Bill Text: CA AB904 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Forest practices: working forest management plans.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Passed) 2013-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 648, Statutes of 2013. [AB904 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB904-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 904 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 648
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 8, 2013
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 8, 2013
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 6, 2013
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 9, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 3, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 13, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 19, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 21, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chesbro
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to add Article 7.7 (commencing with Section 4597) to
Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to forest resources.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 904, Chesbro. Forest practices: working forest management
plans.
The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person
from conducting timber operations on timberland unless a timber
harvesting plan has been prepared by a registered professional
forester and has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection and approved by the Director of Forestry and Fire
Protection or the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. A
violation of the act is a crime.
The bill would authorize a person who intends to become a working
forest landowner, as defined, to file a working forest management
plan with the department, with the long-term objective of an uneven
aged timber stand and sustained yield through the implementation of
the plan. The bill would require the plan to be prepared by a
registered professional forester, be public record, and contain
certain information, including the name and address of the timberland
owner. The bill would require the department to provide a public
comment period of at least 90 days from the date of the receipt of
the plan, as specified. The bill would require the department to
determine if the plan is accurate, complete, and in proper order. The
bill would require the director to return the plan if the director
determines that the plan is not in conformance, as provided.
The bill would require the working forest landowner who owns,
leases, or otherwise controls or operates on all or any portion of
any timberland within the boundaries of an approved plan and who
harvests any of the timber during a given year to file a working
forest harvest notice, as defined, with the department in writing.
The bill would require the notice to be public record and to include
certain information, including a statement that state or federally
listed rare, threatened, candidate, or endangered plant or animal
species have not been discovered in the harvest area since the
approval of the plan.
The bill would require the director to convene an
interdisciplinary review team, as described, every 5 years to review
an approved plan's administrative record, plan summary information,
as specified, and any other information relevant to verify that
operations have been conducted in accordance with the plan and
applicable laws. The bill would require the department to cancel a
previously approved plan if the department determines that the
objectives of uneven aged management and sustained yield are not
being met or if there are other persistent violations, as provided.
The bill would require the board to adopt regulations needed to
implement the above provisions by January 1, 2016.
The bill would provide that its provisions shall not apply to the
Southern Subdistrict of the Coast Forest District, as defined. The
bill would make legislative findings and declarations regarding the
need for special legislation.
Because a violation of these provisions is a crime, the bill would
impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 7.7 (commencing with Section 4597) is added to
Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, to
read:
Article 7.7. Working Forest Management Plan
4597. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) The nonindustrial timber management plan established pursuant
to Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 4593) has been successful in
meeting the intent of this chapter by encouraging prudent and
responsible forest management and discouraging accelerated timberland
conversion by private nonindustrial forest landowners.
(2) There have been 763 nonindustrial timber management plans
approved by the department covering a combined area of 315,000 acres.
(3) Building upon the model provided by the nonindustrial timber
management plan, it is the policy of the state to encourage long-term
planning, increased productivity of timberland, and the conservation
of open space on a greater number of nonindustrial working forest
ownerships and acreages.
(4) It is the policy of the state to encourage prudent and
responsible forest resource management of nonindustrial timberlands
by approving working forest management plans in advance and
authorizing working forest timber harvest notices to be filed
ministerially.
(5) To ensure long-term benefits such as added carbon
sequestration, local and regional employment and economic activity,
sustainable production of timber and other forest products,
aesthetics, and the maintenance of ecosystem processes and services,
the working forest management plan shall comply with rigorous timber
inventory standards that are subject to periodic review and
verification.
(b) This article shall be implemented in a manner that complies
with the applicable provisions of this chapter and other laws,
including, but not limited to, the Timberland Productivity Act of
1982 (Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section 51100) of Division 1 of
Title 5 of the Government Code), the California Environmental Quality
Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public
Resources Code), the Porter Cologne Water Quality Control Act
(Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code), and
the California Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with
Section 2050) of the Fish and Game Code).
