BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1241
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 2, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Wesley Chesbro, Chair
SB 1241 (Kehoe) - As Amended: June 25, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 29-9
SUBJECT : Land use: general plan: safety element: fire hazard
impacts
SUMMARY : Requires cities and counties to address fire risk for
state responsibility areas (SRAs) and very high fire hazard
severity zones in general plan updates and subdivision
approvals. Requires the Office of Planning and Research (OPR)
to update the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
Guidelines and the General Plan Guidelines, as specified.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines SRAs to mean areas of the state in which the financial
responsibility of preventing and suppressing fires has been
determined to be primarily the responsibility of the state.
2)Defines land classified as a "very high fire hazard severity
zone" to mean an area designated by the director of CAL FIRE,
which is not an SRA, based on fuel loading, slope, fire
weather, and other relevant factors.
3)Requires the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (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, provide the map to county
assessors, and update the 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 to provide wildland fire prevention and
firefighting personnel and equipment within SRAs, and allows
them to provide rescue, first aid, and other emergency
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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 a safety element and requires a local government with
an SRA 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)Pursuant to the Subdivision Map Act, regulates how local
officials approve the conversion of larger parcels into
marketable lots.
10)Under CEQA, requires 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
exemptions in the CEQA guidelines).
11)Under CEQA, requires an initial study to be prepared to
determine whether a project may have a significant effect on
the environment.
12)Requires OPR to prepare and develop proposed guidelines to
implement CEQA, and submit them to the Secretary of the
Natural Resources Agency (Secretary) for certification and
adoption.
13)Requires OPR to review CEQA guidelines at least every two
years and recommend changes or amendments to the Secretary for
certification and adoption.
THIS BILL :
1)Requires OPR, when it adopts its next edition of the General
Plan Guidelines, to include specified provisions or a
reference to provisions mandating the update of the safety
element, and any other materials related to fire hazards or
fire safety it deems appropriate.
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2)Requires cities and counties, upon the next revision of the
housing element on or after January 1, 2014, to review and
update the safety element as necessary to address the risk of
fire for SRAs, and land classified as very high fire hazard
severity zones; requires the review to consider the advice
included in OPR's most recent publication of "Fire Hazard
Planning, General Technical Advice Series;" and, requires the
review to include all of the following:
a) Information regarding fire hazards, including, but not
limited to, all of the following:
i) Fire hazard severity zone maps available from CAL
FIRE;
ii) Any historical data on wildfires available from
local agencies or a reference to where the data can be
found;
iii) Information about wildfire hazard areas that may be
available from the United States Geological Survey;
iv) General location and distribution of existing and
planned uses of land in very high fire hazard severity
zones and in SRAs, including the structures, roads,
utilities, and essential public facilities. The location
and distribution of planned uses of land shall not
require defensible space compliance measures required by
state law or local ordinance to occur on publicly owned
lands or open space designations of homeowner
associations; and,
v) Local, state, and federal agencies with
responsibility for fire protection, including special
districts and local offices of emergency services.
b) A set of goals, policies and objectives for the
protection of the community from unreasonable risk of
wildfire;
c) A set of feasible implementation measures designed to
carry out the goals, policies, and objectives including,
but not limited to, all of the following:
i) Avoiding or minimizing the wildfire hazards
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associated with new uses of land;
ii) Locating, when feasible, new essential public
facilities outside of high fire risk areas, including,
but not limited to, hospitals and health care facilities,
emergency shelters, emergency command centers, and
emergency communications facilities or identifying
construction methods or other methods to minimize damage
if these facilities are located in an SRA or very high
fire hazard severity zone;
iii) Designing adequate infrastructure if a new
development is located in an SRA or in a very high fire
hazard severity zone, including safe access for emergency
response vehicles, visible street signs, and water
supplies for structural fire suppression; and,
iv) Working cooperatively with public agencies with
responsibility for fire protection.
d) If a city or county has adopted a fire safety plan or
document separate from the general plan, an attachment of,
or reference to, a city or county's adopted fire safety
plan or document that fulfills commensurate goals and
objectives and contains information required pursuant to
the bill's provisions.
3)Requires the legislative body of a county to make the
following three findings before approving a tentative map, or
a parcel map for which a tentative map is not required, for an
area located in an SRA or a very high fire hazard severity
zone:
a) A finding that the design and location of each lot in
the subdivision and the subdivision as a whole are
consistent with any applicable regulations adopted by the
Board pursuant to existing law;
b) A finding that structural fire protection and
suppression services will be available for the subdivision
through any of the following entities:
i) A county, city, special district, political
subdivision of the state, or another entity organized
solely to provide fire protection services that is
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monitored and funded by a county or other public entity;
or,
ii) CAL FIRE, by contract entered into pursuant to
existing law, as specified.
c) A finding to the extent practicable, that ingress and
egress for the subdivision meets the regulations regarding
road standards for fire equipment access.
4)Provides that the provisions of (3) above shall not supersede
regulations established by the Board or local ordinances that
provide equivalent or more stringent minimum requirements.
5)Requires, on or after January 1, 2013, OPR, in cooperation
with CAL FIRE, at the time of the next review of the CEQA
guidelines, to prepare, develop, and transmit to the Secretary
proposed changes or amendments to the initial study checklist
of the guidelines for the inclusion of questions related to
fire hazard impacts for project on land classified as an SRA
and on lands classified as very high fire hazard severity
zones.
6)Requires the Secretary, upon receipt and review, to certify
and adopt the recommended proposed changes or amendments
prepared and developed by the OPR to the CEQA guidelines.
