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.
AB 301 (Bigelow) Page 2
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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
AB 301 (Bigelow) Page 3
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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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