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<ns0:Id>20250SB__097399INT</ns0:Id>
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<ns0:ActionText>INTRODUCED</ns0:ActionText>
<ns0:ActionDate>2026-02-04</ns0:ActionDate>
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<ns0:SessionYear>2025</ns0:SessionYear>
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<ns0:MeasureNum>973</ns0:MeasureNum>
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<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Senators Becker and Stern</ns0:AuthorText>
<ns0:AuthorText authorType="PRINCIPAL_COAUTHOR_ORIGINATING">(Principal coauthor: Senator Allen)</ns0:AuthorText>
<ns0:Authors>
<ns0:Legislator>
<ns0:Contribution>LEAD_AUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
<ns0:House>SENATE</ns0:House>
<ns0:Name>Becker</ns0:Name>
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<ns0:Legislator>
<ns0:Contribution>LEAD_AUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
<ns0:House>SENATE</ns0:House>
<ns0:Name>Stern</ns0:Name>
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<ns0:Contribution>PRINCIPAL_COAUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
<ns0:House>SENATE</ns0:House>
<ns0:Name>Allen</ns0:Name>
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<ns0:Title> An act to add Article 13 (commencing with Section 4774) to Chapter 10 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, relating to wildfire mitigation. </ns0:Title>
<ns0:RelatingClause>wildfire mitigation</ns0:RelatingClause>
<ns0:GeneralSubject>
<ns0:Subject>Wildfire County Coordinator Program.</ns0:Subject>
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<html:p>Existing law establishes the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force and requires the task force to develop a comprehensive implementation strategy to track and ensure the achievement of the goals and key actions identified in the state’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, as provided. Existing law requires, on or before March 1, 2026, and every 5 years thereafter, the task force to update the action plan. </html:p>
<html:p>The Budget Act of 2025 provided for a community hardening program in the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection that includes home hardening certification and a wildfire county coordinator program, appropriated $9,500,000 to the department to make available to the California Fire Safe Council for the Wildfire County Coordinator Program, and required the county coordinators to prioritize home hardening, defensible space, planning,
and education for community-level wildfire mitigation efforts.</html:p>
<html:p>This bill would require the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to (1) establish recommended standards for wildfire risk modeling and analysis tools, (2) develop guidance and tools related to wildfire risk assessments, (3) support the development, updating, or procurement of county-level wildfire risk assessments, and (4) develop guidance and templates for the creation or revision of county-level wildfire resilience prioritization and implementation plans, and accompanying guidance for integrating these plans with related wildfire resilience programs, as provided. </html:p>
<html:p>This bill would provide in code for the Wildfire County Coordinator Program to support county-level coordination of and capacity for wildfire mitigation, prevention, preparedness, and recovery activities, as specified. The bill would require the department to enter into an agreement with the
California Fire Safe Council to administer and deliver the program. The bill would require the program to, among other things, establish capacity in participating counties to plan and execute specified activities in support of the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, coordinate with specified state and local entities, and collect data on local mitigation and preparedness activities, outcomes, and costs, as provided. </html:p>
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<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
<ns0:BillSection id="id_C3D5302A-2460-4D39-B9C7-D1946189AA4F">
<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Wildfires pose an ongoing and increasing threat to life, property, public health, and the economy of the state.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Proactive wildfire prevention, preparedness, and mitigation measures, including home hardening and defensible space, fuels management, evacuation and wildfire planning, and community education, reduce wildfire risk and improve community resilience.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Effective wildfire risk reduction requires locally informed risk assessment, planning, prioritization, and implementation, in alignment with state strategy and supported by adequate
local technical and administrative capacity.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Established in 2021, the Wildfire County Coordinator Program, developed and delivered by the California Fire Safe Council in partnership with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Office of the State Fire Marshal, has substantially increased local capacity to plan and implement critical wildfire prevention, preparedness, and mitigation activities. Already the small investment in community capacity has produced substantial resiliency benefits to the state.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Wildfire County Coordinators have served as vital local resources to secure funding, implement mitigation projects, engage vulnerable populations, and build resilience in high-risk communities.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Funds were appropriated to the California Fire Safe Council for the Wildfire County Coordinator
Program in the Budget Act of 2025 for the purpose of supporting local capacity to prioritize home hardening, defensible space, planning, and education for community-level wildfire mitigation efforts.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(g)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
It is in the interest of our state to support the Wildfire County Coordinators and further enhance the capacity of counties to proactively reduce their wildfire risk and thereby improve public safety and community insurability.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(h)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The Wildfire County Coordinator Program is a cornerstone of the community resilience strategy outlined in the 2026 Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force Action Plan Update, and the Wildfire County Coordinators serve as the crucial link between state strategy and local execution to ensure California communities are better prepared and more resilient to wildfire.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
It is the intent
of the Legislature to advance the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan by expanding county-level capacity to reduce wildfire and smoke risk.
