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AB-2075 • 2026

Forestry: safety requirements: fire equipment: internal combustion engines.

Forestry: safety requirements: fire equipment: internal combustion engines.

Crime Education Housing Labor
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Bennett
Last action
2026-04-22
Official status
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (April 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill text does not provide specific details on penalties for violations or exact numbers of required firefighting tools per person.

Forestry Safety Rules for Fire Equipment

This law changes safety rules for fire equipment used in forestry work to ensure firefighting tools are readily accessible and expands the scope of who can be punished under these rules.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires people using power saws or other tools on land where fires could start to have a backpack pump-type fire extinguisher and sufficient round point shovels within reach, no more than 25 feet away from the tool's operation area.
  • Does not apply these rules to people driving motorized vehicles for work but requires them to carry firefighting tools in their vehicle.
  • Expands who can be punished under these rules to include businesses and other legal entities.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People working on land where wildfires could start, like forestry workers using power saws or other equipment.
  • Businesses that sell or rent internal combustion engines or equipment powered by them.
  • The State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection

Terms To Know

spark arrester
A device used to prevent sparks from coming out of a machine, which could start fires.
internal combustion engine
An engine that burns fuel inside it to create power, like the engines in cars or chainsaws.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify exactly how many firefighting tools are needed for each person.
  • It is unclear what will happen if someone breaks these rules and gets fined.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-22 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (April 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  2. 2026-04-16 California Legislative Information

    Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

  3. 2026-04-15 California Legislative Information

    Read second time and amended.

  4. 2026-04-14 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (April 13).

  5. 2026-03-09 California Legislative Information

    Referred to Coms. on NAT. RES. and JUD.

  6. 2026-02-19 California Legislative Information

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 21.

  7. 2026-02-18 California Legislative Information

    Read first time. To print.

Official Summary Text

AB 2075, as amended, Bennett.
Forestry: safety requirements: fire equipment: internal combustion engines.
(1) Under existing law, a person is prohibited from using or operating, on or near specified lands during a time of the year when burning permits are required, a motor engine, boiler, stationary equipment, welding equipment, cutting torches, tarpots, or grinding devices from which a spark, fire, or flame may originate without complying with specified requirements, including the requirement to maintain one serviceable round point shovel and one backpack pump water-type fire extinguisher fully equipped and ready for use at the immediate area during the operation.
Existing law prohibits a person, except as provided, from using or operating any vehicle, machine, tool, or equipment powered by an internal combustion engine operated on hydrocarbon fuels in an industrial operation located
on specified land between April 1 and December 1 of any year, or at any other time when ground litter and vegetation will sustain combustion permitting the spread of fire, without providing and maintaining, for firefighting purposes only, suitable and serviceable tools in a fire toolbox in specified amounts, manners, and locations.
Under existing law, a violation of these provisions is a crime.
This bill would revise and recast those provisions
by
by, among other things,
instead requiring a person to maintain at least one backpack pump-type fire extinguisher fully equipped and ready for use, and a sufficient number of serviceable round point shovels so that each person at the operation can be equipped to fight fire, within the operating area, at a point
accessible in the event of fire. The bill would require these fire tools to be no farther than 25 feet from the point of operation of the
power saw
powersaw
or tool and unrestricted access for the operator from the point of operation. The bill would provide that these requirements do not apply to a person operating a motorized vehicle to work on, clear, or grade any land in or near specified lands during any time of the year when burning permits are required, and would instead require the person to have in or affixed to the motor vehicle and ready for immediate use one serviceable round point shovel and one fully equipped fire extinguisher. For these purposes the bill would define a person to mean a natural person, partnership, firm, association, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal entity. By
expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would, as applied to timber operations on timberland conducted by a timber operator, require the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to adopt emergency regulations pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act that define (A) the terms “operating area” and “point accessible in the event of a fire” and (B) the necessary number and types of tools needed in the fire toolbox, as provided.
(2) Existing law prohibits a person from using or operating on specified lands an internal combustion engine and a handheld portable, multiposition, internal combustion engine, as provided. Existing law prohibits a person from selling, offering for sale, leasing, or renting to a person an internal combustion
engine unless the person provides a written notice to the purchaser or bailee, at the time of sale or at the time of entering into the lease or rental contract, stating that it is violation of law to use or operate the engine on any specified land unless the engine is equipped with a spark arrester or the engine is constructed, equipped, and maintained for the prevention of fire, as provided. A violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law also prohibits a person from selling, offering for sale, leasing, or renting any equipment powered by an internal combustion engine unless it has a permanent warning label attached that is in plain view to the operator that includes a specified warning. A violation of this provision is an infraction punishable by a fine of not more $100.
This bill would, for purposes of the above-described provisions, define “person” to mean a natural person, partnership, firm, association, corporation, limited liability company, or
other legal entity. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated program.
(3)
Existing law prohibits a person, except as provided, from using or operating any vehicle, machine, tool, or equipment powered by an internal combustion engine operated on hydrocarbon fuels in an industrial operation located on specified land between April 1 and December 1 of any year, or at any other time when ground litter and vegetation will sustain combustion permitting the spread of fire, without providing and maintaining, for
firefighting purposes only, suitable and serviceable tools in specified amounts, manners, and locations.
Existing law prohibits a person, during any time of the year when burning permits are required, as provided, from using, operating, or causing to be operated in the area a portable saw, augur, drill, tamper, or other portable tool powered by a gasoline-fueled internal combustion engine on or near specified land within 25 feet of any flammable material, without providing and maintaining at the immediate locations of use or operation of the saw or tool, for firefighting purposes, one serviceable round point shovel or one serviceable fire extinguisher, as specified. Under existing law, a violation of these provisions is a crime.
This bill would define a person for these purposes to mean a natural person, partnership, firm, association, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal entity. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
(4) Existing law prohibits, during any time of the year when burning permits are required in specified areas, as provided, a person, copartnership, firm, corporation, or company from using or operating in the area a steam-operated engine, machine equipment, mill, or industrial plant, located on specified lands, without providing one adequate force pump or water under pressure equivalent to a pump, and not less than 200 feet of hose, as provided. Under existing law, a violation of this provision is a crime.
This bill would instead apply the above-described prohibitions to a natural person, partnership, firm, association, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal entity. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(5) 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.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
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