BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER
                             Senator Fran Pavley, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:            AB 301          Hearing Date:    June 9,  
          2015
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          |Author:    |Bigelow                |           |                 |
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          |Version:   |April 15, 2015    Amended                            |
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          |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:    |Yes              |
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          |Consultant:|William Craven                                       |
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             Subject:  State responsibility areas: fire prevention fees.


          BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
          1)Requires the Board of Forestry (Board) to classify all lands  
            within the state for the purpose of determining areas in which  
            the financial responsibility of preventing and suppressing  
            fires is primarily the responsibility of the state (these  
            areas are known as "state responsibility area" or "SRA.")

          2)Declares that it is necessary to impose a fire prevention fee  
            to pay for fire prevention activities in the SRA that  
            specifically benefit owners of structures in the SRA.

          3)Requires the Board to adopt regulations to establish a fire  
            prevention fee in an amount not to exceed $150 (which must be  
            adjusted every year for inflation) to be charged on each  
            "structure" on a parcel that is within the SRA.  Defines  
            "structure" as a building used or intended to be used for  
            human habitation, including a mobile home or manufactured  
            home.  Reduces the fire prevention fee by $35 if the structure  
            is also within the boundaries of a local agency that provides  
            fire protection services (this reduction applies to most  
            structures). Defines "owner of a habitable structure" as the  
            person that is the owner of record of a habitable structure in  
            the county tax assessor rolls or as recorded in the records of  
            the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on  
            July 1 of the state fiscal year for which the fee is due.








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          4)Requires the fee be levied upon the owner of a habitable  
            structure if that person owns the habitable structure on July  
            1 of the year for which the fee is due.

          5)Requires the fire prevention fees to be deposited in the State  
            Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund, which is available  
            to the Board and the Department of Forestry and Fire  
            Protection (CDF) to expend for fire prevention activities that  
            benefit the owners of structures within the SRA.  Limits fire  
            prevention activities to the following:  a) local assistance  
            grants established by the Board; b) grants to Fire Safe  
            Councils, the California Conservation Corps, or certified  
            local conservation corps for fire prevention projects and  
            activities in the SRA; c) grants to a qualified nonprofit  
            organization with a demonstrated ability to satisfactorily  
            plan, implement, and complete a fire prevention project  
            applicable to the SRA; d) inspections by CDF for compliance  
            with defensible space requirements around structures in the  
            SRA; e) public education to reduce fire risk in the SRA; f)  
            fire severity and fire hazard mapping by CAL FIRE in the SRA;  
            and, g) other fire prevention projects in the SRA that are  
            authorized by the Board.  

          6)Allows a person to petition CAL FIRE for a redetermination of  
            whether the fire prevention fee applies to him or her within  
            30 days after being served with a notice of determination  
            (i.e., the notice from CAL FIRE stating that a person must pay  
            the fire prevention fee).

          7)Imposes a 10% penalty for each 30-day period in which the fee  
            remains unpaid after the fee becomes final. 

          8)Allows the Board to exempt from the fee any habitable  
            structure that is subsequently deemed uninhabitable as a  
            result of a natural disaster during the year for which the fee  
            is due, as well as one subsequent year if the habitable  
            structure has not been repaired or rebuilt.


          PROPOSED LAW
          This bill requires the Department of Forestry and Fire  
          Protection to notify a property owner upon whom a SRA fire fee  
          is due to notify such property owner that if the home is sold,  
          then the apportionment of the SRA fire fee may be negotiated as  








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          one of the terms of sale.  

          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT
          According to the author, the current situation requires an owner  
          to pay the entire fee for the year even if a habitable structure  
          changes ownership.  AB 301 would change that by requiring CDF to  
          notify property owners that if a structure subject to an SRA fee  
          is sold, that the fee may be apportioned by agreement between  
          the buyer and the seller.

          All of the supporters agree that  the bill will promote fairness  
          between buyers and sellers, even while they dispute the legality  
          of the SRA fire fee which is currently being litigated. 

           
          ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION
          None received

               
          SUPPORT
          California Farm Bureau
          California Taxpayers Association
          Central Coast Forest Association
          County of San Diego
          Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

          OPPOSITION
          None Received

          
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