AB 2146, as introduced, Patterson. Forestry and fire protection: greenhouse gas emissions.
Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention to implement various fire prevention programs intended to protect forest resources and prevent uncontrollable wildfires. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires that all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the State Air Resources Board from the auction or sale of allowances as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for greenhouse gas emissions reduction activities.
This bill would provide that $200,000,000 from the fund shall be made available annually, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act, to the department for activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state caused by uncontrolled forest fires.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:
3(a) California continues to experience catastrophic wildfires of
4a magnitude previously unknown. Unlike traditional regenerative
5forest fires, modern forest fires are extremely destructive with
6devastating economic and environmental consequences, including
7loss of life and property destruction, job losses, erosion,
8downstream drinking water quality degradation, proliferation of
9nonnative and invasive species, nonnative species choking out
10reemerging native vegetation, soil sterilization, ecosystem
11destruction, and tremendous amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.
12(b) While the state focuses its climate change efforts
on reducing
13greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources, it is turning a
14blind eye to the equally significant greenhouse gas and short-lived
15climate pollutant emissions resulting from forest fires.
16(c) The 2015 calendar year brought disastrous fires of high
17intensity, including the Rough Fire, which burned over 150,000
18acres over a two-months period, injuring 12 people; the 2015
19Valley Fire, which caused four civilian casualties, four injured
20firefighters, over 1,000 destroyed homes, 27 destroyed multifamily
21structures, and over 600 other structures destroyed, prompting the
22declaration of a major disaster from the President of the United
23States; and the Butte Fire that continued for over a month, resulting
24in two deaths and destroying 475 homes and over 350 other
25structures.
26(d) The 2013 Rim Fire burned over 250,000 acres over 69 days
27and caused hundreds of millions of
dollars in economic and
28environmental damage; destroyed significant habitat for a number
29of California’s rarest species; and demanded more than $125
30million in firefighting resources. It is estimated that the Rim Fire
31released over 11 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, which
32is equivalent to the annual emissions of 2.3 million cars. Experts
33have attributed the fire’s exponential growth to a century’s worth
34of fuel left behind due to historical fire suppression policies and
35practices.
36(e) The 2007 Angora Fire resulted in roughly 143,000 tons of
37greenhouse gas emissions, or approximately 46.2 tons per acre.
38Studies indicate that those emissions could have been lowered to
P3 112 tons per acre if the tree density were reduced from
2approximately 273 trees per acre to the natural 60 trees per acre
3level.
Section 4599 is added to the Public Resources Code,
5to read:
The sum of two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000)
7from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created pursuant to
8Section 16428.8 of the Government Code, shall be made available
9annually to the department, upon appropriation in the annual
10Budget Act, for activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in
11the state caused by uncontrolled forest fires, including, but not
12limited to, vegetation management, forest overgrowth reduction,
13and measures to ensure that future fires are more consistent with
14the historic regenerative fire regime.
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