BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 417|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 417
Author: Dahle (R)
Amended: 6/16/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/9/15
AYES: Pavley, Stone, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson,
Monning, Vidak, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/30/15 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Forest practices: resource conservation standards
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill expands the authority of the Board of
Forestry and Fire Protection to develop alternative stocking
standards, when necessary, if those alternative standards
reasonably address the variables in forest characteristics and
achieve suitable resource conservation.
ANALYSIS: Existing law, under the Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest
Practice Act of 1973 (FPA):
1)Requires the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) to
adopt rules and regulations such as the Forest Practice Rules
(FPR) to assure the continuous growing and harvesting of
commercial forest tree species and to protect the soil, air,
fish and wildlife, and water resources, including but not
limited to, streams, lakes, and estuaries.
AB 417
Page 2
2)Requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to
oversee the FPA and the FPR in consultation with other public
agencies and the interested public.
3)Requires, within five years after completion of timber
operations, either of the following minimum stocking standards
for an area covered by a timber harvest plan.
a) An average point count of 300 per acre, except for site
IV classification or lower (i.e., sites with the lowest
productivity potential), which shall have an average point
count of 150 per acre. (The point count of a tree is
determined by tree size. For example, a tree that is less
than four inches in diameter at breast height counts as one
point. A tree over 12 inches in diameter counts as six
points.); or
b) An average residual basal area (i.e., the sum of tree
diameter for an acre) of at least 85 square feet per acre,
except for site II classification (i.e., sites with
intermediate productivity potential) or lower, which shall
have the minimum average residual basal area of 50 square
feet per acre.
4)Authorizes the Board to develop alternative stocking standards
for the average point count method of stocking if those
standards address the variables in forest characteristics and
achieve suitable resource conservation, but does not authorize
alternative stocking standards for average residual basal area
method.
This bill expands the authority of the Board to develop
alternative stocking standards, when necessary, if those
alternative standards reasonably address the variables in forest
characteristics and achieve suitable resource conservation.
Comments
The author's intent was to make sure that the flexibility given
to the Board, provided in this bill, would require a rulemaking
procedure to define specific forest health and ecological goals.
The technical amendment would accomplish that objective.
AB 417
Page 3
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 6/30/15)
Board of Forestry and Fire Protection
California Forestry Association
Central Coast Forest Association
Humboldt Redwood Company and Mendocino Redwood Company
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/30/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The author and supporters point out that
AB 2082 (Dahle, Chapter 212, Statutes of 2014) authorized the
Board to adopt alternative stocking standards related to the
point count, but did not include the same flexibility with
regard to the average residual basal area. AB 417 provides the
Board with the flexibility to adopt alternative stocking
standards on any basis it chooses that achieve specific
conservation goals and objectives.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/30/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau,
Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove,
Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, 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,
AB 417
Page 4
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Chávez, Gomez
Prepared by:William Craven / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116
7/1/15 11:24:54
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