SECTIONS 4111-4124 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 4111-4124

4111. The board shall make and enforce such regulations as are
necessary and proper for the organization, maintenance, government,
and direction of the fire protective system for the prevention and
suppression of forest fires which is provided for in this article.

4112. The department shall divide the state into a suitable and
convenient number of administrative districts and shall appoint a
supervising forest officer for each district.

4113. The supervising forest officers shall, under the direction of
the director, have charge of the firefighting system and men in such
districts, and are charged with the duty of preventing and
extinguishing forest fires and with the performance of such other
duties as may be required by the director.

4114. (a) The department, in accordance with a plan approved by the
board, shall do all of the following:
(1) Provide fire prevention and firefighting implements and
apparatus.
(2) Organize fire crews and patrols.
(3) Establish observation stations and other necessary structures.
(4) Employ people to effect the plan.
(5) Construct and maintain telephone lines and provide other means
of communication as necessary to prevent and extinguish forest
fires.
(b) The department may provide, when available and to the extent
that it does not require additional funds, rescue, first aid, and
other emergency services to the public in state responsibility areas.
Any emergency medical services shall be in accordance with Division
2.5 (commencing with Section 1797) of the Health and Safety Code and
any rules and regulations adopted pursuant to that division.

4114.5. (a) Any contract entered into by the department to retain
the services of pilots to fly firefighting aircraft shall expressly
provide that, if the pilot dies while performing the duties specified
in the contract, eligible survivors, if any, of the pilot shall be
paid a one-time death benefit equal to the sum of the following:
(1) The amount of the one-time benefit that the eligible survivors
of the pilot would receive if the pilot were subject to the federal
Public Safety Officers' Death Benefits Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 3796 et
seq.). This paragraph shall not be applicable if, at the time of the
pilot's death, the eligible survivors of the pilot are entitled to
benefits under that act.
(2) An amount, as determined by the department, that would be
commensurate with the death benefit payable to a mid-career
firefighter employed by the department who died in the line of duty.
(b) The benefits payable pursuant to any contract subject to this
section shall be paid to eligible survivors in a lump sum as follows:
(1) If there is no eligible child, to the surviving spouse.
(2) If there is an eligible child or children and a surviving
spouse, one-half to the child or to the children in equal shares and
one-half to the surviving spouse.
(3) If there is no surviving spouse and there is an eligible child
or children, to the eligible child or in equal shares to the
eligible children.
(4) If there is no surviving spouse nor any eligible child or
children, to the surviving parent or in equal shares to the surviving
parents.
(c) If there are no eligible survivors, no benefit shall be
payable and a pilot may not otherwise designate a beneficiary to
receive the benefits under the contract.
(d) (1) As used in this section, an "eligible survivor" means the
surviving spouse, eligible children, or surviving parents of the
deceased pilot.
(2) "Surviving spouse" means a husband or wife who was married to
the pilot at the time of the pilot's death.
(3) "Eligible child" means an unmarried, natural child of the
deceased pilot who (A) was born before or after the death of the
pilot or is an adopted child or stepchild of the pilot, and (B) is 18
years of age or younger at the time of the pilot's death, or over
the age of 18 years and incapable of self-support due to a physical
or mental disability, or between the age of 18 and 22 years and
pursuing a full-time course of study or training, if the child has
not already completed four years of education beyond high school.
(e) This section shall be applicable irrespective of whether the
department contracts directly with the pilot or contracts with a
third party that employs or contracts with pilots.
(f) Nothing in this section relieves the pilot's employer from the
obligation to secure coverage for workers' compensation; eliminates
or reduces any workers' compensation benefits otherwise available; or
affects, alters, or eliminates any other remedy otherwise available
at law.

4115. In providing communications and necessary powerlines in
connection with the prevention and extinguishment of forest fires the
department, with the approval of the Department of General Services,
may enter into contracts with the owners of similar facilities for
use of their facilities, such as pole lines. Provision may be made
for indemnification and holding harmless of the owners of such
facilities which are so used by reason of such use. Insurance may be
purchased by the Department of General Services, upon request of the
department to protect the state against loss or expense arising out
of any such contract.

4116. Any claim for damages arising against the state under Section
4114 or 4115 shall be presented to the California Victim
Compensation and Government Claims Board in accordance with Part 3
(commencing with Section 900) and Part 4 (commencing with Section
940) of Division 3.6 of Title 1 of the Government Code and, if not
covered by insurance, shall be payable only out of funds appropriated
by the Legislature for that purpose. If the state has elected to
acquire liability insurance, the California Victim Compensation and
Government Claims Board may automatically deny this claim.

4117. Any county, city, or district may adopt ordinances, rules, or
regulations to provide fire prevention restrictions or regulations
that are necessary to meet local conditions of weather, vegetation,
or other fire hazards. Such ordinances, rules, or regulations may be
more restrictive than state statutes in order to meet local fire
hazard conditions.

