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AB-2479 Forest restoration and protection: wildfire prevention.(2021-2022)

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Date Published: 04/20/2022 09:00 PM
AB2479:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 20, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2479

Introduced by Assembly Member Wood

February 17, 2022

An act to amend Section 9001.5 of, and to add and repeal Sections 4496 and 71366 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to forest restoration and protection.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2479, as amended, Wood. Forest restoration and protection: wildfire prevention.
(1) Existing law declares the policy of the state that the protection and management of natural and working lands is an important strategy in meeting the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. Existing law requires all state agencies to consider this policy when revising, adopting, or establishing policies, regulations, expenditures, or grant criteria relating to the protection and management of natural and working lands.
This bill would require all state agencies, when funding restoration efforts on natural and working lands, to prioritize restoration projects that have a permanent, enforceable mechanism to ensure that the project area will be managed in a manner that maintains the desired conditions and the value of the state’s investment.
(2) Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the State Air Resources Board to develop and fund a program to enhance air quality and smoke monitoring, and to provide a public awareness campaign regarding prescribed burns, as provided.
This bill would require the department, on or before April 1, 2023, to provide to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a report that details how the department will increasingly implement prescribed burn projects to burn at least 100,000 50,000 acres annually by January 1, 2025, and how the state state, by January 1, 2030, will increasingly use, develop, implement, facilitate, and support prescribed burn, cultural fire, and managed wildfire projects to burn an unspecified number of acres by January 1, 2030. achieve the extent of beneficial fire outcomes consistent with historic fire frequencies and maintaining desirable fuel loads.
(3) Existing law requires the Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency to jointly develop and submit to the Legislature a plan for forest and watershed restoration investments for the drainages that supply the Oroville, Shasta, and Trinity Reservoirs, as specified.
This bill would require the Natural Resources Agency, on or before April 1, 2023, to submit to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a report that describes the agency’s strategy for completing and implementing this plan.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) California's forests are critical to mitigating climate change, securing our water supply, supporting diverse plants and wildlife, providing wood products and employment, and providing peace and solace for emotional health and rejuvenation. However, the state’s changing climate is increasing environmental stressors and exacerbating the unnatural conditions created by past management practices and policies. There is an urgent public interest in restoring and maintaining more resilient forests and forest communities.
(b) California’s forests have evolved as a result of wildfires, and naturally resilient conditions include large, well-spaced trees where regularly recurring fire maintains light surface fuel loads. Without a long-term commitment to forestry, including recruiting and retaining large, old trees, the economics of forest ownership will cause these trees to be harvested for lumber or fragmented for rural sprawl development.
(c) The Legislature has made significant investments in initial forest thinning treatments, but far less than is necessary to ensure that the desired future forest conditions will actually be achieved and maintained.
(d) As California accelerates its efforts to address its changing climate, there must be greater emphasis on achieving and maintaining desired future forest conditions.

SEC. 2.

 Section 4496 is added to the Public Resources Code, immediately following Section 4495, to read:

4496.
 (a) On or before April 1, 2023, the department shall provide to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a report that details both of the following:
(1) How the department will increasingly implement prescribed burn projects to burn at least 100,000 50,000 acres annually by January 1, 2025.
(2) How the state state, by January 1, 2030, will increasingly use, develop, implement, facilitate, and support prescribed burn, cultural fire, and managed wildfire projects to burn at least ____ acres by January 1, 2030. achieve the extent of beneficial fire outcomes consistent with historic fire frequencies and maintaining desirable fuel loads.
(b) Pursuant to Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section is repealed on January 1, 2028. 31, 2030.

SEC. 3.

 Section 9001.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

9001.5.
 (a) It is the policy of the state that the protection and management of natural and working lands is an important strategy in meeting the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. The protection and management of those lands can result in the removal of carbon from the atmosphere and the sequestration of carbon in, above, and below the ground.
(b) The protection and management of natural and working lands provides multiple public benefits, including, but not limited to, assisting with adaptation to the impacts of climate change, improving water quality and quantity, flood protection, ensuring healthy fish and wildlife populations, and providing recreational and economic benefits.
(c) All state agencies, including, but not limited to, the Natural Resources Agency, the Department of Food and Agriculture, and the California Environmental Protection Agency, and their respective departments, boards, and commissions, shall consider the policy set forth in this section when revising, adopting, or establishing policies, regulations, expenditures, or grant criteria relating to the protection and management of natural and working lands. State agencies shall implement this requirement in conjunction with the state’s other strategies to meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and with the intent to, among other things, promote the cooperation of owners of natural and working lands.
(d) All state agencies, when funding restoration efforts on natural and working lands, shall prioritize restoration projects that have a permanent, enforceable mechanism to ensure that the project area will be managed in a manner that maintains the desired conditions and the value of the state’s investment.
(e) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Working lands” means lands used for farming, grazing, or the production of forest products.
(2) “Natural lands” means lands consisting of forests, grasslands, deserts, freshwater and riparian systems, wetlands, coastal and estuarine areas, watersheds, wildlands, or wildlife habitat, or lands used for recreational purposes such as parks, urban and community forests, trails, greenbelts, and other similar open-space land. For purposes of this paragraph, “parks” includes, but is not limited to, areas that provide public green space.
(f) Nothing in this section shall affect the existing authority of a city, county, city and county, state agency, department, commission, or board relating to natural and working lands.

SEC. 4.

 Section 71366 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

71366.
 (a) On or before April 1, 2023, the Natural Resources Agency shall submit to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a report that describes the agency’s strategy for completing and implementing the plan for forest and watershed restoration investments for the drainages that supply the Oroville, Shasta, and Trinity Reservoirs required pursuant to Section 71365.
(b) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section is repealed on January 1, 2028.