Bill Text: CA SB1079 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Forest resources: fire prevention grants: advance payments.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2018-09-21 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 622, Statutes of 2018. [SB1079 Detail]

Download: California-2017-SB1079-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  June 14, 2018

Amended  IN  Senate  April 25, 2018

Amended  IN  Senate  March 15, 2018

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 1079

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Introduced by Senator Monning
(Coauthors: Senators Gaines and Morrell)

February 12, 2018

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An act to amend Section 4799.05 of, and to add Section 705.5 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to forest resources, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 1079, as amended, Monning. Forest resources: fire prevention grants: advance payments.

Existing law authorizes the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to provide grants to entities, including, but not limited to, private or nongovernmental entities, Native American tribes, or local, state, and federal public agencies, for the implementation and administration of projects and programs to improve forest health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Budget Act of 2017 appropriated moneys to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for purposes of, among other things, providing local assistance grants, grants to fire safe councils, and grants to qualified nonprofit organizations with a demonstrated ability to satisfactorily plan, implement, and complete a fire prevention project for these same purposes, as provided.

This bill would authorize the director to authorize advance payments to a nonprofit organization, a local agency, a special district, a private forest landowner, or a Native American tribe from the grant awards specified above. The bill would prohibit a single advance payment from exceeding 25% of the total grant award.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Digest Key

Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 Section 705.5 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

705.5.

 The director may authorize advance payments to a nonprofit organization, a local agency, a special district, or a Native American tribe from a grant awarded pursuant to subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d), (f), or (g) of Provision 2 of Item 3540-001-3228 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2017, including subsequent amendments to that provision. The director may also authorize advance payments to a private forest landowner from a grant awarded pursuant to subdivision (a) of Provision 2 of Item 3540-001-3228 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2017, including subsequent amendments to that provision. No single advance payment shall exceed 25 percent of the total grant award.

SEC. 2.

 Section 4799.05 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read:

4799.05.

 (a) (1) The director may provide grants to, or enter into contracts or other cooperative agreements with, entities, including, but not limited to, private or nongovernmental entities, Native American tribes, or local, state, and federal public agencies, for the implementation and administration of projects and programs to improve forest health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

(2) The director may authorize advance payments to a nonprofit organization, a local agency, a special district, a private forest landowner, or a Native American tribe from a grant awarded pursuant to this section. No single advance payment shall exceed 25 percent of the total grant award.

(b) Any project or program described in this section that is funded with moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created pursuant to Section 16428.8 of the Government Code, shall comply with all statutory and program requirements applicable to the use of moneys from the fund.

(c) Moneys appropriated to the department for landscape-scale projects shall be allocated as follows:

(1) To subsidize the removal of small diameter material, especially surface fuels and ladder fuels, as well as dead trees, in order to help develop markets for beneficial uses of the material, including, but not limited to, animal bedding, biochar, cross-laminated timber, mulch, oriented strand board, pulp, post, shredding, and veneer products.

(2) For multiple benefit projects, such as tree thinning, carbon sequestration, forest resilience, and improved ecological outcome projects, including, but not limited to, restoring watershed health and function and supporting biodiversity and wildlife adaptation to climate change. The department shall give grant funding priority to landowners who practice uneven aged forest management with a resilient forest of diverse age, size, and species class within the boundaries of the project and whose activities are conducted pursuant to an approved timber harvest plan, nonindustrial timber harvest plan, or working forest management plan. An application for a grant for a project under this subparagraph shall include a description of how the proposed project will increase average stem diameter and provide other site-specific improvement to forest complexity, as demonstrated by the expansion of the variety of tree age classes and species persisting for a period of at least 50 years. The department shall also give funding priority to landowners who agree to long-term forest management goals prescribed by the department.

(3) For activities on national forest lands to increase tree stand heterogeneity, create forest openings of less than one acre, and increase average tree stand diameter of residual trees. Any grants provided under this subparagraph shall be approved by the department, in collaboration with appropriate state agencies, including the State Air Resources Board.

SEC. 3.

 This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:

In order to implement projects that restore forest health and reduce large, intense wildfires, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.