4597.1. Notwithstanding Section 4521, unless the context
otherwise requires, the following definitions govern construction of
this article:
(a) "Long-term sustained yield" means the average annual growth
sustainable by the inventory predicted at the end of a 100-year
planning horizon, or a shorter planning horizon if the forest
encompassed by the working forest management plan has reached a
balance between growth and yield.
(b) "Major stand type" means a stand that occupies an area equal
to or greater than 25 percent of a working forest management plan.
(c) "Management unit" means a geographically identifiable area
delineated for silviculture or management purposes. A management unit
is intended to reflect an area scheduled for harvest under the plan
in any given year, but may also be designated to address specific
resource sensitivities.
(d) "Stand" means a geographically identifiable group of trees
sufficiently uniform in age-class distribution, composition, and
structure and growing on a site of sufficiently uniform quality to be
a distinguishable unit.
(e) "Strata" means a grouping of similar stands defined for
silvicultural or management purposes, usually according to
similarities in stand composition, structure, and age.
(f) "Sustained yield" means the yield of commercial wood that an
area of commercial timberland can produce continuously at a given
intensity of management consistent with required environmental
protection and that is professionally planned to achieve over time a
balance between growth and removal. Sustained yield management
implies continuous production planned so as to achieve, at the
earliest practical time, a balance between growth and harvest.
(g) "Uneven aged management" means forest management with the goal
of establishing a well-stocked stand of various age classes, which
permits the periodic harvest of individual or small groups of trees
to achieve sustained yield objectives of the working forest
management plan, and provide for regeneration of trees and
maintenance of age class structure.
(h) "Working forest harvest notice" means notice of timber harvest
operations, pursuant to an approved working forest management plan,
which meets the requirements of Section 4597.11.
(i) "Working forest landowner" means an owner of timberland with
less than 15,000 acres who has an approved working forest management
plan and is not primarily engaged in the manufacture of forest
products.
(j) "Working forest management plan" means a management plan for
working forest timberlands, with objectives of maintaining,
restoring, or creating uneven aged managed timber stand conditions,
achieving sustained yield, and promoting forestland stewardship that
protects watersheds, fisheries and wildlife habitats, and other
important values.
(k) "Working forest timberlands" means timberland owned by a
working forest landowner.
4597.2. A working forest management plan may be filed with the
department in writing by a person who intends to become a working
forest landowner with the long-term objective of an uneven aged
timber stand and sustained yield through the implementation of a
working forest management plan. The management plan shall be prepared
by a registered professional forester. It shall be public record and
shall include all of the following information:
(a) The name and address of the timberland owner.
(b) A description of the land on which the plan is proposed to be
implemented, including a United States Geological Survey quadrangle
map or equivalent indicating the location of all streams, the
location of all proposed and existing logging truck roads, and the
boundaries of all site I classification timberlands to be stocked in
accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 4561 and any other site
classifications if the board establishes specific minimum stocking
standards for other site classifications.
(c) A description by the registered professional forester of the
inventory design and timber stand stratification criteria that
demonstrates that the inventory supporting the growth and yield
calculations used to determine long-term sustained yield for the
working forest management plans meets the following minimum
standards:
(1) For major stand or strata, the inventory estimate shall be
within 15 percent of the mean at one standard error.
(2) For stand or strata that make up greater than 10 percent and
less than 25 percent of the working forest management plan area, the
estimate shall be no greater than 25 percent of the mean at one
standard error.
(3) Inventory estimates and growth and yield shall be projected
for the purposes of determining long-term sustained yield and volumes
available for harvest by stand or strata and aggregated for the area
covered by the working forest management plan to develop the
long-term sustained yield estimate. Long-term sustained yield
estimates shall reasonably reflect constraints applicable to the
working forest timberlands on forest management activities.
