BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2239
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 2239 (Chesbro)
As Amended August 4, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |73-0 |(May 8, 2014) |SENATE: |34-0 |(August 7, |
| | | | | |2014) |
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Original Committee Reference: NAT. RES.
SUMMARY : Establishes a uniform process to ensure that a person
who acquires timberlands described in a Working Forest
Management Plan (WFMP) or Nonindustrial Timber Management Plan
(NTMP) receives notice on how to assume the plan. Gives
discretion to (rather than mandate) the Department of Forestry
and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) to cancel a WFMP or NTMP if the
new landowner does not assume the plan within one year of
receiving the notice.
The Senate amendments make technical cleanup changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Prohibits, in general, any person from conducting timber
operations unless a harvesting plan, such as a timber harvest
plan (THP), WFMP, or NTMP, has been prepared by a registered
professional forester and approved by CAL FIRE. (THPs, WFMPs,
and NTMPs, are considered the functional equivalent of an
environmental impact report (EIR) under the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).)
2)Creates the WFMP, which is a long-term forest management plan
for nonindustrial landowners with less than 15,000 acres of
timberlands if the landowner commits to uneven aged management
and sustained yield.
3)In the event of a change of ownership of the land described in
a WFMP, requires the working forest landowner to notify the
new landowner of the existence of the plan and the need to
notify CAL FIRE of the new landowner's intent regarding
assumption of the plan. Gives the new landowner one year from
the date of the receipt of the notification to notify CAL FIRE
in writing of his or her assumption of the plan. If CAL FIRE
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does not receive notification within this period, requires the
plan to expire one year from the date the new landowner is
advised by CAL FIRE of the necessity to assume the plan.
4)Creates the NTMP, which is a long-term forest management plan
for nonindustrial landowners with less than 2,500 acres of
timberlands if the landowner commits to uneven aged management
and sustained yield.
5)In the event of a change of ownership of the land described in
a NTMP, requires the NTMP to expire 180 days from the date of
change of ownership unless the new timberland owner notifies
CAL FIRE in writing of the change of ownership and his or her
assumption of the plan.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : The NTMP was created by the Legislature in 1990 to
allow landowners with no more than 2,500 acres to apply for a
timber harvesting document that would allow for long-term
approval with certain conditions, such as the use of uneven aged
forest management and proof that operations provide for
sustained yield. Through an NTMP, a nonindustrial timberland
owner first prepares a management plan that is subject to a
multi-agency review process and acts as the functional
equivalent of an EIR under CEQA. The cost of preparing this
management plan is about 25% to 50% more than a typical THP,
much of which comes from the required sustained yield analysis.
However, unlike a THP, which is good for no more than seven
years, an NTMP lasts in perpetuity and the additional cost is
recaptured over time because subsequent NTMP harvest entries can
be conducted under a much simpler notice to CAL FIRE that is
tiered off of the NTMP.
Last year, the WFMP was created by AB 904 (Chesbro), Chapter
648, Statutes of 2013. The WFMP is similar to the NTMP;
however, it applies to nonindustrial landowners with less than
15,000 acres of timberland and contains stricter environmental
standards.
Since both the NTMP and WFMP run with the land, they can be
transferred from one landowner to the next. The NTMP has very
strict and short timelines for a new landowner to assume the old
landowner's plan: if the new landowner does not formally assume
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the plan with 180 days, the plan is cancelled. The WFMP has
more lenient requirements: the new landowner has one year upon
receiving the transfer notice to assume the plan before it is
cancelled.
This bill provides clean up language to make the WFMP's transfer
provisions clearer and gives CAL FIRE the discretion to cancel a
plan if the new landowner does not assume it within the
specified time frame. Additionally, this bill amends the NTMP
transfer of ownership language so it is governed by the same
transfer provisions contained in the WFMP statutes.
Analysis Prepared by : Mario DeBernardo / NAT. RES. / (916)
319-2092
FN: 0004486