Bill Text: CA AB380 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Resources: watersheds.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-08-25 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB380 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB380-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 380 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 22, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 11, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chesbro
FEBRUARY 14, 2011
An act to add Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 4564) to
Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to resources.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 380, as amended, Chesbro. Resources: watersheds.
The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, among other
things, prohibits a person from conducting timber operations unless a
timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional
forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection, and unless the plan has been approved. Existing law
requires the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to adopt certain
forest practice rules and regulations to minimize the effects of
erosion on water resources and lakes.
This bill would require the department and the board, when
implementing a pilot project to protect and restore the riparian zone
in watersheds with listed anadromous salmonids, among other things,
to provide the industry, agencies, and the public with the
opportunity to participate in the development of the pilot project in
a transparent manner and to ensure that the pilot project has
certain goals. The bill would also require certain documents to
be publicly available on the board's Internet Web Site and all
documents that form the basis for the pilot projects to be posted on
the department's Internet Web site.
The bill would require the board, or with
the assistance of a technical advisory committee, to develop
recommendations and pass regulations for providing
electronic public access to all relevant documents , organized
by the California Interagency Watershed Mapping Committee, that
assist the department in administering timber harvest regulations
for with actions that occur on
a planning watershed scale protect and recover forest
and watershed productivity and quality .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated 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) There are numerous water bodies in California that have been
declared by the State Water Resources Control Board to be impaired
due to excessive sedimentation, high water temperatures, and
pollutants.
(b) Sequestration of carbon in forest lands is a vital component
of California's climate change strategy as articulated by the Climate
Action Team and the Air Resources Board.
(c) The regions of California that have state or federal listed
anadromous salmonid species are often predominately forest lands that
are subject to the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973,
pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 4511) of Part 2 of
Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, for purposes of review and
approval of timber harvest plans. These plans include, but are not
limited to, timber harvest plans (THPs), nonindustrial timber
management plans (NTMPs), Sustained Yield Plans
sustained yield plans (SYPs), and Program
Timberland Environmental Impact Reports program
timberland environmental impact reports (PTEIR).
(d) Important gains have been made in forest land resource
protection and conservation since the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice
Act of 1973, including the application of the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and various state and federal water
quality and fish and game statutes and regulations.
(e) There are still opportunities for improvement by the
development of a comprehensive cumulative effects review process that
is conducted in cooperation with landowners and other stakeholders.
An effective cumulative effects process can provide the information
necessary to restore and recover fish and wildlife populations, to
improve the quality and quantity of timber, to take actions to reduce
fire hazards, to sequester carbon, to produce energy, and to create
jobs.
SEC. 2. Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 4564) is added to
Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, to
read:
Article 5.5. Comprehensive Forest Land Recovery and
Restoration Act
4564. When implementing a pilot project pursuant to a regulation
adopted in accordance with Section 4551, 4551.5, or 4562.7, to
protect and restore the riparian zone in watersheds with listed
anadromous salmonids, the department and board shall comply with all
of the following:
(a) Provide the industry, agencies, and the public with the
opportunity to participate in the development of a pilot project in a
transparent manner.
(b) A pilot project shall result in Pilot
project results shall include the development of guidelines for
conducting a cumulative effects evaluation on a planning watershed
scale, and shall address the potential project-specific planning
watershed cumulative effects of timber harvesting activities. In
particular, the guidelines shall require all of the following:
(1) The spatial scale of the cumulative effects analysis to be
consistent with the site-specific and cumulative impacts of the
project in the watershed and its physical processes.
(2) The use of reproducible, quantitative methods of evaluation as
the primary means of determining baseline physical, chemical, or
biological parameters, in estimating cumulative impacts, and in
monitoring implementation of mitigation measures.
(3) Documentation of the conclusions and recommendations.
(4) An evaluation by a person or entity with relevant training and
experience.
(c) Consult with and seek comment from appropriate scientific
experts, including, but not limited to, qualified fisheries
biologists, in order to develop evaluation guidelines that are
feasible, enforceable, and protective of the public trust. The
Department of Fish and Game shall play an active role in ensuring
that a pilot project attains the primary goal described in
subdivision (d). The department and the board may draw from
information in the State of Washington's Watershed Analysis Manual or
the Methods Manual developed by the State of California's North
Coast Watershed Assessment Program when developing guidelines.
(d) A pilot project shall have as its primary goal to protect,
maintain, and contribute to the restoration of properly functioning
salmonid habitats and listed salmonid species, and may also have one
or more of the following goals:
(1) Restore fisheries and wildlife habitat.
(2) Reduce the risk of wildfire with special consideration
for human communities and consistency with subdivision (d) .
(3) Recover forest characteristics that will produce high-quality
timber.
(4) Reduce sedimentation and soil loss.
(5) Achieve long-term carbon sequestration in on-site tree
growth and other on-site forest carbon pools .
(6) Restore and recover unique attributes of a given planning
watershed.
(e) A pilot project shall be consistent with state and federal
mandates governing coho recovery and restoration of impaired water
bodies. A pilot project shall also reflect the established joint
policies between the board and the department and the Department of
Fish and Game and the Fish and Game Commission.
(f) Funding and personnel for the development and implementation
of pilot projects shall be utilized from existing department and
responsible agencies' budgets and personnel. Additional funding shall
be sought from private and public sources, statewide and nationally,
with an emphasis on receiving support from educational institutions.
(g) All documents that form the basis for the pilot projects that
are developed pursuant to this section shall be posted on the
department's Internet Web site.
(h) Notwithstanding subdivision (g), guidelines developed by a
pilot project to assist in implementation of measures that meet
site-specific and cumulative effect standards and procedures shall be
publically accessible on the board's Internet Web site, along with
copies or links to public documents that provide additional relevant
information, including the scientific basis for analytical tools,
supporting science, and data that is relied upon in the guidelines.
4565. The board, or with the assistance
of a technical advisory committee, shall develop
recommendations and adopt regulations for providing
electronic public access to all relevant documents , organized
by the California Interagency Watershed Mapping Committee, that
assist the department in administering timber harvest regulations
for involving actions that
occur on a planning watershed scale protect and
recover forest and watershed productivity and quality .
