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<ns0:Description>
<ns0:Id>20250AB__251398AMD</ns0:Id>
<ns0:VersionNum>98</ns0:VersionNum>
<ns0:History>
<ns0:Action>
<ns0:ActionText>INTRODUCED</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2026-02-20</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:Action>
<ns0:ActionText>AMENDED_ASSEMBLY</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2026-04-06</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:SessionYear>2025</ns0:SessionYear>
<ns0:SessionNum>0</ns0:SessionNum>
<ns0:MeasureType>AB</ns0:MeasureType>
<ns0:MeasureNum>2513</ns0:MeasureNum>
<ns0:MeasureState>AMD</ns0:MeasureState>
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<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Assembly Member Petrie-Norris</ns0:AuthorText>
<ns0:Authors>
<ns0:Legislator>
<ns0:Contribution>LEAD_AUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
<ns0:House>ASSEMBLY</ns0:House>
<ns0:Name>Petrie-Norris</ns0:Name>
</ns0:Legislator>
</ns0:Authors>
<ns0:Title> An act to add Section 1357 to the Fish and Game Code, and to amend Sections 4124, 4124.5, 4208, 4208.1, and 4799.05 of, and to add Sections 4208.2 and 4799.05.1 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to wildfire. </ns0:Title>
<ns0:RelatingClause>wildfire</ns0:RelatingClause>
<ns0:GeneralSubject>
<ns0:Subject>Wildfire: Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program: local assistance grant program: regional landscape grants.</ns0:Subject>
</ns0:GeneralSubject>
<ns0:DigestText>
<html:p>Existing law requires the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, including the Natural Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Planning and Research, and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, in coordination with certain public agencies, to develop a comprehensive implementation strategy to track and ensure the achievement of the goals and key actions identified in California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as provided. Existing law requires the task force, on or before March 1, 2026, and every 5 years thereafter, to update that action plan, as provided.</html:p>
<html:p>Existing law establishes, in the Department of Conservation, a Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program to support regional leadership to build local and regional capacity and develop, prioritize, and implement strategies and
projects that create fire-adapted communities and landscapes, as provided. Existing law requires the department to, upon appropriation by the Legislature for purposes of the program, provide block grants to regional entities, as defined, to develop regional strategies that develop governance structures, identify wildfire risks, foster collaboration, and prioritize and implement projects within the region to achieve the goals of the program, as specified. Existing law authorizes the regional entities, as defined, to implement activities pursuant to this program, directly or by providing subgrants or contracts, and collaborative planning efforts with local entities to accomplish development of regional priority strategies, among other objectives.
Existing law authorizes the department, until July 1, 2025, to authorize advance payments of grants awarded pursuant to the program.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would authorize the Director of the Department of Conservation to directly award regional landscape grants to regional entities to implement the above-described regional priority strategies. The bill would also require the director, in collaboration with the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, to, before the issuance of these grants, establish guidelines for funding the grants to contribute to the achievement of the goals of California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action
Plan, as specified.
The bill would extend the authorization for the department to award advance payments of grants awarded pursuant to the program indefinitely.</html:p>
<html:p>Existing law authorizes the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to provide grants to, or enter contracts or other cooperative agreements with, specified entities for the implementation and administration of projects and programs to improve forest health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Existing law requires moneys appropriated to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for landscape-scale projects to be allocated to subsidize the removal of small-diameter material and dead trees, for multiple benefit projects, and for activities on national forest lands, as provided.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would additionally require moneys appropriated to the department for landscape-scale projects to be allocated for projects that improve ecosystem health and for
regional landscape grants that the director would be authorized to directly award to regional entities, as defined, to implement the above-described regional priority strategies. The bill would also require the director, in collaboration with the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, to, before the issuance of these grants, establish guidelines for funding
the grants to contribute to the achievement of the goals of California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as specified. </html:p>
<html:p>Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to establish a local assistance grant program for fire prevention and home hardening education activities in the state and extends eligibility for grants to, among others, local agencies, resource conservation districts, fire safe councils, the California Conservation Corps, certified community conservation corps, Native American tribes, and qualified nonprofit organizations. Existing law requires eligible activities under the local assistance grant program to include, but not be limited to, vegetation management along roadways and driveways to reduce fire risk, as provided.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would expand eligible activities to include vegetation modification and specify that the vegetation
management and modification along roadways and driveways includes wildfire ignition risk. The bill would also add ignition prevention, as defined, to the eligible activities. </html:p>
