Bill Text: CA AB425 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Timber harvesting plans: exemptions: temporary roads.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-08-29 - Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Galgiani. [AB425 Detail]
Download: California-2017-AB425-Amended.html
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Amended
IN
Senate
August 28, 2018 |
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Amended
IN
Senate
August 24, 2018 |
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Amended
IN
Assembly
April 04, 2017 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION
| Assembly Bill | No. 425 |
| Introduced by Assembly Member Caballero (Coauthor: Assembly Member Dahle) |
February 09, 2017 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 425, as amended, Caballero.
Timber harvesting plans: exemptions. Timber harvesting plans: exemptions: temporary roads.
The Z’berg-Nejedly Forest Practices Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, including the cutting or removal of trees in compliance with existing law relating to defensible space. In this regard, the act authorizes, until January 1, 2021, the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption if specified conditions are met, including that only trees less than 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level, shall be removed,
no new road construction or reconstruction shall occur, and the activities shall be conducted in specified counties.
This bill would expand the exemption to allow the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads on slopes of 40% or less if certain conditions are met, including that a registered professional forester designates temporary road locations, landing locations, associated class III watercourse crossings, unstable areas, and connected headwall swales, including convergent slopes, on specified maps. The bill would require, on or before December 31, 2020, the department and the board to review and submit a report to the Legislature on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of, the exemption, including an assessment of the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads.
The Z’berg-Nejedly Forest Practices Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, including the cutting or removal of trees in compliance with existing law relating to defensible space. Existing law requires surface fuels that promote the spread of wildfire to be removed from all areas of the timber operations within 45 days from the start of timber operations and provides that any not so removed after that time may be determined to be a nuisance, as provided.
This bill would instead provide that all fuel treatments related to the cutting or removal of trees in compliance with existing law relating to defensible space that do not comply with board rules and regulations may be determined to be a nuisance, as provided.
The bill would establish, until a specified date, the Small Timberland Owner Exemption, which would exempt from the act the cutting or removal of trees on property of no more than 100 acres within a single planning watershed, depending on location of the property, that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break, subject to specified conditions.
The bill would require the board to comply with specified standards when adopting those regulations related to the Small Timberland Owner Exemptions and
other exemptions, as provided, as determined appropriate and necessary by the board.
The act authorizes, until January 1, 2021, the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption if specified conditions are met, including that only trees less than 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches above ground level, be removed, no new road construction or reconstruction occur, and the activities be conducted in specified counties.
This bill would revise and recast the exemption to, until a specified date, allow the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads on slopes of 30% or less, if certain conditions are met, including that temporary roads or landings are not located on unstable areas, are single-lane in width, and are not located across a connected headwall swale, among other things. The bill would require the board to comply with specified standards when adopting those regulations.
The bill would make other related changes to the exemptions.
Existing law requires the department and the board, until January 1, 2019, to review and submit a report to the Legislature on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of, timber harvest exemptions and emergency notice provisions, as provided. Existing law requires the report to include an analysis of any barriers for small forest owners presented by the exemptions.
This bill would delete the requirement that the report include the above analysis. The bill would require the department and the board, until a specified date, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the State Water Resources Control Board, to annually submit a report to the Legislature that also includes information on the number and type of violations and enforcement actions taken on each notice of exemption and
emergency notice, among other things.
This bill would authorize the board to adopt emergency regulations for these purposes, as specified.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) It is the intent of the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption, pursuant to paragraph (11) of subdivision (j) of Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code, to eliminate the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal ignitability, or ignition of tree crowns. Given the increase in number and severity of wildfires in California, coupled with the emergency proclamation issued by Governor Brown in October of 2015, the use of the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project
Exemption should result in healthier forests that have the ability to conserve water, resist disease, and reduce forest fuels.
(b) A 2015 CalFire presentation to the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection called Fuel Hazard Permitting Options for Landowners discussed the initial outcomes from two monitored projects. These projects were in areas that had growth ring analysis of the stumps demonstrating good growth for the first 20 to 25 years, but as the stand became more suppressed, the growth rings showed little growth. The projects opened the forest canopy with little or no understory within the dripline of the trees. Horizontal and vertical continuity were eliminated, which reduces the rate of fire spread, duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, and ignition of tree crowns. Overall forest health appears to have been enhanced, reducing overcrowding within the stand. After completion of harvesting, the stand conditions are no longer
suppressed and tree growth can be expected to increase.
