BILL NUMBER: AB 2239	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 4, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 22, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Chesbro

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2014

   An act to amend Sections 4593.10  and   ,
4597.2,  4597.9  , 4597.15,   and 4597.16  of
the Public Resources Code, relating to forestry.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2239, as amended, Chesbro. Forest practices: management plans:
change of ownership.
   The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person
from conducting timber operations on timberland unless a timber
harvesting plan has been prepared by a registered professional
forester and has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection and approved by the Director of Forestry and Fire
Protection or the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. A
violation of the act is a crime.
   Existing law authorizes a person who intends to become a working
forest landowner, as defined, or nonindustrial tree farmer, as
defined, to file a working forest management plan or a nonindustrial
timber management plan, as applicable, with the department, with the
long-term objective of an uneven aged timber stand and sustained
yield through the implementation of the plan. Existing law requires,
in the event of a change of ownership of the land described in the
working forest management plan, the landowner to notify the new
landowner of the existence of the plan and the need to notify the
department of the new landowner's intent regarding assumption of the
plan. Existing law provides the new landowner one year from the date
of the receipt of the notification by the department to notify the
department in writing of the assumption of the working forest
management plan and if the department does not receive notification
within this period, the plan expires. In addition, existing law
requires a nonindustrial timber management plan to expire 180 days
from the date of change of ownership unless the new timberland owner
notifies the department in writing of the change of ownership and his
or her assumption of the plan.
   This bill would, in the event of change of ownership of land
described in a nonindustrial timber management plan, require a
transferring landowner to notify the acquiring landowner of the
existence of the plan and the need to inform the department if he or
she intends to assume the plan.
   This bill would require, upon change of ownership of land
described in either a working forest management plan or a
nonindustrial timber management plan, the transferring landowner to
send the department a copy of the notice provided to the acquiring
landowner. The bill would require the department to provide the
acquiring landowner with the notice if the transferring landowner
fails to provide it and the department discovers the change of
ownership. The bill would give the acquiring landowner one year from
the date of the receipt of either notice to notify the department of
his or her intent to assume the plan. The bill would authorize the
department to cancel the plan if no notice is received within this
period.  This   bill would make other technical changes.

   The bill would provide that a violation of the above provisions
relating to notice by a landowner does not constitute a crime.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 4593.10 of the Public Resources Code is amended
to read:
   4593.10.  (a) Upon a change of ownership of the land described in
the nonindustrial timber management plan, the transferring landowner
shall provide the acquiring landowner with written notice that
discloses the existence of the plan and informs the acquiring
landowner of the need to notify the department if the acquiring
landowner intends to assume the plan. The transferring landowner
shall also send the department a copy of the notice provided to the
acquiring landowner.
   (b) If the transferring landowner fails to provide the notice
required in subdivision (a) and the department discovers the change
of ownership, the department shall provide the acquiring landowner
with the notice described in subdivision (a).
   (c) The acquiring landowner shall have one year from the date of
the receipt of the notice required pursuant to subdivision (a) or
(b), whichever is applicable, to notify the department in writing of
his or her assumption of the plan. If the department does not receive
notification within this period, the department may cancel the plan.