<html:p>The Wildlife Conservation Law of 1947 establishes the Wildlife Conservation Board within the Department of Fish and Wildlife to investigate, study, and determine what areas within the state are most essential and suitable for wildlife production and preservation, among other things. Under existing law, the board administers various habitat conservation programs. </html:p>
<html:p>This bill would authorize the Wildlife Conservation Board to award regional landscape grants to local entities, as defined, to implement regional priority
strategies as described above. The bill would also require, before the issuance of these grants, the board, in collaboration with the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, to establish guidelines for funding these regional landscape grants to contribute to the achievement of the goals of California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as specified. </html:p>
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<ns0:VoteRequired>MAJORITY</ns0:VoteRequired>
<ns0:Appropriation>NO</ns0:Appropriation>
<ns0:FiscalCommittee>YES</ns0:FiscalCommittee>
<ns0:LocalProgram>NO</ns0:LocalProgram>
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<ns0:Bill id="bill">
<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_536466CB-F90F-4FDC-9BE3-E5C8A8D6287B">
<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Wildfires pose an ongoing and increasing threat to life, property, public health, and the state’s economy.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Over the past decade, California has recognized that wildfire behavior varies widely across the state with winds being the predominant driver of wildfires in the southern part of the state and fuels being the predominant driver of wildfires in the northern part of the state.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Southern California’s shrubland and chapparal landscapes require different approaches to reduce the threat of wildfire that do not align with the needs in forested landscapes.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Led by the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force and supported by the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program administered by the Department of Conservation, local capacity has grown, and regions are developing strategies and projects that respond to these differing contexts and fire regimes.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Wildlife Conversation Board is dedicated to safeguarding California’s spectacular biological diversity and wild spaces for the benefit of present and future generations. The Wildlife Conversation Board achieves this goals, in part,
through the issuance of grants for restoration purposes that fund projects that provide wildfire resilience benefits and in turn protect California’s wild spaces and biological diversity.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
It is the intent of the Legislature to match funding levels to the scale of the problem, and the scale of regionally developed plans and projects.
</html:p>
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<ns0:Num>SEC. 2.</ns0:Num>
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Section 1357 is added to the
<ns0:DocName>Fish and Game Code</ns0:DocName>
, to read:
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<ns0:Fragment>
<ns0:LawSection id="id_5B4971E2-BD64-419F-B376-7FA694F92BA9">
<ns0:Num>1357.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_56546B2F-17F0-433C-A888-45DFA9A530F8">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The board may award regional landscape grants to regional entities to implement regional priority strategies developed pursuant to Section 4208.1 of the Public Resources Code.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Before the issuance of regional landscape grants pursuant to subdivision (a), the board, in collaboration with the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, shall establish guidelines for funding regional landscape grants pursuant to subdivision (a) to contribute to the achievement of the goals of California’s
Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan issued in January 2021, and any subsequent updates to that plan developed pursuant to Section 4771 of the Public Resources Code. Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code shall not apply to the development
and adoption of guidelines used for funding these grants.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For purposes of this section, “regional entities” has the same meaning as defined in Section 4208 of the Public Resources Code.
</html:p>
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<ns0:Num>SEC. 3.</ns0:Num>
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Section 4124 of the
<ns0:DocName>Public Resources Code</ns0:DocName>
is amended to read:
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<ns0:Fragment>
<ns0:LawSection id="id_4198A8B0-7C61-45D2-83EB-49457495F7E4">
<ns0:Num>4124.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_FDC49A16-BF6C-48A3-BCA8-7EBAFDA74632">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>For purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Fire prevention activities” means those lawful activities that reduce the risk of wildfire in California, including, but not limited to, mechanical and manual vegetation management and modification, prescribed grazing, prescribed burns, creation of defensible space, creation of fuel breaks, ignition prevention, replacement of ignition-prone nonnative flashy fuels with heavier and less flammable native vegetation, technologies that improve detection and assessment of new fire ignitions, and retrofitting of structures to increase fire
resistance.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Ignition prevention” means those lawful activities that reduce the likelihood of wildfire ignitions caused directly or indirectly by human activity or infrastructure, including replacement or modification of ignition-prone nonnative flashy fuels to less flammable native vegetation, hardening of infrastructure, including primary roadways, utility corridors, and public access points, to prevent fire ignition and spread, use of ignition-resistant materials, and community education or planning programs that reduce human-caused ignitions.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Nonnative flashy
fuels” means a nonnative or invasive plant species including grasses, mustard, and other annual plants, and pine needles and leaves, that dry or cure rapidly, ignite easily, and spread fire quickly, significantly increasing wildfire risk.
