond the  
            property line. 

          3.Allows a state or local fire official, at his/her discretion,  
            to authorize an owner of property, or his/her agent, to  
            construct a firebreak, or implement appropriate vegetation  
            management techniques, to ensure that defensible space is  
            adequate for the protection of a hospital, adult residential  
            care facility, school, aboveground storage tank, hazardous  
            materials facility, or similar facility on the property.   
            Allows the firebreak to be for a radius of up to 300 feet from  
            the facility, or to the property line, whichever distance is  
            shorter. 

          4.Creates a THP exemption for defensible space timber operations  
            conducted not more than 150 feet on each side from an approved  
            and legally permitted structure, as specified 

          This bill: 

          1.Authorizes, until January 1, 2018, the Board to exempt some or  
            all requirements of the Forest Practices Act to allow the  
            cutting or removal of trees on the person's property to reduce  
            flammable materials and create defensible space.  

          2.Extends the exemption that allows vegetation clearing from a  
            radius of 150 feet to 300 feet of habitable structures,  
            although it is technically proposed as a separate exemption.

          3.Provides that for the areas between 150 and 300 feet from the  

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            habitable structure, the operations meet all of the following  
            provisions:

             A.   The residual stocking standards are consistent with  
               specified regulations, as appropriate.

             B.   Activities within this area will increase the quadratic  
               mean diameter of the stand.

             C.   The residual stand consists primarily of healthy and  
               vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest  
               stand, well distributed though the harvested area.

             D.   Postharvest slash treatment and stand conditions will  
               lead to more moderate fire behavior in the professional  
               judgment of the registered professional forester who  
               submits the notice of exemption.

             E.   Any additional guidance for slash treatment and  
               postharvest stand conditions and any other issues deemed  
               necessary that are consistent with this section, as  
               established by the Board.

          4.Requires CAL FIRE to evaluate the effects of these provisions  
            and to report its recommendations, no later than January 1,  
            2018, to the Legislature based on that evaluation.

           Background
           
          Fire is an integral part of most California landscapes.  Many of  
          our native plants, including trees, are adapted to burn  
          periodically; they need fire to be healthy, reproduce, and  
          survive.  Fire suppression activities over the last 100 to 150  
          years have largely taken fire out of the system, causing  
          far-reaching changes in habitats and forest health.  Many of the  
          forest plant communities are not adapted to today's exceedingly  
          hot fires.  During these fires many mature trees succumb from  
          top kill while others have their roots killed due to decades of  
          accumulated debris burning down into the root zones. 

          At the same time, growing numbers of people moving into forested  
          areas (the wildland urban interface) increase the risk of fires,  
          place more lives and property in danger, and complicate efforts  
          to restore fire to the ecosystem. 

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           Defensible space  .  The vegetation surrounding a building or  
          structure can be fuel for a fire.  Even the building or  
          structure itself is considered fuel.  Research and experience  
          have shown that fuel reduction around a building or structure  
          increases the probability of it surviving a wildfire.  Good  
          defensible space allows firefighters to protect and save  
          buildings or structures safely without facing unacceptable risk  
          to their lives.  Various fire programs throughout the state and  
          country teach that fuel reduction through vegetation management  
          is the key to creating good defensible space. 

          State law requires a home owner to at all times maintain  
          defensible space of 100 feet from each side of the structure,  
          but not beyond the property line.  However, various defensible  
          space-related programs recommend a much larger defensible space  
          area if possible. 

          For example, the Firewise Communities Program (a program  
          co-sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Department of  
          the Interior, and the National Association of State Foresters)  
          provides advice on how to manage defensible space up to 200 feet  
          and recommends an even greater distance depending on the site.  

          Another program worth citing is the Tuolumne County Fire Safe  
          Council (TCFSC).  Tuolumne County was seriously affected by the  
          2013 Rim Fire, which burned 257,314 acres.  Certain communities,  
          such as Pine Mountain Lake, were ordered to evacuate the area  
          during the fire.  The Pine Mountain Lake Association practices  
          defensible space activities pursuant to recommendations  
          established by the TCFSC.  For certain areas, TCFSC recommends  
          more than 150 feet of defensible space. 

