BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AJR 18|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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CONSENT
Bill No: AJR 18
Author: Patterson (R) and Gatto (D), et al.
Amended: 7/2/15 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 9-0, 7/14/15
AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson,
Monning, Vidak, Wolk
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 7/2/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Federal Wildfire Disaster Funding Act
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This resolution calls on Congress to support H.R. 167,
the federal Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, in order to provide a
long-term, stable source of funding for federal agencies to
conduct the necessary fuel management on national forest lands
while retaining resources to suppress truly catastrophic
wildfires. This resolution treats wildfires like other natural
disasters and disallows the practice of borrowing from other
agency funding sources.
ANALYSIS: This resolution makes the following legislative
findings:
1)According to the United States Forest Service, approximately
58 million acres of national forest lands, or one-third of the
entire National Forest System, are in need of restoration due
to the high risk for catastrophic wildfire.
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Page 2
2)One percent of the wildfires fought on national forest lands
each year consume up to 30 percent of the annual fire budget,
and the wildland fire management appropriation has tripled its
portion of the United States Forest Service budget from 17
percent to 51 percent from 1995 to 2014, inclusive.
3)Over seven of the last 12 years, the United States Forest
Service and the United States Department of the Interior have
had to divert over $2 billion in funds from other forestry and
land management programs to fund firefighting efforts.
4)This "fire borrowing" has had adverse effects on other United
States Forest Service projects, with funds being transferred
from other programs that provide necessary hazardous fuel
reduction and vegetation management on national forest lands.
This resolution urges Congress to support H.R. 167, the federal
Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, in order to provide a long-term,
stable source of funding for federal agencies to conduct the
necessary fuels management on national forest lands, while
retaining resources to suppress catastrophic wildfires.
Background
The United States Forest Service is facing a huge backlog in its
efforts to restore its 58 million acres of national forest
lands, a significant portion of which is at risk to catastrophic
wildfire, a situation exacerbated in many parts of the West,
particularly California, by extreme drought.
Reports from Washington, D.C., have documented that the
escalating costs of wildfire suppression on these forest lands
consume nearly 51% of the annual federal fire budget, a
percentage that has increased from 17 percent since 1995. Thirty
percent of the firefighting budget is spent on fires on 1% of
the wildfires on national forest lands.
To compensate for the shortages in the firefighting budget, the
United States Forest Service and the Department of the Interior
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have diverted more than $2 billion in funds from other forestry
and land management programs. In 2012, this "fire borrowing"
amounted to $440 million moved to fire suppression, thereby
depriving other projects of funding for forest restoration, fuel
reduction, vegetation management, and related activities.
Governors of California, Washington, and Oregon have stated
their support for previous similar legislation.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified7/15/15)
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Forestry Association
California Licensed Foresters Association
California Native Plant Society
Crescenta Valley Fire Safe Council
Fire Safe Council of Mariposa County
Forest Landowners of California
Rural County Representatives of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified7/15/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: This resolution is supported by
California forestry industry groups, the Rural County
Representatives of California, the California Native Plant
Society, and others. H.R. 167 is identified by the California
Native Plant Society as a bi-partisan measure that is intended
to focus on the need for the federal government to improve its
forest management practices in California to reduce wildfire
risk, protect rural communities, and prohibit the sort of "fire
borrowing" that has occurred in the past. The supporters believe
that this resolution will help establish more secure funding
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Page 4
both for forest restoration as well as for fire suppression.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 7/2/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Brown, Jones-Sawyer
Prepared by:William Craven / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
8/13/15 13:38:50
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