</html:p>
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<ns0:Num>SEC. 4.</ns0:Num>
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Section 4124.5 of the
<ns0:DocName>Public Resources Code</ns0:DocName>
is amended to read:
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<ns0:Fragment>
<ns0:LawSection id="id_990479B4-2B34-4986-8EC9-1CE9187C6058">
<ns0:Num>4124.5.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_4478CE48-063D-4A53-BE07-278D0FB688FD">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The department shall establish a local assistance grant program for fire prevention and home hardening education activities in California. Groups eligible for grants shall include, but are not limited to, local agencies, resource conservation districts, fire safe councils, the California Conservation Corps, certified community conservation corps as defined in Section 14507.5, University of California Cooperative Extension, the Board of Commissioners under CaliforniaVolunteers described in Section 8411 of the Government Code, Native American tribes, and qualified nonprofit organizations. The department may establish a cost-share requirement for one or more categories of projects.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The local assistance grant program shall establish a
robust year-round fire prevention effort in and near fire-threatened communities that focuses on increasing the protection of people, structures, and communities. To the maximum extent practicable, the grants shall be designed to be durable and adaptively managed so that while improving resiliency to wildfire, the projects, when on forest land, retain a mixture of species and sizes of trees to protect habitat values. The department shall prioritize, to the extent feasible, projects that are multiyear efforts.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For purposes of this subdivision, “fire-threatened communities” means those communities in high and very high fire hazard severity zones, identified by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Section 51178 of the Government Code, or Article 9 (commencing with Section 4201) of this code, or on the “Fire Risk Reduction
Community” list maintained by the board pursuant to Section 4290.1.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Eligible activities shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Development and implementation of public education and outreach programs. Programs may include technical assistance, new technologies, game elements to enhance and accelerate the education of property owners, workforce recruitment and training, and equipment purchases.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Fire prevention activities.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Projects to improve compliance with defensible space requirements as required by Section 4291 through increased inspections, assessments, and assistance for residents with relevant socioeconomic
characteristics, as defined in Section 8654.7 of the Government Code.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Technical assistance to local agencies to improve fire prevention and reduce fire hazards.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Creation of additional “Firewise USA” communities in the state or other community planning or certification programs deemed as appropriate by the department.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(6)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Projects to improve public safety, including, but not limited to, access to emergency equipment and improvements to public evacuation routes.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(7)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Vegetation management and modification along roadways and driveways to reduce fire
risk, including wildfire ignition risk. Where appropriate, the Department of Transportation shall be consulted if state infrastructure will be affected. Those projects shall remain consistent with paragraph (1) of subdivision (b).
</html:p>
<html:p>
(8)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Public education outreach regarding making homes and communities more wildfire resilient, including training on defensible space and prescribed grazing.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(9)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Projects to reduce the flammability of structures and communities to prevent their ignition from wind-driven embers.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(10)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Development of a risk reduction checklist for communities that includes defensible space criteria, structural vulnerability potential, and personal evacuation plans.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(11)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Projects involving the application of prescribed grazing, which may include the installation of fencing or watering improvements.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Watering improvements described in subparagraph (A) shall not include the creation of a well or replacement of well infrastructure.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(12)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Ignition prevention activities.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The department may consider the fire risk of an area, the geographic balance of projects, and whether the project is complementary to other fire prevention or forest health activities when awarding local assistance grants.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
When reviewing applications for the
grant program created pursuant to this section, the department shall give priority to any local governmental entity qualified to perform defensible space assessments pursuant to Section 4291.5 in very high and high fire hazard severity zones, as identified by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Section 51178 of the Government Code or Article 9 (commencing with Section 4201) of this chapter or by a local agency pursuant to Section 51179 of the Government Code, for using the common reporting platform created pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 4291.5 to report that information.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The director may authorize advance payments from a grant awarded pursuant to this section. The advance payment shall not exceed 25 percent of the total grant award. The director may authorize a greater amount, not to exceed 50
percent of either the total grant award or the cost of equipment or supplies, whichever amount is less, for the purpose of purchasing necessary equipment or supplies.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The grantee shall expend the funds from the advance payment within six months of receipt, unless the department waives this requirement.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The grantee shall file an accountability report with the department no later than six months from the date of receiving the funds and no later than every six months thereafter.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(g)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Until July 1, 2025, the department may authorize advance payments on a grant awarded under this section in accordance with subdivision (d) of Section 11019.1 of the Government Code.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(h)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The
department may expand or amend an existing grant program to meet the requirements of this section.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Funding for the local assistance grant program created pursuant to this section shall be made upon appropriation by the
Legislature.
