Wildfire safety: The California Wildfire Mitigation Strategic Planning Act.

Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, establishes the Office of Emergency Services within the Governor's office under the supervision of the Director of Emergency Services and makes the office responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response services for natural, technological, or man-made disasters and emergencies. This bill would require the office, on or before January 1, 2025, and every 3 years thereafter, to prepare a Wildfire Risk Mitigation Planning Framework sufficient to quantitatively evaluate wildfire risk mitigation actions, as provided. The bill would require the framework to allow for geospatial evaluation and comparison of wildfire risk mitigation actions, as defined, sufficient to direct coordinated mitigation efforts and long-term collaborative mitigation planning. The bill would require the office to, each year the framework is completed, submit a copy of the framework to the Legislature, the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, and the Public Utilities Commission for review and consideration. The bill would require the office, on or before April 1, 2025, and every 3 years thereafter, to prepare a Wildfire Risk Baseline and Forecast for the state delineated on a statewide level and by county, as provided. The bill would require the forecast to include geographic specificity as determined by the director to be sufficient to evaluate targeted wildfire risk mitigation actions, and to accomplish specific things, including establishing key risk metrics for wildfire risk for the state as a whole, by county, and by geographic location. The bill would require the office to, each year the forecast is completed, submit a copy of the forecast to the Legislature, the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, and the Public Utilities Commission for review and consideration. The bill would require the office, on or before August 1, 2025, to prepare a Wildfire Mitigation Scenarios Report, to be updated annually. The bill would require the report to contain specified information, including identification of a reasonable range of possible scenarios for overall wildfire risk mitigation spending, as provided. The bill would authorize the director to contract with a private consultant or a public university with special expertise in quantitative assessment of wildfire risk and risk mitigation to conduct quantitative assessment of wildfire and community risk modeling and for preparation of reports to accomplish the purposes of this act.