BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1958| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1958 Author: Wood (D) Amended: 8/19/16 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE NATURAL RES. & WATER COMMITTEE: 6-2, 6/28/16 AYES: Pavley, Allen, Hertzberg, Hueso, Jackson, Monning NOES: Stone, Vidak NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/11/16 AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 5/31/16 - See last page for vote SUBJECT: Forestry: timberlands: restoration and conservation forest management activities SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill creates an exemption for the restoration of oak woodlands that would allow landowners to remove conifer trees that are crowding out oaks provided various restrictions are met and have the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) report on the effectiveness of the many exemptions in the Forest Practices Act and its implementing regulations. Senate Floor Amendments of 8/19/16 are chaptering out amendments to avoid a conflict with other pending legislation, AB 2029 (Dahle), which also deals with an exemption under the Forest AB 1958 Page 2 Practices Act. ANALYSIS: Existing law: 1)Prohibits timber operations unless a timber harvest plan (THP) has been prepared by a registered professional forester and approved by the California Department of Forestry (CDF). 2)Considers a THP the functional equivalent of an environmental impact report under the California Environmental Quality Act. 3)Requires a THP to contain a description of the location of the planned harvest, the harvest method, measures to avoid excessive erosion, timeframe of operations, and other information required by forest practice rules adopted by the Board of Forestry (Board). 4)Requires any person who owns timberlands that are to be devoted to uses other than the growing of timber to file a timberland conversion permit with the Board. Prohibits the Board from approving a timberland conversion permit unless the Board makes written findings. 5)Exempts many timber removal activities from the regulatory requirements of THPs, including Christmas tree farms, right-of-ways for utility lines, conversions of less than three acres, fire prevention, defensible space, and dead, dying, and diseased trees. Exemptions are often ministerial, requiring no multi-agency review, but are subject to inspection by CDF. This bill: 1)Proposes to exempt the removal of trees from the normal requirements of a THP in order to restore and conserve AB 1958 Page 3 California's black or Oregon white oak woodlands and associated grasslands under certain conditions. 2)Adds additional provisions that the notice of exemption be prepared by a registered professional forester and that it contain specified mapping and information about the site. No trees larger than 26 inches in diameter at stump height may be removed, and only conifers within 300 feet of a California black or Oregon white oak that are a minimum four inches in diameter at breast height may be removed. There are other conditions that the registered professional must comply with as well. 3)Requires a report from CAL FIRE on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of all the exemptions and emergency notice provisions and any recommendations to improve the use of those exemptions. 4)Contains chaptering out amendments to avoid a conflict with AB 2029 (Dahle). FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, one-time costs of $132,000 (Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund) to CAL FIRE for equipment purchases and ongoing costs of $433,000 annually (Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund) to CAL FIRE for staffing necessary to implement the exemption. Minor costs to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the regional water quality control boards to review required report and provide comments. SUPPORT: (Verified8/20/16) AB 1958 Page 4 Pacific Birds Habitat Joint Venture Pacific Forest Trust Rural County Representatives of California The Nature Conservancy Trust for Public Land OPPOSITION: (Verified8/20/16) None received ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, oak woodlands are the most biodiverse terrestrial ecosystems in California and are disappearing at a rapid rate. In some parts of the state, a significant issue is the encroachment of conifers in oak woodlands. Conifers grow rapidly and quickly provide excessive shade that kills oaks, some of which have survived for hundreds of years. Historically, low intensity, but frequent fires prevented this phenomenon, but under our current fire regime the firs are successfully choking out the oaks. AB 1958, the author states, clarifies that restoring oak woodlands through the removal of conifers does not require a THP from landowners who want to restore their oak woodlands. The author also is relying on information from the University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Cooperative Extension office in Eureka, that shows there are clear patterns of conifer encroachment in white oak and black oak systems across the North Coast region. Even young conifers are larger than many older oak trees, and the dominance of trees like Douglas firs can occur in as little as 50 years. Oaks woodlands have conservation values that are worthy of preservation as biological hotspots, and as fire- and drought-resistant woodlands. Pacific Birds, a habitat joint venture of public agencies and nonprofits, points out that habitat losses in oak woodlands exceed 90 percent in some areas and several oak-dependent bird species have been extirpated from significant portions of the region because of conifers becoming increasingly dominant in many oak woodlands. This group states that this bill enables AB 1958 Page 5 private landowners who are interested in oak woodland restoration to face fewer hurdles in accomplishing that goal. This view is shared by the Rural County Representatives of California. ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 5/31/16 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, 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, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon Prepared by:William Craven / N.R. & W. / (916) 651-4116 8/22/16 22:40:40 **** END ****