</html:p>
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<ns0:Num>SEC. 5.</ns0:Num>
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Section 4208 of the
<ns0:DocName>Public Resources Code</ns0:DocName>
is amended to read:
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<ns0:LawSection id="id_5CEC8B48-DBDA-4E24-858B-491E94DE09AB">
<ns0:Num>4208.</ns0:Num>
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<ns0:Content>
<html:p>For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Department” means the Department of Conservation.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Director” means the Director of the Department of Conservation.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Eligible coordinating organization” means a local government, tribal government, resource conservation district, joint powers authority, or nongovernmental organization with a history of providing technical assistance and demonstrated capacity to coordinate regional partners across the state.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Program” means the Regional Forest
and Fire Capacity Program.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Regional entity” means a state conservancy, local
government, tribal government, resource conservation district, joint powers authority, or nongovernmental organization with a history of implementing related projects, demonstrated capacity to work across regional partners, and ability to serve as fiscal administrators for the program.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Statewide implementation” means identifying and supporting regional entities in every part of the state that contains or is adjacent to a very high or high fire hazard severity zone identified by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Section 51178 of the Government Code or Article 9 (commencing with Section 4201).
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<ns0:Num>SEC. 6.</ns0:Num>
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Section 4208.1 of the
<ns0:DocName>Public Resources Code</ns0:DocName>
is amended to read:
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<ns0:LawSection id="id_A2145FBF-3F65-47EC-A2FA-169D54B64BBF">
<ns0:Num>4208.1.</ns0:Num>
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<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
There is hereby established in the department the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program to support regional leadership to build local and regional capacity and develop, prioritize, and implement strategies and projects that create fire-adapted communities and landscapes by improving ecosystem health, community wildfire preparedness, and fire resilience. For strategies and projects that seek to create fire-adapted
communities, regional entities shall maximize risk reductions to people and property, especially in the most vulnerable communities.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The department shall, upon an appropriation by the Legislature for these purposes, do both of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Provide block grants to regional entities to develop regional strategies that develop governance structures, identify wildfire risks, foster collaboration, and prioritize and implement projects within the region to achieve the goals of the program.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(ii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Regional priority strategy development shall be in coordination with public landowners and other relevant forest and fire planning efforts in wildfire and forest resiliency planning.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Ensure, to the extent feasible, there are regional entities to cover every part of the state that contains or is adjacent to a very high or high fire hazard severity zone identified by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Section 51178 of the Government Code or Article 9 (commencing with Section 4201).
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Regional entities may implement program activities directly or provide subgrants or contracts, and collaborative planning efforts with local entities, including municipal governments, tribal governments, nongovernmental organizations, community organizations, fire safe councils, land trusts, resource conservation districts, joint power authorities, special districts, fire departments, residents, private and public forest landowners and managers, businesses, and others, to assist the regional entity in accomplishing all of the following objectives:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Develop
regional priority strategies that develop and support fire-adapted communities and landscapes by improving forest health, watershed health, fire risk reduction, or fire resilience needed to achieve local, regional, or statewide public safety, climate resiliency, and ecosystem goals included in the “Agreement for Shared Stewardship of California’s Forest and Rangelands” and “California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan.”
