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<ns0:Id>20250AB__241099INT</ns0:Id>
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<ns0:History>
<ns0:Action>
<ns0:ActionText>INTRODUCED</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2026-02-20</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:SessionYear>2025</ns0:SessionYear>
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<ns0:MeasureType>AB</ns0:MeasureType>
<ns0:MeasureNum>2410</ns0:MeasureNum>
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<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Assembly Members Ellis and Gallagher</ns0:AuthorText>
<ns0:AuthorText authorType="COAUTHOR_ORIGINATING">(Coauthors: Assembly Members Alanis, Castillo, and Sanchez)</ns0:AuthorText>
<ns0:Authors>
<ns0:Legislator>
<ns0:Contribution>LEAD_AUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
<ns0:House>ASSEMBLY</ns0:House>
<ns0:Name>Ellis</ns0:Name>
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<ns0:Legislator>
<ns0:Contribution>LEAD_AUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
<ns0:House>ASSEMBLY</ns0:House>
<ns0:Name>Gallagher</ns0:Name>
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<ns0:Legislator>
<ns0:Contribution>COAUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
<ns0:House>ASSEMBLY</ns0:House>
<ns0:Name>Alanis</ns0:Name>
</ns0:Legislator>
<ns0:Legislator>
<ns0:Contribution>COAUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
<ns0:House>ASSEMBLY</ns0:House>
<ns0:Name>Castillo</ns0:Name>
</ns0:Legislator>
<ns0:Legislator>
<ns0:Contribution>COAUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
<ns0:House>ASSEMBLY</ns0:House>
<ns0:Name>Sanchez</ns0:Name>
</ns0:Legislator>
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<ns0:Title> An act to amend Section 30610 of, and to add and repeal Section 21080.06 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to wildfire safety.</ns0:Title>
<ns0:RelatingClause>wildfire safety</ns0:RelatingClause>
<ns0:GeneralSubject>
<ns0:Subject>Wildfire safety: fuels reduction projects: California Environmental Quality Act: California Coastal Act.</ns0:Subject>
</ns0:GeneralSubject>
<ns0:DigestText>
<html:p>Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, authorizes the Governor to declare a state of emergency during conditions of disaster or extreme peril to persons or property. Existing law authorizes the Governor, during a state of emergency, to suspend any regulatory statute, or statute prescribing the procedure for conduct of state business, or the orders, rules, or regulations of any state agency, if the Governor determines and declares that strict compliance with any statute, order, rule, or regulation would in any way prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of the emergency. </html:p>
<html:p>Under the authority of the California Emergency Services Act, on March 1, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom issued a proclamation of a state of emergency that suspends applicable state statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements that
fall within the jurisdiction of boards, departments, and offices within the California Environmental Protection Agency or the Natural Resources Agency to the extent necessary for expediting critical fuels reduction projects, as provided. The proclamation requires an individual or entity desiring to conduct a critical fuels reduction project to request the secretary of the appropriate agency to make a determination that the proposed project is eligible for the suspension and requires the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Agency to maintain on their respective internet website a list of all suspensions approved.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would, on or before January 31, 2028, require the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Agency to each report to the Legislature information on the implementation of the above-described proclamation of emergency, as provided.</html:p>
<html:p>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 from its requirements certain projects.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would, until January 1, 2030, exempt from CEQA critical fuels reduction projects conducted in communities located in high fire threat districts or very high fire hazard severity zones, as provided. The bill would require
the lead agency to hold a noticed public meeting to hear and respond to public comments before determining that a project is exempt and would require the lead agency to provide notice of the public meeting on its internet website at least 30 days before the public meeting. The bill would require the lead agency, if it determines that a project is not subject to CEQA and approves or carries out that project, to file a notice of exemption with the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and with the clerk of the county in which the project will be located. Because a lead agency would be required to determine whether a project qualifies for this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.</html:p>
<html:p>Existing law, the California Coastal Act of 1976, among other things, requires anyone wishing to perform or undertake any development in the coastal zone, except as specified, in addition to obtaining any other permit required by law from any local government or
from any state, regional, or local agency, to obtain a coastal development permit from the California Coastal Commission or a local government, as provided. The act provides that a coastal development permit is not required for specified types of development in specified areas, as provided.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would provide that a coastal development permit is not required for critical fuels reduction projects, as provided. </html:p>
<html:p> 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.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.</html:p>
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<ns0:VoteRequired>MAJORITY</ns0:VoteRequired>
<ns0:Appropriation>NO</ns0:Appropriation>
<ns0:FiscalCommittee>YES</ns0:FiscalCommittee>
<ns0:LocalProgram>YES</ns0:LocalProgram>
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<ns0:ImmediateEffect>NO</ns0:ImmediateEffect>
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<ns0:Urgency>NO</ns0:Urgency>
<ns0:TaxLevy>NO</ns0:TaxLevy>
<ns0:Election>NO</ns0:Election>
<ns0:UsualCurrentExpenses>NO</ns0:UsualCurrentExpenses>
<ns0:BudgetBill>NO</ns0:BudgetBill>
<ns0:Prop25TrailerBill>NO</ns0:Prop25TrailerBill>
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<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_CE6F3905-5229-40A9-AC59-9FD30976D227">
<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
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Section 21080.06 is added to the
<ns0:DocName>Public Resources Code</ns0:DocName>
, to read:
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<ns0:LawSection id="id_E1F15E13-35AF-4D20-B15A-0B4A44EC6EB0">
<ns0:Num>21080.06.</ns0:Num>
