Bill Text: CA AB2474 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Fire prevention fee: state responsibility areas.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-05-25 - In committee: Set, second hearing. Held under submission. [AB2474 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB2474-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2474 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 25, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chesbro
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend Sections 4210 and 4212 of the Public Resources
Code, relating to fire prevention , and declaring the urgency
thereof, to take effect immediately .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2474, as amended, Chesbro. Fire prevention fee: state
responsibility areas.
Existing law requires the state to have the primary responsibility
for preventing and suppressing fires in areas that the State Board
of Forestry and Fire Protection has determined are state
responsibility areas. Existing law required the board, on or before
September 1, 2011, to adopt emergency regulations to establish a fire
prevention fee in an amount not to exceed $150 to be charged on each
structure on a parcel that is within a state responsibility area.
The board is required to adjust the fee annually using prescribed
methods.
This bill would require the board, no later than July 1, 2013, to
amend those emergency regulations required to be adopted by the board
pursuant to those provisions to provide for a credit against the
amount of the fee imposed on each structure on a parcel that is
within a state responsibility area based upon specified factors, as
prescribed, not to exceed a maximum of $150. The bill would require
the board to adjust the fee taking into account specified factors to
ensure that the fee accurately reflects the fire prevention benefits
provided. The bill would require the board to, not later than January
1, 2013, and annually thereafter, report to the Legislature on the
costs of responding to all fire disasters in state responsibility
areas for that year, including specified information.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: majority 2/3 . 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 that the fire
prevention fee imposed pursuant to Chapter 8 of the Statutes of 2011
should be implemented in a fair and equitable manner, and should take
into consideration any amounts that an owner of a structure in a
state responsibility area already pays for local fire service and the
severity of the fire zone where the structure is located.
SEC. 2. Section 4210 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4210. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Fire protection of the public trust resources on lands in the
state responsibility areas remains a vital interest to California.
Lands that are covered in whole or in part by a diverse plant
community prevent excessive erosion, retard runoff, reduce
sedimentation, and accelerate water percolation to assist in the
maintenance of critical sources of water for environmental,
irrigation, domestic, or industrial uses.
(b) The presence of structures within state responsibility areas
can pose an increased risk of fire ignition and an increased
potential for fire damage within the state's wildlands and
watersheds. The presence of structures within state responsibility
areas can also impair wild land firefighting techniques and could
result in greater damage to state lands caused by wildfires.
(c) The costs of fire prevention activities aimed at reducing the
effects of structures in state responsibility areas should be borne
by the owners of these structures.
(d) Individual owners of structures within state responsibility
areas that are not within the service area of a local fire district
receive a disproportionately larger benefit from fire prevention
activities than that realized by the state's citizens generally.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature that the economic burden
of fire prevention activities that are associated with structures in
state responsibility areas shall be equitably distributed among the
citizens of the state who generally benefit from those activities and
those owners of structures in the state responsibility areas who
receive a specific benefit other than that general benefit.
(f) It is necessary to impose a fire prevention fee to pay for
fire prevention activities in the state responsibility areas that
specifically benefit owners of structures in the state responsibility
areas.
SEC. 3. Section 4212 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4212. (a) (1) By September 1, 2011, the board shall adopt
emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee for the
purposes of this chapter in an amount not to exceed one hundred fifty
dollars ($150) to be charged on each structure on a parcel that is
within a state responsibility area.
(2) No later than July 1, 2013, the board shall amend the
emergency regulation required to be adopted pursuant to this section
to do the following:
(A) Specify that an owner of a structure on a parcel within a
state responsibility area who pays one hundred fifty dollars ($150)
or more to a local agency that provides fire protection services in
the state responsibility area is not required to pay the fire
prevention fee established pursuant to this chapter.
(B) Require that an owner of a structure on a parcel within a
state responsibility area who pays less than one hundred fifty
dollars ($150) to a local agency that provides fire protection
services in the state responsibility area be given a credit against
the amount of the fire prevention fee imposed pursuant to this
chapter in an amount equal to the amount paid to the local agency for
those services.
(C) Adjust the fire prevention fee established pursuant to this
chapter to take into account fire history and severity in state
responsibility areas to ensure that the fee accurately reflects the
fire prevention benefits provided.
(3) The Legislature finds and declares that a fire prevention fee
of not more than one hundred fifty dollars ($150) is a reasonable
amount for the necessary fire prevention activities of the state that
benefit the owner of a structure within a state responsibility area.
(4) No later than January 1, 2013, and annually thereafter, the
board shall report to the Legislature on the costs of responding to
all fire disasters and emergencies in state responsibility areas for
that year. The report shall contain a breakdown of the costs of fire
prevention and response in state responsibility areas, including all
of the following:
(A) The total costs of fire prevention and response in urban
versus rural areas in state responsibility areas.
(B) The estimated costs of fire prevention and response in state
responsibility areas, as determined by the square footage of a
structure and any other related fires and natural disasters such as
earthquakes and other wildland fires.
(b) On July 1, 2013 2012 , and
annually thereafter, the board shall adjust the fire prevention fees
imposed pursuant to this chapter to reflect the percentage of change
in the average annual value of the Implicit Price Deflator for State
and Local Government Purchases of Goods and Services for the United
States, as calculated by the United States Department of Commerce for
the 12-month period in the third quarter of the prior calendar year,
as reported by the Department of Finance.
(c) Emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be adopted in accordance with the rulemaking provisions of 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 an emergency
and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace,
health, and safety, or general welfare.
SEC. 4. 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 Constitution and shall go
into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to authorize the board to adjust fire prevention fees for
the protection of public health and safety, it is necessary that
this statute take effect immediately.
