Plain English Breakdown
The official status shows this bill reached final enrollment but was ordered to an inactive file at the request of Senator Allen, meaning its future implementation is uncertain despite passing both chambers.
State Matching Funds for Water Systems in High Fire Risk Areas
This law would create a new program within the Office of Emergency Services to give state matching funds to communities in high fire hazard zones so they can improve their water systems.
What This Bill Does
- Establishes the Rural Water Infrastructure for Wildfire Resilience Program inside the Office of Emergency Services (OES).
- Provides state matching funds to urban wildland interface communities located in designated high or very high fire hazard severity zones to improve water system infrastructure.
- Requires OES to work with other agencies, including the Department of Water Resources, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
- Directs OES to create criteria and a scoring method to decide which rural communities get funding first.
Who It Names or Affects
- Urban wildland interface communities located in designated high or very high fire hazard severity zones.
- The Office of Emergency Services (OES) and other state agencies involved in water resources and fire safety.
Terms To Know
- State matching funds
- Money from the state that is given to a community only if the community also contributes its own money or resources, as allowed by existing law for similar programs.
- Urban wildland interface communities
- Communities defined in the bill where homes and buildings meet undeveloped land covered in vegetation that can catch fire easily.
Limits and Unknowns
- The program only starts if funding is appropriated by the Legislature from a specified bond act.
- The specific amount of money available for this program has not been set yet.
- The final criteria and scoring method for choosing communities have not been written yet.