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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Bigelow | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Version: |April 15, 2015 Amended | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant:|William Craven | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 of ? 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 of ? 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 -- END --