(d) A description and discussion of the methods to be used to
avoid significant sediment discharge to watercourses from timber
operations. This shall include disclosure of active erosion sites
from roads, skid trails, crossings, or any other structures or sites
that have the potential to discharge sediment attributable to timber
operations into waters of the state in an amount deleterious to the
beneficial uses of water, an erosion control implementation plan, and
a schedule to implement erosion controls that prioritizes major
sources of erosion. This subdivision shall not apply to the extent
that the registered professional forester provides documentation to
the department that the working forest management plan is in
compliance with similar requirements of other applicable provisions
of law.
(e) Special provisions to protect unique areas, if any, within the
boundaries of the proposed working forest management plan.
(f) A description of the property and planned activities including
acres and projected growth, existing stand types, major stand types
or strata, its current projected growth by strata, silvicultural
applications to be applied to strata to achieve long-term sustained
yield, projected timber volumes and tree sizes to be available for
harvest, and projected frequencies of harvest.
(g) (1) A description of late succession forest stands in the plan
area and how the total acreage of this type of habitat will be
maintained across the plan area under a constraint of no net loss.
Nothing in this requirement shall be interpreted to preclude active
management on any given acre of an approved plan if the management is
conducted in a manner that maintains or enhances the overall acreage
of late succession forest stands that existed in the plan area upon
initial plan approval. An exception to the no net loss constraint may
be granted in the event of a catastrophic loss due to emergency
factors such as wildfire, insect, and disease activity. The
description shall include the following:
(A) Retention measures for existing biological legacies such as
snags, trees with cavities or basal hollows, and down logs, and
address how those legacies shall be managed over time appropriate
with the forest type, climate, and landowner's forest fire fuels and
wildlife management objectives.
(B) Hardwood tree species and how they will be managed over time.
(2) Late succession forest stand types or strata shall be mapped.
(3) Notwithstanding the definition of late succession forest
stands in Section 895.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of
Regulations, and for the sole purpose of this article, "late
succession forest stands" means stands of dominant and predominant
trees that meet the criteria of the California Wildlife Habitat
Relationships System class 5D, 5M, or 6 with an open, moderate, or
dense canopy closure classification, often with multiple canopy
layers, and are at least 10 acres in size. Functional characteristics
of late succession forest stands include large decadent trees,
snags, and large down logs.
(h) Disclosure of state or federally listed threatened, candidate,
endangered, or rare plant or animal species located within the
biological assessment area, their status and habitats, take avoidance
methodologies, enforceable protection measures for species and
habitats, and how forest management will maintain these over time.
(i) (1) A description of the following for each management unit:
(A) Acres by stand or strata and estimated growth and yield for
each planned harvest entry covering the period of time the long-term
sustained yield plan establishes as necessary to meet growth and
yield objectives. The growth and yield estimates may be based on
weighted average of yield for the stand types or strata within the
area included in the management unit.
(B) Yarding methods to be used.
(C) Management units shall be mapped.
(2) (A) For long-term sustained yield projections, pursuant to
subdivision (c), that project a reduction in quadratic mean diameter
of trees greater than 12 inches in diameter or a reduced level of
inventory for a major stand type or for a stand or strata that make
up greater than 10 percent and less than 25 percent of the working
forest management plan area, an assessment shall be included that
does all of the following:
(i) Addresses candidate, threatened, endangered, and sensitive
species, and other fish and wildlife species that timber operations
could adversely impact by potential changes to habitat.
(ii) Addresses species habitat needs utilizing the "WHR system"
described in "A Guide to Wildlife Habitats in California," California
Department of Fish and Wildlife, 1988, or comparable typing system.
(iii) Addresses constraints to timber management, the impact of
the availability and distribution of habitats on the ownership and
within the cumulative impacts assessment area identified in the plan
in relation to the harvest schedule, and the impacts of the planned
management activities utilizing the existing habitat as the baseline
for comparison.
