Bill Text: CA AB1516 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Fire prevention: wildfire risk: defensible space and fuels reduction management.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2020-01-21 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB1516 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB1516-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Senate
September 06, 2019 |
Amended
IN
Senate
August 30, 2019 |
Amended
IN
Senate
August 12, 2019 |
Amended
IN
Senate
July 03, 2019 |
Amended
IN
Senate
June 11, 2019 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
May 06, 2019 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
April 30, 2019 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
April 11, 2019 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 28, 2019 |
Introduced by Assembly Member Friedman (Principal coauthor: Senator Stern) (Coauthor: Senator Jackson) |
February 22, 2019 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
This bill would require the Office of Planning
and Research, on or before July 1, 2021, and in consultation with specified state agencies, to conduct a survey of local agencies with jurisdiction over properties located in areas described above to develop an estimate of the level of defensible space inspections occurring in very high fire hazard severity zones, including an estimate of compliance with defensible space requirements.
This bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to (A) by May 1, 2020, develop a plan to meet the defensible space inspection goal of inspecting each known structure within a state responsibility area at least once every 3 years, (B) establish a pilot program to perform defensible space assessments by specified entities, (C) provide biannual training to applicable local officials on defensible space inspections, and (D) take all feasible steps to improve compliance with defensible space requirements. The bill would require the department, by July 1, 2021, to develop a wildland-urban interface wildfire risk model to determine the risk for a community or parcel within a local responsibility area or state responsibility area and guidelines for the proper use of the model, as provided. The bill would require the department to establish, and consult with, an advisory workgroup, with specified members, to develop the model. The bill would require the department to update the model and guidelines whenever fire hazard severity zones are revised.
This bill would authorize, upon completion of the guidebook, San Diego Gas and Electric Company, until July 1, 2026, to enforce the provisions above, as provided, within its service territory.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for San Diego Gas and Electric Company.
This bill would specify that the above provisions apply in a high fire threat district, as determined by the Public Utilities Commission.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
(a)(b)
(c)
SEC. 2.
Section 23010 of the Government Code is amended to read:23010.
(a) Pursuant to a resolution adopted by its board of supervisors, a county may lend any of its available funds to any community services district, county waterworks district, mosquito abatement district, pest abatement district, fire protection district, flood control and water conservation district, recreation and park district, resource conservation district, regional park district, regional park and open-space district, regional open-space district, resort improvement district, or public cemetery district located wholly within the county, if its funds are or when available will be in the custody of the county or any officer of the county, in order to enable the district to perform its functions and meet its obligations. The loan shall not exceed 85 percent of the district’s anticipated revenue for the fiscal year in which it is made or for the next ensuing fiscal year, and shall be repaid out of that revenue before the payment of any other obligation of the district.SEC. 3.
Section 51182 of the Government Code is amended to read:51182.
(a) A person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains an occupied dwelling or occupied structure in, upon, or adjoining a mountainous area, forest-covered land, brush-covered land, grass-covered land, or land that is covered with flammable material, which area or land is within a very high fire hazard severity zone designated by the local agency pursuant to Section 51179, shall at all times do all of the following:SEC. 4.
Section 51186 of the Government Code is amended to read:51186.
(a) The local agency having jurisdiction of property upon which conditions regulated by Section 51182 are being violated shall notify the owner of the property to correct the conditions. If the owner fails to correct the conditions, the local agency may cause the corrections to be made, and the expenses incurred shall become a lien on the property that is the subject of the corrections when recorded in the county recorder’s office in the county in which the real property is located. The priority of the lien shall be as of the date of recording. The lien shall contain the legal description of the real property, the assessor’s parcel number, and the name of the owner of record as shown on the latest equalized assessment roll.(a)On or before July 1, 2021, the Office of Planning and Research, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, shall conduct a survey of local agencies having jurisdiction over properties upon which conditions that are regulated by Section 51182 apply to develop an estimate of the level of defensible space inspections occurring in very high fire hazard severity zones designated by the local agency pursuant to Section 51179, including an estimate of compliance with Section 51182.
(b)On or before September 1, 2021, the Office of Planning and Research shall report to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature
the information collected by the survey required by
subdivision (a) and shall include recommendations for improving defensible space compliance in very high fire hazard severity zones.
(c)Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section is repealed on January 1, 2026.
SEC. 6.SEC. 5.
Section 4124.5 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:4124.5.
(a) The department shall establish a local assistance grant program for fire prevention activities in California. Groups eligible for grants shall include, but are not limited to, local agencies, resource conservation districts, fire safe councils, the California Conservation Corps, certified local conservation corps, University of California Cooperative Extension, Native American tribes, and qualified nonprofit organizations. The department may establish a cost-share requirement for one or more categories of projects.The purpose of this article is to provide for the classification of lands within state responsibility areas in accordance with both the severity of fire hazard and risk present for the purpose of identifying measures to be taken to retard the rate of spreading and to reduce the potential intensity of uncontrolled fires that threaten to destroy resources, life, or property.
(a)On or before July 1, 2021, the department, in consultation with the State Fire Marshal and the Insurance Commissioner, shall develop a wildland-urban interface wildfire risk model, hereafter referred to as the model, that uses current wildfire hazard severity information known for the local responsibility area and the state responsibility area. The model shall be able to determine the risk for a community or parcel in a local responsibility area or state responsibility area through the input of
mitigating factors into the model. The mitigation factors shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1)Defensible space compliance data.
(2)Whether structures meet building standards for comprehensive site and structure fire risk reduction.
(3)Community fire prevention work.
(4)Fire prevention, educational, planning, and mitigation infrastructures.
(b)The department may enter into contracts with an independent group to develop the model.
(c)The department shall review other jurisdictions’ applicable models in the
development of the model.