7)Provides that no reimbursement is required by the bill's
provisions because a local agency has the authority to levy
service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for
the program or level of service.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill contains ongoing costs between $100,000 and
$250,000 from the General Fund from 2013-14 through 2018-19, for
the Board to review safety element updates as required by this
bill, and one-time costs of $285,000 from the General Fund for
2013-14 for the update of CEQA guidelines.
COMMENTS :
Background : The state pays for wildland fire protection on
non-federal lands outside of city boundaries. These lands are
designated as SRAs and the boundaries of SRA lands are reviewed
and amended every five years by the Board. Within SRA lands,
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CAL FIRE designates fire hazard severity zones. SRA landowners
must follow specified fire prevention practices including
compliance with defensible space regulations.
In 1991, following a severe fire in the Oakland hills, CAL FIRE
was required to designate very high fire hazard severity zones
in urbanized areas. Like their rural counterparts, landowners in
these areas must follow specified fire prevention practices.
Cities and counties are required to adopt a general plan to
guide major land use decisions. Each plan includes seven
mandatory elements: land use, circulation, housing,
conservation, open space, noise, and safety. This bill is
intended to minimize fire risks through wise land use planning
to guide decisions about future development by amending the
safety element of general plan law, which describes how local
governments will protect the public against risks from specified
hazards, including fires.
The Legislative Analyst Office reported that SRA lands encompass
31 million acres in California and that local land use decisions
have resulted in increasing development and residential density
in many SRA areas. Census data indicates that in inland Southern
California, population has increased by 50% in the past decade.
CAL FIRE's budget reflects these land use decisions and
population growth; it has increased more than 150% since
1997-98.
This bill : According to the author, "In the wake of the 2003
and 2007 wildland fires that swept across southern California
and annual state fire suppression costs that peaked in 2008 at
$1 billion, the relationship between land use planning, fire
prevention, and fire suppression strategies has taken on added
significance. Fire professionals, fire ecologists, and experts
in associated fields have advised that multiple wind-driven
wildland fires breaking out within a few days of each other
across a number of counties, with winds up to 80 miles per hour,
are becoming the norm? The Governor's Blue Ribbon Fire
Commission in 2004 recommended that improvements be made in land
use decisions, especially at the local level, by incorporating
fire prevention and fire safe building standards."
This bill requires cities and counties to review and update
their safety elements to address fire risks on SRA land and very
high fire hazard severity zones. Planning and Zoning Law states
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that the safety element's purpose is to protect the community
from unreasonable risks from geologic hazards, flooding, and
wildland and urban fires. In 2007, the Legislature expanded the
safety elements' contents for flood hazards, requiring these
documents to contain specified information about flood hazards.
Based on that information, a set of comprehensive goals,
policies, and objectives to protect against unreasonable flood
risks is established. To carry out those goals, a set of
feasible implementation measures is required. SB 1241 adopts a
similar structure for wildland fire risks when cities and
counties revise their safety elements.
When reviewing their safety elements, SB 1241 requires cities
and counties to consider the advice in "Fire Hazard Planning,"
published by OPR. The bill expands the required contents of
safety elements that cover SRA lands and very high fire hazard
severity zones to include specified information about fire
hazards. Based on that information, the bill requires that a
set of goals, policies, and objectives be included in the safety
element. To carry out those goals, policies, and objectives, a
set of feasible implementation measures is also required.
A county with SRA lands and a city or county with very high fire
hazard severity zones must send, under existing law, their draft
documents to the Board and to the local fire agencies for
comment. If the recommendations are not available in time, the
local officials can act without them. SB 1241 makes a technical
change to this provision by acknowledging that the Board will
not always make such recommendations.
This bill also directs the Board to develop regulations that
direct, when feasible, that subdivisions in SRA or very high
hazard severity zones have two separate access roads under
certain conditions. These conditions include the geographical
and topographical situation of a subdivision, the feasibility of
requiring two separate access roads, ownership patterns, the
ability of future development to provide access, and the
predominant wind patterns.
CEQA requires public officials to consider a proposed project's
environmental effects and to avoid or mitigate environmental
impacts when feasible. To help public agencies carry out their
duties, OPR drafts and the Secretary adopts administrative
regulations called the "CEQA Guidelines." SB 1241 requires OPR
to cooperate with CAL FIRE in recommending changes to the
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Secretary for the initial study of the CEQA Guidelines regarding
fire hazard impacts on land classified as SRA and very high fire
hazard severity zones.
Previous legislation : This bill follows a number of bills
proposing better land use planning for wildland fires:
1)SB 1207 (Kehoe, 2010), vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger,
required OPR to update its general plan advice document
relating to fire hazards and its CEQA guidelines to address
wildfire risks. Beginning in 2015, the bill required some
cities and counties to update the safety element of their
general plans to address risks of wildfire.
2)SB 505 (Kehoe, 2009), vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, was
nearly identical to SB 1207 (2010).
3)AB 666 (Jones, 2009), vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger,
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.
4)SB 1500 (Kehoe, 2008) 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.
5)AB 2447 (Jones, 2008), vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, was
almost identical to AB 666 (2009).
Double referral: This bill was double-referred to the Assembly
Local Government Committee. It was passed by that committee on
June 13th with a vote of 7-1.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Planning Association of California
California Fire Chiefs Association
California Native Plant Society
California Professional Firefighters
Endangered Habitats League
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Fire Districts Association of California
Sierra Club California
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Elizabeth MacMillan / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092