(iv) Discusses and includes feasible measures planned to avoid or
mitigate potentially significant adverse impacts on fish or wildlife,
which can include, but is not limited to, recruitment or retention
of large down logs greater than 16 inches in diameter and 20 feet in
length, retention of trees with structural features such as basal
hollows, cavities, large limbs, or broken tops, retention of
hardwoods, and retention or recruitment of snags greater than 24
inches in diameter and 16 feet in height.
(j) A certification by the registered professional forester
preparing the plan that the forester or a designee has personally
inspected the plan area.
(k) A certification by the registered professional forester
preparing the plan that the forester or a designee has clearly
explained to the working forest landowner that the plan is a
long-term commitment that may require ongoing investments, including
inventory sampling and road maintenance, for the purpose of managing
the plan.
(l) Any other information the board requires by regulation to meet
its rules and the standards of this chapter.
4597.3. The board shall adopt regulations regarding the notice of
receipt of the proposed working forest management plan. The notice
shall be given within two working days following receipt of the
proposed management plan and shall be consistent with all applicable
laws. The method of notice shall include, but not be limited to,
mailed notice and Internet-based notice. The regulations may require
the person submitting the working forest management plan to provide
to the department a list of the names and addresses of persons to
whom the notice is to be mailed.
4597.4. The department shall provide notice of the filing of
working forest management plans, the proposed plans, and working
forest harvest notices on its Internet Web site, and to any person
who requests, in writing, that notification.
4597.5. Upon receipt of the proposed working forest management
plan, the department shall place the proposed plan, or a true copy of
the proposed plan, in a location or on an Internet Web site
available for public inspection in the county in which timber
operations are proposed under the plan. For the purpose of
interdisciplinary review, the department shall also transmit a copy
to the Department of Conservation, the Department of Fish and
Wildlife, the appropriate California regional water quality control
board, the county planning agency, and all other agencies having
jurisdiction by law over natural resources affected by the plan. The
department shall invite, consider, and respond in writing to comments
received from public agencies to which the plan has been transmitted
and shall consult with those agencies at their request.
4597.6. (a) The department shall provide a time period for public
comment, starting from the date of the receipt of a working forest
management plan, as follows:
(1) Ninety days for a working forest management plan for less than
5,000 acres.
(2) One hundred ten days for a working forest management plan for
between 5,000 and 9,999 acres.
(3) One hundred thirty days for a working forest management plan
for between 10,000 and 14,999 acres.
(b) Before a working forest management plan may be approved, all
of the following requirements shall be met:
(1) Within 30 working days of the receipt of a working forest
management plan, or within 40 working days of the receipt of a plan
to which a road management plan is appended, the department shall
determine if the plan is accurate, complete, and in proper order, and
if so, the plan shall be filed. An unfiled plan shall be returned to
the applicant with an explanation that includes provisions for
resubmitting the plan.
(2) The initial inspection shall be initiated within 20 working
days from the date of filing of the working forest management plan,
and completed no more than 30 working days from the date of filing.
(3) Upon completion of the initial inspection, the department
shall have up to 45 working days to conduct the final interagency
review of the plan.
(4) The public comment period shall end 20 working days after the
completion of the final interagency review of the plan or until the
requirement in subdivision (a) is met, whichever is greater.
(5) After the final interagency review and public comment period
has ended, the department shall have up to 30 working days to review
the public input, to consider recommendations and mitigation measures
of other agencies, to respond in writing to the issues raised, and
to determine if the plan is in conformance with the applicable rules
adopted by the board and other applicable provisions of law.
(c) If after final interagency review the director determines that
the plan is not in conformance with the rules and regulations of the
board or this chapter, the director shall deny and return the plan,
stating the reasons for the denial and advising the person submitting
the plan of the person's right to a hearing before the board.
(d) If the director does not act within the time periods provided
in paragraphs (1) through (5) in subdivision (b), the director and
the working forest landowner submitting the working forest management
plan shall negotiate and mutually agree upon a longer period for the
director to review the plan. If a longer period cannot be mutually
agreed upon, the working forest management plan shall be deemed
denied and returned to the working forest landowner submitting the
plan.
