Bill Text: CA SB144 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Forest resources: management.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2009-06-15 - To Com. on NAT. RES. [SB144 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SB144-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 144 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 18, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Pavley
FEBRUARY 11, 2009
An act to amend Sections 4789.1 and 4789.3 of, and to
add Section 4556 to , the Public Resources Code, relating
to forest resources.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 144, as amended, Pavley. Forest resources: management.
The
(1) 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 for the timber operations to
the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and approved. The
act requires a person who owns timberlands that are to be devoted to
uses other than the growing of timber to file an application for
conversion with the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The California Forest Legacy Program Act of 2007 establishes the
California Forest Legacy Program to conserve private forest lands by
authorizing the department to acquire conservation easements of
eligible properties according to specified criteria.
This bill would require the department, in order to further the
goals of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and to
enhance the capability of forest lands to sequester carbon, to
develop options and incentives for the management of private forests
pursuant to the criteria established under the California Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006, to establish, in consultation with the
State Air Resources Board, scientific standardized baselines at the
regional and state scales to project future scenarios of carbon
emissions and sequestration, and to develop, in consultation with the
State Air Resources Board and the Department of Fish and Game,
regulations that establish mitigation requirements for forest land
conversions. The bill would require the department to impose a fee on
an applicant for conversion that fully offsets the department's
costs for implementing the above requirement as it relates to
conversion.
The bill also would state that it is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to develop a planning watershed-scale timber
harvesting permit in order to facilitate long-term planning, improve
information that is available to the public and reviewing agencies,
ensure meaningful cumulative impact assessments, and provide a more
cost-efficient permitting program for applicants.
(2) Existing law, the Forest and Rangeland Resources Assessment
and Policy Act of 1977, requires the Director of Forestry and Fire
Protection, under policy guidance from the State Board of Forestry
and Fire Protection and in consultation with the Secretary of the
Natural Resources Agency, to prepare and submit a full and updated
forest and rangeland resource assessment and analysis by January 1,
1987, and by January 1 of each 5th year thereafter. The board is
required to prepare a forest resource policy statement based on the
review and assessment.
This bill would require that the review and assessment include
continued publication of trendline data on carbon stocks, at multiple
geographic scales, on the state's forest lands. The bill would
require the director to collaborate with the State Air Resources
Board for the development and maintenance of the trendline data for
the purposes of demonstrating consistency with the California Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006 for the forest sector and to identify
the best available data sources and outstanding data needs necessary
to develop and maintain the trendline data.
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. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation to develop a planning watershed-scale timber
harvesting permit in order to facilitate long-term planning, improve
information that is available to the public and reviewing agencies,
ensure meaningful cumulative impact assessments, and provide a more
cost-efficient permitting program for applicants.
SEC. 2. SECTION 1. Section 4556 is
added to the Public Resources Code, to read:
4556. (a) In order to further the goals of the California Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section
38500) of the Health and Safety Code),
and Code), and to enhance the
capability of forest lands, as defined in subdivision (g) of Section
12220, to sequester carbon, the department shall do all of the
following:
(1) Develop options and incentives for the conservation and
management of private forest lands pursuant to the criteria
established under the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
(Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and
Safety Code).
(2) Establish, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board,
scientific standardized baselines at the regional and state scales
to project future scenarios of carbon emissions and sequestration.
(3) Develop, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board
and the Department of Fish and Game, regulations that establish a
full mitigation requirement for the carbon stock and sequestration
losses due to forest land conversions.
(b) The department shall impose a fee on an applicant for
conversion that fully offsets the department's costs for implementing
this section as it relates to conversion.
SEC. 2. Section 4789.1 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
4789.1. The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) The forest resources of California provide vitally important
economic and environmental benefits to the people of California.
(b) Demands on forest resources in California are expected to
increase significantly in the next decades.
(c) Forest resources in California are limited.
(d) Better use of forest resources can result where there is good
information as to anticipated needs and constraints and the
potentials for meeting such those needs
consistent with Section 4513.
(e) The necessary information is not now available and should be
developed.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide for the
assessment of California's forest resources in order to develop and
implement forest resources policies for the state.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature that the department, in
collaboration with the State Air Resources Board, develop and
maintain trendline information on carbon stocks on forest lands in
order to evaluate and monitor progress towards achieving the goals of
the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5
(commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code) as
established by the State Air Resources Board.