          State law currently has a THP exemption to conduct defensible  
          space fuels management up to 150 feet from each side of an  
          approved and legally permitted structure.  In this context, the  
          term "structure" is broad:  it can be a structure designed for  
          human occupancy, a garage, a barn, a stable, or a structure used  
          to enclose fuel tanks.  Under this exemption, clearcutting is  
          prohibited and timber operations shall be limited to cutting or  
          removal of trees that will result in a reduction in the rate of  
          fire spread, fire duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or  
          ignition of the tree crowns.  Additionally, surface fuels (e.g.,  
          logging slash and debris, low bush, deadwood) that could promote  

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          wildfire must be chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all  
          areas of the timber operations.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/4/14)

          Associated California Loggers
          California Association of Realtors
          California Farm Bureau Federation
          California Licensed Foresters Association
          Forest Landowners of California 
          Highway 168 Fire Safe Council
          Madera County Board of Supervisors
          Mariposa County Fire Safe Council
          Personal Insurance Federation of California 
          Rural County Representatives of California 
          Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors

           OPPOSITION  :    (Verified  8/4/14)

          Sierra Club

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    The Tuolumne County Board of  
          Supervisors writes:

            This bill will give the homeowner who resides in the  
            California State Responsibility Area another tool to create  
            defensible space around one's property.  Recent studies have  
            reiterated that it is more fiscally responsible to prevent  
            catastrophic forest fires than to fight them.

            This bill would allow a responsible homeowner to more easily  
            create defensible space and clear timber up to 300 from his or  
            her residence without having to go through the onerous process  
            of developing and filing a timber harvest plan with CalFIRE.   
            The current 150 feet rule should be expanded as is included in  
            AB 1867.

            Due to the state mandated clearance rules, homeowners are  
            required to clear timber and brush farther from their homes.   
            Non-compliant homeowners are seeing homeowner's insurance  
            policies cancelled and are being cited by CaIFIRE.  While  

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            necessary, enforcement should be preceded by providing options  
            for compliance.

            It is encouraging to see a common sense bill such as AB 1867  
            come forth to provide homeowners with another tool to help  
            create the critically important defensible space.  The recent  
            Rim Fire in Tuolumne County demonstrated the importance of  
            brush and timber clearance to save residential structures.

           ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION  :    Sierra Club California writes:

            This bill would unnecessarily double the area of space defined  
            as "defensible" and thus exempted from timber harvest plan  
            requirements.

            Currently, the defensible space around a structure that is  
            allowed for clearing without applying for a timber harvest  
            plan is 150 feet.  This bill proposes to double that without  
            any solid reason other than to allow for additional harvest  
            without the benefit of a timber harvest plan so that  
            landowners may raise capital to fund the allowed clearing.   
            The bill provides for no protection of habitat, no clear  
            oversight by experts, and no additional funding for any  
            enforcement agency to ensure that the proposed changes  which  
            could ultimately cover millions of acres in the state  do not  
            substantially and negatively impact the states wildlife,  
            wildlife corridors, and forests.

            Last year, the legislature passed AB 744 [Dahle, Chapter 647,  
            Statutes of 2012] over Sierra Club's objection.  That bill  
            increased the size of trees allowed to be downed for fire  
            protection without a timber harvest plan.  It purported to  
            ensure that landowners could and would actively manage their  
            forests for fire prevention.  That bill allowed a 3-year pilot  
            project.  It makes no sense to add another layer of timber  
            harvest plan exemption for fire prevention before the pilot  
            for AB 744 has been completed and analyzed.  
           
           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  67-2, 5/23/14
          AYES:  Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra,  
            Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,  
            Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh,  
            Dahle, Daly, Donnelly, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines,  
            Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove,  

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            Hagman, Hall, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder,  
            Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,  
            Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea,  
            John A. Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,  
            Rodriguez, Salas, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,  
            Atkins
          NOES:  Stone, Ting
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Alejo, Dickinson, Eggman, Harkey, Roger  
            Hernández, Lowenthal, V. Manuel Pérez, Skinner, Wieckowski,  
            Yamada, Vacancy


          RM:k  8/5/14   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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