BILL NUMBER: SB 557 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 23, 2004
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 15, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 7, 2004
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 5, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 29, 2003
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 7, 2003
INTRODUCED BY Senator Kuehl
FEBRUARY 20, 2003
An act to add Article 10 (commencing with Section 4629) to Chapter
8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, relating to
forest practices, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 557, as amended, Kuehl. Forest practices: timber products
excise tax.
Existing law provides for the regulation of forest practices.
Under existing law, money in the Forest Resources Improvement Fund
may be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified
purposes relating to forest resources and to reimburse the General
Fund for the costs of operation of state forests administered by the
Director of Forestry and Fire Protection.
This bill would impose an excise tax on a distributor for the
privilege of distributing timber products , as defined, in
the amount of 2 cents per board foot or board foot equivalent. The
bill would create the Timber Harvest Review, Fire Protection and
Forest Restoration Account in the General Fund. The moneys in the
fund would be required to be spent, upon appropriation by
Legislature, to administer and review operations directly connected
with the review of timber harvesting plans, for transfer to the
Forest Resources Improvement Fund, and to provide grants to local
agencies and voluntary associations to undertake hazardous fuel
reduction projects on forest lands to reduce the costs of wildland
fire suppression, improve forest health, and protect homes and
communities. The bill would require the hazardous fuel reduction
funds to be appropriated to the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection to operate a grant program to fund hazardous fuel
reduction projects that meet specified requirements.
The bill would appropriate an unspecified sum ,
from the Timber Harvest Review, Fire Protection, and Forest
Restoration Account to the State Board of Equalization ,
to implement the bill in the 2004-05 fiscal year.
This bill would result in a change in state taxes for the purpose
of increasing state revenues within the meaning of Section 3 of
Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would require
for passage the approval of2/3 of the membership of each house of
the Legislature.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. 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) Forested lands in California provide significant environmental
benefits, including serving as the source of more than half the
state's supply of drinking water, habitat for numerous wildlife and
plant species, some of which are rare, threatened, or endangered, the
source of raw materials for the timber products industry, and a
source of jobs for those who are employed in that industry.
(b) Regulation of timber harvesting practices, including timber
harvesting plans, nonindustrial timber management plans, exemptions,
and emergency notices has become increasingly complex and expensive,
even given the fact that some reviewing agencies review less than 20
percent of the proposed timber harvesting plans presented to them.
(c) The current budget crisis presents an opportunity to
reevaluate financing of the timber harvesting plan review process
that currently draws approximately twenty-one million dollars
($21,000,000) annually from the General Fund.
(d) It is appropriate that the public through the most broadly
based system that is practicable, support the timber harvesting plan
review process, contribute to the existing Forest Resources
Improvement Fund at the California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection that enhances the timberland environment, protects
wildlife habitat and provides incentives for timberland owners to
improve their environmental performance in harvesting timber, and
help fund the reduction of wildland fires in California that
threatens the economic base of the timber industry as well as
numerous rural communities.
(e) The economic pressures faced by the timber industry, caused by
globalization and imported timber products, is likely to mean a
protracted period of low prices that have already reduced the margin
of profitability of timber companies and the harvests of private
landowners in California.
(f) Under those conditions, it is inequitable to add twenty
million dollars ($20,000,000) or more in timber harvesting plan
review costs to applicants, many of whom are individual landowners.
If the approximately twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) were evenly
divided among the approximately 1,000 timber harvesting plans
applied for annually, the increase in review costs would be twenty
thousand dollars ($20,000) per timber harvesting plan application,
which is too onerous a burden.
(g) It is also inequitable to impose an increase in the yield tax
on timber producers that is not broadly based and that will further
add to costs of production in California that could potentially make
the price of California timber products less competitive in the
global marketplace.
(h) It is fair and equitable to require purchasers of timber
products to contribute to the public cost of reviewing timber
harvesting plan applications and further to contribute to the
watershed and habitat restoration that are vital public trust
resources that will also serve to rehabilitate California's
forestlands, as well as assist in the development of new and creative
techniques to protect those forest lands now and in the future.
(i) The Legislature has concluded that broadly based public
financial support for the review of timber harvest plan applications,
support of the Forest Resources Improvement Fund, and fuel reduction
efforts to protect timberlands and communities is a fair and
equitable approach given the state's budget crisis and given that
this approach will result in significant savings to the General Fund.