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<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Without limiting any other statutory or categorical exemption provided under this division and subject to subdivision (b), this division does not apply to a critical fuels reduction project conducted in a community located in a high fire threat district as determined by the Public Utilities Commission, or very high fire hazard severity zone as identified by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Section 51178 of the Government Code or Section 4202 or as designated by an ordinance pursuant to Section 51179 of the Government Code that does at least one of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Removes hazardous, dead, or dying trees.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Removes vegetation for the creation of strategic fuel breaks as
identified by approved fire prevention plans, including CAL-FIRE Unit Fire Plans or community wildfire protection plans.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Removes vegetation along roadways, highways, and freeways for the creation of safer ingress and egress routes for the public and first responders and to reduce roadside ignitions.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Removes vegetation using cultural traditional ecological knowledge for cultural burning or prescribed fire treatments or both of those types of treatments for fuels reduction projects.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Maintains previously established fuel breaks or fuel modification projects.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For purposes of paragraphs (2) and (3), subdivision (a) only applies if the vegetation removed for the critical fuels reduction project meets all of the following requirements:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The vegetation is a nonnative species.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The vegetation is eight inches or less in diameter.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The vegetation is a common species.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Before determining that a project is not subject to this division pursuant to this section, the lead agency shall hold a noticed public meeting on the project to hear and respond to public comments. The lead agency shall provide notice of the public meeting on its internet website at least 30 days before the public meeting.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
If the lead agency determines that a project is not subject to this division pursuant to this section, and the lead agency determines to approve or carry out that project, the lead agency shall file a notice of exemption with
the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and the county clerk in the county in which the project is located in the manner specified in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 21152.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, and as of that date is repealed.
</html:p>
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<ns0:Num>SEC. 2.</ns0:Num>
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Section 30610 of the
<ns0:DocName>Public Resources Code</ns0:DocName>
is amended to read:
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<ns0:LawSection id="id_72995E34-B004-4D76-8DE3-AF437C0FEB21">
<ns0:Num>30610.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_2824570B-D104-4EBB-A8EB-7B9B3B8990C6">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, a coastal development permit shall not be required pursuant to this chapter for the following types of development and in the following areas:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Improvements to existing single-family residences; provided, however, that the commission shall specify, by regulation, those classes of development
that involve a risk of adverse environmental effect and shall require that a coastal development permit be obtained pursuant to this chapter.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Improvements to a structure other than a single-family residence or a public works facility; provided, however, that the commission shall specify, by regulation, those types of improvements that (1) involve a risk of adverse environmental effect, (2) adversely affect public access, or (3) involve a change in use contrary to any policy of this division. Any improvement so
specified by the commission shall require a coastal development permit.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Maintenance dredging of existing navigation channels or moving dredged material from those channels to a disposal area outside the coastal zone, pursuant to a permit from the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Repair or maintenance activities that do not result in an addition to, or enlargement or expansion of, the object of those repair or maintenance activities; provided, however, that if the commission determines that certain extraordinary methods of repair and maintenance involve a risk of substantial adverse environmental impact, it shall, by regulation, require that a permit be obtained pursuant to this chapter.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Any category of development, or any category of development within a specifically defined geographic area, that
the commission, after public hearing, and by two-thirds vote of its appointed members, has described or identified and with respect to which the commission has found that there is no potential for any significant adverse effect, either individually or cumulatively, on coastal resources or on public access to, or along, the coast and, where the exclusion precedes certification of the applicable local coastal program, that the exclusion will not impair the ability of local government to prepare a local coastal program.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The installation, testing, and placement in service or the replacement of a necessary utility connection between an existing service facility and
