BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 824
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Date of Hearing: May 6, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
824 (Gatto) - As Amended March 26, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill modifies what must be included in CalFire's annual
report to the Legislature on fire prevention activities.
Specifically, this bill:
AB 824
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1)Requires that coordination and cooperation with the federal
government be considered a fire prevention activity for the
purposes of the report.
2)Requires the report to the Legislature on fire prevention
activities to include a map of the areas of coordination
between CALFIRE and the federal government, particularly in
areas of high fire hazard severity or in wildlife-urban
interface areas.
3)Provides technical clarification.
FISCAL EFFECT:
No additional state costs.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, wildland areas are divided
up into a network of federal, state, and local land but fires
are not limited by these jurisdictional lines. The author
states that the current framework for fire prevention
activities does not sufficiently recognize and promote
collaboration among different levels of government.
This bill reframes the definition of fire prevention
activities to reflect a more cooperative mission by requiring
CALFIRE to include information about those cooperative
activities in its annual report to the Legislature.
AB 824
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2)Fire Prevention Activities. Current law Requires CALFIRE to
provide an annual report to the Legislature detailing
CALFIRE's fire prevention activities. The report is required
to include:
a) The number of hours of fire prevention education
performed.
b) The number of defensible space inspections conducted,
including statewide totals and totals for each region.
c) The number of citations issued for noncompliance.
d) The number of acres treated by mechanical fuel
reduction.
e) The number of acres treated by prescribed burns.
f) Projected fire prevention activities for the following
fiscal year.
g) Information on each of the "Amador contracts." (An
Amador contract continues CALFIRE staffing and station
coverage through the winter.)
AB 824
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This bill expands the requirements to include collaborative
efforts and maps of coordinated activities, particularly in
areas of high fire hazard severity or in wildlife-urban
interface areas.
Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081