(c) While these projects completed under the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption show potential to reduce fire risk and improve forest health, its application and use has been very limited since it was enacted in 2013. In 2015, there were only 11 projects conducted that resulted in 1,594 acres treated. In 2016, there were 21 projects for a total of 2,065 acres treated. In addition, while the total acres treated under exemptions and emergency notices are increasing as a trend, the volume of trees removed under emergency notices and exemptions remains small in comparison to the volume removed under a timber harvesting plan. In 2015, timber harvesting plans alone accounted for 48.9 percent of the volume removed from forests, whereas all exemptions accounted for only 6.7 percent of the volume removed, emergency notices accounted for 23.3 percent, nonindustrial timber management
plans accounted for 3.4 percent, United States Forest Service accounted for 12.5 percent, and 5.2 percent were categorized as “other.”
(d) Allowing for the construction of temporary roads recognizes the need to improve access to overly dense forest stands, while balancing the need to provide protections sufficient to ensure that there are no negative impacts to wildlife, water, and soil. Requiring CalFire to report on the impacts of the construction of temporary roads under the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption would allow for an evaluation of the pilot project.
SEC. 2.
Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:4584.
Upon determining that this exemption is consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to any of the following:(a) The cutting or removal of trees for the purpose of constructing or maintaining a right-of-way for utility lines.
(b) The planting, growing, nurturing, shaping, shearing, removal, or harvest of immature trees for Christmas trees or other ornamental purposes or minor forest products, including fuelwood.
(c) The cutting or removal of dead, dying, or diseased trees of any size.
(d) Site preparation.
(e) Maintenance of drainage facilities and soil stabilization treatments.
(f) Timber operations on land managed by the Department of Parks and Recreation.
(g) (1) The one-time conversion of less than three acres to a nontimber use. A person, whether acting as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, shall not obtain more than one exemption pursuant to this subdivision in a five-year period. If a partnership has as a member, or if a corporation or other legal entity has as an officer or employee, a person who has received this exemption within the past five years, whether as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or
employee of a corporation or other legal entity, then that partnership, corporation, or other legal entity is not eligible for this exemption. “Person,” for purposes of this subdivision, means an individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity.
(2) (A) Notwithstanding Section 4554.5, the board shall adopt regulations that do all of the following:
(i) Identify the required documentation of a bona fide intent to complete the conversion that an applicant will need to submit in order to be eligible for the exemption in paragraph (1).
(ii) Authorize the department to inspect the sites approved in conversion applications that have been approved on or after January 1, 2002, in order to determine that the conversion was completed within the two-year period described in subparagraph (B) of
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 1104.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii) Require the exemption pursuant to this subdivision to expire if there is a change in timberland ownership. The person who originally submitted an application for an exemption pursuant to this subdivision shall notify the department of a change in timberland ownership on or before five calendar days after a change in ownership.
(iv) The board may adopt regulations allowing a waiver of the five-year limitation described in paragraph (1) upon finding that the imposition of the five-year limitation would impose an undue hardship on the applicant for the exemption. The board may adopt a process for an appeal of a denial of a waiver.
(B) The application form for the exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) shall
prominently advise the public that a violation of the conversion exemption, including a conversion applied for in the name of someone other than the person or entity implementing the conversion in bona fide good faith, is a violation of this chapter and penalties may accrue up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 4601).
(h) An easement granted by a right-of-way construction agreement administered by the federal government if timber sales and operations within or affecting the area are reviewed and conducted pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.).
(i) (1) The cutting or removal of trees in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of
reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 150 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted structure that complies with the California Building Standards Code, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision. For purposes of this subdivision, an “approved and legally permitted structure” includes only structures that are designed for human occupancy, garages, barns, stables, and structures used to enclose fuel tanks.
(2) (A) The cutting or removal of trees pursuant to this subdivision is limited to cutting or removal that will result in a reduction in the rate of fire spread, fire duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of the tree crowns and shall be in accordance with any regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this section.
(B) Trees shall not be
cut or removed pursuant to this subdivision by the clearcutting regeneration method, by the seed tree removal step of the seed tree regeneration method, or by the shelterwood removal step of the shelterwood regeneration method.
(3) (A) Surface fuels, including logging slash and debris, low brush, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire shall be chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations pursuant to this subdivision.
(B) (i) All surface fuels that are not chipped, burned, or otherwise removed from all areas of timber operations within 45 days from the date of commencement of timber operations may be determined to be a nuisance and subject to abatement by the department or the city or county having jurisdiction.
(ii) The costs incurred by the department, city, or county, as the case may be, to abate the nuisance upon a parcel of land subject to the timber operations, including, but not limited to, investigation, boundary determination, measurement, and other related costs, may be recovered by special assessment and lien against the parcel of land by the department, city, or county. The assessment may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary ad valorem taxes, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as is provided for ad valorem taxes.
