Bill Text: CA AB744 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Timber harvesting plans: exempt activities.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)
Status: (Passed) 2013-10-08 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 647, Statutes of 2013. [AB744 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB744-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 744 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 647
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 8, 2013
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 8, 2013
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 12, 2013
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 12, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 12, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 11, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 6, 2013
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 1, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Dahle and Gordon
(Coauthors: Senators Gaines and Nielsen)
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to amend Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to forest resources.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 744, Dahle. Timber harvesting plans: exempt activities.
The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person
from conducting timber operations unless a timber harvesting plan
prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to
the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes
the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from those
provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest
management activities, including, 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 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.
Under existing law, the notice of exemption issued for this
exemption, known as the Forest Fire Prevention Exemption, may be
authorized only if certain conditions are met, including that only
trees less than 18 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8 inches
above ground level, may be removed, as provided.
This bill would provide that an additional notice of exemption,
known as the Forest Fire Prevention Pilot Project Exemption, may be
authorized if certain conditions are met, including, among others,
that only trees less than 24 inches in stump diameter, measured at 8
inches above ground level, may be removed, as provided. The bill
would provide that these provisions shall become inoperative 3 years
after the effective date of regulations adopted by the board
implementing these provisions.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a
five-year pilot project to assess whether increasing the diameter of
trees that may be removed pursuant to the existing Forest Fire
Prevention Exemption in the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act can
reduce the risk of catastrophic fire that threatens many communities
in the Sierra Nevada while improving the economic use of this
exemption for landowners. It is further the intent of the Legislature
that the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection maintain
adequate records to evaluate this pilot project. It is also the
intent of the Legislature that those using this exemption consider
the appropriate use of the California Conservation Corps, local
conservation corps, and properly supervised inmate fire crews in
implementing activities pursuant to this pilot project.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Natural Resources
Agency develop a forest restoration and fuels reduction program that
utilizes an interagency process to develop regionally appropriate
and cost-effective forest restoration prescriptions and permits.
SEC. 2. Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4584. Upon determining that the 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 or 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 or 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) Easements granted by a right-of-way construction agreement
administered by the federal government if timber sales and operations
within or affecting these areas 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 and 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.
(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.
(B) Only trees less than 24 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
the Sierra Nevada Region as defined in subdivision (f) of Section
33302, in Modoc, Siskiyou, or Trinity 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) This paragraph shall become inoperative three years after the
effective date of regulations adopted by the board implementing this
paragraph.
(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.