</html:p>
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<ns0:Num>SEC. 2.</ns0:Num>
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Article 13 (commencing with Section 4774) is added to Chapter 10 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the
<ns0:DocName>Public Resources Code</ns0:DocName>
, to read:
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<ns0:LawHeading type="ARTICLE" id="id_7BA388F2-030E-4A55-8F6E-0C8151A97833">
<ns0:Num>13.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawHeadingVersion id="id_1317EA2A-454B-49F0-AA9B-A86630420C5A">
<ns0:LawHeadingText>Wildfire County Coordinator Program</ns0:LawHeadingText>
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<ns0:LawSection id="id_994BB187-F0A7-41B6-992A-E7A06F6B33F6">
<ns0:Num>4774.</ns0:Num>
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<html:p>For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“CFSC” means the California Fire Safe Council, a non-profit entity that supports communities across the state in wildfire preparedness and resiliency through grant funding, programmatic support, and technical assistance.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Community Wildfire Protection Plan” has the same meaning as defined in 16 U.S.C. Section 6511(3).
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
“Wildfire County Coordinator Program” means the program established pursuant to Section 4774.2
</html:p>
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<ns0:LawSection id="id_F3991F78-FAC7-434D-98DD-67E7D381C56E">
<ns0:Num>4774.1.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_291060B4-09A3-497C-B482-3292304E8CE1">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>The department shall do all of the following:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Establish recommended standards for wildfire risk modeling and analysis tools, in consultation with the Risk Modeling Advisory Workgroup within the department.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Develop guidance and tools to support county-level wildfire risk assessments, the identification of high-risk communities, prioritization of mitigation activities, and evaluation of risk reduction outcomes.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Support the development, updating, or procurement of county-level wildfire risk assessments.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
In coordination with the Office of Land Use and Climate
Innovation, develop guidance and templates for the creation or revision of county-level wildfire resilience prioritization and implementation plans, along with accompanying guidance for integrating these plans with county and local Community Wildfire Protection Plans, regional resilience plans, and related wildfire resilience programs.
</html:p>
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<ns0:LawSection id="id_096E4DE6-E0CB-4F49-A54C-ECE459C7640C">
<ns0:Num>4774.2</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_9E47D848-49C2-408E-9F85-227E8AE2656B">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The department shall establish the Wildfire County Coordinator Program and shall enter into an agreement with the California Fire Safe Council to administer and deliver the program.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
The purpose of the program is to support county-level coordination of and capacity for wildfire mitigation, prevention, preparedness, and recovery activities, including, but not limited to, evacuation and resilience planning, data collection, public education and outreach, smoke mitigation, home hardening, defensible space, fuels reduction, and community-scale mitigation.
</html:p>
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<ns0:LawSection id="id_1CE2BA16-B332-4C05-8522-33A5E3A10499">
<ns0:Num>4774.3.</ns0:Num>
<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_33F2E362-CD38-4057-B302-EC3E7BDF6E69">
<ns0:Content>
<html:p>The Wildfire County Coordinator Program shall do all of the following:</html:p>
<html:p>
(a)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Establish capacity in participating counties to plan and execute community- and county-level wildfire prevention, preparedness, mitigation, and recovery activities in support of the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan described in Article 11 (commencing with Section 4770).
</html:p>
<html:p>
(b)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Support the use of the risk assessment tools and guidance developed pursuant to Section 4774.1 to enhance county-level risk assessment, wildfire planning, and project prioritization.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(c)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Facilitate local coordination on priority wildfire resilience planning and implementation with
federal, local, and regional wildfire resilience partners, including, but not limited to, fire departments, local CAL FIRE units, local fire safe councils, resource conservation districts, tribal entities, counties, cities, special districts, and communities.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(d)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Develop and disseminate educational materials and programming on wildfire and smoke mitigation and preparedness, including targeted outreach to high-risk communities and populations.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(e)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Provide information on available local, state, and federal financial resources to support wildfire resilience planning and implementation.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(f)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Support local capacity to access and implement state or federal wildfire resilience funding programs.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(g)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Support the planning and implementation of home hardening,
defensible space, and related mitigation activities, through activities such as the following:
</html:p>
<html:p>
(1)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Implementing cost-reduction strategies, standardized implementation practices, contractor or workforce development, and data collection to evaluate program effectiveness.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(2)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Implementing strategies to lower the cost of home hardening and defensible space, including bulk-purchasing agreements, shared procurement, and other logistical efficiencies.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(3)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Establishing clear guidelines, standardized scopes of work, and cost estimates for common retrofits.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(4)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Identifying training, and centralizing vendors.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(h)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Coordinate with the California Wildfire Mitigation Program Joint Powers Authority
established pursuant to Article 16.5 (commencing with Section 8654.2) of Chapter 7 of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code to improve access to and streamline financial assistance for home hardening and defensible space in high-risk communities.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(i)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Coordinate with the State Air Resources Board, air districts, and other partners to undertake activities to increase community resilience to smoke, including, but not limited to, increasing community access to indoor clean air spaces, distribution of high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters, educational initiatives, and improved communication of planned prescribed burns.
</html:p>
<html:p>
(j)
<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
Collect data on local mitigation and preparedness activities, outcomes, and costs.
</html:p>
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