(j) As an alternative to a direct fee or tax on landowners and
industrial timberland owners who apply for timber harvest plan
permits, a timber products user fee for timber restoration and fire
risk reduction could generate sufficient funds to adequately review
timber harvesting plan applications, fund the removal of dead and
diseased trees that pose significant fire risks to California
timberlands, and fund the Forest Resources Improvement Fund.
SEC. 2. Article 10 (commencing with Section 4629) is added to
Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, to
read:
Article 10. Timber Harvest Review, Fire Protection, and Forest
Restoration Account
4629. Unless the context requires otherwise, the following
definitions apply to this article:
(a) "Account" means the Timber Harvest Review, Fire Protection,
and Forest Restoration Account.
(b) "Board" means the State Board of Equalization.
(c) "Board foot" means the cubic volume of sawn lumber equal to
144 cubic inches.
(d) "Board foot equivalent" means the calculated board foot volume
of wood fiber within various nonsawn wood products.
(1) For an engineered wood product, the board foot equivalent is
calculated based on the cubic volume of the product using its nominal
size calculated by multiplying its length, width, and thickness.
(2) For a nonsawn post, pile, pole, or other similar product, the
board foot equivalent is equal to the average cross-sectional area
times its length.
(3) For a nonuniform solid wood product, the board foot equivalent
is equal to the cubic volume calculated from the exterior dimensions
of a solid packed unit.
(e) "Distribution" means any of the following:
(1) The sale, donation, consignment for sale, barter, or other use
of timber products in this state.
(2) The importing of timber products into this state, and the
sale, donation, consignment for sale, barter, or use of the timber
products in this state unless the state is prohibited by the
Constitution or laws of the United States from imposing a tax with
respect to that sale, donation, consignment for sale, barter or use.
(3) The receiving in this state by a distributor of timber
products with respect to which there has been no prior taxable
distribution, or the receipt in this state by any person of timber
products with respect to which there has not been a prior
distribution on which tax has been paid pursuant to this part, and
the sale, donation, consignment for sale, barter, or use of the
timber products in this state
(f) "Distributor" means a person who, within the meaning of the
term "distribution" as defined in this section, distributes timber
products. "Distributor" does not include any person who qualifies as
a "timber owner" pursuant to Section 38104 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code. A sawmill, that grosses one hundred thousand
dollars ($100,000) or less annually, that would otherwise be subject
to this bill, is exempt from this article.
(g) "Redistribution" means the sale, donation, consignment for
sale, barter, or use in this state by a distributor of timber
products on which the tax in Section 4629.3 has been imposed based on
prior distribution of the timber products.
(h) "Engineered wood product" means a product, including, but not
limited to, veneer-based sheeting material, plywood, laminated veneer
lumber (LVL), parallel-laminated veneer (PLV), laminated beams,
I-joists, edge-glued material, or composite material, as cellulosic
fiberboard, hardboard, particleboard, waferboard, flakeboard,
oriented strandboard (OSB), or any other panel product where wood is
a component part.
(i) "Nominal size" means the dimensions used within the forest
practices industry by which lumber volume is calculated and sold and
not necessarily the exact dimensions of a product.
(j) "Person" means an individual, firm, partnership, joint
venture, association, social club, cooperative organization,
fraternal organization, corporation, limited liability company,
limited liability partnership, estate, trust, business trust,
receiver, trustee, syndicate, this state, any county, city, city and
county, municipality, district, public agency, or subdivision of this
state, or any other group or combination acting as a unit.
(k) "Timber product" means a product sold in California in which
wood or wood fiber is a principal component part, including, but not
limited to, a solid sawn board, an engineered wood product, or a
nonuniform solid wood product. Timber product does not include
a product sold at wholesale or retail that requires no further
manufacturing.
4629.1. The Timber Harvest Review, Fire Protection, and Forest
Restoration Account is hereby established in the General Fund.
Moneys in the account may be appropriated only for the uses set forth
in this article.
4629.2. The State Board of Equalization shall collect an excise
tax on all of the timber products described in Section 4629.3 that
are sold for consumption in California and deposit in the account all
taxes that are collected. The State Board of Equalization shall
administer the excise tax imposed pursuant to this article in
accordance with the Fee Collection Procedures Law (Part 30
(commencing with Section 55001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and
Taxation Code).