   (d) A violation of this section by a landowner does not constitute
a crime pursuant to Section 4601.
   SEC. 2.    Section 4597.2 of the   Public
Resources Code   is amended to read: 
   4597.2.  A working forest management plan may be  filed
with   submitted to  the department in writing by a
person who intends to become a working forest landowner with the
long-term objective of an uneven aged timber stand and sustained
yield through the implementation of a working forest management plan.
The management plan shall be prepared by a registered professional
forester. It shall be public record and shall include all of the
following information:
   (a) The name and address of the timberland owner.
   (b) A description of the land on which the plan is proposed to be
implemented, including a United States Geological Survey quadrangle
map or equivalent indicating the location of all streams, the
location of all proposed and existing logging truck roads, and the
boundaries of all site I classification timberlands to be stocked in
accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 4561 and any other site
classifications if the board establishes specific minimum stocking
standards for other site classifications.
   (c) A description by the registered professional forester of the
inventory design and timber stand stratification criteria that
demonstrates that the inventory supporting the growth and yield
calculations used to determine long-term sustained yield for the
working forest management plans meets the following minimum
standards:
   (1) For major stand or strata, the inventory estimate shall be
within 15 percent of the mean at one standard error.
   (2) For stand or strata that make up greater than 10 percent and
less than 25 percent of the working forest management plan area, the
estimate shall be no greater than 25 percent of the mean at one
standard error.
   (3) Inventory estimates and growth and yield shall be projected
for the purposes of determining long-term sustained yield and volumes
available for harvest by stand or strata and aggregated for the area
covered by the working forest management plan to develop the
long-term sustained yield estimate. Long-term sustained yield
estimates shall reasonably reflect constraints applicable to the
working forest timberlands on forest management activities.
   (d) A description and discussion of the methods to be used to
avoid significant sediment discharge to watercourses from timber
operations. This shall include disclosure of 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, an erosion control implementation plan, and
a schedule to implement erosion controls that prioritizes major
sources of erosion. This subdivision shall not apply to the extent
that the registered professional forester provides documentation to
the department that the working forest management plan is in
compliance with similar requirements of other applicable provisions
of law.
   (e) Special provisions to protect unique areas, if any, within the
boundaries of the proposed working forest management plan.
   (f) A description of the property and planned activities including
acres and projected growth, existing stand types, major stand types
or strata, its current projected growth by strata, silvicultural
applications to be applied to strata to achieve long-term sustained
yield, projected timber volumes and tree sizes to be available for
harvest, and projected frequencies of harvest.
   (g) (1) A description of late succession forest stands in the plan
area and how the total acreage of this type of habitat will be
maintained across the plan area under a constraint of no net loss.
Nothing in this requirement shall be interpreted to preclude active
management on any given acre of an approved plan if the management is
conducted in a manner that maintains or enhances the overall acreage
of late succession forest stands that existed in the plan area upon
initial plan approval. An exception to the no net loss constraint may
be granted in the event of a catastrophic loss due to emergency
factors such as wildfire, insect, and disease activity. The
description shall include the following:
   (A) Retention measures for existing biological legacies such as
snags, trees with cavities or basal hollows, and down logs, and
address how those legacies shall be managed over time appropriate
with the forest type, climate, and landowner's forest fire fuels and
wildlife management objectives.
   (B) Hardwood tree species and how they will be managed over time.
   (2) Late succession forest stand types or strata shall be mapped.
   (3) Notwithstanding the definition of late succession forest
stands in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of
Regulations, and for the sole purpose of this article, "late
succession forest stands" means 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, often with multiple canopy
layers, and are at least 10 acres in size. Functional characteristics
of late succession forest stands include large decadent trees,
snags, and large down logs.
   (h) Disclosure of 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.
   (i) (1) A description of the following for each management unit:
   (A) 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. The growth and yield estimates may be based on
weighted average of yield for the stand types or strata within the
area included in the management unit.
   (B) Yarding methods to be used.
   (C) Management units shall be mapped.
   (2) (A) For long-term sustained yield projections, pursuant to
subdivision (c), 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 percent and less than 25 percent of the working
forest management plan area, an assessment shall be included that
does all of the following:
   (i) Addresses candidate, threatened, endangered, and sensitive
species, and other fish and wildlife species that timber operations
could adversely impact by potential changes to habitat.
   (ii) Addresses species habitat needs utilizing the "WHR system"
described in "A Guide to Wildlife Habitats in California," California
Department of Fish and Wildlife, 1988, or comparable typing system.
   (iii) Addresses constraints to timber management, the impact of
the availability and distribution of habitats on the ownership and
within the cumulative impacts assessment area identified in the plan
in relation to the harvest schedule, and the impacts of the planned
management activities utilizing the existing habitat as the baseline
for comparison.
   (iv) Discusses and includes feasible measures planned to avoid or
mitigate potentially significant adverse impacts on fish or wildlife,
which can include, but is not limited to, recruitment or retention
of large down logs greater than 16 inches in diameter and 20 feet in
length, retention of trees with structural features such as basal
hollows, cavities, large limbs, or broken tops, retention of
hardwoods, and retention or recruitment of snags greater than 24
inches in diameter and 16 feet in height.
   (j) A certification by the registered professional forester
preparing the plan that the forester or a designee has personally
inspected the plan area.
   (k) A certification by the registered professional forester
preparing the plan 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.
   (l) Any other information the board requires by regulation to meet
its rules and the standards of this chapter.
   SEC. 2.   SEC. 3.   Section 4597.9 of
the Public Resources Code is amended to read:
   4597.9.  (a) Upon a change of ownership of the land described in
the working forest management plan, the transferring landowner shall
provide the acquiring landowner with written notice that discloses
the existence of the plan and informs the acquiring landowner of the
need to notify the department if the acquiring landowner intends to
assume the plan. The transferring landowner shall also send the
department a copy of the notice provided to the acquiring landowner.
   (b) If the transferring landowner fails to provide the notice
required in subdivision (a) and the department discovers the change
of ownership, the department shall provide the acquiring landowner
with the notice described in subdivision (a).
   (c) The acquiring landowner shall have one year from the date of
the receipt of the notice required pursuant to subdivision (a) or
(b), whichever is applicable, to notify the department in writing of
his or her intent to assume the plan. If the department does not
receive notification within this period, the department may cancel
the plan.
   (d) A violation of this section by a landowner does not constitute
a crime pursuant to Section 4601.
   SEC. 4.    Section 4597.15 of the   Public
Resources Code   is amended to read: 
   4597.15.  Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, if
a registered professional forester certifies by written declaration,
on behalf of the timber owner or operator, that the working forest
harvest notice conforms to and meets the requirements of the approved
working forest management plan under which it is filed, timber
operations may commence immediately. If the notice has been filed by
mailing, operations may commence three days after the notice has been
mailed. Cancellation of the plan may be appealed by the plan
submitter or landowner utilizing the process prescribed in paragraph
(1) of subdivision (e) of Section 4597.6. 
   SEC. 5.    Section 4597.16 of the   Public
Resources Code   is amended to read: 
   4597.16.  If the department determines that the objectives of
uneven aged management and sustained yield are not being met by a
working forest landowner, or there are other persistent violations
detected that are not being corrected, the department shall cancel a
previously approved working forest management plan and any further
timber operations under the plan shall be terminated. In making a
determination to cancel a plan, the department may cite the findings
of a review conducted pursuant to Section 4597.12.  Cancellation
of the plan may be appealed by the plan submitter or landowner
utilizing the process prescribed in paragraph (1) of subdivision (e)
of Section 4597.6.