BILL NUMBER: SB 832	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Gaines
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Dahle)

                        JANUARY 6, 2014

   An act to amend Section 4212 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to forestry and fire prevention.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 832, as introduced, Gaines. Forestry and fire prevention: fire
prevention fees: natural disasters.
   Existing law requires the state to have the primary financial
responsibility for preventing and suppressing fires in areas that the
State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has determined are state
responsibility areas. Existing law further required the board, on or
before September 1, 2011, to adopt emergency regulations to
establish a fire prevention fee in an amount not to exceed $150 to be
charged on each structure on a parcel that is within a state
responsibility area, and to adjust the fee annually using prescribed
methods. Existing law requires the State Board of Equalization to
collect the fees, as prescribed.
   This bill would exempt the owner of a property that is within a
state responsibility area from payment of the fire prevention fee
imposed pursuant to those provisions with respect to a structure, as
defined, on the property has been destroyed, or significantly
damaged, as a result of a natural disaster.
   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 4212 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
   4212.  (a) (1) By September 1, 2011, the board shall adopt
emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee for the
purposes of this chapter in an amount not to exceed one hundred fifty
dollars ($150) to be charged on each structure on a parcel that is
within a state responsibility area.
   (2) The Legislature finds and declares that a fire prevention fee
of not more than one hundred fifty dollars ($150) is a reasonable
amount for the necessary fire prevention activities of the state that
benefit the owner of a structure within a state responsibility area.

   (b) On July 1, 2013, and annually thereafter, the board shall
adjust the fire prevention fees imposed pursuant to this chapter to
reflect the percentage of change in the average annual value of the
Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases of
Goods and Services for the United States, as calculated by the United
States Department of Commerce for the 12-month period in the third
quarter of the prior calendar year, as reported by the Department of
Finance.
   (c) Emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be adopted in accordance with the rulemaking provisions of the
Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section
11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
The adoption of emergency regulations shall be deemed an emergency
and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace,
health, and safety, or general welfare. 
   (d) Notwithstanding any other law or regulation, the owner of a
property that is within a state responsibility area shall be exempt
from the payment of the fire prevention fee imposed pursuant to this
section with respect to a structure on the property has been
destroyed, or significantly damaged, as a result of a natural
disaster.