BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 417 Page 1 CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS AB 417 (Dahle) As Amended June 16, 2015 Majority vote -------------------------------------------------------------------- |ASSEMBLY: |77-0 |(April 30, |SENATE: |38-0 |(July 02, 2015) | | | |2015) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Committee Reference: NAT. RES. SUMMARY: Expands the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) authority to develop alternative stocking standards, when necessary, to include the average residual basal area approach of stocking. The Senate amendments make technical changes and add the condition that alternative stocking standards must contribute to specific forest health and ecological goals as defined by the Board. EXISTING LAW, pursuant to the Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 (FPA): 1)Requires the Board to adopt rules and regulations such as the Forest Practice Rules (FPR) to assure the continuous growing AB 417 Page 2 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. 2)Requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) to oversee the FPA and the FPR in consultation with other public agencies and the interested public. The FPA and FPR specifically govern, among other things; timber harvest plans (THPs), Nonindustrial Timber Management Plans (NTMPs), Program Timber Harvesting Plans (PTHPs), and other types of plans related to timber operations on private lands in California. 3)Within five years after completion of timber operations, requires either of the following minimum stocking standards for an area covered by a THP: 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.); 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. AB 417 Page 3 FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs. COMMENTS: 1)Stocking. After timber has been harvested in an area, stocking standards ensure that the area is restocked with trees so that the timberland can be maintained. Stocking standards set the requirement for how many trees (point count) must be replanted or, accounting for large and small trees, the aggregate of tree diameters for an area (the basal area). As the survival rate of seedlings has improved and concerns about overstocking's impact on fire risk and forest health has increased, there has been a desire to tailor stocking standards to meet the forest's characteristics. According to the Board, allowing alternative stocking standards for the basal area will assist in restoring oak woodlands. Douglas-fir can become established in oak woodland stands, which jeopardizes the growth and regeneration of oaks. Douglas-fir can quickly overtop oak trees, shade them out, and suppress oak regeneration. Conifer encroachment threatens the future of many oak woodlands in Northern California and is a primary factor driving the loss of oak woodlands in Humboldt County. An alternative stocking standard will allow for the removal of Douglas-fir to encourage oak regeneration. 2)Prior legislation. AB 2082 (Dahle), Chapter 212, Statutes of 2014, allowed the Board to develop alternative stocking standards for the point count approach to stocking, but not the basal area. The Board has gone on record saying "under the current construct of Public Resources Code Section 4561.2 the Board cannot develop a residual basal area standard to facilitate the management of oak woodlands." Analysis Prepared by: Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN: AB 417 Page 4 0001131