BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1207
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1207 (Kehoe)
As Amended August 20, 2010
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :23-11
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 7-1 NATURAL RESOURCES 7-0
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|Ayes:|Smyth, Caballero, |Ayes:|Chesbro, Gilmore, |
| |Arambula, Bradford, | |Brownley, |
| |Davis, Solorio, Swanson | |De Leon, Hill, Huffman, |
| | | |Skinner |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Knight | | |
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Fuentes, Bradford, | | |
| |Huffman, Coto, Davis, De | | |
| |Leon, Gatto, Hall, | | |
| |Skinner, Solorio, | | |
| |Torlakson, Torrico | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, | | |
| |Nielsen, Norby | | |
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SUMMARY : Expands the required contents of safety elements that
cover state responsibility area lands (SRA) and very high fire
hazard severity zones, as specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR)
to update its "Fire Hazard Planning" document on or before
January 1, 2012.
2)Requires cities and counties, prior to January 1, 2015, and
thereafter upon each revision
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of the housing element, to review and update their safety
elements as needed to address the risk of fire for land
classified as SRA and land classified very high fire hazard
severity zones.
3)Requires this review to consider the advice included in the
most recent publication of OPR's "Fire Hazard Planning"
document.
4)Requires that the review also include all of the following:
a) Information about fire hazards, including fire hazard
severity zone maps, historical data on wildfires,
information about wildfire hazard areas available from the
U.S. Geological Survey, the general location and
distribution of existing and planned development, and
public fire protection agencies;
b) A set of comprehensive goals, policies, and objectives,
including avoiding or minimizing wildfire hazards
associated with new development, identifying construction
design or methods to minimize the potential for ignition or
spread of a structure fire to wildlands or surrounding
areas if new development is located in SRA lands, locating
new essential public facilities outside SRA land and very
high fire hazard severity zones, and working cooperatively
with public fire protection agencies; and,
c) Establishing feasible implementation measures designed
to carry out the goals, policies, and objectives.
5)Requires OPR, at the next California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA) guidelines update on or after January 1, 2011, to
prepare guidelines recommending changes to the initial study
checklist for the inclusion of questions related to fire
hazard impacts for projects in an SRA or within very high
hazard severity zones.
6)Requires, after receipt and review, the Secretary of the
Natural Resources Agency to certify and adopt the proposed
guideline changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the director of the Department of Forestry and Fire
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Protection (CAL FIRE) to identify areas in the state as very
high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide
criteria and the severity of fire hazard that is expected to
prevail in those areas as determined by fuel loading, slope,
fire weather, and other relevant factors.
2)Defines SRAs as areas of the state in which the financial
responsibility of preventing and suppressing fires has been
determined by the Board of Forestry (Board) to be primarily
the responsibility of the state.
3)Requires the Board to identify as SRAs all lands where the
state has the primary financial responsibility for preventing
and suppressing fires.
4)Requires the Board to map SRAs and provide this map to county
assessors and update this map every five years.
5)Excludes from SRAs, federal lands and lands within the
exterior boundaries of any city, except a city and county with
a population of less than 25,000 if, at the time the city and
county government is established, the county contains no
municipal corporations.
6)Requires CAL FIRE, within SRAs, to provide wildland fire
prevention and firefighting personnel and equipment, and may
provide rescue, first aid, and other emergency services
if the activity does not require additional funds.
7)Requires the director of CAL FIRE to classify and update or
reclassify, if necessary, SRAs into fire hazard severity zones
for the purposes of fire prevention and suppression.
8)Requires local governments to adopt a general plan that
includes, among other things, a safety element, and requires a
local government with SRAs or a very high fire hazard severity
zone to submit a draft safety element to the Board for its
review and comment prior to its adoption or amendment.
9)Requires, under CEQA, lead agencies with the principal
responsibility for carrying out or approving a proposed
discretionary project to prepare a negative declaration,
mitigated declaration, or environmental impact report (EIR)
for this action, unless the project is exempt from CEQA (CEQA
includes various statutory exemptions, as well as categorical
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exemptions in the CEQA guidelines).
10)Requires, under CEQA, an initial study to be prepared to
determine whether a project may have a significant effect on
the environment.
11)Requires OPR to prepare and develop proposed guidelines to
implement CEQA, and submit them to the Secretary of the
Natural Resources Agency for certification and adoption.
