Bill Text: CA AB824 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Fire prevention activities.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From Senate committee without further action. [AB824 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB824-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 824 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 16, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gatto
FEBRUARY 26, 2015
An act to amend Section 4137 of the Public Resources Code,
relating to fire protection.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 824, as amended, Gatto. Fire prevention activities.
Existing law requires the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to
classify all lands within the state, without regard to any
classification of lands made by or for any federal agency or purpose,
for the purpose of determining areas in which the financial
responsibility of preventing and suppressing fires is primarily the
responsibility of the state.
Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection to provide an annual report to the Legislature detailing
the department's fire prevention activities, as described. Existing
law requires the report to include specified data and information.
This bill would, for purposes of this report, describe "fire
prevention activities" to include coordination and cooperation with
the federal government government, as
provided . The bill would require the report to include a map
of the areas of coordination between the department and the federal
government, as provided.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4137 of the Public Resources Code is amended to
read:
4137. (a) For purposes of this section, "fire prevention
activities" include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Fire prevention education.
(2) Hazardous fuel reduction and vegetation management.
(3) Fire investigation.
(4) Civil cost recovery.
(5) Forest and fire law enforcement.
(6) Fire prevention engineering.
(7) Prefire planning.
(8) Risk analysis.
(9) Volunteer programs and partnerships.
(10) Coordination and cooperation with the federal
government. government, which shall include, but not
be limited to, all of the following:
(A) Estimates of state and federal fire prevention costs to fund
fire prevention activities of Fire Safe Councils, community emergency
response teams developed by local governments, and similar
organizations who cooperate with state and federal authorities to
reduce the risk of wildfires near communities.
(B) Estimates of the funding needs for forest fuel management
programs to reduce urgent fire risks near communities at high risk of
wildfire.
(C) Usage of coordinated policies that promote defensible space
adjacent to communities where multiple jurisdictions may engage in
fire suppression activities.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the year-round
staffing and the extension of the workweek that has been provided to
the department pursuant to memorandums of understanding with the
state will result in significant increases in the department's
current level of fire prevention activities. It is also the intent of
the Legislature that the budgetary augmentations for year-round
staffing not reduce the reimbursements that the department receives
from contracts with local governments for the department to provide
local fire protection and emergency services pursuant to Section
4144, commonly referred to as "Amador agreements."
(c) On or before January 10 of each year, the department shall
provide a report to the Legislature, including the budget and fiscal
committees of the Assembly and the Senate, in accordance with Section
9795 of the Government Code, detailing the department's fire
prevention activities, including the increased activities described
in subdivision (b). The report shall display the fire prevention
activities of the previous fiscal year, as well as the information
from previous reports for purposes of a comparison of data. The
report shall include all of the following:
(1) Fire prevention activities performed by the department on
lands designated as state responsibility areas, and by counties,
where, pursuant to a contract with the department, a county has
agreed to provide fire protection services in state responsibility
areas within county boundaries on behalf of the department. The fire
prevention activities included in the report pursuant to this
paragraph shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) The number of hours of fire prevention education performed.
(B) The number of defensible space inspections conducted,
including statewide totals and totals for each region.
(C) The number of citations issued for noncompliance with Section
4291.
(D) The number of acres treated by mechanical fuel reduction.
(E) The number of acres treated by prescribed burns.
(F) Any other data or qualitative information deemed necessary by
the department in order to provide the Legislature with a clear and
accurate accounting of fire prevention activities, particularly with
regard to variations from one year to the next.
(G) A map of the areas of coordination between the department and
the federal government, particularly in areas of high fire hazard
severity or in wildlife-urban wildland-urban
interface areas.
(2) The fire prevention performance measures described in
subparagraphs (A) to (G), inclusive, of paragraph (1) shall be
reported for each region annually, including activities performed
from December 15 to April 15, inclusive.
(3) Projected fire prevention activities for the following fiscal
year.
(4) Information on each of the "Amador agreements" described in
subdivision (b), including an annual update on the number of those
agreements and reimbursements received from the agreements that are
in effect.
