BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          AB 824 (Gatto) - Fire prevention activities
          
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          |Version: July 16, 2015          |Policy Vote: N.R. & W. 9 - 0    |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: No                     |
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          |Hearing Date: August 17, 2015   |Consultant: Marie Liu           |
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          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. 


          Bill  
          Summary:  AB 824 would expand the Department of Forestry and  
          Fire's (CalFire) annual report on fire prevention activities to  
          include information regarding the coordination and cooperation  
          with the federal government.


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  
           Initial costs of $302,000 for the first year and then $258,000  
            annually thereafter from the General Fund to CalFire in order  
            to obtain the required report information. 
           Unknown cost pressures, at least in the tens of millions of  
            dollars, to the General Fund and the Fire Prevention Fund  
            (special) by identifying the funding needs for forest fuel  
            management programs.


          Background:  Under existing law, The Board of Forestry (board) is required  
          to identify all lands where the state has the primary financial  







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          responsibility for preventing and suppressing fires. These state  
          responsibility areas (SRAs) are generally lands that are (or  
          were, prior to development) largely covered by trees, brush, and  
          grass and other undeveloped lands. Under 4114 of the Pubic  
          Resources Code, CalFire must provide wildland fire prevention  
          and firefighting personnel and equipment within the SRA. CalFire  
          may provide rescue, first aid, and other emergency services to  
          the public in the SRA if the activity does not require  
          additional funds. All habitable structures within the SRA are  
          required to pay a Fire Prevention Fee to pay for fire prevention  
          services within the SRA that is deposited into the State  
          Responsibility Area Fire Prevention Fund.
          Existing law requires CalFire to report annually on its fire  
          prevention activities in the previous year (PRC §4137).  
          Specifically, the report is to include information such as the  
          number of hours of fire prevention education performed, the  
          number of defensible space inspections conducted, and the number  
          of acres treated to reduce fuel loads.




          Proposed Law:  
            This bill would expand the annual fire prevention report  
          required under PRC §4137 to also include information about  
          coordination and cooperation with the federal government.  
          Specifically, the report would be required to include:
           Estimates of state and federal fire prevention costs to fund  
            fire prevention activities of local organizations, such as  
            Fire Safe Councils, who cooperate with the state and federal  
            authorities to reduce the risk of wildfires near communities.


           Estimates of the funding needs for forest fuel management  
            programs to reduce urgent fire risks near communities at high  
            risk of wildfire.


           Usage of coordinated policies that promote defensible space  
            adjacent to communities where multiple jurisdictions may  
            engage in fire suppression activities.


           A map of the areas of coordination between the state and the  








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            federal government.




          Staff  
          Comments:  To include the map of areas of coordination between  
          the state and federal government would have minor and absorbable  
          costs to CalFire to include in the annual report.
          To provide the other estimates required in the bill would  
          require an extensive amount of data gathering and consolidation  
          by CalFire. For example, in regards to estimating the state and  
          federal fire prevention costs to fund local organizations,  
          CalFire would need to identify appropriate organizations, which  
          is a large universe, and obtain funding information from the  
          federal government. Also, to make meaningful estimates of forest  
          fuel management programs, CalFire would need to consolidate  
          detailed information from its individual units about local  
          conditions. Altogether, CalFire anticipates needing two  
          Associate Governmental Program Analysts ongoing for a first year  
          cost of $302,000, and the $258,000 annually ongoing. As the  
          required information note is limited to SRA lands, the  
          activities required by this bill could not be paid for by the  
          SRA Fire Prevention Fund and would therefore come from the  
          General Fund. 


          This bill would require the annual report to have information  
          regarding the funding needs for forest fuel management programs  
          to reduce urgent fire risks near communities at high risk of  
          wildfire. While these needs are exist regardless of this bill,  
          identifying and reporting these needs will increase pressures on  
          the state to pay for such needs, thereby creating cost  
          pressures. As the need for fuel management in state are  
          extensive, staff estimates that these cost pressures would at  
          least be in the tens of millions of dollars. 




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