Assembly Bill No. 2142

CHAPTER 307

An act to add Section 4584.1 to the Public Resources Code, relating to forestry, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

[Approved by Governor September 9, 2014. Filed with Secretary of State September 9, 2014.]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2142, Chesbro. Timber harvesting plans: exemptions.

The Z’berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities. Existing law, for a specified 3-year period, authorizes an exemption, known as the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption, if certain conditions are met, including, among others, that the activities conducted pursuant to the exemption occur in the Sierra Nevada Region, as defined, in the County of Modoc, Siskiyou, or Trinity, or in any combination of these areas.

This bill would expand the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption to include activities conducted within the County of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, or Sonoma.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 4584.1 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

4584.1.  

(a) In addition to the areas listed in subparagraph (D) of paragraph (11) of subdivision (j) of Section 4584, the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption may be authorized for activities conducted in the County of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, or Sonoma, or in any combination of these areas or the areas listed in subparagraph (D) of paragraph (11) of subdivision (j) of Section 4584, if all other conditions for a Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption are met.

(b) The board may adopt emergency regulations in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code for the purposes of implementing this section.

SEC. 2.  

This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

To ensure that forest management activities in the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, and Sonoma can benefit from participation in the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption at the earliest possible time, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.



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