(e) (1) A working forest landowner to whom a plan is denied
pursuant to subdivision (c) or (d) may request, within 30 working
days from the receipt of the plan, a public hearing before the board.
The board shall schedule a public hearing to review the plan to
determine if the plan is in conformance with the rules and
regulations of the board and this chapter.
(2) Board action shall take place within 30 working days from the
filing of the appeal, or a longer period mutually agreed upon by the
board and the person filing the appeal.
(3) If the director's decision to deny the plan is overturned by
the board, the board shall prepare findings and its rationale for
overturning the decision, and return the plan to the department for
approval by the director.
(4) If the plan is not approved on appeal to the board, the
director, within 10 working days of board action, shall advise the
plan submitter regarding changes needed that would achieve compliance
with this chapter and other applicable provisions of the law. The
plan submitter shall have 45 working days from the date of the
notification letter, or longer, if mutually agreeable to the
department and the plan submitter to revise the plan to bring it into
full conformance with the rules and regulations of the board and
this chapter. Upon receipt of the information requested of the plan
submitter, the department shall recirculate the plan and reopen the
public comment period for 30 working days. Prior to determining
whether to approve the proposed revised plan, the director shall have
30 working days to review public input and consider recommendations
and mitigation measures of other agencies, and to respond in writing
to issues raised.
4597.7. The working forest landowner may submit a proposed
amendment to the approved plan and shall not take any action that
substantially deviates, as defined by the board, from the approved
plan until the amendment has been filed with the director and the
director has determined, after completion of the interagency review
and public comment period, either of the following:
(a) The amendment is in compliance with the current rules and
regulations of the board and the provisions of this chapter.
(b) The amendment is in compliance with the rules and regulations
of the board and the provisions of this chapter that were in effect
at the time the working forest management plan was approved. The
director may only make this determination if the registered
professional forester explains, justifies, and certifies both of the
following:
(1) The adherence to new or modified rules and regulations of the
board would cause unreasonable additional expense to the working
forest landowner.
(2) Compliance with the rules and regulations of the board and the
provisions of this chapter that were in effect at the time the
working forest management plan was approved will not result in any
significant degradation to the beneficial uses of water, soil
stability, forest productivity, or wildlife.
(c) Review timelines for substantial deviations of working forest
management plans shall conform to the direction provided in Section
4582.7, except for amendments that add acreage covered by the
original working forest management plan that exceeds 10 percent or
500 acres, whichever is greater. Amendments that add acreage in
excess of 10 percent or 500 acres shall be reviewed pursuant to the
procedures specified in Section 4597.6.
4597.8. The working forest landowner may take actions that do not
substantially deviate from the approved plan without the submission
of an amendment, but those actions shall be subsequently reported to
the department. The board shall specify, by regulation, those
nonsubstantial deviations that may be taken. The board shall specify
the requirements for reporting those deviations.
4597.9. In the event of a change of ownership of the land
described in the working forest management plan, the working forest
landowner shall notify the new landowner of the existence of the plan
and the need to notify the department of the new landowner's intent
regarding assumption of the plan. Notification shall be in writing
with a copy to the department of the new landowner's intent regarding
assumption of the plan. The new landowner shall have one year from
the date of the receipt of the notification by the department to
notify the department in writing of his or her assumption of the
plan. If the department does not receive notification within this
period, the plan shall expire one year from the date the new
landowner is advised by the department of the necessity to assume the
plan.
4597.10. The working forest landowner may cancel the working
forest management plan by submitting a written notice to the
department. Once timber operations have commenced pursuant to a
working forest harvest notice, cancellation is not effective on land
covered by the notice until a report of satisfactory completion has
been issued pursuant to Sections 4585, 4586, and 4587.