(4) All timber operations conducted pursuant to this subdivision shall conform to applicable city or county general plans, city or county implementing ordinances, and city or county zoning ordinances. This paragraph does not authorize the cutting, removal, or sale of timber or
other solid wood forest products within an area where timber harvesting is prohibited or otherwise restricted pursuant to the rules or regulations adopted by the board.
(5) (A) The board shall adopt regulations, initially as emergency regulations in accordance with subparagraph (B), that the board considers necessary to implement and to obtain compliance with this subdivision.
(B) The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be adopted in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code). The adoption of emergency regulations shall be deemed to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, or general welfare.
(6) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to the cutting or removal of trees on the person’s property in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 300 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted habitable structure, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision and all of the following conditions are met:
(i) The notice of exemption is prepared, signed, and submitted by a registered professional forester to the department.
(ii) For the areas between 150 and 300 feet from the habitable
structure, the operations meet all of the following provisions:
(I) The residual stocking standards are consistent with Sections 913.2, 933.2, and 953.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, as appropriate.
(II) Activities within this area will increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand.
(III) The residual stand consists primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand, well distributed through the harvested area.
(IV) Postharvest slash treatment and stand conditions will lead to more moderate fire behavior in the professional judgment of the registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption.
(V) Any additional
guidance for slash treatment and postharvest stand conditions and any other issues deemed necessary that are consistent with this section, as established by the board.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, “habitable structure” means a building that contains one or more dwelling units or that can be occupied for residential use. Buildings occupied for residential use include single family homes, multidwelling structures, mobile and manufactured homes, and condominiums. For purposes of this paragraph “habitable structure” does not include commercial, industrial, or incidental buildings such as detached garages, barns, outdoor sanitation facilities, and sheds.
(C) The department shall evaluate the effects of this paragraph and shall report its recommendations, before the paragraph becomes inoperative, to the Legislature based on that evaluation. The report shall be submitted in
compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(D) The board shall adopt regulations to implement this paragraph no later than January 1, 2016.
(E) This paragraph shall become inoperative three years after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board pursuant to subparagraph (D) but no later than January 1, 2019.
(j) (1) The harvesting of trees, limited to those trees that eliminate the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns, for the purpose of reducing the rate of fire spread, duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of tree crowns.
(2) The board may authorize an exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) only if the tree harvesting will decrease fuel continuity
and increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand, and the tree harvesting area will not exceed 300 acres.
(3) Except as provided in paragraph (11), the notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Exemption, may be authorized only if all of the conditions specified in paragraphs (4) to (10), inclusive, are met.
(4) A registered professional forester shall prepare the notice of exemption and submit it to the director, and include a map of the area of timber operations that complies with the requirements of paragraphs (1), (3), (4), and (7) to (12), inclusive, of subdivision (x) of Section 1034 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(5) (A) The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the
preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(B) The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Stocking shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i) Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii) Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii) Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(C) If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands.
(6) (A) The registered professional forester who submits the notice shall include selection criteria for the trees to be harvested or the trees to be retained. In the development of fuel reduction prescriptions, the registered professional forester should consider retaining habitat elements, where feasible, including,
but not limited to, ground level cover necessary for the long-term management of local wildlife populations.
(B) All trees that are harvested or all trees that are retained shall be marked or sample marked by, or under the supervision of, a registered professional forester before felling operations begin. The board shall adopt regulations for sample marking for this section in Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Sample marking shall be limited to homogenous forest stand conditions typical of plantations.
(7) (A) The registered professional forester submitting the notice, upon submission of the notice, shall provide a confidential archaeology letter that includes all the information required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(i) Paragraphs (2)
and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 929.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 929.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(ii) Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 949.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 949.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii) Paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 969.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and include site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 969.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B) The director shall submit a complete copy of the confidential archaeological letter and two copies of all required archaeological or historical site records to the appropriate Information Center of the California Historical Resource Information System within 30 days from the date of notice submittal to the director. Before submitting the notice to the director, the registered professional forester shall send a copy of the notice to Native Americans, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(8) Only trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. However, within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure, or in an area prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency, if the goal of fuel reduction cannot be achieved by removing
trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter may be removed if that removal complies with this section and is necessary to achieve the goal of fuel reduction. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(9) (A) This subparagraph applies to areas within 500 feet of a legally permitted structure and in areas prioritized as a shaded fuel break in a community wildfire protection plan approved by a public fire agency. The board shall adopt regulations for the treatment of surface and ladder fuels in the harvest area, including logging slash and debris, low brush, small trees, and deadwood, that could promote the spread of wildfire. The regulations adopted by the board shall be consistent with the standards in the board’s “General Guidelines for Creating Defensible Space”
described in Section 1299.03 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Postharvest standards shall include vertical spacing between fuels, horizontal spacing between fuels, maximum depth of dead ground surface fuels, and treatment of standing dead fuels, as follows:
(i) Ladder and surface fuels shall be spaced to achieve a vertical clearance distance of eight feet or three times the height of the postharvest fuels, whichever is the greater distance, measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the surface fuels.
