(1) Existing law authorizes the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to engage in management of state forests and defines "management" for purposes of the state forests as a means of handling forest crop and forest soil to achieve maximum sustained production of high-quality forest products while giving consideration to values relating to, among other values, recreation, watershed, and wildlife, as provided. This bill would redefine "management" for purposes of state forests as the handling of forest vegetation, water, and soils within the demonstration state forest system for public benefits, as described to include, among other things, watershed health and wildfire resilience. (2) Existing law declares it is in the interest of the welfare of the people of the state and their industries and other activities involving the use of wood, lumber, poles, piling, wood pulp, and other forest products that desirable cutover forest lands be made fully productive and that the holding and reforestation of such lands is a necessary measure predicated on waning supplies of original old growth timber, as provided. Existing law further declares it is in the interest of the welfare of the people of the state that the state retain the existing land base of state forests in timber production for research and demonstration. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with the Secretary for Environmental Protection, to, on or before January 10 of each year, submit to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee a report on the activities of all state departments, agencies, and boards relating to forest and timberland regulation. Existing law requires this report to include, among other things, the number of timber harvest plans reviewed in the most recent fiscal year, as specified, and the average time for plan review. This bill would repeal these provisions and instead declare, among other things, that the purpose of the demonstration state forest system is to acquire lands, the reforestation or restoration of which is not assured under private ownership, to achieve the public benefits as described in paragraph (1) through means that include, but are not limited to, multibenefit forest management. The bill would authorize the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to enter into, and would require the secretary to make good faith efforts to collaboratively develop, comanagement agreements with California Native American tribes, as defined, to incorporate local traditional ecological knowledge and local indigenous knowledge into the management direction of a forest in the demonstration state forest system, as provided. The bill would require the annual report submitted to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to also include the number of timber harvest plans approved in the most recent fiscal year and the median time for plan review and would make other nonsubstantive changes relating to the report. The bill would require research to be allowed on land in the demonstration state forest system that informs forest management strategies, science-based decisionmaking, biodiversity, durable onsite carbon storage or sequestration, habitat, water and soil quality, watershed health, tribal stewardship, or other goals that further healthy and resilient ecosystems. The bill would authorize timber harvesting within the demonstration state forest system if in furtherance of specified objectives. (3) Existing law requires the management of state forests and the cutting and sale of timber and other forest products from state forests to conform with regulations prepared by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection and approved by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. Existing law requires the regulations to conform with forest management practices designed to achieve maximum sustained production of high-quality forest products while giving consideration to values relating to, among other values, recreation, watershed, and wildlife, as specified. Existing law authorizes state forest lands to be used for grazing and mining purposes pursuant to regulations established by the board. Under existing law, a person who violates the rules and regulations pertaining to the state forests established by the board is guilty of a misdemeanor. The bill would instead require the management of demonstration state forests and the cutting and sale of timber and other forest products from demonstration state forests to conform with regulations prepared by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection and approved by the board. The bill would repeal the authorization for state forest lands to be used for mining purposes, except as provided. The bill would require the regulations permitting prescribed herbivory, recreation concession, and surface mining for forest-related work and restoration purposes, including, but not limited to, the construction of watercourse crossings, on state forest lands to be updated to reflect the redefinition of management. Because a violation of these regulations would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires the department to prepare a map and data relating to the forest conditions, as provided. Existing law requires the department, in preparing the map and data, to be guided by a specified report. This bill would require the department to be guided by consultation with the board instead of by the specified report. Existing law declares that it is the policy of the state to establish and preserve an intensively managed, multifaceted research forest, known as the Soquel Demonstration State Forest, which is representative of forest activities as a living forest in the County of Santa Cruz, as provided. Existing law establishes the Legislature's intent relating to the demonstration state forest. Existing law requires that income from the demonstration state forest property sustain all costs of operation and provide income for research and educational purposes. Existing law requires the department to adopt a general plan for the demonstration state forest, as provided. This bill would instead declare that it is the policy of the state to establish and conserve the Soquel Demonstration State Forest and would revise the Legislature's intent relating to the demonstration state forest, as provided. The bill would require that income from the demonstration state forest property to additionally provide income for recreation. The bill would require the board, instead of the department, to adopt a forest management plan for the demonstration state forest, as specified. (4) Existing law authorizes the department to collect recreational user fees for overnight camping and reserved group activities in a demonstration state forest. Existing law prohibits the department from charging a fee that exceeds the amount necessary to reimburse the department's costs for maintenance and improvement of campground facilities, associated recreational facilities, natural environment, and access thereto. Existing law requires all user fees collected by the department to be deposited into the Forest Resources Improvement Fund and requires the fees to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to reimburse the department's cost of maintaining and improving the campground facilities, associated recreational facilities, natural environment, and access thereto. Under existing law, the Forest Resources Improvement Fund is the depository for all revenue derived from the receipts from the sale of forest products, as defined, from state forests to support specified operations. Existing law authorizes money in the Forest Resource Improvement Fund to only be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the cost of operations associated with management of lands held in trust by the state and operated as demonstration state forests, as specified. This bill would repeal the prohibition on the department regarding charging a fee that exceeds the amount necessary to reimburse the department's costs for maintenance and improvement, as provided. The bill would require any other funds generated by a demonstration state forest to be deposited into the Forest Resources Improvement Fund. (5) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 4629.6 and 4629.8 of the Public Resources Code proposed by AB 706 to be operative only if this bill and AB 706 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (6) 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.
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. CEQA exempts certain projects from its requirements and authorizes a lead agency, if it determines a certain project is exempt from CEQA, to file a notice of exemption, as provided. This bill would exempt from CEQA the closure of a railroad grade crossing by order of the Public Utilities Commission if the commission finds the crossing to present a threat to public safety. The bill would provide that the exemption is inapplicable to any crossing for high-speed rail or any crossing for a project carried out by the High-Speed Rail Authority. The bill would require the lead agency to file the notice of exemption with specified public entities, as provided. Because the bill would impose additional duties on a lead agency with regard to the filing of the notice of exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Under existing law, the State Water Resources Control Board and the 9 California regional water quality control boards prescribe waste discharge requirements for the discharge of stormwater by municipalities and industries in accordance with the federal national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permit program, established by the federal Clean Water Act and the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. Under existing law, the state board and the 9 regional water quality control boards issue permits for the discharge of stormwater from municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) . For purposes of issuing permits for the discharge of stormwater from MS4s, this bill define "commercial, industrial, or institutional site" or "CII site" as a privately owned parcel or contiguous parcels of land that are commercial, industrial, or institutional based on the appropriate county tax assessor land use codes, as specified.
Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Natural Resources Agency. Under existing law, the department has jurisdiction over the conservation, protection, and management of fish, wildlife, native plants, and habitat necessary for biologically sustainable populations of those species. This bill would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish the Wildlife Coexistence Program to manage and promote wildlife coexistence by conducting specified activities, including maintaining a statewide wildlife incident reporting tool. The bill would rename the Wolf-Livestock Compensation Pilot Program to the California Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and Compensation Program and would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish the program to provide resources to eligible participants for purposes relating to wolves and livestock. The bill would authorize the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, including the cost for implementation, to provide resources to wildlife coexistence partners, as defined, to support efforts required for the Wildlife Coexistence Program and the California Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and Compensation Program. The bill would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish the Wildlife Coexistence Technical Advisory Committee to provide technical guidance, public input, and programmatic recommendations related to the department's wildlife coexistence efforts. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2028, to include specified information on its internet website, as provided. The California Endangered Species Act prohibits the taking of an endangered or threatened species, except as specified. Under existing law, it is also unlawful to permit or allow any dog to pursue any big game mammal during the closed season on that mammal, to pursue any fully protected, rare, or endangered mammal at any time, to pursue any bear or bobcat at any time, or to pursue any mammal in a game refuge or ecological reserve if hunting within that refuge or ecological reserve is unlawful. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding those prohibitions, the pursuit of wolves by dogs that are guarding or protecting livestock or crops on property owned, leased, or rented by the owner of the dogs, is not prohibited if the dogs are maintained with, and remain in reasonable proximity to, the livestock or crops being guarded or protected.
Existing law vests the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) with full possession and control of the state highway system and requires Caltrans to improve and maintain the state highways. Existing law requires Caltrans, in consultation with the California Transportation Commission, to prepare a robust asset management plan to guide selection of projects for the state highway operation and protection program (SHOPP) . This bill would require the department, in connection with each revision of the asset management plan, to prepare and publish a supplemental list of wildlife connectivity improvements on the state highway system, as specified, and would require the department to submit the supplemental list to the commission for review and comments before the final list is published. Existing law declares the intent of the Legislature that Caltrans review the full extent of the state highway system, as currently maintained, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and with opportunities for the public to provide data input for consideration, to develop a comprehensive approach to address wildlife connectivity needs throughout the state with the goal of implementing measures that protect, conserve, and improve the state's unique wildlife, landscapes, and natural resources. This bill would explicitly require Caltrans to undertake this duty, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and with opportunities for the public to provide data and input for consideration, as specified. Existing law requires Caltrans, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and other appropriate agencies, to establish an inventory of connectivity needs on the state highway system where the implementation of wildlife passage features could reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions or enhance wildlife connectivity, and to update the inventory on a biennial basis, as specified. This bill would instead require Caltrans, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and other appropriate agencies, to assess potential barriers to wildlife to establish an inventory of connectivity needs on the state highway system where the implementation of wildlife passage features could reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions or enhance wildlife connectivity. The bill would require the biennial update to the inventory to be based on an analysis of transportation assets within priority route segments identified by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. The bill would require Caltrans to consult with the Department of Fish and Wildlife on the development of each update to the inventory, as prescribed. Existing law requires Caltrans to prepare a State Highway System Management Plan (SHSMP) , which includes a 10-year rehabilitation plan for the rehabilitation or reconstruction by the SHOPP of all state highways and bridges, and a 5-year maintenance plan that addresses the maintenance needs of the state highway system, as provided. Existing law requires the SHSMP to include specific quantifiable accomplishments, goals, objectives, costs, and performance measures consistent with the asset management plan described above. Existing law requires the SHSMP to be updated every 2 years. This bill would require Caltrans to include wildlife connectivity as an objective in the SHSMP.
Existing law requires the Geologic Energy Management Division in the Department of Conservation, on or before March 1, 2025, to identify all low-production wells, as defined, that are located in the County of Los Angeles in an oil field that is adjacent to a state recreation area or state park and is located, in whole or in part, within the boundary of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy, as provided. Existing law prohibits, commencing March 1, 2026, the owners of those wells from allowing those wells to be low-production wells for more than 12 months. Upon a violation of that prohibition, existing law requires the State Oil and Gas Supervisor to charge an administrative penalty of $10,000 per month to the low-production well owner, until the low-production well is plugged and abandoned, as provided. Existing law requires the plugging and abandoning of all wells located in the County of Los Angeles in an oil field that is adjacent to a state recreation area or state park and is located, in whole or in part, within the boundary of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy by December 31, 2030. Existing law requires the supervisor, on and after January 1, 2031, to charge the owner of a well an administrative penalty of $10,000 per month for a violation of that requirement, until the well is plugged and abandoned. Existing law establishes the Equitable Community Repair and Reinvestment Account, requires the above-described administrative penalties to be deposited into the account, and makes the funds from the account available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of Conservation for allocation to the County of Los Angeles for projects that benefit communities living within 212 miles of the identified low-production wells, as provided. This bill would require the Department of Conservation, upon appropriation by the Legislature and subject to the terms of the appropriation, to distribute the first $5,000,000 deposited into the Equitable Community Repair and Reinvestment Account, after accounting for appropriations made for administrative purposes, to the County of Los Angeles to establish a program to disburse in direct cash assistance in equal amounts to households located within 212 miles of the identified low production wells who have at least one member with respiratory or reproductive health impacts. The bill would, among other things, require the county to establish processes for households to verify that they meet the residency and health-impact requirements, as provided. The bill would require the application process for direct cash assistance to be noninvasive, simple, and standardized. The bill would limit the disbursement of direct cash assistance to 1,000 households and would require the county to select recipient households by randomized lottery if the number of applications from verified eligible households exceeds 1,000. The bill would exclude this direct cash assistance from income or resource considerations for purposes of determining any member of the household's eligibility for benefits or assistance, or the amount or extent of benefits or assistance, under any state or local benefit or assistance program, as provided. The bill would require the department, subject to an appropriation by the Legislature, to distribute to the county for administrative purposes an amount that does not exceed 10% of the programmatic appropriation. By imposing new duties on the County of Los Angeles, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
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. CEQA, until January 1, 2033, exempts from its requirements certain actions for affordable housing projects that meet specified requirements, including confirmation by a public agency that, among other things, the project site satisfies specified requirements and a vacant project site does not contain tribal cultural resources that could be affected by the development that were found pursuant to a consultation and the effects of which cannot be mitigated, as provided. This bill would extend the operation of the above-described exemption to January 1, 2037, and would expand the exemption to also include a public university or public college housing project, as defined, that meets specified requirements. Because the bill would extend the operation of the exemption and would increase duties on a lead agency related to the expansion of this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.
Under the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, the Legislature finds and declares that it is the policy of the state to encourage prudent and responsible forest management of nonindustrial timberlands by approving working forest management plans in advance. Existing law regulates nonindustrial tree farmers and working forest landowners for timberland management purposes, including by setting a maximum acreage each may own, and authorizes a person who intends to become a nonindustrial tree farmer or a working forest landowner to submit to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection a nonindustrial timber management plan or a working forest harvest plan, respectively, regarding that acreage. Existing law provides a maximum of 2,500 acres owned for nonindustrial tree farmers and nonindustrial timber management plans and a maximum of 10,000 acres owned for working forest landowners and working forest management plans. This bill would increase the maximum acreage for nonindustrial tree farmers and nonindustrial management plans to 4,000 acres and for working forest landowners and working forest management plans to 15,000 acres. Existing law requires the harvest area of a working forest management plan to be contained within a single hydrological area, as defined. This bill would eliminate the requirement that the harvest area of a working forest management plan be contained within a single hydrological area. Existing law requires the working forest landowner who owns, leases, or otherwise controls or operates on all or any portion of any timberland within the boundaries of an approved working forest management plan, and who plans to harvest any of the timber during a given year, to file a working forest harvest notice, as defined, with the department in writing. Existing law exempts the Southern Subdistrict of the Coast Forest District, as described in regulations, from these provisions regarding working forest management plans. This bill would eliminate this exemption.
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 a public project for the improvement, institution, or increase of passenger rail service, including the maintenance, construction, or rehabilitation of stations, terminals, or existing operations facilities that will be exclusively used by zero-emission trains or specified rolling stock or locomotives, as provided. This bill would exempt from CEQA, except as specified, a public urban, intermodal rail station project within a long-urbanized area within the statewide passenger rail network, at which high-capacity light, commuter, and intercity rail services converge that meets specified conditions, including, among other requirements, a requirement for compliance with various environmental laws and for the adoption of a plan for how any displacement from the project will be fully addressed, as provided. The bill would require a lead agency, if it determines that a project is not subject to CEQA pursuant to this exemption, and it determines to carry out the project, to file a notice of exemption with the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and the county clerk of the county in which the project is located, as provided. The bill would permit exemption only for projects for which a notice of exemption is filed before January 1, 2032. Because a lead agency would be required to determine the applicability of this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 prohibits a person from distributing, selling, or offering for sale in the state any plant-based food packaging that contains regulated perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, as defined. This bill would prohibit, on and after January 1, 2028, the manufacture, distribution, sale, or offering for sale in the state of food packaging that contains intentionally added bisphenols or ortho-phthalates, as defined. The bill would require, subject to an appropriation, the Department of Toxic Substances Control to adopt regulations to establish a threshold in food packaging for bisphenols or ortho-phthalates that are not intentionally added, as specified. The bill would also prohibit, no sooner than a year after the adoption of those regulations, the manufacture, distribution, sale, or offering for sale in the state of food packaging that contains bisphenols or ortho-phthalates at or above that threshold. The bill would require a manufacturer of food packaging that is manufactured, distributed, sold, or offered for sale in the state that contains bisphenols or ortho-phthalates that are not intentionally added to maintain specified information. The bill would authorize the department and the Attorney General to enforce these provisions and would subject a person to an administrative or civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 for the first violation and not to exceed $10,000 for each subsequent violation, as specified. The bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, authorize funds in the Toxic Substances Control Account to be used by the department to implement these provisions.
