Bill Text: CA AB2908 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Navigation applications: traffic: very high fire hazard severity zones.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-05-05 - Re-referred to Com. on G.O. [AB2908 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB2908-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
May 04, 2020 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2908
| Introduced by Assembly Member Low |
February 21, 2020 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2908, as amended, Low.
Navigation applications: fire-prone areas. Navigation applications: traffic: very high fire hazard severity zones.
The California Emergency Services Act, among other things, establishes the Office of Emergency Services for the purpose of mitigating the effects of natural, manmade, or war-caused emergencies. The act requires the Director of Emergency Services to coordinate the emergency activities of all state agencies in connection with a state of war emergency, a state of emergency, or a local emergency. Existing law requires the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to identify areas of the state as very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas.
This bill would prohibit a company that provides a navigation application, as defined, from directing traffic
within a one-mile radius of an area identified by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection as a very high fire hazard severity zone. The bill would require that company to include a notification on the application that warns drivers using the application that a specified emergency event is occurring in the area described above. The bill would require the Office of Emergency Services to impose a civil penalty in an unspecified amount for each violation of the above provisions.
Existing law requires the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to identify areas of the state as very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas.
This bill would provide that it is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would prohibit a company that provides a navigation application from directing traffic within a one-mile radius of those very high fire hazard severity zones.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee:Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Article 6.6 (commencing with Section 8594.20) is added to Chapter 7 of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:Article 6.6. Navigation Applications
8594.20.
For purposes this article, the following terms shall apply:(a) “Deenergization event” means an intentional, temporary termination of electrical service to an area for the purpose of reducing or eliminating the risk of wildfires resulting from the operation of the electrical grid or related facilities.
(b) “Local emergency” means a natural or manmade emergency resulting from an earthquake, flood, fire, riot, storm, drought, plant or animal infestation or disease, or other natural or manmade disaster for which a local emergency has been declared by an official, board, or other governing body vested with authority to make that declaration in any county, city, or city and county in California.
(c) “Navigation application” means a platform, including a navigation feature within an application, that uses an algorithm to direct drivers.
(d) “Red flag warning” means an alert issued by the National Weather Service to alert fire departments of the onset, or possible onset, of critical weather and dry conditions that could lead to rapid or dramatic increases in wildfire activity.
(e) “State of emergency” means a natural or manmade emergency resulting from an earthquake, flood, fire, riot, storm, drought, plant or animal infestation or disease, or other natural or manmade disaster for which a state of emergency has been declared by the President of the United States or the Governor.
(f) “Wildfire” means an unplanned, unwanted wildland fire, including
unauthorized human-caused fires, escaped wildland fire use events, escaped prescribed fire projects, and all other wildland fires where the objective is to extinguish the fires.
8594.21.
(a) A company that provides a navigation application shall not direct traffic within a one-mile radius of an area of the state identified pursuant to Section 51178.(b) A company that provides a navigation application shall include a notification on the application that warns drivers using the application that any of the following events is occurring in any area of the state identified pursuant to Section 51178:
(1) A wildfire.
(2) A deenerigization event.
(3) A state of emergency.
(4) A local emergency.
(5) A red flag
warning.
8594.22.
(a) The Office of Emergency Services shall impose a civil penalty in the amount of ($____) per violation of Section 8594.21.(b) Section 8665 does not apply to a violation of this article.
It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would prohibit a company that provides a navigation application from directing traffic within a one-mile radius of an area of the state identified pursuant to Section 51178 of the Government Code.
