AB2791 - Public resources.

Assembly Bill No. 2791 CHAPTER 60 An act to amend Sections 4584, 30327.5, 30519, 30600.6.1, 30605, 30605.1, 30605.2, 30606, 30607.2, 30620, and 30620.2 of, and to add Section 30109.5 to, the Public Resources Code, relating to public resources. [ Approved by Governor July 06, 2026. Filed with Secretary of State July 06, 2026. ] LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2791, Committee on Natural Resources. Public resources. (1) The Z’berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, 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 authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, including an exemption, known as the Forest Resilience Exemption, for the harvesting of certain trees for the purpose of reducing the rate of fire spread, duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of tree crowns. The act requires certain conditions to be met to qualify for the exemption, including that all trees harvested are marked by, or under the supervision of, a registered professional forester before felling operations begin. This bill would remove the above-described condition to qualify for the Forest Resilience Exemption. (2) The California Coastal Act of 1976, which is administered by the California Coastal Commission, requires a person wishing to perform or undertake any development in the coastal zone to obtain a coastal development permit. The act further provides for the certification of local coastal programs by the commission. The act generally prohibits, after certification of a local coastal program and all implementing actions within the affected area, the commission from exercising its coastal development permit review authority over any new development proposed within the area to which the certified local coastal program, or any portion thereof, applies. The act provides that this prohibition does not apply to development proposed or undertaken within any state university or college within the coastal zone. The act defines “state university” to mean the University of California and the California State University. This bill would make the commission’s authority pursuant to the above-described provision on coastal development permit review applicable only to state universities by removing references to state colleges. The act also provides for the submission to, and approval by, the commission of state university or college or private university long-range development plans and provides for amendments to those plans. This bill would make the commission’s authority pursuant to long-range development plans as described above applicable only to state universities or private universities by removing the references to state colleges. This bill would also define “nonprofit organization” for purposes of the act and would make various nonsubstantive and conforming changes. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 4584 of the Public Resources Code is amended to read: 4584. Upon determining that this exemption is consistent with the purposes of this chapter, the board may exempt from this chapter, or portions of this chapter, a person engaged in forest management whose activities are limited to any of the following: (a) The cutting or removal of trees for the purpose of constructing or maintaining a right-of-way for utility lines. (b) The planting, growing, nurturing, shaping, shearing, removal, or harvest of immature trees for Christmas trees or other ornamental purposes or minor forest products, including fuelwood. (c) The cutting or removal of dead, dying, or diseased trees of any size. (d) Site preparation. (e) Maintenance of drainage facilities and soil stabilization treatments. (f) Timber operations on land managed by the Department of Parks and Recreation. (g) (1) The one-time conversion of less than three acres to a nontimber use. A person, whether acting as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, shall not obtain more than one exemption pursuant to this subdivision in a five-year period. If a partnership has as a member, or if a corporation or other legal entity has as an officer or employee, a person who has received this exemption within the past five years, whether as an individual, as a member of a partnership, or as an officer or employee of a corporation or other legal entity, then that partnership, corporation, or other legal entity is not eligible for this exemption. “Person,” for purposes of this subdivision, means an individual, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity. (2) (A) Notwithstanding Section 4554.5, the board shall adopt regulations that do all of the following: (i) Identify the required documentation of a bona fide intent to complete the conversion that an applicant will need to submit in order to be eligible for the exemption in paragraph (1). (ii) Authorize the department to inspect the sites approved in conversion applications that have been approved on or after January 1, 2002, in order to determine that the conversion was completed within the two-year period described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) of Section 1104.1 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. (iii) Require the exemption pursuant to this subdivision to expire if there is a change in timberland ownership. The person who originally submitted an application for an exemption pursuant to this subdivision shall notify the department of a change in timberland ownership on or before five calendar days after a change in ownership. (iv) The board may adopt regulations allowing a waiver of the five-year limitation described in paragraph (1) upon finding that the imposition of the five-year limitation would impose an undue hardship on the applicant for the exemption. The board may adopt a process for an appeal of a denial of a waiver. (v) The board may adopt regulations allowing a waiver of the one-time limitation described in paragraph (1) upon finding that the imposition of the one-time limitation would impose an undue hardship on the applicant. The board may adopt a process for an appeal of a denial of a waiver. (B) The application form for the exemption pursuant to paragraph (1) shall prominently advise the public that a violation of the conversion exemption, including a conversion applied for in the name of someone other than the person or entity implementing the conversion in bona fide good faith, is a violation of this chapter and penalties may accrue up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 4601). (h) An easement granted by a right-of-way construction agreement administered by the federal government if timber sales and operations within or affecting the area are reviewed and conducted pursuant to the federal National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 4321 et seq.). (i) (1) The cutting or removal of trees in compliance with Sections 4290 and 4291 that eliminates the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns for the purpose of reducing flammable materials and maintaining a fuel break for a distance of not more than 150 feet on each side from an approved and