SECTIONS 4461-4471 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 4461-4471

4461. This article shall be known and may be cited as the Wildland
Fire Protection and Resources Management Act of 1978.

4462. The Legislature hereby finds and declares as follows:
(a) There has been an increase in the number of uncontrolled fires
on the wildlands of this state, resulting in destruction of valuable
timber and other vegetation, loss of recreational opportunities and
wildlife habitat, erosion and damage to streamflow and watersheds,
extremely adverse effects on water quality through sedimentation,
destruction of soil and loss of nutrients, degradation of air
quality, invasions into burned areas of less desirable plant species,
and an unacceptable level of hazards to public safety. Further, the
increased cost of fire suppression implies the need for alternative
methods of fire prevention.
(b) The prevention of high-intensity wildland fires may be
achieved partly through the reduction of the volume and continuity of
flammable vegetation in wildlands by a program of fuel management.
(c) Wildland resources management planning and the provision of
prescribed burn crews pursuant to this article serves a public
purpose and will benefit all the citizens of the state.

4464. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the following
definitions govern the construction of this chapter:
(a) "Hazardous fuel reduction" means the application of practices
to wild lands, the primary impact of which to the vegetation is
generally limited to the reduction of surface and ladder wild land
fuels. These practices include, but are not limited to, prescribed
fire, piling by machine or by hand in preparation for burning,
thinning, pruning, or grazing. Treatments that reduce crown densities
shall be prescribed only for the purpose of impacting fire behavior,
and if it can be reasonably concluded, based on the proposed
treatment, that the likelihood for the formation of crown fires is
reduced.
(b) "Nonprofit organization" means any California corporation
organized under Section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) of the federal
Internal Revenue Code.
(c) "Person" means any natural person, firm, association,
partnership, business trust, corporation, limited liability company,
company, nonprofit organization, or a combination of those, or any
public agency other than an agency of the federal government.
(d) "Prescribed burn crew" means personnel and firefighting
equipment of the department that are prepared to contain fire set in
a prescribed burning operation and to suppress any fire that escapes
during a prescribed burning operation.
(e) "Prescribed burning" or "prescribed burning operation" means
the planned application and confinement of fire to wild land fuels on
lands selected in advance of that application to achieve any of the
following objectives:
(1) Prevention of high-intensity wild land fires through reduction
of the volume and continuity of wild land fuels.
(2) Watershed management.
(3) Range improvement.
(4) Vegetation management.
(5) Forest improvement.
(6) Wildlife habitat improvement.
(7) Air quality maintenance.
(f) "Wild land" means any land that is classified as a state
responsibility area pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section
4125) of Chapter 1 and includes any land having a flammable plant
cover. "Wild land" also means any land not classified as a state
responsibility area where the geographic location of these lands and
accumulation of wild land fuel is such that a wild land fire
occurring on these lands would pose a threat to a state
responsibility area.
(g) "Wild land fire" means any uncontrolled fire burning on wild
land.
(h) "Wild land fuel" means any timber, brush, grass, or other
flammable vegetation, living or dead, standing or down.

4464.5. The Legislature finds that, due to the absence of
significant forest resources, lands in the Sutter Buttes in the
County of Sutter are not likely to become eligible for classification
as a state responsibility area under existing statutory criteria,
but that those lands possess all other characteristics set forth in
Section 4475, and substantial public benefits can be derived from
prescribed burning operations on those lands. Accordingly,
notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 4464, lands in the Sutter
Buttes that have substantial accumulations of wildland fuel, the
burning of which in a prescribed burning operation will achieve a
combination of the purposes set forth in Section 4475, other than
forest improvement, shall be deemed "wildland" for the purposes of
Article 2 (commencing with Section 4475).

4465. The department shall conduct an experimental program of
wildland resources management through prescribed burning and other
methods in two areas of wildlands.

4466. (a) The department shall prepare two model plans for the
initial development and implementation of a program for wildland
resources management through prescribed burning and other methods,
one of which is appropriate for an area of wildlands in northern
California, and one, in southern California. All state agencies,
including the Departments of Fish and Game and Conservation and the
State Water Resources Control Board, shall cooperate with the
department in the creation of the plans, to the end that
administrative and environmental considerations are carefully and
effectively considered and included in the program.
(b) Upon completion of each plan, the director shall submit the
plan to the board for its review and approval as to its conformity
with the requirements set forth in Section 4467.
(c) The department shall apply for funding from nonstate sources
for the purpose of carrying out its planning responsibilities
pursuant to this article. The department may not commence such
planning until such funding is available in an amount sufficient to
meet the costs of one model plan.
(d) Neither plan may be implemented or used after January 1, 1983.

4467. (a) Each plan shall include, but shall not be limited to,
elements regarding wildland fuel management and reduction, air and
water quality, water conservation and watershed improvement, soil
conservation, wildlife habitat improvement and protection, range and
forage improvement, and timberland improvement and protection.
(b) The plan shall be prepared in accordance with the California
Environmental Quality Act (commencing with Section 21000) and, when
approved, shall constitute the environmental impact report for the
implementation of the plan for each area of wildlands designated by
the board.
(c) The department shall coordinate the development of each plan
with the general plan of each county in which the experimental
program is conducted and shall, to the maximum extent feasible,
conform the plan to the land-use plans and objectives of state and
local government.
(d) Copies of each plan shall be made available to each county,
resource conservation district, and person owning land in the area in
which the experimental program is conducted.

4468. During the prescribed burning season, the department shall
maintain at least two prescribed burn crews, one each in northern and
southern California, for the purpose of providing prescribed burn
back-up in the event of an emergency during prescribed burning
operations. The department shall prepare a schedule for each
prescribed burning season so that the crews will be available to all
persons or groups of persons participating in the program during that
season. Crews may also be used for other firefighting operations
engaged in by the department when not in use in connection with such
prescribed burning operations.

4470. The department shall furnish a prescribed burn crew, and
assume all costs thereof, to any person or group of persons who own
or control land in a wildland area for which a plan has been approved
pursuant to this article if such a person or group of persons
obtains a brush-burning permit and agrees as a condition of issuance
of the permit to comply with the plan in all aspects and to comply
with the requirements of Article 3 (commencing with Section 4491) of
this chapter, including the assumption of all liability for damage to
the property of others.

4471. No person applying for a brush-burning permit pursuant to
Article 3 (commencing with Section 4491) of this chapter, applying
for a slash-burning permit pursuant to Section 4423, or conducting
timber operations pursuant to the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act
of 1973 (commencing with Section 4511) shall be required to comply
with the provisions of this article as a condition to the issuance of
a permit or other entitlement pursuant to such provisions.