BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1506
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 26, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
AB 1506 (Jeffries) - As Amended: March 8, 2012
SUBJECT : State responsibility areas: fire prevention fees
SUMMARY : Repeals the fire prevention fee, which, beginning this
year, will be collected to fund fire prevention activities in
areas where the financial responsibility of preventing and
suppressing fires is primarily the responsibility of the state.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
(Department), which is responsible for the fire protection,
fire prevention, maintenance, and enhancement of the state's
forest, range, and brushland resources, contract fire
protection, associated emergency services, and assistance in
civil disasters and other nonfire emergencies.
2)Creates within the Department the State Board of Forestry and
Fire Protection (Board) consisting of nine members appointed
by the Governor. The Board is required to protect the state's
interest in forest resources on private lands, which includes
establishing adequate forest policy and determining general
policies for the Department.
3)Requires the Board to classify all lands within the state for
the purpose of determining areas in which the financial
responsibility of preventing and suppressing fires is
primarily the responsibility of the state. These areas are
known as "state responsibility areas" or "SRAs."
4)Requires the Board to include within SRAs all of the following
lands: (a) lands covered wholly or in part by forests or by
trees producing or capable of producing forest products; (b)
lands covered wholly or in part by timber, brush, undergrowth,
or grass, whether of commercial value or not, which protect
the soil from excessive erosion, retard runoff of water, or
accelerate water percolation, if such lands are sources of
water that is available for irrigation or for domestic or
industrial use; and (c) lands principally used or useful for
range or forage purposes that are contiguous to the lands
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described in (a) and (b).
5)Prohibits the Board from including within SRAs any of the
following lands: (a) lands owned or controlled by the federal
government or any agency of the federal government; (b) 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; and (c) any other lands
within the state that do not come within any of the classes
that are described above in #4.
6)Declares that it is necessary to impose a fire prevention fee
to pay for fire prevention activities in the SRAs that
specifically benefit owners of structures in the SRAs.
7)Requires, by September 1, 2011, the Board to adopt emergency
regulations to establish a fire prevention fee in an amount
not to exceed $150 to be charged on each "structure" on a
parcel that is within an SRA. "Structure" is defined as a
building used or intended to be used for human habitation,
including a mobile home or manufactured home. The Board is
required to exclude building types that require no structural
fire protection services beyond those provided to otherwise
unimproved lands.
8)Requires, in accordance with the emergency regulations adopted
by the Board pursuant to #7, a fire prevention fee of $150 per
"habitable structure" located in the SRAs. "Habitable
structure" is a building that contains one or more "dwelling
units" or that can be occupied for residential use. "Dwelling
units" is a unit providing independent living facilities for
one or more person, including provisions for living, sleeping,
eating, cooking and sanitation. Incidental buildings, such as
detached garages, barns, outdoor sanitation facilities, and
sheds, are not subject to the fee. These regulations provide a
reduction of $35 for each habitable structure that is also
within the boundaries of a local agency that provides fire
protection services.
9)Requires on July 1, 2013 and annually thereafter that the
Board adjust the fire prevention fees to reflect the
percentage of change in the average annual value of the
Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government
Purchases of Goods and Services for the United States, as
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calculated by the United States Department of Commerce for the
12-month period in the third quarter of the prior calendar
year, as reported by the Director of Finance.
10)Requires the fire prevention fees to be deposited in the SRA
Fire Prevention Fund (Fund), which is available to the Board
and the Department to expend for fire prevention activities
that benefit the owners of structures within the SRAs who are
required to pay the fire prevention fee. These fire
prevention activities are limited to the following: (a) local
assistance grants established by the Board; (b) grants to Fire
Safe Councils, the California Conservation Corps, or certified
local conservation corps for fire prevention projects and
activities in the SRAs; (c) grants to a qualified nonprofit
organization with a demonstrated ability to satisfactorily
plan, implement, and complete a fire prevention project
applicable to the SRAs; (d) inspections by the department for
compliance with defensible space requirements around
structures in the SRAs; (e) public education to reduce fire
risk in the SRAs; (f) fire severity and fire hazard mapping by
the Department in the SRAs; and (g) other fire prevention
projects in the SRAs that are authorized by the Board. The
amount expended to benefit the owners of structures within an
SRAs shall be commensurate with the amount collected from the
owners within that SRA.
11)Allows a person to petition for a redetermination of whether
the fire prevention fee applies to him or her within 30 days
after being served with a notice of determination (i.e. the
notice from the Department stating that a person must pay the
fire prevention fee).
12)Requires by January 1, 2013 and annually thereafter that the
Board submit to the Legislature a written report that includes
information on (a) the status and uses of the Fund, (b) the
benefits received by counties based on the number of
structures in the SRAs within their jurisdiction, (c) the
effectiveness of the Board's grant programs, (d) the number of
defensible space inspections in the reporting period, (e) the
degree of compliance with defensible space inspections in the
reporting period, (f) the degree of compliance with defensible
space requirements, (g) measures to increase compliance, if
any, and (h) any recommendations to the Legislature.
THIS BILL repeals the statute that established the fire
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prevention fee.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Background.
