Existing law requires the Office of the State Fire Marshal to develop and make available on its internet website a Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Safety Building Standards Compliance training intended for use in the training of local building officials, builders, and fire service personnel, as specified. Existing law authorizes the Office of the State Fire Marshal to allow certification of contractors who conduct defensible space, home hardening, fuel reduction, roadside clearance, and other contracting activities for wildlife resiliency efforts and who have completed specified training programs. Existing law requires the Office of the State Fire Marshal to develop and update a Wildland-Urban Interface Products listing of products and construction assemblies that comply with prescribed regulations regarding building in a wildland-urban interface area. Existing law authorizes the Office of the State Fire Marshal to expend funds from the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of researching and developing the products listing and the educational and training provisions. Existing law requires the Office of the State Fire Marshal to establish the State Fire Marshal's Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee. This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2028, the State Fire Marshal's Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee to develop an implementation plan for a home hardening certification program that identifies home hardening measures, including defensible space, that can be voluntarily implemented during renovation or property improvement projects, or both, to substantially reduce the risk of loss during a fire and bring existing building stock into alignment with state building standards for wildland-urban interface areas. The bill would require the committee, in developing the implementation plan for the home hardening certification program, to provide specified recommendations. The bill would authorize the Office of the State Fire Marshal to expend funds from the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of developing the implementation plan for the home hardening certification program. The bill would require the committee, on or before January 1, 2028, to provide a report to specified legislative committees on its findings and recommendations pursuant to these provisions. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2029, the State Fire Marshal to establish the home hardening certification program based on the recommendations made by the Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee.
Existing law establishes, until January 1, 2028, the Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Program, to be administered by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to increase the pace and scale of the use of prescribed fire and cultural burning and to reduce barriers for conducting prescribed fires and cultural burning. Existing law creates the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund in the State Treasury to support coverage for losses from prescribed fires and cultural burning by nonpublic entities, such as cultural fire practitioners, private landowners, and nongovernmental entities. Under existing law, moneys in the fund are under the control of the department, and the department or a contracted third-party administrator is authorized to direct payments for claims from the fund, consistent with specified guidelines adopted by the department. These guidelines include, among other things, (1) a requirement that an eligible claim relate to either a prescribed fire conducted or supervised by a burn boss, as defined, or a cultural burn conducted or supervised by a cultural fire practitioner, and (2) a requirement that a claim shall not be paid from the fund unless the department reviewed and approved a burn plan before the prescribed fire or cultural burning. Existing law requires, upon order of the Department of Finance, the $20,000,000 appropriated to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection by the Legislature in the Budget Act of 2021 be transferred into the fund, and provides that all moneys deposited or transferred into the fund be continuously appropriated to the department for these purposes. By Executive Order N-35-25, Governor Gavin Newsom suspended the limitation on public and governmental agencies enrolling in the Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Program to the extent that the limitation would prohibit resource conservation districts and volunteer fire departments or districts from such enrollment. This bill would establish the Good Fire Act, which would indefinitely extend the Prescribed Fire Liability Program. The bill would explicitly state that the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund shall support coverage for losses from prescribed fires and cultural burning on any lands within the state. The bill would also expand program eligibility by changing the entities who may receive coverage for losses from prescribed fires and cultural burning from nonpublic entities to individuals and entities other than the department or the federal government, as provided. By extending the term of a continuous appropriation and authorizing the expenditure of continuously appropriated funds for new purposes, the bill would make an appropriation. This bill would eliminate the requirement for department approval for a plan reviewed and approved by a burn boss, and would require a burn plan to be submitted to the claims fund portal before ignition. The bill would also require the guidelines to include methods for prioritizing broadcast burns and burns by non-public individuals or entities or California Native American tribes in the event the fund is oversubscribed. Within one year of a claim being paid from the fund, the bill would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature regarding the claim process and propose statutory changes related to the fund, as provided. Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal, with the involvement of the Statewide Training and Education Advisory Committee, to develop a curriculum for, or amend into an existing curriculum, a certification program for burn bosses who possess authority to engage in a prescribed burning operation and to enter into the necessary contracts related to a prescribed burning operation. Existing law requires this curriculum to provide for the initial certification as well as the continuing education of burn bosses. Under existing law, specified civil liability protections and eligibility for claims from the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund extend to prescribed burns that, among other things, are reviewed and approved by a burn boss certified pursuant to these provisions, as provided. This bill would require, as part of the continuing education of burn bosses, the State Fire Marshal to require recertification no sooner than every 3 years. The bill would also require the department to consider methods to increase the pool of available instructors for the certification program, including the use of non-department instructors. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the Statewide Training and Education Advisory Committee, to develop a mechanism to allow specified individuals to be designated as a burn boss. The bill would authorize these individuals certified pursuant to this process to use the above-described recertification process to maintain currency. Existing law authorizes an entity that owns or controls brush-covered land, forest lands, woodland, grassland, shrubland, or a combination of those types of land within a state responsibility area to apply to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for permission to use prescribed burning for certain public purposes. Existing law requires the department, upon receipt of an application, to inspect the land in company with the applicant to determine whether a permit shall be granted, as provided. By Executive Order N-35-25, Governor Gavin Newsom suspended the above-described requirement that the department conduct a site visit or inspection before issuing a state burn permit for projects undertaken by burn bosses or cultural fire practitioners. This bill would authorize the department to waive the inspection requirement or modify the standard precautions for an application submitted by specified individuals. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. Existing law exempts from CEQA specified wildfire risk reduction projects, including, among other projects, projects consisting of a prescribed fire or fuel reduction to reduce wildfire risk by reestablishing the fire return interval appropriate to the ecosystem for biodiversity or other benefits, excluding projects located on coastal sage scrub habitat or any other sensitive habitat. By Executive Order N-35-25, Governor Gavin Newsom suspended the requirements of CEQA as applied to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to the extent necessary for the department to assist local agencies and beneficial fire practitioners to complete beneficial fire projects that limit dangerous wildfire conditions to the greatest extent feasible. This bill would exempt from CEQA those actions taken by the department to assist in the implementation of prescribed fire or cultural burning projects that do not otherwise require compliance with CEQA. Existing law establishes various grant programs for purposes of wildfire prevention. This bill would require a state agency, department, board, or commission that has awarded grant funds for a project that includes the preparation for, or implementation of, a beneficial fire project to include as an allowable expense of the grant the payment of overtime or double rates of pay to employees or contractors who prepare for or implement the beneficial fire project when such expenses are necessary for the implementation of the beneficial fire project. Existing law authorizes the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to provide grants to, or enter contracts or other cooperative agreements with, specified entities for the implementation and administration of projects and programs to improve forest health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Existing law authorizes the director to authorize advance payments and requires grantees who receive advance payments to file an accountability report with the department 4 months from the date of receiving the funds and every 4 months thereafter. This bill would instead require grantees who receive advance payments to file an accountability report within 6 months from the date of receiving the funds and every 6 months thereafter. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4799.05 of the Public Resources Code proposed by AB 2513 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2513 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) Existing law authorizes certain entities to operate household hazardous waste collection facilities, as defined, including permanent and temporary household hazardous waste collection facilities, under permits issued by the Department of Toxic Substances Control. Existing law requires hazardous waste transported to a household hazardous waste collection facility to be transported by specified entities, and imposes conditions on the acceptance of hazardous waste by a household hazardous waste collection facility, including, among others, that the hazardous waste not exceed certain weight requirements. Existing law requires a person engaged in the transportation of hazardous waste to be registered with the department and to have a manifest while transporting the hazardous waste, except if the transport is from specified facilities or programs. A violation of the hazardous waste control laws is a crime. This bill would require, until January 1, 2030, the department to evaluate opportunities to increase safety and convenience related to the management and disposal of vape pens confiscated from students by a school, as provided, and identify any recommendations that require future legislative action. The bill would authorize a permanent household hazardous waste collection facility to mechanically disassemble vape pens and devices in a manner that does not result in the unauthorized release of hazardous materials, as specified. The bill would exempt from the above-described registration and manifest provisions a school transporting vape pens and devices confiscated from students. The bill would also impose the above-described conditions relating to the transport of hazardous waste on a public agency, contractor of a public agency, or a registered hazardous waste transporter, transporting vape pens and devices from schools, as provided. The bill would require any vape pens and devices to be transported in containers bearing the school's Environmental Protection Agency identification number. The bill would specify conditions that apply for purposes of determining how many vape pens and devices may be accepted by a household hazardous waste collection facility without exceeding the specified weight limits. Because a violation of these provisions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires all cartridges for electronic cigarettes and solutions for filling or refilling an electronic cigarette to be in child-resistant packaging. This bill would prohibit a person from marketing, promoting, labeling, branding, advertising, distributing, offering for sale, or selling a vape product in this state by (A) imitating a product that is not a vape product to conceal the nature of the vape product from parents, teachers, or other adults, or (B) including interactive videogame capabilities within a vape product, as provided. This bill would authorize a city, a county, a city and county, or the state to enforce the above-described prohibitions and to impose civil liability on a person or entity, or distributor, in violation of the prohibitions in specified fine amounts, including $1,000 for the first violation, or for a distributor, $50,000 per violation. The bill would require any civil penalties collected to be paid to whichever office brought the action, and would authorize the Attorney General to expend any penalties it collects, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to enforce the prohibitions. The bill would specify that any remedies provided pursuant to these provisions are not exclusive and are in addition to the remedies that may be available pursuant to specified provisions relating to unfair competition. The bill would make any person who violates the prohibitions guilty of an infraction punishable by a fine of not more than $500. By creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law, the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act of 2003, provides for the licensure and regulation of manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, importers, and retailers of cigarette or tobacco products. Existing law, except as specified, prohibits a tobacco retailer, or any of the tobacco retailer's agents or employees, from selling, offering for sale, or possessing with the intent to sell or offer for sale, a flavored tobacco product or a tobacco product flavor enhancer. Existing law authorizes the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration or a law enforcement agency, upon discovery that a retailer possesses, stores, owns, or has made a retail sale of flavored tobacco products or tobacco product flavor enhancers in violation of that prohibition to seize the flavored tobacco products or tobacco product flavor enhancers at the retail location or any other person's location. Existing law deems those seized flavored tobacco products or tobacco product flavor enhancers as forfeited to the state, and requires the department to issue a civil penalty against the retailer, as provided. Existing law also requires the department to suspend or revoke the license of a retailer upon a 2nd or 3rd seizure and forfeiture, as provided. This bill would apply those same seizure, forfeiture, and civil penalty provisions to a retailer who possesses, stores, owns, or has made a retail sale of vape products, as defined, in violation of the prohibitions related to a vape product described in paragraph (2) , above. Existing law authorizes a peace officer or department employee granted limited peace officer status, as provided, upon presenting appropriate credentials, to enter any place at which cigarettes or tobacco products are sold, produced, or stored or at any site where evidence of a violation of specified laws relating to cigarette or tobacco products may be discovered, and to conduct inspections in accordance with specified requirements. This bill would also authorize those inspections at any place where there is evidence of a violation of the prohibitions related to a vape product described in paragraph (2) , above. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 22974.2 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 762 to be operative only if this bill and AB 762 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (5) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
(1) Existing law, until January 1, 2030, generally prohibits a person from possessing, importing, shipping, or transporting in the state, or from placing, planting, or causing to be placed or planted in any water within the state, invasive mussels, as defined. Existing law requires a public or private agency that operates a water supply system to cooperate with the Department of Fish and Wildlife (department) to implement measures to avoid infestation by invasive mussels and to control or eradicate any infestation that may occur in a water supply system, and, if invasive mussels are detected, to prepare and implement a plan, as specified, to control or eradicate invasive mussels within the system (control plan) . Existing law prohibits the importation, transportation, possession, or live release of specified wild animals, except under a revocable, nontransferable permit, known as a restricted species permit, issued by the department, in cooperation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, and only if certain requirements are met. This bill would exempt from the requirement to obtain a restricted species permit for invasive mussels a public or private agency that operates a water supply system and has submitted a control plan to the department for maintenance, operational, and research activities within the water supply system, as specified. The bill would exempt from the requirement to obtain a restricted species permit for dead invasive mussels a public or private agency that operates a water supply system and has submitted a control plan to the department for research, outreach, education, species verification, training, or other purposes deemed by the department to be in the best interest of the state. The bill would provide that these exemptions remain in effect for a particular public or private agency until the department determines the agency's control plan does not meet the statutory requirements for control plans or approves the control plan. This bill would require the department's Invasive Species Program to develop, by April 1, 2027, voluntary guidance for public and private agencies that operate water supply systems to develop effective control plans. The bill would also require the department's Invasive Species Program to develop and publish, by April 1, 2027, guidance for scientific research conducted by or for public and private agencies that operate water supply systems to prevent and control the spread of invasive mussels, as specified. This bill would require the department to update the spatial distribution maps of invasive mussel-infested water bodies posted on its internet website no less than quarterly based on monitoring and reported detections, as prescribed. (2) Existing law requires every manufacturer of, importer of, or dealer in any pesticide, except as specified, to obtain a certificate of registration from the Department of Pesticide Regulation before the pesticide is offered for sale. Existing law requires the Director of Pesticide Regulation to endeavor to eliminate from use in the state specified pesticides, and in carrying out this responsibility, to develop an orderly program for the continuous evaluation of all pesticides actually registered, as specified. Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board and the 9 California regional water quality control boards regulate water quality and prescribe waste discharge requirements in accordance with the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act and the national pollutant discharge elimination system permit program. This bill would require, in response to an invasive species threat, including, but not limited to, the threat of golden mussels, the department, state board, and regional boards to work with state and local agencies in order to quickly and efficiently respond to the threat. The bill would require the department and state board to identify any tools available to assist a state or local agency in rapidly responding to the invasive species threat and to help identify any existing processes that allow for the rapid use of any tool that could be used to address the invasive species threat and enables a streamlined or faster administrative or procedural process. The bill would require the state board, if necessary, to help coordinate efforts between the regional boards in response to a threat of an invasive species. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law designates the Department of Food and Agriculture as the lead department in noxious weed management and requires the department, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, to implement provisions relating to noxious weed management. Existing law creates the Noxious Weed Management Account and requires moneys appropriated from the account for expenditure by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to be allocated, by percentage, for specified purposes, including, among others, 60% to eligible weed management areas or county agricultural commissioners for the control and abatement of noxious and invasive weeds, and 20% to qualified applicants, as defined, for research on the biology, ecology, or management of noxious and invasive weeds, the mapping, risk assessment, and prioritization of weeds, the prevention of weed introduction and spread, and education and outreach activities, as specified. Existing law requires a weed management area, as defined, to be formed in a county or other geographic area as a condition of eligibility for funds from the Noxious Weed Management Account. Existing law requires each weed management area or county agricultural commissioner to submit an integrated weed management plan to the department for review, approval, and funding. Existing law prohibits more than 10% of the noxious weed management funds distributed to a weed management area from being used for meeting, travel, administration, and coordination costs. This bill would make the 60% of the moneys in the Noxious Weed Management Account allocated for the control and abatement of noxious and invasive weeds only available to eligible weed management areas, as provided. The bill would revise the requirements for an integrated weed management plan submitted by a weed management area to include specific goals and purposes, as provided. The bill would revise the definition of "qualified applicant" for purposes of the 20% of the moneys in the account allocated for research and other purposes. The bill would specify that a given geographic area may only be part of a single weed management area and would prohibit more than 25%, rather than 10%, of the noxious weed management funds distributed to a weed management area from being used for meeting, travel, administration, and coordination costs. Existing law, until July 1, 2028, establishes in the department a Broomrape Program. Existing law establishes the Broomrape Board within the department to advise the secretary and make recommendations on all matters relating to broomrape, as specified. Existing law requires the board to recommend specified actions to the secretary, including, among other things, conducting research related to broomrape, surveying, detecting, analyzing, and treating causes of broomrape, and establishing an annual assessment rate or schedule of rates to be paid equally by producers and handlers of tomatoes. Existing law, for purposes of the program, defines "person" as a producer, handler, or any other entity that holds title to tomatoes subject to assessment pursuant to these provisions. Existing law creates the Broomrape Management Account, a continuously appropriated account, in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund and specifies the funds to be deposited into the account. Existing law provides that a violation of the Food and Agricultural Code is a misdemeanor, unless a different penalty is expressly provided. This bill would instead define "person" for purposes of the program as a producer, handler, or any other entity that holds title to a commodity subject to assessment pursuant to these provisions, and would define "commodity" for these purposes as tomatoes intended for processing and any other commodity impacted by broomrape, as specified by the secretary, and would make conforming changes. The bill would extend the operation of the Broomrape Program by 2 years until July 1, 2030. By extending the secretary's authority to expend moneys in a continuously appropriated account, the bill would make an appropriation. By extending the operation of crimes within the program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law, the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act, prohibits a person or public agency from importing into the state, exporting out of the state, or taking, possessing, purchasing, or selling within the state, a western Joshua tree or any part or product of the tree, except as provided. Under existing law, the Department of Fish and Wildlife may authorize, by permit, the taking of a western Joshua tree if certain conditions are met, including, among other conditions, that the permittee mitigates all impacts to, and the taking of, the western Joshua tree. Existing law authorizes the department to enter into an agreement with a county or city to delegate to the county or city the ability to authorize the taking of a western Joshua tree associated with developing single-family residences, multifamily residences, accessory structures, and public works projects concurrent with its approval of the project if certain conditions are met. Existing law authorizes a person or public agency receiving a take authorization for a project to pay specified fees in lieu of satisfying the mitigation obligation on several bases, including if the project receives a permit issued by a county or city. Existing law requires the department to annually adjust those fees and, by December 31, 2026, and every 3 years thereafter, to adopt and subsequently amend specified regulations adjusting the fees. This bill would additionally authorize the department to enter into an agreement with a city to delegate to the city the ability to authorize the taking of a western Joshua tree associated with developing commercial and industrial projects. This bill would additionally authorize a person or public agency receiving a take authorization from the department to pay specified fees in lieu of satisfying the mitigation obligation for (1) the removal of no more than 10, or the trimming of, western Joshua trees by an owner-occupant of an existing single-family residence if the western Joshua trees are within 30 feet of the existing single-family residence or 15 feet of an existing accessory structure, or within the construction footprint, or 15 feet of the construction footprint, of a new accessory structure that is proposed to be constructed for the existing single-family residence or (2) the removal of no more than 40, or the trimming of, western Joshua trees by the proponent of a public works project if the western Joshua trees are within the construction footprint, or 15 feet of the construction footprint, of a public works project to repair, rehabilitate, replace, or maintain an existing structure. The bill would authorize a county or city operating under an agreement with the department to authorize, by permit, without mitigation and subject to a fee to cover the administrative costs of issuing the permit, a project described above in (1) or (2) . The bill would require a property owner or proponent of a public works project seeking a permit to submit a request to the county or city, as applicable, that includes specified information. The bill would require, within 60 days of receipt of a request for a permit, the county or city, as applicable, to either notify the property owner or proponent of the public works project that the county or city will issue the permit or to deny the request if it does not meet the above-described requirements. The bill would, until the department certifies a certain programmatic environmental impact report, as specified, or until January 1, 2032, whichever occurs first, exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act the issuance of a permit by the department, a county, or a city for a project described above in (1) . This bill would delay from December 31, 2026, to June 30, 2027, the date by which the department is required to adopt regulations adjusting the fees for the taking of a western Joshua tree paid in lieu of mitigation. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1927.8 of the Fish and Game Code proposed by SB 1062 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1062 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if the lead agency finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. Existing law establishes the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation. Existing law requires the division to be the lead agency for all geothermal exploratory projects for purposes of CEQA, except as provided. Existing law defines "geothermal exploratory project," for purposes of CEQA, in part as a project composed of not more than 6 wells and associated drilling and testing equipment whose chief and original purpose is to evaluate the presence and characteristics of geothermal resources. Existing law requires wells included within a geothermal exploratory project to be located at least 12 mile from geothermal development wells that are capable of producing geothermal resources in commercial quantities. This bill would expressly include as part of a geothermal exploratory project, among other things, equipment and activities necessary to establish interconnectivity between wells and reservoirs. The bill would specify that the above-described12–mile limit is measured from all points along the wellhead location and well course.
Existing law requires the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, including the Natural Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Planning and Research, and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, in coordination with certain public agencies, to develop a comprehensive implementation strategy to track and ensure the achievement of the goals and key actions identified in California's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as provided. Existing law requires the task force, on or before March 1, 2026, and every 5 years thereafter, to update that action plan, as provided. Existing law establishes, in the Department of Conservation, a Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program to support regional leadership to build local and regional capacity and develop, prioritize, and implement strategies and projects that create fire-adapted communities and landscapes, as provided. Existing law requires the department to, upon appropriation by the Legislature for purposes of the program, provide block grants to regional entities, as defined, to develop regional strategies that develop governance structures, identify wildfire risks, foster collaboration, and prioritize and implement projects within the region to achieve the goals of the program, as specified. Existing law authorizes the regional entities, as defined, to implement activities pursuant to this program, directly or by providing subgrants or contracts, and collaborative planning efforts with local entities to accomplish development of regional priority strategies, among other objectives. Existing law authorizes the department to, until July 1, 2025, authorize advance payments of grants awarded pursuant to the program. This bill would authorize the Director of the Department of Conservation to directly award regional landscape grants to regional entities to implement the above-described regional priority strategies to contribute to the achievement of the goals of California's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as specified. The bill would extend the authorization for the department to award advance payments of grants awarded pursuant to the program indefinitely. Existing law authorizes the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to provide grants to, or enter contracts or other cooperative agreements with, specified entities for the implementation and administration of projects and programs to improve forest health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Existing law requires moneys appropriated to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for landscape-scale projects to be allocated to subsidize the removal of small-diameter material and dead trees, for multiple benefit projects, and for activities on national forest lands, as provided. This bill would additionally require moneys appropriated to the department for landscape-scale projects to be allocated for projects that improve ecosystem health and for regional landscape grants that the director would be authorized to directly award to regional entities, as defined, to implement the above-described regional priority strategies. The bill would also require the director, in collaboration with the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, to, before the issuance of these grants, establish guidelines for funding the grants to contribute to the achievement of the goals of California's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as specified. Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to establish a local assistance grant program for fire prevention and home hardening education activities in the state and extends eligibility for grants to, among others, local agencies, resource conservation districts, fire safe councils, the California Conservation Corps, certified community conservation corps, Native American tribes, and qualified nonprofit organizations. Existing law requires eligible activities under the local assistance grant program to include, but not be limited to, vegetation management along roadways and driveways to reduce fire risk, as provided. Existing law authorizes the department to, until July 1, 2025, authorize advance payments from grants awarded pursuant to the local assistance grant program. This bill would expand eligible activities to include vegetation modification and specify that the vegetation management and modification along roadways and driveways includes wildfire ignition risk. The bill would also add ignition prevention, as defined, to the eligible activities. The bill would extend the authorization for the department to award advance payments from grants awarded pursuant to the program indefinitely. The Wildlife Conservation Law of 1947 establishes the Wildlife Conservation Board within the Department of Fish and Wildlife to investigate, study, and determine what areas within the state are most essential and suitable for wildlife production and preservation, among other things. Under existing law, the board administers various habitat conservation programs. This bill would authorize the Wildlife Conservation Board to award regional landscape grants to local entities, as defined, to implement regional priority strategies as described above. The bill would also require, before the issuance of these grants, the board, in collaboration with the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, to establish guidelines for funding these regional landscape grants to contribute to the achievement of the goals of California's Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 4799.05 of the Public Resources Code proposed by AB 1699 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1699 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law defines "disadvantaged communities" and requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to identify disadvantaged communities for investment opportunities from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and for other purposes. This bill would require the agency to do specified things regarding farmworker communities for purposes of identifying disadvantaged communities including, among other things, assessing whether designating farmworker communities as disadvantaged communities would increase those communities' access to investment opportunities and identifying potential barriers faced by low-income farmworker communities in accessing investment opportunities, as specified. The bill would require the agency to make its findings publicly available on its internet website and consider those findings when identifying disadvantaged communities. The bill would require the agency and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to develop and implement a strategy for engaging with farmworker communities on environmental, health, and socioeconomic burdens, as provided.
Existing law establishes the Department of Toxic Substances Control, which regulates the handling and management of hazardous waste and hazardous materials, and establishes the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and the State Air Resources Board. Existing federal law sets action levels for lead in dust and emission standards for asbestos, and existing state law sets workplace standards for asbestos. Existing law authorizes local health officers to take specified actions to protect public health and establishes procedures for the remediation of certain contaminated properties. This bill would require the Department of Toxic Substances Control, in consultation with the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and other relevant coordinating agencies, on or before December 31, 2028, to develop and adopt regulations pertaining to lead and asbestos testing, remediation, and restoration after a wildfire and, on or before December 31, 2029, to develop and publish guidance pertaining to specified other contaminants, as provided. The bill would require the State Air Resources Board, on or before December 31, 2028, to develop and publish guidance on indoor air contaminants following residential smoke damage from a wildfire, as provided. The bill would provide that, until the adoption of the regulations and guidance, specified lead and asbestos standards shall apply for wildfire-caused lead and asbestos remediation, as provided. The bill would require the department, in collaboration with the State Department of Education and other relevant state agencies, no later than July 1, 2028, to develop advisory, nonregulatory guidance for schools after a wildfire, as provided. The bill would exempt the regulations and guidance from the Administrative Procedure Act. The bill would become operative only if AB 1795 of the 2025–26 Regular Session is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2027.