(ii) Horizontal spacing shall achieve a minimum separation of two to six times the height of the postharvest fuels, increasing spacing with increasing slope, measured from the outside branch edges of the fuels.
(iii) Dead surface fuel depth
shall be less than nine inches.
(iv) Standing dead or dying trees and brush generally shall be removed. That material, along with live vegetation associated with the dead vegetation, may be retained for wildlife habitat when isolated from other vegetation.
(B) This subparagraph applies to all areas not described in subparagraph (A).
(i) The postharvest stand shall not contain more than 200 trees over three inches in diameter per acre.
(ii) Vertical spacing shall be achieved by treating dead fuels to a minimum clearance distance of eight feet measured from the base of the live crown of the postharvest dominant and codominant trees to the top of the dead surface fuels.
(iii) All logging
slash created by the timber operations shall be treated to achieve a maximum postharvest depth of nine inches above the ground.
(C) The standards required by subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be achieved on approximately 80 percent of the treated area. The treatment shall include chipping, removing, or other methods necessary to achieve the standards. Ladder and surface fuel treatments, for any portion of the exemption area where timber operations have occurred, shall be done within 120 days from the start of timber operations on that portion of the exemption area or by April 1 of the year following surface fuel creation on that portion of the exemption area if the surface fuels are burned.
(10) Timber operations shall comply with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Timber
operations in the Lake Tahoe region shall comply instead with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (16), inclusive, of subdivision (f) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(11) A notice of exemption, which shall be known as the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption, may be authorized if all of the following conditions are met:
(A) The conditions specified in paragraphs (2), (4), (6), (7), and (10) are met. met, except that notwithstanding paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads on slopes of 40 percent or less shall be allowed if all of the following conditions are met:
(i) Prior to submission of the exemption to the department, a registered professional forester shall designate temporary road locations, landing locations, class III watercourse crossings, unstable areas, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and connected headwall swales, including convergent slopes, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, on
the ground and map their locations on the exemption map described in paragraph (4).
(ii) Temporary roads shall not be located on unstable areas, as that term is defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii) Temporary roads shall be single-lane in width.
(iv) Temporary roads shall not be located across a connected headwall swale, including convergent slopes, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(v) Construction of roads shall not occur during the winter operating period. Pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 923.6 of, and Sections 943.6 and 963.6 of, Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, roads and landings used for log hauling or other heavy equipment uses during the winter period shall occur on a stable operating surface and, where necessary, be surfaced with rock to a depth and quantity sufficient to maintain the surface. Use shall be prohibited on roads that are not hydrologically disconnected and exhibit saturated soil conditions.
(vi) If water is flowing at the time of construction at class III watercourse crossings, the landowner shall comply with Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 1600) of Division 2 of the Fish and Game Code. All class III
watercourse crossings shall be removed prior to the start of the winter operating period.
(vii) All class III watercourses shall have a 30-foot equipment exclusion zone for slopes less than 30 percent and a 50-foot equipment exclusion zone for slopes greater than 30 percent, except for crossings. No road construction activities of any kind, including clearing of trees for road construction, shall occur within a class I and class II watercourse and lake protection zone, as described in Title 14 of Section 895.1 of the California Code of Regulations.
(viii) The landowner shall identify the responsible registered professional forester retained for professional advice
throughout the timber operation. This professional advice shall include overseeing the construction of any new temporary roads and associated potential for impacts to forest resources. The registered professional forester shall also comply with Section 1035.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, relating to interaction between the licensed timber operator and the registered professional forester.
(ix) The registered professional forester shall affirm that the construction or reconstruction of each temporary road is necessary to provide access to harvest areas where no feasible alternative exists.
(x) (I) For each exemption affecting
less than 40 acres, all temporary roads constructed or reconstructed under this exemption shall not exceed a cumulative length of 300 feet.
(II) For each exemption affecting between 40 and 80 acres, all temporary roads constructed or reconstructed under this exemption shall not exceed a cumulative length of between 300 and 600 feet, as determined on a pro rata basis by the total acreage affected by the exemption.
(III) For each exemption affecting over 80 acres, all temporary roads constructed or reconstructed under the exemption shall not exceed a cumulative length of 600 feet.