4597.11. The working forest landowner who owns, leases, or
otherwise controls or operates on all or any portion of any
timberland within the boundaries of an approved working forest
management plan, and who plans to harvest any of the timber during a
given year, shall file a working forest harvest notice with the
department in writing. A notice shall be filed prior to the
harvesting of any timber and shall be effective for a maximum of one
year from the date of filing. If the person who files the notice is
not the owner of the timberland, the person filing the notice shall
notify the timberland owner by certified mail that the notice has
been submitted and shall certify that mailing to the department. The
notice shall be a public record and shall include all of the
following information:
(a) The name and address of the timber owner.
(b) The name and address of the timber operator.
(c) The name and address of the registered professional forester
preparing the working forest management plan.
(d) A description of the land on which the work is proposed to be
done.
(e) A statement that no archaeological sites have been discovered
in the harvest area since the approval of the working forest
management plan.
(f) A statement that state or federally listed rare, threatened,
candidate, or endangered plant or animal species have not been
discovered in the harvest area since the approval of the working
forest management plan. Prior to submitting the notice, a review of
the California Natural Diversity Database or other public databases
for any species listed as threatened, endangered, candidate, or rare,
or species that meet the criteria of endangered or rare as provided
in Section 15380 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations,
shall be conducted after the initial year after the plan is approved.
When a notice of operations is filed after the initial year the plan
is approved, it shall comply with the following:
(1) Documented occurrences obtained from a review of public and
readily available sources of species state or federally listed as
threatened, endangered, candidate, or rare within the biological
assessment area and outside the area identified in the working forest
harvest notice not addressed in the approved plan shall be submitted
to the director as a minor deviation concurrently with the filing of
a working forest harvest notice.
(2) Occurrences of species that are state or federally listed as
threatened, endangered, candidate, or rare discovered inside the area
identified in the working forest harvest notice not addressed in the
approved plan shall be submitted to the director as an amendment to
the plan prior to filing a working forest harvest notice. The
amendment shall contain take avoidance and mitigation measures if no
such information is currently contained within the approved plan.
(g) A statement that there are no physical environmental changes
in the harvest area that are so significant as to require any
amendment of the working forest management plan.
(h) A certification by the registered professional forester that
states either of the following:
(1) The notice as carried out will protect the beneficial uses of
water, soil stability, forest productivity, and wildlife as provided
by the rules and regulations of the board and other applicable
provisions of law.
(2) Compliance with the rules and regulations of the board and the
provisions of this chapter that were in effect at the time the
working forest management plan was approved will not result in any
significant degradation to the beneficial uses of water, soil
stability, forest productivity, or wildlife. This paragraph shall
only apply if the forester certifies that adherence to current or
modified rules and regulations of the board would cause unreasonable
additional expense
to the working forest landowner.
(i) Special provisions to protect unique areas, if any, within the
area of timber operations.
(j) The expected dates of commencement and completion of timber
operations during the year.
(k) A statement that the harvesting notice conforms to the
provisions of the approved management plan. If any aspects of the
proposed operation are less protective than the current forest
practices rules, an explanation of the deviation and how resource
values will be adequately protected.
(l) An update on erosion control mitigation measures for the
harvest area and any appurtenant roads if conditions have changed
since the working forest management plan was approved and a
certification from the registered professional forester that no
additional listings of water bodies to the Section 303(d) of the
Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1313(d)) list have occurred on the
lands of the plan.
(m) Any other information the board provides by regulation to meet
its rules and the standards of this chapter and other applicable
provisions of law.
4597.12. (a) For an approved working forest management plan, the
director shall convene a meeting with the interdisciplinary review
team, as that term is used in subdivision (a) of Section 1037.5 of
Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, every five years to
review the plan's administrative record, information obtained
pursuant to subdivision (b), and any other information relevant to
verify that operations have been conducted in accordance with the
plan and applicable laws and regulations. Participation by review
team agencies shall be at the discretion of each agency. If at this
meeting a member of the review team determines that a field
inspection is necessary to verify that operations have been conducted
in accordance with the plan and applicable laws and regulations,
then a field inspection may be conducted.
