BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1040
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1040 (Negrete McLeod)
As Amended August 24, 2012
2/3 vote. Urgency
SENATE VOTE : Vote not relevant
SUMMARY : Repeals the fire prevention fee on structures located
in state responsibility areas (SRA) contingent on the enactment
of AB 1500 (John A. P�rez).
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 the SRA.
4)Requires the Board to include within the SRA 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 described in a) and b). Federal and city lands are
generally excluded from the SRA.
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5)Declares that it is necessary to impose a fire prevention fee
to pay for fire prevention activities in the SRA that
specifically benefit owners of structures in the SRA.
6)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.
7)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 SRA
FISCAL EFFECT :
1)Forgone fee revenue of approximately $84 million in 2012-13
(SRA Fire Prevention Fund).
2)General Fund pressure of approximately $78 million in 2012-13
to fund fire prevention activities at the Department of
Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and the California
Conservation Corps (CCC) that otherwise would be funded by the
fire prevention fee.
COMMENTS : California's SRA covers over 31 million acres and
includes land in every county except San Francisco and Sutter.
The Department operates over 200 fire stations within the SRA,
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 and
defensible space inspections.
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
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risk of catastrophic fires due to fire suppression activities
over the last century, and increased staff costs.
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, AB 29 X1, 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
SRA. The fee regulations were approved in January 2012 and the
Department recently sent out fee notices to the payees.
This bill is contingent on the enactment of AB 1500 (John A.
P�rez), which will make revisions to the state's corporate tax
law and create the "Middle Class Scholarship Fund."
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0005612