California's SRAs cover over 31 million acres and include land
in every county except San Francisco and Sutter. The
Department operates over 200 fire stations within the SRAs,
contracts with other firefighting agencies, and has a
projected wildland fire protection base budget of $606 million
for this fiscal year. The fire protection budget includes,
among other things, fire prevention activities such as brush
clearance, defensible space inspections, fire breaks, and
other measures to reduce the cost of firefighting, property
loss, injury to firefighters, and damage to the environment.
The Department's fire protection budget has seen a steady
increase over the years. In 1996-97, the Department's fire
protection base budget was $266 million. These costs have
more than doubled in 15 years. This increase has been
attributed in large part to the significant housing
development at the boundaries between wildlands and urban
areas, the heightened risk of catastrophic fires due to fire
suppression activities over the last century, and increased
staff costs.
2)Prelude to a Fee.
The LAO has supported the concept of a SRA fee since at least
2002. To support its recommendation in 2002, the LAO provided
the Legislature with a comparative analysis showing how other
western states impose fees to collect revenues from landowners
for fire protection in SRAs.
In 2003, a budget trailer bill (SB 1049) created the "state
responsibility area fire protection benefit fee," which was an
annual $35 fee on each parcel of land located, in whole or in
part, within the SRAs. The purpose of the fee was "to sustain
service levels associated with the department's recent
protection levels, to maintain sufficient depth of forces, and
to maintain the ability to provide state assistance under
various mutual aid arrangements."
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In 2004, before the fire protection benefit fee was ever
collected, another bill (SB 1112) repealed the fee. According
to the LAO, the repeal was the result of concerns raised over
the inequity of a flat fee-an owner of a small parcel would
pay the same fee as an owner of a large parcel even though it
would cost more to protect the larger parcel.
After the repeal of the fee, the LAO issued several more
reports recommending an SRA fee. In these reports, the LAO
mainly argued that since "the Department's fire protection
provides?private benefits (the protection of timber lands and
houses in SRAs) it is appropriate that private beneficiaries
contribute to the state's cost of doing so." To address the
concerns raised against a per parcel fee, the LAO recommended
a per-acre fee because "the benefits of fire protection are
generally proportionate to land area." Additionally, the LAO
recommended an assessment on parcels with structures and/or a
development fee on new house construction in the SRAs,
concluding that such an assessment and/or fee may encourage
more "fire smart" development decisions at the local level.
Before 2011, two more attempts were made to pass an SRA fee.
Ultimately, these bills (SB 1617 in 2008 and ABX3 41 in 2009)
failed in the Legislature.
3)Fire Prevention Fee (ABX1 29).
Going into 2011, the state was facing a $25.4 billion budget
deficit (which grew to $26.6 billion after the governor
cancelled the sale of several state buildings) and an annual
structural deficit of up to $21.5 billion was projected into
the future. In March 2011, the Legislature passed $13.4
billion in "solutions" (consisting mostly of spending cuts) to
address the deficit; however, there was still a shortfall of
$10.8 billion.
To help address the budget shortfall, the Legislature passed,
among other bills, ABX1 29, which required the Board to adopt
emergency regulations to establish a "fire prevention fee" not
to exceed $150 for each structure on a parcel that is within
the SRAs. The fee was intended to fill a hole created by a
$50 million General Fund cut directed at the Department in the
2011 budget bill. It has been well documented in news
articles and political colloquy that the Legislature was
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compelled to establish the fee because it had to produce
substantial General Fund cuts, and other budget options, such
as increasing revenues through additional sales and income
taxes, were politically infeasible due to the two-thirds vote
requirement for such measures.
ABX1 29 specifically required the Board to establish emergency
regulations regarding the fire prevention fee by September 1,
2011. Due to a number of issues, the regulations were not
approved by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) until
January 23, 2012. Because these regulations are "emergency
regulations," they remain in effect for 180 days unless the
Board files a completed rulemaking action with OAL or OAL
approves a re-adoption of the emergency regulation during that
time period. As such, the fire prevention fee regulations
could technically expire on July 24, 2012.
4)The consequences of this bill.
If this bill is enacted, ABX1 29 and its fire prevention fee
will be repealed on January 1, 2013. Since the bill does not
apply retroactively, the fire prevention fee will still be
collected for the 2011-12 fiscal year and potentially the
2012-13 fiscal year.
Once the fee is repealed, and assuming that there is no extra
General Fund monies to transfer to the Department, there could
be major cuts to the state's fire prevention program. Such
cuts would obviously reduce the Department's fire prevention
activities. These cuts would also place a larger burden on
some local firefighting agencies, the cost of which could pass
down to property owners by way of increased local assessments.
Similarly, without the Department's fire prevention program,
many property owners with structures in the SRAs could face
higher property insurance premiums because there would be a
higher fire risk against which to insure. Lastly, if the
state compromises its fire prevention program, the risk of
fires will increase and the state, as well as local
governments, could be faced with greater firefighting costs.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
AB 1506
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Support
Alpine Fire Protection District
California Association of Realtors
California Cattlemen's Association
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Fire Chiefs Association
California State Association of Counties
County of San Bernardino
Fire Districts Association of California
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Humboldt No. 1 Fire Protection District
Lakeside Fire Protection District
Long Valley Fire Protection District
Mountain Rim Fire Safe Council
Regional Council of Rural Counties
George Runner, 2nd District, State Board of Equalization
San Diego County Board of Supervisors
Michelle Steel, 3rd District, State Board of Equalization
Southwest California Legislative Council
Western Growers Association
9 Individuals
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092