a development approved pursuant to this division; provided, however, that the commission may, where necessary, require reasonable conditions to mitigate any adverse impacts on coastal resources, including scenic resources.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(g)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The replacement of a structure, other than a public works facility, destroyed by a disaster. The replacement structure shall conform to applicable existing zoning requirements, shall be for the same use as the destroyed structure, shall not exceed either the floor area, height, or bulk of the destroyed structure by more than 10 percent, and shall be sited in the same location on the affected property as the destroyed structure.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For purposes of this subdivision, the following definitions apply:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Disaster” means a situation in which the force or forces that destroyed the structure to be replaced were beyond the control of its owner.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Bulk” means total interior cubic volume as measured from the exterior surface of the structure.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(C)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Structure” includes landscaping and any erosion control structure or device which is similar to that which existed prior to the occurrence of the disaster.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(h)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Any activity anywhere in the coastal zone that involves the conversion of any existing multiple-unit residential structure to a time-share project, estate, or use, as defined in Section 11212 of the Business and Professions Code. If any improvement to an existing structure is otherwise exempt from the permit requirements of this division, no coastal development permit shall be required for that improvement on the basis that it is to be made in connection with any conversion exempt pursuant to this subdivision. The division of a multiple-unit residential structure into condominiums, as defined in Section 783
of the Civil Code, shall not be considered a time-share project, estate, or use for purposes of this subdivision.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Any proposed development that the executive director finds to be a temporary event that does not have any significant adverse impact upon coastal resources within the meaning of guidelines adopted pursuant to this subdivision by the commission. The commission shall, after public hearing, adopt guidelines to implement this subdivision to assist local governments and persons planning temporary events in complying
with this division by specifying the standards
that the executive director shall use in determining whether a temporary event is excluded from permit requirements pursuant to this subdivision. The guidelines adopted pursuant to this subdivision shall be exempt from the review of the Office of Administrative Law and from the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Exclusion or waiver from the coastal development permit requirements of this division pursuant to this subdivision does not diminish, waive, or otherwise prevent the commission from asserting and exercising its coastal development permit jurisdiction over any temporary event at any time if the commission determines that the exercise of its jurisdiction is necessary to implement the coastal resource protection policies of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 30200).
</html:p>
<html:p>
(j)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A critical fuels reduction project, subject to paragraph (2), that does at least one of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Removes hazardous, dead, or dying trees.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Removes vegetation for the creation of strategic fuel breaks as identified by approved fire prevention plans, including CAL-FIRE Unit Fire Plans or community wildfire protection plans.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(C)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Removes vegetation along roadways, highways, and freeways for the creation of safer ingress and egress routes for the public and first responders and to reduce roadside ignitions.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(D)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Removes vegetation using cultural
traditional ecological knowledge for cultural burning or prescribed fire treatments or both of those types of treatments for fuels reduction projects.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(E)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Maintains previously established fuel breaks or fuel modification projects.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For purposes of subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (1), paragraph (1) only applies if the vegetation removed for critical fuel reductions projects meets all of the following requirements:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The vegetation is a nonnative species.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The vegetation is eight inches or less in diameter.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(C)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The vegetation is a common species.
</html:p>
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<ns0:BillSection id="id_8FB5E69A-8ECF-4CCB-9D9C-C1784943C1BF">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 3.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>On or before January 31, 2028, the Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency shall, in accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, each report to the Legislature on the implementation of the proclamation of a state of emergency issued by Governor Gavin Newsom on March 1, 2025, that suspends applicable state statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements that fall within the jurisdiction of boards, departments, and offices within the California Environmental Protection Agency or the Natural Resources Agency to the extent necessary for expediting critical fuels reduction projects. The report from each of those agencies shall contain all of the following information:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A list of all entities that
requested the secretary of the reporting agency to make a determination that the requested activity is eligible for the suspension as a critical fuels reduction project under the proclamation.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A list of all entities that used the suspension provided under the proclamation by either reporting agency or both reporting agencies after the reporting agency made the determination on eligibility for the suspension.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Detailed information on the projects of each entity for which the suspension was provided, including location, treatment, and acreage.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Information on how the project for which suspension was provided advances the state’s wildfire mitigation and forest health treatment goals.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Information about instances in which any project for which
suspension was provided failed to comply with the 2020 Statewide Fires–Environmental Protection Plan and to what extent the noncompliance is known.
</html:p>
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<ns0:BillSection id="id_96B4FFCE-E335-44A4-9F1E-6FDA462ECA73">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 4.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII
<html:span class="ThinSpace"/>
B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.
</html:p>
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