(d)The department shall update the model whenever fire hazard severity zones are revised pursuant to Section 51181 of the Government Code or Section 4202.
(e)(1)The department shall establish, and consult with, an advisory workgroup to develop the model.
(2)The advisory workgroup established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include all of the following members:
(A)The State Fire Marshal, or the State Fire Marshal’s designee.
(B)The Director of the Office of Emergency Services, or the director’s designee.
(C)The Insurance Commissioner, or the Insurance Commissioner’s designee.
(D)The Director of the Office of Planning and Research, or the
director’s designee.
(E)Two representatives from insurers and insurance research organizations that have appropriate expertise in wildfire risk modeling, such as exposure measurement, risk modeling, and actuarial expertise, to be appointed by the department.
(F)Two representatives; one a fire chief, and the other a fire prevention officer, to be appointed by the department.
(G)A representative from the California Professional Firefighters, to be appointed by the department.
(H)A representative from the California Fire Science Consortium, to be appointed by the department.
(I)A
representative from the California Building Industry Association, to be appointed by the department.
(J)Two representatives from a local government, to be appointed by the department.
(3)The members of the advisory workgroup shall serve at the pleasure of their respective appointing powers.
(4)The members of the advisory workgroup shall serve without compensation, but each member shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
(5)The chairperson of the advisory workgroup shall be the State Fire Marshal, or the State Fire Marshal’s designee.
(6)The vice chairperson of the advisory workgroup shall be the Director of the Office of Emergency Services, or the director’s designee.
(a)On or before July 1, 2021, the department shall develop guidelines for the proper use of the wildland-urban interface wildfire risk model developed pursuant to Section 4204.1, hereafter referred to as the model. The guidelines shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1)The type, quality, and collection frequency of the data related to the mitigation factors with which a local agency using the model is required to
comply.
(2)Methods for uploading the data for mitigating factors into the model.
(3)Provisions for making the risk determined by the model available to the department, the Insurance Commissioner, and the residents in the community or parcel for which the risk is being modeled.
(b)The department shall make the model available to a local agency that agrees to comply with the guidelines.
(c)A local agency may modify the model to allow for the input of additional mitigation factors that are locally relevant.
(d)The department shall provide technical assistance to a local agency using the
model.
(e)The department shall post on its internet website general information about the model and the local agencies using the model.
(f)The department shall update the guidelines whenever the fire hazard severity zones are revised pursuant to Section 51181 of the Government Code or Section 4202.
SEC. 10.SEC. 6.
Section 4291 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:4291.
(a) A person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains a building or structure in, upon, or adjoining a mountainous area, forest-covered lands, brush-covered lands, grass-covered lands, or land that is covered with flammable material, shall at all times do all of the following:(1)On or before May 1,
2020, develop a plan to meet the defensible space inspection goal of inspecting each known structure within a state responsibility area at least once every three years. The plan shall consider defensible space assessments by trained representatives from fire safe councils, University of California fire advisers, and resource conservation districts as a means to achieve its goals.
(2)Establish a pilot program for defensible space assessments by trained representatives from fire safe councils, University of California fire advisers, and resource conservation districts in areas subject to the requirements of this section.
(3)Provide biennial training at each of the department’s units for applicable local officials on defensible space inspections.
(4)Take all feasible steps to improve compliance with this section.
(5)
(6)
SEC. 7.
Section 4291.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:4291.5.
(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:SEC. 8.
Section 4291.6 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:4291.6.
(a) The department shall develop and implement a training program to train individuals to support and augment the department in its defensible space and home hardening assessment and education efforts. The training program shall do all of the following:SEC. 9.
Section 4291.7 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:4291.7.
(a) By January 1, 2024, the director shall submit to the Legislature, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, a report that evaluates the effectiveness of the program developed pursuant to Section 4291.5 to support and augment the department in its defensible space and home hardening assessment and education efforts. The report shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:SEC. 10.
Section 4291.8 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:4291.8.
For purposes of Sections 4292, 4293, 4295, 4295.5, and 4295.6, “person” shall mean any agency of the state, county, city, district, or other local public agency, and any individual, firm, association, partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company, or company.SEC. 12.SEC. 11.
Section 4295.6 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:4295.6.
(a) (1)(B)
(i)
(ii)
(C)
(D)
(E)
(2)(A)
(B)
(3)On or after July 1, 2021, landowners shall not plant vegetation, including tree and shrub species, in the vicinity of electrical transmission and distribution lines that are inconsistent with, or in a location that would be inconsistent with, the provisions of the guidebook created pursuant to paragraph (1).
(b)(1)Upon completion of the guidebook required pursuant to subdivision (a), San Diego Gas and Electric Company may enforce this section, pursuant to paragraph (2), within its service territory. If San Diego Gas and Electric Company chooses to enforce this section, it shall
include a review of its enforcement efforts under this section in its annual wildfire mitigation plan developed pursuant to Section 8386 of the Public Utilities Code.
(2)San Diego Gas and Electric Company, after providing notice and an opportunity to be heard to the landowner, may remove vegetation that has been planted in violation of this section for purposes of removing that vegetation at the landowner’s expense.
(3)This subdivision shall become inoperative on July 1, 2026.
(c)This section applies in a high fire threat district, as determined by the Public
Utilities Commission.
SEC. 13.SEC. 12.
Section 4740 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:4740.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:SEC. 14.SEC. 13.
Section 4741 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:4741.
(a) In accordance with policies established by the board, the department shall assist local governments in preventing future high-intensity wildland fires and instituting appropriate fuels management by making its wildland fire prevention and vegetation management expertise available to local governments to the extent possible within the department’s budgetary limitations.With respect to Section 12 of this act, the Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because San Diego Gas and Electric Company has a small service territory making it uniquely situated to perform a pilot enforcement program.