AB 1492

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law, with certain exceptions, makes any person who negligently or in violation of the law sets a fire, or who fails or refuses to correct a fire hazard prohibited by law, liable for the fire suppression costs and for the costs of providing rescue or emergency medical services, and provides for collection of the charge. Under existing law, public agencies participating in fire suppression, rescue, or emergency medical services may bring a civil action to recover costs incurred by those agencies. This bill would provide that, in a civil action by a public agency to recover damages caused by a fire, pecuniary damages must be quantifiable and not unreasonable in relation to the prefire fair market value of the property, taking into consideration the ecological and environmental value of the property to the public. The bill would limit the pecuniary damages that the public agency may recover to specified ecological and environmental damages and certain restoration and rehabilitation costs, replacement or acquisition costs, or diminution in value of property as a result of the fire, including lost timber value, and short-term costs related to immediate damages resulting from the fire. Further, the bill would prohibit a public agency from seeking to enhance the claim for environmental damages under other provisions of law permitting civil damages for injuries to trees and timber. (2) The Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to, and is approved by, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act provides that a timber harvesting plan approved on or after January 1, 2012, is effective for a period of not more than 3 years and may be extended by amendment for a one-year period, up to a maximum of 2 one-year extensions if 2 requirements are met. The act provides that a plan that is approved on or after January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2011, inclusive, may be extended by amendment for a 2-year period, up to a maximum of 2 2-year extensions. The act requires the notice of extension to include the circumstances that prevented a timely completion of the work under the plan and an agreement to comply with the specified law, rules, and regulations as they exist on the date the extension notice is filed. This bill would provide instead that a timber harvesting plan approved on or after July 31, 2012, would be effective for a period of not more than 5 years unless extended and would instead authorize the extension of the plan by amendment for a 2-year period. The bill would provide instead that a timber harvesting plan approved between January 1, 2010, and August 31, 2012, inclusive, may be extended by amendment for a 2-year period, up to a maximum of 2 2-year periods and would require the notice of extension for that plan to be provided to the department not sooner than 140 days, but at least 10 days, prior to the expiration date of the plan. (3) This bill would establish the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund in the State Treasury, and would require that all revenues received from a specified assessment described in (4) and (5) below imposed on the retail sale of lumber products, as defined, and engineered wood products, as defined, less amounts deducted for refunds and reimbursements, be deposited into the fund. The bill would require that moneys deposited into the fund be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified administrative costs, and for purposes relating to the regulatory activities of the department and other state and local agencies involved in the management of forest lands, and the costs of managing forest resource programs in the state, for certain grants to state and local public agencies, qualified nonprofit organizations, and recognized Indian tribes for fire protection and suppression, and for grants to fund restoration on timberland, as prescribed. This bill would require the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, on or before October 1, 2012, to adopt a regulation that interprets and makes specific the lumber products and the engineered wood products that the board determines shall be subject to the lumber products assessment imposed by the bill, as prescribed. The bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, on or before January 10, 2013, and each January 10 thereafter, in conjunction with the 2014–15 Governor's Budget and the Governor's Budgets thereafter, in consultation with the Secretary for Environmental Protection, to submit a report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee on the activities of all state departments, agencies, and boards relating to forest and timberland regulation. The bill would require the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, no later than March 1, 2014, as part of the 2014–15 budget process, to submit a report to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee and relevant legislative policy committees, including a review of the aforementioned report. (4) Existing law imposes a state sales and use tax on retailers measured by the gross receipts from the sale of tangible personal property sold at retail in this state, and a use tax on the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of tangible personal property purchased from a retailer for storage, use, or other consumption in this state, at a prescribed rate. Existing law imposes various other taxes, including taxes on the privilege of engaging in certain activities. The Fee Collection Procedures Law, a violation of which is a crime, provides procedures for the collection of fees. This bill would, on and after January 1, 2013, in addition to any other sales and use taxes imposed by law, impose an assessment on a person who purchases a lumber product, as defined, or an engineered wood product, as defined, in this state, at the rate of 1% of the sales price. This bill would require the tax to be administered by the State Board of Equalization, as prescribed, and would require a retailer to collect the assessment from the person and remit the amounts collected pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Fee Collection Procedures Law. By expanding the application of the Fee Collection Procedures Law, a violation of which is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to invite, consider, and respond in writing to comments received from public agencies, including the Department of Fish and Game, to which a timber harvest plan has been transmitted, and to consult with these agencies at their request. This bill would appropriate the sum of $1,500,000 from the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund to the Department of Fish and Game to be used for the purposes of supporting the department's review of timber harvest plans. (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. (7) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.