Forestry: timber operations: maintenance of timberlands for fuels reduction.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not specify that each project must have at least some public funding. It only mentions that projects can be paid for in part or in whole with public funds.

Forestry: Timber Operations for Wildfire Fuels Reduction

AB-687 allows up to 35 projects per year to reduce wildfire fuels in timberlands under 1,500 acres by preparing a special plan and complying with environmental laws.

What This Bill Does

• Allows up to 35 projects each year to remove trees and brush from small areas of forest to prevent wildfires.
• Requires these projects to prepare a detailed plan called a timber harvesting plan before starting work.
• Ensures that the projects follow rules about protecting the environment, like making sure they do not harm wildlife or water sources.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who own or manage timberlands in California.
• The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection which reviews plans.

Terms To Know

Timber harvesting plan

A detailed plan required for cutting down trees in a forest, prepared by a professional forester and approved by forestry officials.

Environmental impact report (EIR)

A document that explains how a project might affect the environment and what can be done to protect it.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill will no longer apply after January 1, 2031.
• It does not specify who exactly is responsible for preparing these plans or carrying out the projects.

Official Summary Text

AB 687, as amended, Patterson.
Forestry: timber operations: maintenance of timberlands for fuels reduction.
The Z’berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to, and approved by, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act provides that any person who willfully violates any provision of the act or rule or regulation of the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection is guilty of a misdemeanor.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead
agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment.
This bill would authorize up to 35 projects per year that are exclusively for noncommercial wildfire fuels reduction in timberland, less than
1,000
1,500
acres in size, and paid for in part or in whole with public funds, to prepare a timber harvesting plan to comply with CEQA. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would create a state-mandated local program.
The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2031.
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

Download Bill PDF