4629.3. For the privilege of distributing timber products, a
distributor shall pay an excise tax at a rate of two cents ($0.02)
for each board foot, or board foot equivalent, of timber products
distributed by that distributor. An excise tax on composite products
manufactured from various wood and nonwood materials shall conform
to the appropriate following subdivision that most closely applies to
the product that is sold:
(a) Solid wood products, including, but not limited to, dimension
lumber, posts and beams, boards, laminated beams, edge glued
materials, and timbers.
(b) Veneer-based and sheeting materials, including, but not
limited to, plywood, laminated veneer lumber (LVL),
parallel-laminated veneer (PLV), and composite materials such as
cellulosic fiberboard, hardboard, particleboard, waferboard,
flakeboard, oriented strandboard (OSB), and com-ply.
(c) Poles and pilings, including, but not limited to, posts and
similar products.
4629.4. (a) The excise tax imposed pursuant to Section 4629.3 is
due and payable to the board quarterly on or before the 25th day of
the calendar month following the quarterly period for which the tax
is due. A taxpayer, on or before the 25th day of the month following
each quarterly period, shall make out a return for the preceding
quarterly period, in the form prescribed by the board.
(b) All taxes imposed shall be paid in the form of remittances
payable to the State Board of Equalization. The board shall transmit
payment to the account and reimburse its administrative costs for
collecting, auditing, and making refunds associated with the account,
not to exceed 3 percent of the account per fiscal year. The board
shall prescribe by regulation a method by which a timber product
distributor shall calculate the board foot or board foot equivalent.
4629.5. Money in the account shall, when appropriated by the
Legislature, be spent solely for the following purposes:
(a) To pay for refunds pursuant to Part 30 (commencing with
Section 55001) of Division 2 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
(b) (1) To administer and review operations directly connected
with the review of timber harvesting plans of a department, board, or
commission that reviews timber harvesting undertaken pursuant to
this chapter, or pursuant to any regulation of the department or the
State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(2) For purposes of this paragraph, a reviewing department, board,
or commission means the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection,
the Department of Fish and Game, the Department of Conservation, and
certain California regional water quality control boards.
(c) For transfer to the Forest Resources Improvement Fund within
the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
(d) To provide grants to local agencies responsible for fire
protection and to voluntary associations, including fire safe
councils, to undertake hazardous fuel reduction projects on forest
lands to reduce the costs of wildland fire suppression, improve
forest health, and protect homes and communities.
(1) The Legislature shall appropriate the funds specified in this
subdivision to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to
operate a grant program to fund hazardous fuel reduction projects and
may reserve no more than 4 percent of the total appropriation for
its administrative costs.
(2) The department shall ensure that all grants made pursuant to
this subdivision fund only hazardous fuel reduction projects and
shall give first priority, in issuing these grants, to projects in
the urban-wildland interface that will help implement the California
Fire Plan.
(3) A hazardous fuel reduction project funded pursuant to this
subdivision shall meet all of the following requirements:
(A) The project shall result in the application of management
practices to wildlands in which the primary impact to the vegetation
is the reduction of surface and ladder fuels.
(B) The management practices that are applied by the project shall
include, but are not limited to prescribed fire, machine or hand
piling for burning, pruning and thinning.
(C) The tree removal shall be by the method known as thinning from
below, and shall be limited to trees that are 16 inches or less in
diameter at breast height.
(D) The treatments that reduce crown densities on timberlands
shall be included only for the purpose of affecting fire behavior,
and where it is reasonably demonstrated that the likelihood of crown
fire is reduced.
(E) A registered professional forester with the department or on
behalf of a private landowner shall do both of the following:
(i) Certify that the fuel reduction objectives were achieved for
removal of surface fuels, brush, and ladder fuels and were
accomplished by means that are consistent with this subdivision.
(ii) Certify that 80 percent or more of the treated landscape will
have a posttreatment fuel load that will result in a flamelength of
4 feet or less and a minimum of 8 feet separation from the ground to
the crown of live trees.
4629.6. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
revenues in any fiscal year may be accounted for on an accrued basis.
The department may borrow against anticipated revenues to the
Timber Harvest Review, Fire Protection, and Forest Restoration
Account to meet cashflow needs.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a loan obtained
pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be interest free. The department
shall repay the loan in a timely manner from revenues received into
the account.
4629.7. To implement this article in the 2004-05 fiscal year,
____ dollars ($____) is hereby appropriated from the Timber Harvest
Review, Fire Protection, and Forest Restoration Account to the State
Board of Equalization.