12)Requires OPR to review CEQA guidelines at least every two
years and recommend changes or amendments to the Secretary of
the Natural Resources Agency for certification and adoption.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, there are:
1)Annual costs of approximately $155,000 (GF) to CAL FIRE to
provide guideline assistance to OPR, provide administrative
support to the Board, and assist local agencies. (CAL FIRE
asserts that the minimum cost to comply with the bill is
between $570,000 and $1.5 million (GF) for a position for
guideline assistance, a position to provide administrative
support to the Board, and up to 11 positions, for assistance
to local agencies. Calfire additionally claims that, to
effectively review safety elements and consult on CEQA issues
and to update Very High Severity Zone (VHSZ) maps, it needs
about $1 million (GF) in annual staffing, IT, and operational
expenses.)
2)One-time costs of about $50,000 (GF) to OPR to develop and
update its guidelines.
COMMENTS : According to the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO),
local land use decisions are responsible for an increasing
density of homes in the wildland urban interface (WUI) but the
consequences of those decisions - increased fire risk and
medical emergencies - are increasingly the responsibility of the
state. In its analysis of the 2008-09 budget, LAO found that
CAL FIRE's budget has increased 150% since 1997-98. One of the
cost drivers of CAL FIRE's growing expenditures is increasing
development in the WUI. Despite the fact that the total acreage
in SRAs has remained stable over the last 15 years, the number
of housing units in SRAs has increased by 15% over this period.
Based on 2005 data, LAO reports that there are about 870,000
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housing units in SRAs, and the number is increasing at an
accelerating pace.
The author's office notes that "it is in the state's best
interest to ensure that cities and counties do all they can to
engage in comprehensive and consistent fire prevention and fire
protection planning as early in the local land use planning
process as possible."
Following recent wildfires, there are concerns over reducing
loss of lives and property, high costs of fire protection, and
addressing those losses and costs through land use planning.
This bill expands the required contents of safety elements
covering SRA lands and very high fire hazard severity zones and
also requires OPR to revise CEQA guidelines to change the
initial study to address fire hazard impacts.
Support Arguments: The League of California Cities supports
this bill stating that "planning for the health and safety of
citizens necessarily involves the consideration of and planning
for very high fire hazard zones. The League believes it is
appropriate that the CEQA guidelines be amended to address this
consideration and the changes to the general plan law outline a
logical process for planning for new development." Moreover,
the League believes that this bill "may actually save cities
money in the long term. When dangerous fires emerge, cities up
and down the state send fire fighters to assist under mutual aid
agreements. While the time and cost of these fire fighters are
reimbursed, many indirect costs - such as overtime paid to the
fire fighters who stay home to cover the shifts of those who
left - are not. To the extent better planning will lead to less
property at risk of severe fire hazards, local agencies up and
down the state will save money."
Opposition Arguments: In their letter of oppose unless amended,
the California State Association of Counties and the Regional
Council of Rural Counties state we "understand the author's
interest in strengthening existing laws to ensure additional
consideration of fire safety issues in the land use planning and
development processes. However, we must oppose
the provision of the bill that would have the affect of
requiring cities and counties with land designated as SRA and
very high fire hazard severity zones, to amend their general
plan safety elements to address fire safety issues in a more
comprehensive manner. We are concerned with the potential
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implementation costs which will be in the thousands of dollars
depending on the amount of public outreach, controversy, and
environmental review. The bill indicates that the local agency
may levy a fee to pay for the program mandated by this measure.
It is unrealistic to expect cities and counties to recover all
of these costs through the imposition of charges, fees, or
assessments."
Similar legislation:
SB 505 (Kehoe, 2009), vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, is
almost identical to
this bill. In his veto message, the Governor stated "while I
concur that counties must ensure that adequate fire protection
is available in an area before approving additional development,
I am concerned that this bill will result in additional General
Fund costs and create significant cost pressures to maintain
State Responsibility Areas and fire hazard severity zone maps.
In addition, I am also concerned with the cost pressures this
bill will place upon local governments to implement this
measure."
AB 666 (Jones, 2009), vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, would
have required the legislative body of a county to make three
specified findings before approving a tentative map or a parcel
map for an area located in an SRA or a very high fire hazard
severity zone as designated by CAL FIRE.
SB 1500 (Kehoe, 2008) would have prohibited a county from
approving a proposed project, as defined, in an SRA if the Board
determines that structural fire protection is a local
responsibility and no fire protection services are provided, as
specified. This measure died on the Assembly Floor.
AB 2447 (Jones, 2008), almost identical to what is currently in
AB 666, was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. However, the
veto message references components of previous versions of AB
2447, not the final version that was passed by the Legislature.
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916) 319-39
FN: 0006368