legally permitted structure that complies with the California Building Standards Code, when that cutting or removal is conducted in compliance with this subdivision. For purposes of this subdivision, an “approved and legally permitted structure” includes only structures that are designed for human occupancy, garages, barns, stables, and structures used to enclose fuel tanks. (2) (A) The cutting or removal of trees pursuant to this subdivision is limited to cutting or removal that will result in a reduction in the rate of fire spread, fire duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of the tree crowns and shall be in accordance with any regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this section. (B) Trees shall not be cut or removed pursuant to this subdivision by the clearcutting regeneration method, by the seed tree removal step of the seed tree regeneration method, or by the shelterwood removal step of the shelterwood regeneration method. (3) (A) All fuel treatments conducted pursuant to this subdivision that do not comply with board rules and regulations may be determined to be a nuisance and subject to abatement by the department or the city or county having jurisdiction. (B) The costs incurred by the department, city, or county, as the case may be, to abate the nuisance upon a parcel of land subject to the timber operations, including, but not limited to, investigation, boundary determination, measurement, and other related costs, may be recovered by special assessment and lien against the parcel of land by the department, city, or county. The assessment may be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary ad valorem taxes, and shall be subject to the same penalties and the same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as is provided for ad valorem taxes. (4) All timber operations conducted pursuant to this subdivision shall conform to applicable city or county general plans, city or county implementing ordinances, and city or county zoning ordinances. This paragraph does not authorize the cutting, removal, or sale of timber or other solid wood forest products within an area where timber harvesting is prohibited or otherwise restricted pursuant to the rules or regulations adopted by the board. (5) (A) The board shall adopt regulations, initially as emergency regulations in accordance with subparagraph (B), that the board considers necessary to implement and to obtain compliance with this subdivision. (B) The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be adopted in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code). The adoption of emergency regulations shall be deemed to be an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety, or general welfare. (j) (1) (A) The harvesting of trees, limited to those trees that eliminate the vertical continuity of vegetative fuels and the horizontal continuity of tree crowns, for the purpose of reducing the rate of fire spread, duration and intensity, fuel ignitability, or ignition of tree crowns. An exemption pursuant to this paragraph shall be known as the Forest Resilience Exemption. (B) The board may authorize an exemption pursuant to subparagraph (A) only if the tree harvesting will decrease fuel continuity and increase the quadratic mean diameter of the stand, and the tree harvesting area will not exceed 500 acres. Increases in quadratic mean diameter shall only consider trees greater than eight inches in diameter at breast height. The notice of exemption may be authorized only if all of the conditions specified in subparagraphs (C) to (I), inclusive, are met. (C) A registered professional forester shall prepare the notice of exemption and submit it to the director. (D) (i) The submitted notice of exemption shall include a description of the preharvest stand structure and a statement of the postharvest stand stocking levels and the expected postharvest increase in quadratic mean diameter. (ii) The level of residual stocking shall be consistent with maximum sustained production of high-quality timber products. The residual stand shall consist primarily of healthy and vigorous dominant and codominant trees from the preharvest stand. Stocking shall not be reduced below the standards required by the following provisions that apply to the exemption at issue: (I) Clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Sections 913.3, 933.3, and 953.3 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, or clauses 1 to 4, inclusive, of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Sections 913.2, 933.2, and 953.2 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. (II) The registered professional forester responsible for preparing the notice of exemption shall identify the designated postharvest stocking within the notice of exemption. The selected stocking shall be applicable to, and consistent with, silviculture that would apply to the preharvest stand condition provided pursuant to clause (i). (III) Additional information on preharvest stand conditions, including, but not limited to, stand ages, stand structure, past management activities, and landowner goals and objectives shall also be provided by the registered professional forester preparing and submitting the exemption that substantiates the selection of postharvest stocking. (iii) Within the coast district, if the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 100 trees over 4 inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site I, II, and III lands, and a minimum of 75 trees over 4 inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained per acre for Site IV and V lands. (iv) Within the northern district and southern district, if the preharvest dominant and codominant crown canopy is occupied by trees less than 14 inches in diameter at breast height, a minimum of 65 trees per acre over 4 inches in diameter at breast height shall be retained. (v) All trees that are harvested or all trees that are retained shall be marked or sample marked by, or under the supervision of, a registered professional forester before felling operations begin. The board shall adopt regulations for sample marking for this section in Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. Sample marking shall be limited to homogenous forest stand conditions typical of plantations. (vi) The board may adopt specific regulations for the removal of dead and dying trees in amounts less than 10 percent of the average volume per acre for trees up to 36 inches in diameter at breast height. Regulations adopted by the board shall consider safety, fuel hazard abatement, mortality capture, the adequacy and retention of wildlife trees, especially those trees over 30 inches in diameter at breast height, and standards of enforceability for the department. All trees over 30 inches in diameter at breast height that are harvested pursuant to this paragraph shall be marked by, or under the supervision of, a registered professional forester before felling. The registered professional forester shall consult with the director before felling any de [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]