BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 380
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 21, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 380 (Chesbro) - As Introduced: February 14, 2011
SUBJECT : Resources: watersheds
SUMMARY : Provides direction to the California Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) and Board of Forestry (Board)
when implementing pilot projects and developing guidelines
required by regulations promulgated to protect and restore the
riparian zone in watersheds with listed anadromous salmonids.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires CDF to administer the laws and regulations associated
with the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act (Act) of 1973.
The purpose of the Act is "to encourage prudent and
responsible forest resource management calculated to serve the
public's need for timber and other forest products, while
giving consideration to the public's need for watershed
protection, fisheries and wildlife, sequestration of carbon
dioxide, and recreational opportunities alike in this and
future generations."
2)Requires the Board to adopt rules to address the unreasonable
effects of timber operations on the beneficial uses of waters.
3)Establishes a goal under section 916.9 of the California Code
of Regulations (� 916.9) that every timber operation be
planned and conducted to protect, maintain, and contribute to
restoration of properly functioning salmonid habitat and
listed salmonid species.
4)Requires CDF and Board staff under � 916.9 to implement two
pilot projects to protect and restore the riparian zone in
watersheds with listed anadromous salmonid. These projects
must be implemented using "site-specific or non-standard
operational provisions" and CDF and Board staff must provide
the Board with recommendations of detailed guidelines for the
application of site-specific or non-standard operational
provisions.
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5)Requires the pilot projects and guidelines created under �
916.9 to address cumulative and planning watershed impacts.
6)Requires CDF and Board staff to work with agencies,
stakeholders, and appropriate scientific participants in a
transparent process when implementing the � 916.9 pilot
projects and preparing the guidelines. A report on the
progress of the pilot projects and implementation guidelines
must be presented to the Board by June 30, 2011.
THIS BILL:
1)Pilot projects. Requires implementation of a pilot project to
protect and restore the riparian zone in watersheds with
listed anadromous salmonids to:
a) Occur on state forest land only when a private landowner
is not willing to undertake a pilot project on private
lands.
b) Provide the industry, agencies, and the public with the
opportunity to participate in the development of a pilot
project in a transparent manner.
c) Have one or more of the following goals: restore
fisheries and wildlife habitat; reduce the risk of
wildfire; recover forest characteristics that will produce
high-quality timber; reduce sedimentation and soil loss;
achieve long-term carbon sequestration; and restore and
recover unique attributes of a given planning watershed.
d) Be consistent with state and federal mandates governing
coho recovery and restoration of impaired water bodies.
2)Guidelines. Requires that a pilot project result in the
development of guidelines for conducting a cumulative effects
evaluations on a planning watershed scale and address the
potential project-specific planning watershed cumulative
effects of timber harvesting activities. In particular, the
guidelines must require:
a) The spatial scale of the cumulative effects analysis to
be consistent with the site-specific and cumulative impacts
of the project in the watershed and its physical processes.
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b) The use of reproducible, quantitative methods of
evaluation as the primary means of determining baseline
physical, chemical, or biological parameters, in estimating
cumulative impacts, and in monitoring implementation of
mitigation measures.
c) Documentation of the conclusions and recommendations.
d) An evaluation by a person or entity with relevant
training and experience.
i) CDF and the Board must consult and seek comment from
appropriate scientific experts in order to develop
evaluation guidelines that are feasible, enforceable, and
protective of the public trust. CDF and the Board may
draw from information in the state of Washington's Water
Shed Analysis Manual or the Methods Manual developed by
the state of California's North Coast Watershed
Assessment Program when developing guidelines.
3)Funding. Requires funding and personnel to be utilized from
existing resources within the department and responsible
agencies. Additional funding must also be sought from private
and public sources, with an emphasis on receiving support from
educational institutions.
4)Information. Requires all documents that form the basis for
the pilot projects to be posted on the CDF website.
Additionally, the Board or a technical advisory committee must
develop recommendations for providing public access to
documents that assist the CDF in administering timber harvest
regulations for actions that occur on a planning watershed
scale.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
AB 380
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COMMENTS :
On September 9, 2009, the Board adopted the Anadromous Salmonid
Protection (ASP) rules, which include � 916.9, for commercial
timber harvesting on private land in watersheds where anadromous
salmonid species are designated as threatened or endangered
species under the state or federal Endangered Species Acts.
These rules contain different requirements for timber operations
based on the geographic location of the watershed and geomorphic
characteristics of the watercourses involved. In recognizing
the high degree of biological and physical variability
throughout the state, the Board included "site-specific plan"
provisions that provide flexibility for landowners to develop
site-specific riparian management to harvest trees that would
have otherwise been retained. Site-specific measures are
intended to be in lieu of standard operational provisions that
require, for example, minimum buffer zones around streams and
prohibitions on harvesting or road-building. To receive
approval, these site-specific plans must result in benefits to
the riparian zone that are equal to or more favorable than those
expected from the prescriptive rules.
For successful implementation of site-specific plans, the Board
found it necessary to, among other things, provide pilot
projects and guidance documents. Section 916.9 specifically
states that "the pilot projects and guidance shall address
cumulative and planning watershed impacts?" The sponsor of this
bill is concerned that this particular provision is too general
and does not provide enough direction. To ensure that the
guidelines resulting from the pilot projects are developed
appropriately, this bill would specifically require that
cumulative impacts be adequately addressed; reproducible methods
of evaluation be used; there be documentation of the conclusions
and recommendations; and there be an evaluation by a trained and
experienced person. According to the sponsor, these
requirements will provide valuable guidance for future timber
operations utilizing site specific plans and considering
cumulative effects.
This bill is not specific to � 916.9, as it applies to any pilot
project aimed at protecting and restoring the riparian zone in
watersheds with listed anadromous salmonids. However, at this
time, the pilot projects required under � 916.9 are the only
known pilot projects that would be affected by this bill.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Forests Forever (sponsor)
Sierra Club California
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092