Amended in Assembly March 28, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2146

Introduced by Assembly Member Patterson

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bigelow, Brough, begin delete and Olsen end delete begin insert Chávez, Jones, Olsen, and Steinorth end insert )

February 17, 2016

An act begin insert to amend Section 39719 of the Health and Safety Code, and end insert to add Section 4599 to the Public Resources Code, relating to forestry and fire protection.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2146, as amended, 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 begin delete provide that end delete begin insert continuously appropriate end insert $200,000,000 from the begin insert annual proceeds of the end insert fund begin delete shall be made available annually, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act, end delete to the department for activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state caused by uncontrolled forest fires. begin insert The bill would authorize the department to use these funds to provide payments to local governmental entities that carry out fire prevention activities and incentives for actions by private parties to reduce the risk or intensity of wildfires or improve the resiliency of lands prone to wildfires. end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) California continues to experience catastrophic wildfires of
a magnitude previously unknown. Unlike traditional regenerative
forest fires, modern forest fires are extremely destructive with
devastating economic and environmental consequences, including
loss of life and property destruction, job losses, erosion,
downstream drinking water quality degradation, proliferation of
nonnative and invasive species, nonnative species choking out
reemerging native vegetation, soil sterilization, ecosystem
destruction, and tremendous amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.

(b) While the state focuses its climate change efforts on reducing
greenhouse gas emissions from industrial sources, it is turning a
blind eye to the equally significant greenhouse gas and short-lived
climate pollutant emissions resulting from forest fires.

(c) The 2015 calendar year brought disastrous fires of high
intensity, including the Rough Fire, which burned over 150,000
acres over a two-months period, injuring 12 people; the 2015
Valley Fire, which caused four civilian casualties, four injured
firefighters, over 1,000 destroyed homes, 27 destroyed multifamily
structures, and over 600 other structures destroyed, prompting the
declaration of a major disaster from the President of the United
States; and the Butte Fire that continued for over a month, resulting
in two deaths and destroying 475 homes and over 350 other
structures.

(d) The 2013 Rim Fire burned over 250,000 acres over 69 days
and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in economic and
environmental damage; destroyed significant habitat for a number
of California’s rarest species; and demanded more than $125
million in firefighting resources. It is estimated that the Rim Fire
released over 11 million metric tons of greenhouse gases, which
is equivalent to the annual emissions of 2.3 million cars. Experts
have attributed the fire’s exponential growth to a century’s worth
of fuel left behind due to historical fire suppression policies and
practices.

(e) The 2007 Angora Fire resulted in roughly 143,000 tons of
greenhouse gas emissions, or approximately 46.2 tons per acre.
Studies indicate that those emissions could have been lowered to
12 tons per acre if the tree density were reduced from
approximately 273 trees per acre to the natural 60 trees per acre
level.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 39719 of the end insert begin insert Health and Safety Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

39719.  

(a) The Legislature shall appropriate the annual
proceeds of the fund for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gas
emissions in this state in accordance with the requirements of
Section 39712.

(b) To carry out a portion of the requirements of subdivision
(a), annual proceeds are continuously appropriated for the
following:

(1) Beginning in the 2015-16 fiscal year, and notwithstanding
Section 13340 of the Government Code, 35 percent of annual
proceeds are continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal
years, for transit, affordable housing, and sustainable communities
programs as begin delete following: end delete begin insert follows: end insert

(A) Ten percent of the annual proceeds of the fund is hereby
continuously appropriated to the Transportation Agency for the
Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program created by Part 2
(commencing with Section 75220) of Division 44 of the Public
Resources Code.

(B) Five percent of the annual proceeds of the fund is hereby
continuously appropriated to the Low Carbon Transit Operations
Program created by Part 3 (commencing with Section 75230) of
Division 44 of the Public Resources Code. Funds shall be allocated
by the Controller, according to requirements of the program, and
pursuant to the distribution formula in subdivision (b) or (c) of
Section 99312 of, and Sections 99313 and 99314 of, the Public
Utilities Code.

(C) Twenty percent of the annual proceeds of the fund is hereby
continuously appropriated to the Strategic Growth Council for the
Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program created
by Part 1 (commencing with Section 75200) of Division 44 of the
Public Resources Code. Of the amount appropriated in this
subparagraph, no less than 10 percent of the annual proceeds, shall
be expended for affordable housing, consistent with the provisions
of that program.

(2) Beginning in the 2015-16 fiscal year, notwithstanding
Section 13340 of the Government Code, 25 percent of the annual
proceeds of the fund is hereby continuously appropriated to the
High-Speed Rail Authority for the following components of the
initial operating segment and Phase I Blended System as described
in the 2012 business plan adopted pursuant to Section 185033 of
the Public Utilities Code:

(A) Acquisition and construction costs of the project.

(B) Environmental review and design costs of the project.

(C) Other capital costs of the project.

(D) Repayment of any loans made to the authority to fund the
project.

begin insert

(c) Beginning in the 2016-17 fiscal year, and notwithstanding
Section 13340 of the Government Code, two hundred million
dollars ($200,000,000) of the annual proceeds of the fund is hereby
continuously appropriated to the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection for activities as described in Section 4599 of the Public
Resources Code.

end insert begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  In determining the amount of annual proceeds of the fund
for purposes of the calculation in subdivision (b), the funds subject
to Section 39719.1 shall not be included.

begin delete SEC. 2. end delete

begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

Section 4599 is added to the Public Resources Code,
to read:

4599.  

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert The begin delete sum of two hundred million dollars
($200,000,000) from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created
pursuant to Section 16428.8 of the Government Code, shall be
made available annually to the department, upon appropriation in
the annual Budget Act, for end delete begin insert department shall use moneys
appropriated pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 39719 of the
Health and Safety Code to fund end insert activities that reduce greenhouse
gas emissions in the state caused by uncontrolled forest fires,
including, but not limited to, vegetation management, forest
overgrowth reduction, and measures to ensure that future fires are
more consistent with the historic regenerative fire regime.

begin insert

(b) The department may, and is encouraged to, use funds
appropriated pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 39719 of the
Health and Safety Code to provide both of the following:

end insert begin insert

(A) Payments to local governmental entities that carry out fire
prevention activities.

end insert begin insert

(B) Incentives for actions by private parties to reduce the risk
or intensity of wildfires or improve the resiliency of lands prone
to wildfires.

end insert