State Fire Marshal: home hardening certification program implementation plan.

Plain English Breakdown

The official summary and digest do not provide details on specific measures or funding amounts, leaving these points as limits and unknowns.

Home Hardening Certification Program

This law requires the State Fire Marshal to create a plan for a home hardening certification program that helps reduce fire risks and aligns existing buildings with state safety standards.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee to develop an implementation plan for a home hardening certification program by January 1, 2028.
• The committee must identify measures like defensible space that can be added during renovations or property improvements to reduce fire risks.
• Allows the State Fire Marshal's Office to use funds from a special fund to create and update this plan.
• Requires the Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee to report its findings and recommendations to legislative committees by January 1, 2028.
• Directs the State Fire Marshal to establish and implement the home hardening certification program based on committee recommendations by January 1, 2029.

Who It Names or Affects

• The Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee
• Homeowners who want to improve their homes' fire safety
• Builders and contractors involved in property improvements

Terms To Know

Wildland-Urban Interface

Areas where buildings are located near or intermixed with wildland vegetation.

Defensible Space

The area around a building that is kept free of flammable materials to reduce fire risk.

Limits and Unknowns

• It does not specify how much funding will be available for the program.
• The bill does not say what happens if the committee fails to meet deadlines.
• It does not detail specific measures that must be included in the certification program.

Official Summary Text

AB 1934, as amended, Bennett.
State Fire Marshal: home hardening certification program implementation plan.
Existing law requires the Office of the State Fire Marshal to develop and make available on its internet website a Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Safety Building Standards Compliance training intended for use in the training of local building officials, builders, and fire service personnel, as specified. Existing law authorizes the Office of the State Fire Marshal to allow certification of contractors who conduct defensible space, home hardening, fuel reduction, roadside clearance, and other contracting activities for wildlife resiliency efforts and who have completed specified training programs. Existing law requires the Office of the State Fire Marshal to develop and update a Wildland-Urban Interface Products listing of products and construction assemblies that comply with prescribed regulations regarding building in a wildland-urban interface area. Existing law authorizes the Office
of the State Fire Marshal to expend funds from the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of researching and developing the products listing and the educational and training provisions. Existing law requires the Office of the State Fire Marshal to establish the State Fire Marshal’s Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee.
This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2028, the State Fire Marshal’s Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee to develop an implementation plan for a home hardening certification program that identifies home hardening measures, including defensible space, that can be voluntarily implemented during renovation or property improvement projects, or both, to substantially reduce the risk of loss during a fire and bring existing building stock into alignment with state building standards for wildland-urban interface areas. The bill would require the committee, in
developing the implementation plan for the home hardening certification program, to provide specified recommendations. The bill would authorize the Office of the State Fire Marshal to expend funds from the Building Standards Administration Special Revolving Fund, upon an appropriation by the Legislature, for the purposes of developing the implementation plan for the home hardening certification program. The bill would require the committee, on or before January 1, 2028, to provide a report to specified legislative committees on its findings and recommendations pursuant to these provisions.
The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2029, the State Fire Marshal to establish the home hardening certification program and implement the program consistent with the recommendations made by the Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF