California Air Resources Board

Summary 

Would have required CARB by December 31, 2025, to include in the SB 901 (Dodd, 2018) report, a methodology to quantify GHG and short-lived climate pollutant emissions, including black carbon from wildfire, pile burning, and forest management activities and a list of the data needed to use the methodology. This bill also would have established a Forest Waste Biomass Utilization Program to be administered by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Joint Institute for Wood Products Innovation, required the California Natural Resources Agency to facilitate the inclusion of recommendations for forest biomass waste utilization in relevant State climate adaptation plans, and required the California Energy Commission to report on innovative bioenergy technologies that utilize forest biomass waste. This bill was similar to AB 2878 (Aguiar-Curry, 2022).  Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. 

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Summary

Authorizes the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency (CNRA Secretary) to enter into agreements with federally recognized California Native American tribes in support of tribal sovereignty with respect to cultural burning. The bill provides that, in deference to tribal sovereignty, the CNRA Secretary may agree, with regard to cultural burning, that compliance with State permitting or regulatory requirements is not required. The CNRA Secretary may enter into the agreement with such tribes related to the State Smoke Management Program only with concurrence of the Secretary of Environmental Protection. The bill does not provide authorization to enter or burn property without the permission of the landowner. In order to support these agreements, the bill also requires the CNRA Secretary to convene a cultural burn working group consisting of State agencies, California Native American tribes, local air districts, and local governments, with the goal of determining a framework to enable conditions conducive to cultural burning, including consideration of the role of a local air pollution control district in supporting the effort of cultural burning. The bill requires the working group to report its findings to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2025. The bill repeals these provisions on January 1, 2029. Was not heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have established fire hazard planning responsibilities for local governments and required cities and counties to make specified findings on fire standards prior to permitting residential development in a very high fire hazard severity zone. Also, would have established a grant program to provide funding to small jurisdictions that contain very high fire risk areas for wildfire risk reduction planning activities, to be administered by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Was not heard in the Assembly Housing and Community Development

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Summary

Would have required that all State agencies that fund restoration efforts on Natural and Working Lands to prioritize restoration projects that have a permanent, enforceable mechanism to ensure that the project area will be managed in a way that ensures continuity of the State’s investment. Also, the bill would have required the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), on or before April 1, 2023, to submit a report to the Legislature that details how CAL FIRE will increasingly implement prescribed burn projects to burn at least 50,000 acres annually by January 1, 2025, and how the State will increasingly use, develop, implement, facilitate, and support prescribed burn, cultural fire, and achieve the extent of beneficial fire outcomes consistent with historic fire frequencies and maintaining desirable fuel loads. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary

Would have enacted the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparation, Flood Protection, Extreme Heat Mitigation, and Workforce Development Bond Act of 2022, which, if approved by voters, would have authorized the issuance of bonds in the amount of $7.43 billion to finance projects for safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, drought preparation, flood protection, extreme heat mitigation, and workforce development programs. The bond would have allocated $30 million to CARB, and would have required CARB to consult with the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to fund projects that provide long-term capital infrastructure to convert forest and other vegetative waste removed for wildfire mitigation to uses that maximize reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, provide local air quality benefits, and increase local community resilience against climate change impacts. Held on suspense in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

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Summary 

Exempts the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection grant programs that receive Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund dollars for healthy forest, fire prevention programs, prescribed fire, and other fuel reduction grant programs from the employer and procurement standards established by AB 680 (Burke, Chapter 746, Statutes of 2021).

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Summary

Would have enacted the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparation, Flood Protection, Extreme Heat Mitigation, and Workforce Development Bond Act of 2022, which, if approved by voters, would have authorized the issuance of bonds in the amount of $7.08 billion to finance projects for safe drinking water, wildfire prevention, drought preparation, flood protection, extreme heat mitigation, and workforce development programs. The bond would have allocated $30 million to CARB, and would require CARB to consult with the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to fund projects that provide long-term capital infrastructure to convert forest and other vegetative waste removed for wildfire mitigation to uses that maximize reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions, provide local air quality benefits, and increase local community resilience against climate change impacts. Remains in the Assembly Rules Committee. 

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Summary

Would have required the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) to provide a basic level of technological support to community organizations for wildfire risk reduction and resiliency, including technology for data, geospatial mapping, and data management, as well as software and limited technical support. The bill would have required CNRA to structure this wildfire technology support in the same way that technology support is provided for similar services for wildfire-program building, outreach, and planning. The bill would have been contingent on a $5 million appropriation from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund each year through the 2023–24 fiscal year to CNRA for purposes of providing the technological support described above. Was not heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

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Summary

Would have required the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) to research and provide a report to the Legislature with recommendations for, ways in which a community that undertakes science‑supported wildfire resilience actions can be recognized with a peer-reviewed, community-level certification in order to acknowledge and motivate wildfire resilience activity, on or before January 1, 2023. The bill would have been contingent on a $2 million appropriation from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund each year through the 2022–23 fiscal year to CNRA for purposes of this research and report. Was not heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

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Summary 

Would have extended the funding committed by SB 901 (Dodd, Chapter 626, Statutes of 2018) for fire prevention and management projects by continuously appropriating $200 million to California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (CAL FIRE) from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). Beginning in the 2021-2022 fiscal year and ending in the 2028-2029 fiscal year, $200 million from GGRF would have been appropriated to CAL FIRE for (1) healthy forest and fire prevention programs and projects and (2) prescribed fire and other fuel reduction projects. Was not heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.   

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