BILL NUMBER: AB 2575AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 2010 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2010 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Chesbro FEBRUARY 19, 2010 An act to add Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 4564) to Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, relating to resources. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2575, as amended, Chesbro. Resources: watersheds. The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, among other things, prohibits a person from conducting timber operations unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and unless the plan has been approved. Existing law requires the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to adopt certain forest practice rules and regulations to minimize the effects of erosion on water resources and lakes. This bill would require the department and the board when implementing a pilot project to protect and restore the riparian zone in watersheds with listed anadromous salmonids to, among other things, ensure that the industry, agencies, and the public have equal opportunity to participate in the development of the pilot project in a transparent manner and that the pilot project have certain goals.The bill would require the department, by July 1, 2011, to place existing electronically available timber harvesting plan information in its possession on January 1, 2011, on its Internet Web site in an organized and easily accessible manner.Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) There are crucial problems within the watersheds of California that have resulted, to a large extent, in the listing of fish and other wildlife species under the California Endangered Species Act or federal Endangered Species Act. (b) There are numerous water bodies in California that have been declared by the State Water Resources Control Board to be impaired due to excessive sedimentation, high water temperatures, and pollutants. (c) Sequestration of carbon in forest lands is a vital component in slowing climate change, and adequate understanding and actions to respond to this need have not been determined nor implemented. (d) The regions of California that have state or federal listed anadromous salmonid species are often predominately forest lands that are subject to the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 4511) of Part 3 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, for purposes of review and approval of logging plans. These plans include, but are not limited to, timber harvest plans (THPs), nonindustrial timber management plans (NTMPs), Sustained Yield Plans (SYPs), and Program Timberland Environmental Impact Reports (PTEIR). (e) There have been, and continue to be, concerns about the impacts of forest management on the health of watersheds and the species that depend on them. Forest practice rules addressing the potential impacts to anadromous salmonids, for example, have only recently been adopted in a comprehensive fashion despite over a decade of litigation and deliberation by the state. In the meantime, most native salmon and steelhead species are listed as threatened or endangered and, as of 2006, there are 410 rivers or streams on the north coast of the state that are listed as sediment-impaired under the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1251 et seq.). Moreover, it has been well documented that the existing rules addressing cumulative effects analyses are woefully inadequate and appear to exist in isolation of the processes of forest management, watershed restoration, and other recovery activities. (f) Significant, but at times limited, gains have been made in forest land resource protection and conservation since the Z' berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973, including the application of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and various state and federal water quality and fish and game statutes and regulations. These statutes and regulations have led to some improvements, including, among other things, the fact that logs are no longer yarded down streambeds, landings are not placed in streams, riparian buffers have evolved, certain large trees along watercourses are retained, and lower impact road building techniques are required. (g) There are still opportunities for improvement by the development of a comprehensive cumulative effects review process that is conducted in cooperation with landowners and other stakeholders. A good cumulative effects process can provide the information necessary to restore and recover fish and wildlife populations, to improve the quality and quantity of timber, to take actions to reduce fire hazards, to sequester carbon, to produce energy, and to create jobs. SEC. 2. Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 4564) is added to Chapter 8 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, to read: Article 5.5. Comprehensive Forest Land Recovery and Restoration Act 4564. When implementing a pilot project pursuant to a regulation adopted in accordance with Section 4551.5 or 4562.7, to protect and restore the riparian zone in watersheds with listed anadromous salmonids, the department and board shall comply with all of the following: (a) Provide the industry, agencies, and the public with equal opportunity to participate in the development of a pilot project in a transparent manner. (b) A pilot project shall result in the adoption of guidelines for conducting a cumulative effects evaluation on a planning watershed scale, and shall address the potential project-specific planning watershed cumulative effects of timber harvesting activities. In particular, the guidelines shall require the following: (1) The spatial scale of the cumulative effects analysis to be consistent with the resources of concern, including watersheds and soil productivity, and with the physical processes, including erosion, that influence those resources. (2) The use of reproducible, quantitative methods of evaluation as the primary means of determining baseline physical, chemical, or biological parameters, in estimating cumulative impacts, and in monitoring implementation of mitigation measures. (3) Sufficient documentation that supports the conclusions and recommendations of an evaluation. (4) The evaluator to have relevant training and experience. (c) Consult with and seek comment from appropriate scientific experts in order to develop evaluation guidelines that are feasible, enforceable, and protective of the public trust. The department and the board may draw from information in the State of Washington's Watershed Analysis Manual or the Methods Manual developed by the State of California's North Coast Watershed Assessment Program when developing guidelines. (d) A pilot project shall have one or more of the following goals: (1) Restore fisheries and wildlife habitat. (2) Reduce the risk of wildfire. (3) Recover forest characteristics which will produce high-quality timber. (4) Reduce sedimentation and soil loss. (5) Achieve long-term carbon sequestration. (6) Restore and recover unique attributes of a given planning watershed. (e) A pilot project shall be consistent with state and federal mandates governing coho recovery and restoration of impaired water bodies. (f) Funding and personnel for the development and implementation of pilot projects shall be utilized from existing department and responsible agencies' budgets and personnel. Additional funding shall be sought from private and public sources, statewide and nationally, with an emphasis on receiving support from educational institutions.4565. On or before July 1, 2011, the department shall place existing electronically available timber harvesting plan information in its possession on January 1, 2011, on its Internet Web site in a manner that is organized by planning watershed and easily accessible to the public.