Wildfire: Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program: local assistance grant program: regional landscape grants.

Removed the requirement that the Director of Conservation, in collaboration with the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, establish guidelines before issuing regional landscape grants under Section 4208.2. The grant authority now directly references contributing to the goals of the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan without a mandatory pre-issuance guideline step.

Section 4208.2 was restructured from two subdivisions (grant authority in (a), guideline requirement in (b)) into a single unnumbered paragraph that combines the grant authority with the Action Plan goal language and retains only the provision that Chapter 3.5 of the Government Code does not apply to guideline development.

Fixed a grammatical error in Section 1(a)(5) changing 'this goals, goal,' to 'this goal' and restructured the sentence about the Wildlife Conservation Board's grant activities for clarity.

Added a new digest paragraph stating the bill incorporates additional changes to Section 4799.05 proposed by AB 1699, operative only if both bills are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Incorporated CEQA exemption provisions from AB 1699 into Section 4799.05(d), including: a provision that Division 13 (CEQA) does not apply to state or local permit issuance for qualifying federal-land projects; a savings clause preserving local authority to impose mitigation measures under other laws; requirements for lead agencies to file notices of exemption with the Office of Planning and Research and county clerks; and a requirement that the Secretary of Natural Resources Agency report to the Legislature by February 1, 2027 if substantial changes have been made to NEPA or related federal laws since January 1, 2023.

Removed traditional legislative formatting including line numbers, page headers (e.g., '95 AB 2513 -2-'), and column-based layout

Added web interface elements including navigation menus (home, accessibility, FAQ, feedback, sitemap, login), search tools, bill tracking features, and version comparison links

Reformatted the same bill text into a clean paragraph style without line-by-line numbering, making it more readable in a digital context

Section 4799.05.2 of the Public Resources Code, which was previously being added by this bill, has been removed entirely. The bill no longer adds that section.

The deadline for the Director of Conservation and the Wildlife Conservation Board to establish guidelines for regional landscape grants changed from 'on or before July 1, 2027' to simply 'before the issuance of these grants,' removing a fixed date and tying the requirement to actual grant timing.

A new standalone definition of 'flashy fuels' was added to Section 4124 of the Public Resources Code: shrubs, grasses, and foliage (including pine needles and leaves) that dry or cure rapidly, ignite easily, and spread fire quickly. This separates 'flashy fuels' as a distinct concept from 'nonnative flashy fuels.'

The definition of 'nonnative flashy fuels' in Section 4124 was expanded to include 'shrubs' in the list of covered plant types, and the phrase 'wildlife wildfire risk' was corrected to simply 'wildfire risk.'

References throughout the bill to 'nonnative flashy fuels' in the fire prevention activities and ignition prevention definitions were changed to 'nonnative fuels or flashy fuels,' treating them as separate categories rather than a single combined term.

Eligible vegetation management activities under the local assistance grant program (Section 4124.5) were broadened from reducing 'fire ignition risk' to reducing 'fire risk, including wildfire ignition risk,' expanding the scope of qualifying projects along roadways and driveways.

The advance payment authorization in Section 4208.1(e) of the Public Resources Code was made permanent by removing the 'until July 1, 2025' sunset date and the reference to subdivision (d) of Section 11019.1 of the Government Code, leaving only a general statement that the department may authorize advance payments.

New Section 1 adds legislative findings declaring that southern California shrubland and chaparral landscapes require different wildfire approaches than forested landscapes, and stating the Legislature's intent to match funding levels to the scale of regionally developed plans and projects.

The bill's scope now includes amendment of Section 4208.1 of the Public Resources Code (previously not listed), reflecting the addition of the detailed program establishment provisions.

The deadline for the Director of Conservation and the Wildlife Conservation Board to establish guidelines for regional landscape grants changed from 'on or before July 1, 2027' to 'before the issuance of these grants,' making the requirement contingent on grant timing rather than a fixed date.

The authorization for the Department of Conservation to award advance payments on grants under the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program was extended indefinitely by removing the July 1, 2025 sunset date.

New Section 4208.1 formally establishes the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program with detailed requirements including: block grants to regional entities for strategy development, statewide coverage of high fire hazard severity zones, specific objectives (project development, demonstration projects, community fire preparedness, data collection), block grants to eligible coordinating organizations for statewide coordination, and departmental duties including peer-to-peer learning facilitation, technical assistance, funding source identification, local cost share encouragement, and public reporting on program outcomes.

The definition of 'fire prevention activities' in Section 4124 now includes 'technologies that improve detection and assessment of new fire ignitions,' expanding the scope of eligible activities beyond vegetation management and structural measures.

In the definition of 'nonnative flashy fuels,' the phrase 'significantly increasing wildlife risk' was corrected to 'significantly increasing wildfire risk.'