BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2239
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 7, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 2239 (Chesbro) - As Introduced: February 21, 2014
SUBJECT : Forest practices: management plans: change of
ownership
SUMMARY : Establishes a process to ensure that a person who
acquires timberlands described in a Working Forest Management
Plan (WFMP) or Nonindustrial Timber Management Plan (NTMP)
receives notice on how to assume the plan. Gives discretion to
the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) to
cancel a WFMP or NTMP if the new landowner does not assume the
plan within one year of receiving the notice.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prohibits, in general, any person from conducting timber
operations unless a harvesting plan, such as a timber harvest
plan (THP), WFMP, or NTMP, has been prepared by a registered
professional forester and approved by CAL FIRE. (THPs, WFMPs,
and NTMPs, are considered the functional equivalent of an
environmental impact report (EIR) under the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).)
2)Creates the WFMP, 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.
3)In the event of a change of ownership of the land described in
a WFMP, requires the working forest landowner to notify the
new landowner of the existence of the plan and the need to
notify CAL FIRE of the new landowner's intent regarding
assumption of the plan. Gives the new landowner one year
from the date of the receipt of the notification to notify CAL
FIRE in writing of his or her assumption of the plan. If CAL
FIRE does not receive notification within this period,
requires the plan to expire one year from the date the new
landowner is advised by CAL FIRE of the necessity to assume
the plan.
4)Creates the NTMP, which is a long-term forest management plan
AB 2239
Page 2
for nonindustrial landowners with less than 2,500 acres of
timberlands if the landowner commits to uneven aged management
and sustained yield.
5)In the event of a change of ownership of the land described in
a NTMP, requires the NTMP to expire 180 days from the date of
change of ownership unless the new timberland owner notifies
CAL FIRE in writing of the change of ownership and his or her
assumption of the plan.
THIS BILL :
1)Upon a change of ownership of the land described in the NTMP
or WFMP, requires the transferring landowner to provide the
acquiring landowner with a written transfer notice that
discloses the existence of the plan and informs the acquiring
landowner of the need to notify CAL FIRE if the acquiring
landowner intends to assume the plan. If the transferring
landowner fails to provide the transfer notice and CAL FIRE
discovers the change of ownership, requires CAL FIRE to
provide the acquiring landowner with the transfer notice.
2)Gives the acquiring landowner one year from the date of the
receipt of the transfer notice to notify CAL FIRE of his or
her assumption of the plan. If the acquiring landowner does
not formally assume the plan within this period, authorizes
CAL FIRE to cancel the plan.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Background . The NTMP was created by the Legislature in 1990
to allow landowners with no more than 2,500 acres to apply for
a timber harvesting document that would allow for long-term
approval with certain conditions under a known set of forest
practice rules. The program requires the use of uneven aged
forest management and proof that operations provide for
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 percent 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
AB 2239
Page 3
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 CAL FIRE that is tiered off of the NTMP.
Last year, the WFMP was created by AB 904 (Chesbro), Chapter
648, Statutes of 2013. The WFMP is similar to the NTMP;
however, it applies to nonindustrial landowners with less than
15,000 acres of timberland and contains stricter environmental
standards.
Since both the NTMP and WFMP run with the land, they can be
transferred from one landowner to the next. The NTMP has very
strict and short timelines for a new landowner to assume the
old landowner's plan: if the new landowner does not formally
assume the plan with 180 days, the plan is cancelled. The
WFMP has more lenient requirements: the new landowner has one
year upon receiving the transfer notice to assume the plan
before it is cancelled.
This bill provides clean up language to make the WFMP's
transfer provisions clearer and gives CAL FIRE the discretion
to cancel a plan if the new landowner does not assume it
within the specified time frame. Additionally, this bill
amends the NTMP transfer of ownership language so it is
governed by the same transfer provisions contained in the WFMP
statutes.
2)No Crime Intended . During the drafting process of this bill,
Legislative Counsel determined that if a transferring
landowner violates the bill's notification requirements, he or
she will be committing a crime (this is the reason for the
Central Coast Forest Association's oppose position). This is
not the intent of the bill. If the transferring landowner
does not provide the new landowner with notice to assume the
plan, eventually CAL FIRE will. The author and committee may
wish to consider amendments to clarify that this bill does not
create a new crime .
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
AB 2239
Page 4
Opposition
Central Coast Forest Association.
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092