(IV) Temporary roads constructed under this exemption shall not be connected to other temporary roads constructed under previous or subsequent exemptions filed under this paragraph.
(xi) All temporary roads shall be abandoned, as described in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, at completion of operations.
(xii) This paragraph shall not be interpreted to permit road construction or reconstruction except as authorized under the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption, pursuant to this paragraph.
(B) Only Except within the temporary road prism, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, only trees less than 26 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. Within the temporary road prism, trees up to 36 inches in stump diameter, measured at eight inches above ground level, may be removed. A fuel reduction effort shall not violate the canopy closure regulations adopted by the board on June 10, 2004, and as those regulations may be amended.
(C) (i) The registered professional forester who submits the notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure
and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(ii) The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Where present prior to operations, the overstory canopy closure for trees greater than 12 inches in diameter at breast height shall not be reduced below 50 percent. Stocking shall be met with the largest trees available prior to harvest and shall not be reduced below the standards required by any of the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue:
(I) Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 913.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(II) Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 933.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(III) Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(iii) If the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over four inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands. The retained trees shall be the largest trees available prior to harvest.
(D) The activities conducted pursuant to this
paragraph occur in Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Humboldt, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, or Yuba Counties, or in any combination of these areas.
(E) All activities conducted pursuant to this paragraph occur within the most recent version of the department’s Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map in the moderate, high, and very high fire threat zones.
(F) The department shall maintain records regarding the use of the exemption granted in this paragraph in order to evaluate the impact of the exemption on fuel reduction and natural resources in areas where the exemption has been used.
(G) The amendments made to this paragraph by the act that added this subparagraph during
the 2015–16 Regular Legislative Session shall become operative on January 1, 2018, or when the report described in Section 4589 is submitted to the Legislature, whichever occurs first.
(H) (i) On or before December 31, 2020, the department and the board shall review and submit a report to the Legislature on the trends in the use of, compliance with, and effectiveness of, the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project exemption, created pursuant to this paragraph, including an assessment of the construction or reconstruction of temporary roads.
(ii) The report submitted to the Legislature pursuant to this subparagraph shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code.
(H)
(I) This paragraph shall become inoperative on January 1, 2021.
(12) After the timber operations are complete, the department shall conduct an onsite inspection to determine compliance with this subdivision and whether appropriate enforcement action should be initiated.
(k) The cutting or removal of trees to restore and conserve California black or Oregon white oak woodlands and associated grasslands, if all of the following requirements are met:
(1) A registered professional forester shall prepare the notice of
exemption and submit it to the director. The notice shall include all of the following:
(A) A map of the area of timber operations that complies with the requirements of paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (7) to (11), inclusive, and (14) of subdivision (x) of Section 1034 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(B) A certification signed by the registered professional forester that a minimum of 35 square feet of basal area per acre of California black or Oregon white oak, or both, occupy the proposed treatment area at the time the notice is prepared and the timber operation is designed to restore and conserve California black and Oregon white oak woodlands and associated grasslands.
(C) A description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels.
(2) No tree larger than 26 inches in diameter at stump height shall be harvested for commercial purposes, which includes use for saw logs, posts and poles, fuel wood, biomass, or other forest products.
(3) Only conifers within 300 feet of a California black or Oregon white oak that are at minimum four inches in diameter at breast height may be harvested.
(4) The total area exempted pursuant to this subdivision shall not exceed 300 acres per property per five-year period.
(5) Conifer shall be reduced to less than 25 percent of the combined hardwood and conifer postharvest stand stocking levels.
(6) No more than 20 percent of the total basal area of preexisting oak stock shall be cut or removed
during harvest and a minimum of 35 square feet of basal area per acre of California black or Oregon white oak, or both, shall be maintained postharvest.
(7) The registered professional forester submitting the notice, upon submission of the notice, shall provide a confidential archaeology letter that includes all the information required by paragraphs (2) and (7) to (11), inclusive, of subdivision (c) of Section 929.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, and site records if required pursuant to subdivision (g) of that section or pursuant to Section 929.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(8) All slash created by the timber operations shall be treated to achieve a maximum postharvest depth of 18 inches above the ground within 24 months of the date of the director receiving the notice. Slash shall be configured so as to minimize the risk of fire
mortality to the remaining oak trees.
(9) Timber operations shall comply with the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, of subdivision (b) of Section 1038 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(10) On or before January 1, 2018, the board shall adopt regulations to implement this subdivision.
(11) This subdivision shall not apply to the Southern Subdistrict of the Coast Forest District, as defined in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, or the Southern Forest District, as defined in Section 909 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations.
(12) This subdivision shall become inoperative on January 1, 2024.
