BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    






           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE       BILL NO: scr 12
          SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN               AUTHOR:  dutton
                                                         VERSION: 3/09/09
          Analysis by:  Jennifer Gress                   FISCAL:  yes
          Hearing date:  March 31, 2009









          SUBJECT:

          The Steve Farris Memorial Highway

          DESCRIPTION:

          This resolution designates State Highway Route 330 in the County  
          of San Bernardino as the "Steve Faris Memorial Highway."

          ANALYSIS:

           This resolution  :  

           Designates State Highway Route 330 (approximately 15 miles in  
            length) in the County of San Bernardino as the "Steve Faris  
            Memorial Highway."

           Requests the California Department of Transportation  
            (Caltrans) to determine the cost of erecting appropriate  
            signs, consistent with the signing requirements for the state  
            highway system, and, upon receiving donations from nonstate  
            sources sufficient to cover that cost, to erect those signs.
          
          COMMENTS:

           1.Background  .  Battalion Chief Steve Faris of the California  
            Department of Forestry and Fire Protection drove thousands of  
            miles up and down State Highway Route 330 with the purpose of  
            promoting safety for mountain top communities.  In 1998,   
            Battalion Chief Faris helped establish the Mountain Rim Fire  
            Safe Council, which was the first of more than 14 councils  
            that are now active in the counties of San Bernardino and  




          SCR 12 (DUTTON)                                          Page 2

                                                                       


            Riverside, and was instrumental in bringing together the fire  
            safe councils to form the Inland Empire Fire Safe Alliance.

            In 2002, Battalion Chief Faris was intimately involved in the  
            establishment of the Mountain Area Safety Taskforce (MAST),  
            which brought local, state, and federal agencies together to  
            address the critical fire situation presented by the bark  
            beetle-drought tree mortality issues.  The consolidated  
            efforts of MAST and fire safe councils contributed  
            significantly to the safe evacuation of more than 60,000  
            people during the Old Fire of 2003.  
           
            Battalion Chief Faris died in an automobile accident in  
            September 2006.  By designating State Highway Route 330 in his  
            honor, this resolution pays tribute to Battalion Chief Faris'  
            many contributions to the communities he served.  

           2.Technical amendment  .  Page 2, line 25, delete ","

           POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the Committee before noon on  
                     Wednesday,                              
                      March 25, 2009)

               SUPPORT:  American Federation of State, County and  
          Municipal Employees 
                         Rancho Cucamonga Fire Safe Council 
          
               OPPOSED:  None received.