2023 California Code › Public Resources Code - PRC › DIVISION 4 - FORESTS, FORESTRY AND RANGE AND FORAGE LANDS › PART 2 - PROTECTION OF FOREST, RANGE AND FORAGE LANDS › CHAPTER 1 - Prevention and Control of Forest Fires › ARTICLE 3 - Responsibility for Fire Protection › Section 4137.

4137. (a) For purposes of this section, “fire prevention activities” include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Fire prevention education.
(2) Hazardous fuel reduction and vegetation management, including fuel breaks, forest thinning, prescribed fire, reforestation, fuel treatments in the wildland-urban interface, dead fuel removal, roadside fuel reduction activities, and all other activities that reasonably could be considered vegetation management.
(3) Fire investigation.
(4) Civil cost recovery.
(5) Forest and fire law enforcement.
(6) Fire prevention engineering.
(7) Prefire planning.
(8) Risk analysis.
(9) Volunteer programs and partnerships.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the year-round staffing and the extension of the workweek that has been provided to the department pursuant to memorandums of understanding with the state will result in significant increases in the department’s current level of fire prevention activities. It is also the intent of the Legislature that the budgetary augmentations for year-round staffing not reduce the reimbursements that the department receives from contracts with local governments for the department to provide local fire protection and emergency services pursuant to Section 4144, commonly referred to as “Amador agreements.”
(c) On or before January 10 of each year, the department shall provide a report to the Legislature, including to the budget, fiscal, and appropriate policy committees of the Assembly and the Senate, in accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, detailing the department’s fire prevention activities, including the increased activities described in subdivision (b). The report shall display the fire prevention activities of the previous fiscal year, as well as the information from previous reports for purposes of a comparison of data. The report shall include all of the following:
(1) Fire prevention activities performed by the department on lands designated as state responsibility areas, and by counties, where, pursuant to a contract with the department, a county has agreed to provide fire protection services in state responsibility areas within county boundaries on behalf of the department. The fire prevention activities included in the report pursuant to this paragraph shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) The number of hours of fire prevention education performed.
(B) The number of defensible space inspections conducted, including statewide totals and totals for each region.
(C) The number of citations issued for noncompliance with Section 4291.
(D) The number of acres treated by mechanical fuel reduction.
(E) The number of acres treated by prescribed burns.
(F) The funding sources and estimated amounts for the fire prevention activities described in this paragraph, itemized by the activity categories described in subparagraphs (A) to (E), inclusive.
(G) Any other data or qualitative information deemed necessary by the department in order to provide the Legislature with a clear and accurate accounting of fire prevention activities, particularly with regard to variations from one year to the next.
(2) The fire prevention performance measures described in paragraph (1) shall be reported for each region annually, including activities performed from December 15 to April 15, inclusive.
(3) Projected fire prevention activities for the following fiscal year.
(4) Information on each of the “Amador contracts” described in subdivision (b), including an annual update on the number of those contracts and reimbursements received from the contracts that are in effect.
(d) The department shall post on its internet website on or before December 31, 2023, and annually thereafter, all of the following information regarding hazardous fuel reduction and vegetation management projects funded or conducted by the department, including, but not limited to, projects funded under the department’s Forest Health Program, California Forest Improvement Program, and Wildfire Prevention Grants Program, as well as funding for CAL FIRE unit wildfire prevention projects and prescribed fire and fuel crews, for the preceding fiscal year, beginning with funding included in the 2022–23 fiscal year:
(1) What permitting mechanism was used for each project.
(2) How the collaboration with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the State Water Resources Control Board, as required by Section 4123, was achieved for both agencies, including whether the agency reviewed the project grant proposal or project description or permit.
(3) A description of any maintenance plan or other mechanism, if available, that is in place to support maintenance of vegetation improvements over time.
(4) A description of any mitigation required for each project, and whether the mitigation has been completed.
(e) On or before December 31, 2022, the department shall develop a standardized protocol for monitoring implementation and evaluating the positive and negative ecological and fire behavior impacts from vegetation management projects undertaken by the state, consistent with the requirements of Chapter 387 of the Statutes of 2021.
(f) The department shall provide links to all documents relevant to subdivisions (d) and (e) on its internet website.
(g) The reporting and monitoring requirements in subdivisions (d) and (e) shall be expanded to other state agencies that undertake or fund hazardous fuel reduction and vegetation management projects by December 31, 2024, including, but not limited to, projects funded or conducted by state conservancies, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, or the Department of Parks and Recreation.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 60, Sec. 35. (AB 203) Effective June 30, 2022.)