BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2029 (Dahle) - Timber harvesting plans: exemptions
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|Version: May 27, 2016 |Policy Vote: N.R. & W. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 8, 2016 |Consultant: Narisha Bonakdar |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: AB 2029 extends the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot
Project (Pilot) from January 1, 2018 to January 1, 2023. The
bill also allows specified road construction to occur and
expands the tree diameter that may be harvested on forest land
without a Timber Harvest Plan (THP).
Fiscal
Impact:
One-time costs of approximately $200,000 (Timber Regulation
and Forest Restoration Fund) to the California Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFIRE).
Approximately $647,515 annually (Timber Regulation and Forest
Restoration Fund) to CalFIRE for staffing costs.
Background: Forest Practices. California has regulated forest
practices on private lands since at least 1945. In 1973, after
discovering, among other things that logging was a primary
factor in an 80 percent decline of salmon and steelhead
populations, the legislature passed the Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest
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Practice Act (Act). The Act prohibits timber operations unless
a timber harvest plan (THP) has been prepared by a registered
professional forester and approved by the CalFIRE. The THP is a
functional equivalent of an environmental impact report required
under the California Environmental Quality Act.
AB 1492 (Committee on Budget, Chapter 289, Statutes of 2012)
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.
However, a THP can still cost tens of thousands of dollars to
complete.
Existing law exempts various tree removal activities from THPs.
These include 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. However,
a ministerial permit, called a notice of exemption (NOE), is
required for certain exemptions, and exempt projects are subject
to inspection by CalFIRE.
Proposed Law:
This bill extends the Pilot from January 1, 2018 to January 1,
2023, and expands the activities eligible under the exemption.
Specifically, the bill:
1)Makes findings and declarations about the benefits of the
thinning of forests.
2)Exempts the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads
of 600 feet or less on slopes of 40 percent or less from THP.
3)Expands the allowable tree stump diameter from 24 inches to 26
inches (measured at eight inches above ground level).
4)Expands the territory allowed to participate to include
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Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado,
Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa,
Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta,
Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne,
or Yuba Counties, or in any combination of these areas (from
the Sierra Nevada Region, Modoc, Siskiyou, or Trinity)
5)Specifies that the amendments made to the exemption become
operative on January 1, 2018, or when the report required in
this bill is submitted to the Legislature, whichever occurs
first.
6)Sunsets the Pilot on January 1, 2023.
7)Requires CalFIRE and the Board, on or before December 31,
2017, to submit a report to the Legislature on the trends in
the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of the
exemptions and emergency notice provisions, and to make
recommendations to improve the use of those exemptions and
emergency notice provisions.
8)Requires that the CDFW, regional water quality control boards,
and the public have the opportunity to participate in the
development of the report. Sunsets the report provision on
January 1, 2019.
Related Legislation:
AB 417 (Dahle, Chapter 182, Statutes of 2015) expanded Board
authority to develop alternative stocking standards, when
necessary, to include the average residual basal area approach
of stocking.
AB 1958 (Wood, 2016) creates an exemption for the restoration of
oak woodlands that would allow landowners to remove conifer
trees that are crowding out oak without a timber harvest plan,
if various restrictions are met. This bill is pending hearing in
Senate Appropriation Committee.
Staff
Comments:
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Purpose. According to the author, the pilot project has thus far
treated about 2,000 acres and those who have used the exemption
have reported barriers which include: (1) Lack of access to land
which is why the author seeks language to include a road
construction amendment; (2) Lands in counties that have some
lands within the boundaries of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy but
some lands not within the conservancy are unable to use the
exemption on those lands not within the conservancy's
boundaries; (3) The diameter limitation of 24 inches is too
restrictive; and (4) the 2018 sunset is fast approaching and
California continues to face a high risk of catastrophic
wildfire.
Fiscal notes. According to CalFIRE, since CalFIRE is still
required to monitor projects submitted under an Exemption Notice
and conduct onsite inspections following timber operations, this
bill would increase the Department's workload. The increase in
the complexity of the monitoring of these projects due to the
evaluation of forest roads for proper location, construction,
and maintenance would require 3.0 Forester I positions for a
total cost of $647,515 annually, with one-time costs of $199,000
for equipment. This increased workload could continue for up to
four years following the sunset date of this bill since
landowners would have a year following submittal of an Exemption
Notice to complete timber operations and any road construction
in watersheds with anadromous salmonids would need to be
monitored for three years following the completion of timber
operations.
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