BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2465
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 7, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2465 (Chesbro) - As Amended: April 21, 2014
Policy Committee: Natural
ResourcesVote:8-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires CALFIRE to create a uniformed prescribed burn
plan template for forest fuel treatment. This bill also
requires CALFIRE and the Air Resources Board (ARB) to develop a
webpage that contains the uniformed prescribed burn plan
template and centralizes state information pertinent to
prescribed burning for the purpose of promoting prescribed fire
as a fuel treatment technique.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Increased annual costs in the $150,000 to $175,000 range for
CALFIRE to develop, maintain and manage the information
required to be incorporated on the webpage (State
Responsibility Area Fund).
2)Minor, absorbable costs for ARB to consult with CALFIRE.
3)Minor, absorbable costs for CALFIRE to develop the uniform
prescribed burn template.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose. According to the author, fire experts generally
recognize that if hazardous fuels (e.g., downed wood, shrubs,
intermediate-size trees that can carry fire into the forest
canopy) are not reduced, the number of severe wild land fires
and the costs associated with suppressing them will continue
to increase.
This bill will create a uniformed prescribed burn plan
AB 2465
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template and require CALFIRE and ARB to develop a webpage that
contains the template and centralizes existing information
maintained by CALFIRE and ARB to help people utilize state
resources regarding prescribed fire.
2)Background. The cost to respond to last year's Rim Fire, which
burned more than 250,000 acres in the central Sierra Nevada
region, was estimated at $125.8 million as of September 27,
2013. In 2008, the Basin Complex and Indians Fire in Monterey
County burned almost 240,000 acres and cost approximately $120
million. These two fires are considered among the largest and
most costly in state history. Prescribed burn is a
relatively inexpensive way to reduce hazardous fuels.
3)Vegetation Management Program (VMP). CALFIRE administers a
cost-sharing program that focuses on the use of prescribed
fire and mechanical means for addressing wild land fire fuel
hazards and other resource management issues on state
responsibility area (SRA) lands. The program allows private
landowners to contract with CALFIRE to use prescribed fire to
achieve fire protection and enhance resource management. The
VMP has been in existence since 1982 and on average, contracts
with private landowners for activities on about 35,000 acres
per year.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081