BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1958|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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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
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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
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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)
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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
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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
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