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Complete project development and permitting to generate implementation-ready projects that address regional landscape resilience and community fire protection priorities for funding consideration.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(C)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Implement forest management demonstration
projects that showcase scalable models for management, funding, and achieving and quantifying multiple benefits.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(D)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Implement community fire preparedness demonstration projects that create durable risk reduction for structures and critical community infrastructure.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(E)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Develop outreach, education, and training as needed to facilitate and build capacity to implement this section.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(F)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Collect and assess data and information as needed to identify and map communities, infrastructure, forests, and watersheds at risk of, and vulnerable to, wildfire, in collaboration with appropriate state agencies, including, but not limited to, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The department shall, upon an appropriation by the Legislature for these
purposes, provide block grants to eligible coordinating organizations under the program to support the statewide implementation of the program through coordination of and technical assistance to regional entities, as well as to support forest health and resilience efforts across regions and throughout the state.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
To maximize the benefits of the program, the department shall do all of the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Facilitate peer-to-peer learning within and between regions to share information, experiences, and resources to build regional capacity.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Provide technical assistance to regions to enhance regional capacity and assist in the development and prioritization of projects.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Assist regions in identifying potential funding sources for regional
priorities.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Encourage the development of local cost share opportunities.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Publish and update on the department’s internet website the following information related to implementation of the program:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A list of regional entities and eligible coordinating organizations funded by the program.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The outcomes of any block grant provided to a regional entity or eligible coordinating organization, including a summary of the benefits, such as the number of people and properties for which wildfire risk has been mitigated, ecosystem health benefits, or other measurements of progress towards state goals for public health and safety, climate resilience, and biodiversity, as applicable.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(C)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A description of progress towards ensuring there are regional entities to cover every part of the state that contains or is adjacent to a very high or high fire hazard severity zone identified by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Section 51178 of the Government Code or Article 9 (commencing with Section 4201).
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The department may authorize advance payments on a grant awarded under this section.
</html:p>
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</ns0:BillSection>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_8CCFBC60-F830-46BE-A2B1-0EF0721A523F">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 7.</ns0:Num>
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Section 4208.2 is added to the
<ns0:DocName>Public Resources Code</ns0:DocName>
, to read:
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<ns0:Fragment>
<ns0:LawSection id="id_7EDE9EB7-24BC-4143-9B81-4C868D5752C7">
<ns0:Num>4208.2.</ns0:Num>
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<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The director may directly award regional landscape grants to regional entities to implement regional priority strategies developed pursuant to Section 4208.1.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Before the issuance of regional landscape grants pursuant to subdivision (a), the director, in collaboration with the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, shall establish guidelines for funding regional landscape grants pursuant to subdivision (a) to contribute to the achievement of the goals of California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan issued in January 2021, and any subsequent updates to that plan developed pursuant to Section 4771. Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code does not apply to the development and adoption of guidelines used for funding these grants.
</html:p>
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<ns0:BillSection id="id_1BE2AC15-5275-4136-BD02-3D05DCF72D72">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 8.</ns0:Num>
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Section 4799.05 of the
<ns0:DocName>Public Resources Code</ns0:DocName>
is amended to read:
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<ns0:LawSection id="id_885FAA46-3FF0-417D-9B6F-287CE294BD5C">
<ns0:Num>4799.05.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_F469926F-94B8-4CE9-91BF-6FC9213ED8C6">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The director may provide grants to, or enter into contracts or other cooperative agreements with, entities, including, but not limited to, private or nongovernmental entities, Native American tribes, or local, state, and federal public agencies, for the implementation and administration of projects and programs to improve forest or ecosystem health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The director may authorize advance payments to a nonprofit organization, a local agency, a special district, a private forest landowner, or a Native American tribe from a grant awarded pursuant to this section. No single advance payment shall
exceed 25 percent of the total grant award.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The grantee shall expend the funds from the advance payment within six months of receipt, unless the department waives this requirement.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(ii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The grantee shall file an accountability report with the department four months from the date of receiving the funds and every four months thereafter.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(C)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The department shall provide a report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2023, on the outcome of the department’s use of advance payments.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(ii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A report submitted pursuant to this subparagraph shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(iii)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The requirement for submitting a report imposed under clause (i) is inoperative on January 1, 2027, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Any project or program described in this section that is funded with moneys from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, created pursuant to Section 16428.8 of the Government Code, shall comply with all statutory and program requirements applicable to the use of moneys from the fund.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Moneys appropriated to the department for landscape-scale projects shall be allocated as follows:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
To subsidize the removal of small diameter material, especially surface fuels and ladder fuels, as well as dead trees, in order
to help develop markets for beneficial uses of the material, including, but not limited to, animal bedding, biochar, cross-laminated timber, mulch, oriented strand board, pulp, post, shredding, and veneer products.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For multiple benefit projects, such as tree thinning, carbon sequestration, forest resilience, and improved ecological outcome projects, including, but not limited to, restoring watershed health and function and supporting biodiversity and wildlife adaptation to climate change. The department shall give grant funding priority to landowners who practice uneven aged forest management with a resilient forest of diverse age, size, and species class within the boundaries of the project and whose activities are conducted pursuant to an approved timber harvest plan, nonindustrial timber harvest plan, or working forest management plan.