4118. The burning of growing, dead, or downed vegetation is for a
public purpose if the department has determined that the burning of
such vegetation is necessary for the prevention or suppression of
forest fires.

4119. The department, or its duly authorized agent, shall enforce
the state forest and fire laws. The department may inspect all
properties, except the interior of dwellings, subject to the state
forest and fire laws, for the purpose of ascertaining compliance with
such laws.

4120. Notwithstanding any other provision of this code or of law
and except as provided in the State Building Standards Law, Part 2.5
(commencing with Section 18901) of Division 13 of the Health and
Safety Code, on and after January 1, 1980, the director, the
department, or the State Forester shall not adopt nor publish a
building standard as defined in Section 18909 of the Health and
Safety Code unless the provisions of Sections 18930, 18933, 18938,
18940, 18943, 18944, and 18945 of the Health and Safety Code are
expressly excepted in the statute under which the authority to adopt
rules, regulations, or orders is delegated. Any building standard
adopted in violation of this section shall have no force or effect.
Any building standard adopted before January 1, 1980, pursuant to
this code and not expressly excepted by statute from such provisions
of the State Building Standards Law shall remain in effect only until
January 1, 1985, or until adopted, amended, or superseded by
provisions published in the State Building Standards Code, whichever
occurs sooner.

4123. (a) The director of the department shall establish a working
group that consists of the following members:
(1) Four representatives from either state or local government, or
both.
(2) Three representatives of industries with experience in state
forestry and fire suppression policy.
(3) Three representatives of environmental groups with experience
in state forestry and fire suppression policy.
(4) Two representatives with experience in state forestry and fire
suppression policy from sectors of the public that are not otherwise
represented in the working group.
(b) The working group established pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall do both of the following:
(1) Identify potential incentives for landowners to implement
prefire activities in state responsibility areas and urban wildland
interface communities.
(2) Identify all federal, state, or local programs, private
programs, and any other programs requiring a cost share that involves
prefire activities.
(c) The department shall report the findings of the working group
to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2004. The department shall
include in the report any recommendations identified by the working
group to provide potential incentives for consideration by the
Legislature.
(d) For the purposes of this section, the following terms mean:
(1) "Prefire activities" means those lawful activities that reduce
the risk of wildfire, including precommercial thinning, selective
harvesting, shaded fuel breaks, brush treatments, grazing, and
prescribed burns.
(2) "Urban wildland interface community" means an area that is
identified by the United States Department of Agriculture and the
United States Department of the Interior as an urban wildland
interface community at high risk from wildfire and listed in the
"List of fire threatened communities in California, Appendix A,"
issued by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

4124. Not later than 120 days after the last date of each fiscal
quarter, the department shall report to the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee, in accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code,
regarding emergency incidents funded entirely or in part from Item
3540-006-0001 of Section 2.00 of the annual Budget Act, commonly
referred to as the "emergency fund," or from a similar provision of
any future Budget Act that provides funds for emergency fire
suppression and detection costs and related emergency revegetation
costs, and for which the department administratively classifies these
funds as being expended from the emergency fund. The report shall
include all of the following:
(a) For each incident that is estimated to cost more than five
million dollars ($5,000,000), as adjusted annually by the department
to account for inflation using the California Consumer Price Index
published by the Department of Industrial Relations, the report shall
include all of the following information, to the extent the
information is known by the department:
(1) The administrative district or districts and the county or
counties in which the incident occurred, and whether the incident
occurred in a state responsibility area, local responsibility area,
federal responsibility area, or some combination of those areas.
(2) A general description of the incident and the department's
response to the incident.
(3) The total estimated cost of the incident, listed by
appropriate category, including, but not limited to, overtime,
additional staffing, inmate costs, travel, accommodations, air
support, and nonstate vendor costs.
(4) The estimated costs charged to the emergency fund, listed by
appropriate category, including, but not limited to, overtime,
additional staffing, inmate costs, travel, accommodations, air
support, and nonstate vendor costs.
(5) The number of personnel and equipment assigned to the
incident, including state resources, federal resources, and local
resources.
(6) Whether the state's costs to respond to the incident are
eligible for reimbursement from the federal government or a local
government.
(7) Whether the department had performed any fuel reduction,
vegetation management, controlled burns, or other fuel treatment in
the area of the incident that impacted either the course of the
incident or the department's response to the incident.
(b) For each incident that is estimated to cost less than five
million dollars ($5,000,000), as adjusted annually by the department
to account for inflation using the California Consumer Price Index
published by the Department of Industrial Relations, the report shall
include a list of those incidents, specifying each incident's total
estimated cost and total estimated costs charged to the emergency
fund.
(c) Information on any other costs paid in whole or in part from
the emergency fund.