SEC. 3. Section 4789.3 of the Public
Resources Code is amended to read:
4789.3. (a) Under policy guidance from the board and in
consultation with the Secretary of the Natural Resources
Agency, the director shall prepare and submit to the board and the
Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, a preliminary
forest and rangeland resource assessment and analysis not later than
July 1, 1979, and shall present a full and updated assessment by
January 1, 1987, and by January 1 of each fifth year thereafter. The
assessment and analysis shall recognize distinct differences in
ownership and management of forest and rangeland resources in
California between the various public and the various private owners
and shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) An assessment and analysis of the supply and availability of
the various present and potential forest and rangeland resources of
the state, including limits to those supplies imposed by natural site
conditions, such as slope stability and erosion hazard, or by
governmental restriction, such as special zoning. Among resource
potentials to be evaluated are opportunities to accomplish any of the
following:
(A) Improve and rehabilitate the understocked timberland in
California and to more fully utilize the productive potential for
growing and harvesting timber.
(B) Improve wood fiber utilization and wood product recycling.
(C) Salvage trees infested with insects and diseases on
timberland.
(D) Improve the management of forest wildlife and wildlife habitat
within the state.
(E) Increase the quantity and quality of recreation available in
the state.
(F) Improve and rehabilitate rangeland areas within the state.
(G) Increase the potential to use wood fiber from timberland as an
economically viable source of fuel for energy production.
(H) Improve the potential for rangeland forage for domestic
livestock production.
(I) Subject to funding being made available from the California
Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with
Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code) fees or other sources,
maintenance or improvement of carbon sequestration attributable to
the state's forested lands, wood products in use and in landfills,
and energy substitution for fossil fuels.
(2) An assessment and critique of federal policies with respect to
rangeland and timberland. The assessment and critique shall include
(A) as to timberlands, a review of the federal government's national
forest revenue sharing program administered pursuant to Section 500
of Title 16 of the United States Code, and (B) as to rangelands, a
review of grazing fee charges and revenue sharing policies affecting
national forest lands administered by the United States Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. The timber sale revenue sharing and
grazing fee policies of the Department of the Interior shall also be
reviewed. In conducting the review, the director shall consult with
the State Board of Equalization, and with local governments and
school districts affected by the federal government's revenue sharing
programs.
(3) An analysis of present and anticipated demand for various
forest and rangeland resources in the state.
(4) A description and evaluation of current state programs and
responsibilities in cooperative state-federal forest and rangeland
resource programs, and management of state and local public forest,
range, and related lands.
(5) A discussion of important policy considerations, laws,
regulations, management responsibilities, and other factors expected
to influence and significantly affect the use, ownership, and
management of forest and rangeland resources.
(6) When assessing various resource potentials which
that could be obtained from forest lands and
rangeland, the director shall include an evaluation of probable
direct and indirect economic and environmental benefits and costs,
including opportunity costs, associated with realizing those
potentials.
(7) Continued publication of trendline data on carbon stocks, at
multiple geographic scales, on the state's forest lands.
(b) In preparing the assessment, the director, under policy
guidance of the board, shall solicit the cooperation of, and
information collected by, public and private organizations, federal
forest and rangeland resource agencies, state agencies concerned with
forest and rangeland resources, county planning and taxation
agencies, and state-supported forest and rangeland resource research
agencies.
(c) (1) For the purpose of assisting the
director and the board in preparing the assessment and its revisions,
the board may appoint advisory committees it deems necessary. The
committees shall consist of individuals with expertise in forest and
rangeland resource fields, with particular emphasis on survey and
program analysis, and shall include representatives of state agencies
concerned with the use of forest and rangeland resources.
(2) The director shall collaborate with the State Air Resources
Board for the development and maintenance of trendline data, at
multiple geographic scales, on forest land carbon stocks for the
purpose of demonstrating consistency with the California Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section
38500) of the Health and Safety Code) for the forest sector.
(d) In preparation of the assessment, the director shall do all of
the following:
(1) Analyze the need to develop and maintain an effective system
for the collection, analysis, and display of that data in forms that
contribute to the achievement of the purposes of this chapter.
(2) Identify high-priority needs for completing the data base and
analytical framework essential to improving the quality of future
assessments.
(3) Evaluate the accuracy and completeness of existing data and of
steps needed to improve the accuracy and completeness of data for
future assessments.
(4) In collaboration with the State Air Resources Board, identify
best available data sources and outstanding data needs necessary to
generate information that will inform the development and maintenance
of trendline data on forest land carbon stocks at multiple
geographic scales.
