BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2029
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2029 (Dahle, et al.)
As Amended May 27, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Natural |9-0 |Williams, Jones, | |
|Resources | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | |Gomez, Hadley, | |
| | |Harper, McCarty, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Mark Stone, Wood | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Roger | |
| | |Hernández, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
AB 2029
Page 2
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Extends the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project
(Pilot) from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2023, and expands it
by allowing road construction and larger trees to be harvested
in forest land without a timber harvest permit (THP).
EXISTING LAW, pursuant to the Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act
(FPA):
1)Prohibits timber operations unless a THP has been prepared by
a registered professional forester (Forester) and approved by
the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE).
Considers a THP the functional equivalent of an environmental
impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality
Act (CEQA).
2)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 (FPR) adopted by
the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board).
3)Exempts various tree removal activities from THPs, including
Christmas tree farms, rights-of-way for utility lines,
conversions of less than three acres, fire prevention,
defensible space, and dead, dying and diseased trees.
Requires ministerial permits for certain exemptions, called a
notice of exemption (NOE), and subjects projects to inspection
by CAL FIRE.
4)Creates an exemption from THP known as the Pilot Exemption.
AB 2029
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Limits harvesting under the exemption to the following:
a) Only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter;
b) Tree harvesting must decrease fuel continuity and
increase quadratic mean diameter of the stand;
c) No new road construction or reconstruction;
d) No known sites of rare, threatened, or endangered plants
or animals will be disturbed, threatened, or damaged; and,
e) The activates are limited to the Sierra Nevada Region or
the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Modoc,
Sonoma, Siskiyou, or Trinity.
5)Requires CAL FIRE to maintain records regarding the use of
exemptions granted in order to evaluate the impact of the
exemptions on fuel reduction and natural resources in areas
where an exemption has been used.
6)Requires CAL FIRE to conduct an onsite inspection to determine
compliance with the Pilot.
7)Sunsets the Pilot three years after the effective date of
regulations adopted by the Board (January 1, 2018).
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriation
Committee:
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1)Increased personnel costs and workload for CAL FIRE to perform
on-sight inspections and monitor projects including the
evaluation of roads for proper location, construction and
maintenance. CAL FIRE estimates they will require an
additional three Forester I positions at an annual cost of
$650,000 (Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund).
2)Potential one-time costs in the $200,000 range for initial
hiring and equipment purchases. (Timber Regulation and Forest
Restoration Fund).
COMMENTS:
1)Background. California has regulated forest practices on
private lands since at least 1945. The Legislature assessed
the effectiveness of this approach and concluded that the
industry could not be relied on to ensure proper water
quality, forest health, and adequate timber supply. In 1957,
the state Senate Interim Committee on Soil and Beach Erosion
found that timber harvesting and logging road construction
contributed to stream erosion and resultant impacts to fish
populations. In 1962, the Assembly Interim Committee on
Natural Resources, Planning, and Public Works concluded that
timber regulations were inadequately enforced, leading to
deleterious effects on water quality, fishing, and recreation.
In 1967, after three years of study, the Assembly
Subcommittee on Forest Practices and Watershed Management
recommended that the basic state policy governing forest
practices should be broadened and strengthened. These
collective findings, coupled with a 1971 report that
identified logging as a primary factor in an 80% decline of
salmon and steelhead populations, motivated the Legislature to
pass the FPA in 1973. The FPA requires THPs, which are a
complex discretionary permit that acts as an EIR under CEQA.
AB 1492 (Budget Committee), Chapter 289, Statutes of 2012,
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extended the life of THPs from three years to five years with
an option for a two-year extension. AB 1492 also shifted
state fees for a THP to an assessment on all lumber products
to fund agency review. However, a THP can still cost
landowners tens of thousands of dollars to prepare.
2)Author's statement:
The Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Program regulations took
effect January 2015. Since then 2087 acres have been
treated. During this time a few issues have come up in
regards to access, counties eligible, diameter and the
sunset. We propose allowing a temporary access road up
to 600 feet in order to allow access to hard to reach
stands in order to be able to treat more acres. We
realized in doing AB 744 we neglected to capture complete
counties so we want to correct this by including the
whole county of the existing list, no new counties are
being added. Another issue has come up in regards to
older stands. These stands have larger trees and are
much more dense. In order to be able to utilize the
exemption and treat more land we would like to see a
diameter increase to 28 inches. This will allow older
stands to be treated while still keeping the overall
stand diameter increasing. In light of these adjustments
we want to make, we would like to extend the sunset out
another 5 years to 2022 in order to get a more concise
accounting of how it's working.
3)Pilot. Since 2015, there have been 16 Pilot projects treating
AB 2029
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the forest to prevent fire with one violation for harvesting
trees over 24 inches. CAL FIRE has not yet evaluated whether
the Pilot has been effective at preventing fires. CAL FIRE
has also not been able to demonstrate that overall diameter is
increasing on areas using the exemption. As an exemption, CAL
FIRE has no ability to work with applicants to ensure projects
are strategically located to be most effective in fire
prevention. The exemption has also been used mostly by large
timber operators who are in a better positon to afford
conducting a THP than small land owners. Therefore, it is
unclear what the value of the Pilot has been. However, the
Pilot has only been in effect for a year and half. One reason
it might not be used more frequently is because of the tree
mortality crisis. Forest land owners may be using the dead,
dying, and diseased trees exemption instead because so many
trees qualify for it.
Analysis Prepared by:
Michael Jarred / NAT. RES. / (916) 319-2092 FN:
0003107