An application for a grant for a project under this paragraph shall include a description of how the proposed project will increase average stem diameter and provide other site-specific improvement to forest complexity, as demonstrated by the expansion of the variety of tree age classes and species persisting for a period of at least 50 years. The department shall also give funding priority to landowners who agree to long-term forest management goals prescribed by the department.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For activities on national forest lands to increase tree stand heterogeneity, create forest openings of less than one acre, and increase average tree stand diameter of residual trees. Any grants provided under this paragraph shall be approved by the department, in collaboration with appropriate state agencies, including the State Air Resources Board.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For activities that improve ecosystem health on chaparral, shrubland, grassland, and coastal sage scrub lands, including, but not limited to, replacement of ignition-prone nonnative flashy fuels with heavier and less flammable native vegetation.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For regional landscape grants that the director may directly award to regional entities to implement regional priority strategies developed pursuant to Section 4208.1.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) does not apply to prescribed fire, reforestation, habitat restoration, thinning, or fuel reduction projects, or to related activities included in the project description, undertaken, in whole or in part, on federal lands to reduce the risk
of high-severity wildfire that have been reviewed under the federal National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.) if either of the following is satisfied:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The primary role of a state or local agency is providing funding or staffing for those projects.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
A state or local agency is undertaking those projects pursuant to the federal Good Neighbor Authority (Public Law 113-79) or a stewardship agreement with the federal government entered into pursuant to Public Law 113-79.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) does not apply to the issuance of a permit or other project approval by a state or local agency for projects described in paragraph (1).
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
This section does not alter, affect, or in any way diminish the authority of a state or local agency to impose mitigation measures or conditions on projects described in paragraph (1) pursuant to other laws or regulations.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
(A)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
If the lead agency, as defined in Section 21067, determines that a project is not subject to Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) pursuant to this subdivision and it determines to approve or carry out the project, the lead agency shall file a notice of exemption with the Office of Planning and Research and with the county clerk in the county in which the project will be located in the manner specified in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 21108 or subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 21152. The lead agency shall also post
the notice of exemption on its internet website together with a description of where the documents analyzing the environmental impacts of the project under the federal National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 are available for public review.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(B)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
If the lead agency is not the department, the lead agency shall also provide the notice of exemption together with the information set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 4137 to the department. The department shall compile the information submitted to it pursuant to this subparagraph and post the information on the department’s internet website.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(5)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
On or before February 1, 2027, if the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency determines that substantial changes have been made since January 1, 2023, to the federal National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 or other federal laws that affect the management of federal forest lands in California, the secretary shall report those changes to the Legislature in accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(6)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
This subdivision shall become inoperative on January 1, 2028.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) does not apply to any discretionary approval necessary to carry out or implement projects funded by the Nature-Based Solutions Tribal Program or the tribal cultural burn and tribal wildfire funding authorized by Schedule (2) of Item 3540-101-0001 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2021, as added by Section 46 of Chapter 240 of the Statutes of 2021. This subdivision only applies to projects carried out on lands subject to the
jurisdictional control or the ownership of a California Native American tribe, as defined in Section 21073.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Ecosystem” includes forest, chaparral, shrubland, grasslands, and coastal sage ecosystems and natural communities.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Nonnative flashy fuels” means a nonnative or invasive plant species including grasses, mustard, and other annual plants, and pine needles and leaves, that dry or cure rapidly, ignite easily, and spread fire quickly, significantly increasing wildfire
risk.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Regional entities” has the same meaning as defined in Section 4208.
</html:p>
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<ns0:BillSection id="id_B426DE61-09E7-4EE5-B2C5-0A3F5E4A8F9E">
<ns0:Num>SEC. 9.</ns0:Num>
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Section 4799.05.1 is added to the
<ns0:DocName>Public Resources Code</ns0:DocName>
, to read:
</ns0:ActionLine>
<ns0:Fragment>
<ns0:LawSection id="id_61CA79AC-0E8F-42D5-A544-24524CE5603A">
<ns0:Num>4799.05.1.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_291AA038-DFAF-49F8-8AE8-99F8EA932AC5">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>Before the issuance of regional landscape grants pursuant to Section 4799.05, the director, in collaboration with the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, shall establish guidelines for funding regional landscape grants pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision (c) of Section 4799.05 to contribute to the achievement of the goals of California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan issued in January 2021, and any subsequent updates to that plan developed pursuant to Section 4771. Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division
3 of Title 2 of the Government Code does not apply to the development and adoption of guidelines used for funding these grants.</html:p>
</ns0:Content>
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