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SB-474 Very high fire hazard severity zone: state responsibility area: development prohibition.(2019-2020)

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Date Published: 06/19/2020 09:00 PM
SB474:v96#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  June 19, 2020
Amended  IN  Senate  May 21, 2019
Amended  IN  Senate  April 22, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 474

Introduced by Senator Stern

February 21, 2019

An act to amend Section 2788 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to wildlife. An act to add Section 51182.5 to the Government Code, relating to land use.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 474, as amended, Stern. The California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990: Habitat Conservation Fund. Very high fire hazard severity zone: state responsibility area: development prohibition.
Existing law requires the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to identify areas of the state as very high fire hazard severity zones based on specified criteria. Existing law requires a local agency to designate, by ordinance, very high hazard severity zones in its jurisdiction within 120 days of receiving recommendations from the director. Existing law authorizes a local agency to include areas within its jurisdiction not identified as very high fire hazard severity zones by the director as very high fire hazard severity zones following a specified finding supported by substantial evidence.
Existing law requires the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to determine, based on specified criteria, whether an area of the state is one for which the financial responsibility of preventing and suppressing fires is primarily the responsibility of the state. Existing law refers to these areas as “state responsibility areas.”
This bill would, in furtherance of specified state housing production and wildfire mitigation goals, prohibit the creation or approval of a new development, as defined, in a very high fire hazard severity zone or a state responsibility area. By imposing new duties on local governments with respect to the approval of new developments in very high fire hazard severity zones and state responsibility areas, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
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.

Proposition 117, an initiative measure approved by the electors at the June 5, 1990, direct primary election, certain provisions of which can be amended by a majority vote, enacted the California Wildlife Protection Act of 1990. The act creates the Habitat Conservation Fund and requires the moneys in the fund to be used for specified purposes generally relating to the acquisition, enhancement, or restoration of wildlife habitat. The act requires the Controller, until June 30, 2020, to annually transfer $30,000,000 from the General Fund to the Habitat Conservation Fund, less any amount transferred to the Habitat Conservation Fund from specified accounts and funds. The act, until July 1, 2020, continuously appropriates specified amounts from the Habitat Conservation Fund to the Department of Parks and Recreation, the State Coastal Conservancy, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and the California Tahoe Conservancy, and continuously appropriates the balance of the fund to the Wildlife Conservation Board.

This bill would establish the Wildlife Protection Subaccount in the Habitat Conservation Fund and would require the Controller, if an appropriation is made for this purpose in any fiscal year, to transfer $30,000,000 from the General Fund to the subaccount, less any amount transferred from specified accounts and funds, to be expended by the board for the acquisition, enhancement, or restoration of wildlife habitat.

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NOYES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 51182.5 is added to the Government Code, to read:

51182.5.
 (a) Notwithstanding any law, in furtherance of state housing production and wildfire mitigation goals under Assembly Bill 101 (Chapter 159 of the Statutes of 2019), Section 4290 of the Public Resources Code, and subdivision (g) of Section 65088, a new development shall not be created or approved in a very high fire hazard severity zone or a state responsibility area.
(b) For purposes of this section, “development” means either of the following:
(1) A project containing residential dwellings, including, but not limited to, mobilehomes, accessory dwelling units, and junior accessory dwelling units, of one or more units or a subdivision of land for the purpose of constructing one or more residential dwelling units.
(2) A project for commercial, retail, or industrial use.

SEC. 2.

 The Legislature finds and declares that the prohibition on the creation or approval of a new development within a zone of high fire danger as specified in this act is a matter of statewide concern and is not a municipal affair as that term is used in Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, Section 1 of this act adding Section 51182.5 to the Government Code applies to all cities, including charter cities.

SEC. 3.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1.Section 2788 of the Fish and Game Code is amended to read:
2788.

(a)Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, the money in the fund, except the money in the Wildlife Protection Subaccount established pursuant to subdivision (b), is continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, to the board.

(b)The Wildlife Protection Subaccount is hereby established in the fund. All moneys in the subaccount shall be available for expenditure by the board pursuant to this chapter.

(c)Contingent on an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute of the amount described in this subdivision in any fiscal year, the Controller shall transfer in that fiscal year the sum of thirty million dollars ($30,000,000) from the General Fund to the Wildlife Protection Subaccount, less any amount transferred to the Wildlife Protection Subaccount from, but not limited to, the following accounts and funds:

(1)The Public Resources Account in the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax Fund to the extent authorized by the Tobacco Tax and Health Protection Act of 1988.

(2)The Unallocated Account in the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax Fund pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 2795.

(3)The California Environmental License Plate Fund.

(4)The Endangered and Rare Fish, Wildlife, and Plant Species Conservation and Enhancement Account in the Fish and Game Preservation Fund.

(5)Any other accounts or funds created by the Legislature or the people for purposes that are consistent with the purposes of this chapter.

(6)Any bond funds that are authorized by the people after July 1, 1990, which may be used for purposes that are identical to the purposes specified in Section 2786.

(7)The Wildlife Restoration Fund.

(d)This section shall become operative only if, and on the date that, Section 2787 is repealed.