(b) For the purposes of subdivision (a), the board, in
consultation with the review team agencies, shall adopt regulations
that require the department to develop a plan summary before each
five-year review that allows the review team to analyze information
including, but not limited to, the number of notices of timber
operations, the acreage operated under each notice, the violations
received, and the volume harvested in relation to projections of
harvest in the plan. If the department or a review team agency does
not have direct access to information needed for the plan summary,
the department may require the landowner to provide this information.
(c) For the purpose of allowing the public to monitor a working
forest management plan, the department shall provide the public, in
writing or on its Internet Web site, notice of each five-year review
and a copy of the plan summary. The public may submit to the review
team additional information relevant to the purpose of the five-year
review and the review team may consider this information when
conducting its review.
(d) This section does not authorize the public disclosure of
proprietary information without first obtaining the landowner's
consent.
4597.13. The registered professional forester who prepares the
working forest management plan or prepares the notice of harvest, or
any other registered professional forester who is employed by the
owner or operator, shall report to the owner or operator if there are
deviations from the plan that, in the forester's judgment, threaten
the attainment of the resource conservation standards of the plan.
4597.14. If the board finds that a registered professional
forester has made any material misstatement in a working forest
harvest notice, working forest management plan, or report pursuant to
this chapter, the board shall take disciplinary action against the
forester as provided pursuant to Section 775.
4597.15. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, if
a registered professional forester certifies by written declaration,
on behalf of the timber owner or operator, that the working forest
harvest notice conforms to and meets the requirements of the approved
working forest management plan under which it is filed, timber
operations may commence immediately. If the notice has been filed by
mailing, operations may commence three days after the notice has been
mailed. Cancellation of the plan may be appealed by the plan
submitter or landowner utilizing the process prescribed in paragraph
(1) of subdivision (e) of Section 4597.6.
4597.16. If the department determines that the objectives of
uneven aged management and sustained yield are not being met by a
working forest landowner, or there are other persistent violations
detected that are not being corrected, the department shall cancel a
previously approved working forest management plan and any further
timber operations under the plan shall be terminated. In making a
determination to cancel a plan, the department may cite the findings
of a review conducted pursuant to Section 4597.12.
4597.17. If a landowner with a nonindustrial timber management
plan or a working forest management plan with less than 2,500 acres
expands his or her total timberland ownership to 2,500 or more acres,
the landowner may transition into a working forest management plan
for more than 2,500 acres through an amendment to the plan. The board
shall adopt regulations that establish this amendment process.
4597.18. A participating landowner, in conjunction with the
preparation of an application for a working forest management plan
filed with the department, may also seek approval of a safe harbor
agreement from the Department of Fish and Wildlife, pursuant to
Article 3.7 (commencing with Section 2089.2) of Chapter 1.5 of
Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code. All review costs associated
with the safe harbor agreement approval process incurred by the
Department of Fish and Wildlife pursuant to this section shall be
paid from the fund created in Section 4629.3.
4597.19. Notwithstanding any other law, if a person with a
working forest management plan or a nonindustrial timber management
plan applies for state restoration grant funding for a restoration
project that has a significant public benefit, the application shall
not be summarily denied on the basis that the project is a required
condition of the harvesting plan.
4597.20. The board shall adopt the regulations needed to
implement this article by January 1, 2016.
4597.21. This article does not affect the applicability of county
rules adopted pursuant to Section 4516.5 nor any court decision made
by a court of competent jurisdiction.
4597.22. This article shall not apply to the Southern Subdistrict
of the Coast Forest District, as defined in Section 845.1 of Title
14 of the California Code of Regulations.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because of the unique urbanized nature of the Southern Subdistrict of
the Coast Forest District.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
