SECTIONS 4799.06-4799.12 - California Statutes

PUBLIC RESOURCES CODE

SECTION 4799.06-4799.12

4799.06. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the
California Urban Forestry Act of 1978.

4799.07. The Legislature finds and declares that:
(a) Trees are a vital resource in the urban environment and as an
important psychological link with nature for the urban dweller.
(b) Trees are a valuable economic asset in our cities. They help
maintain or increase property values and attract business and new
residents in urban areas.
(c) Trees play an important role in energy conservation by
modifying temperature extremes with shade and humidity, and by
influencing wind direction and velocity. This role is particularly
important in reducing the amount of energy consumed in heating and
cooling buildings and homes, and potentially in producing a local
fuel and energy source.
(d) Trees directly reduce air pollution by removing airborne
particulates from the atmosphere and helping to purify the air.
(e) Trees also help reduce noise, provide habitat for songbirds
and other wildlife, reduce surface runoff and protect urban water
resources, and enhance the aesthetic quality of life in urban
communities.
(f) Trees planted in urban settings play a significant role in
meeting the state's greenhouse gas emission reduction targets by
sequestering carbon as well as reducing energy consumption.
(g) Maximizing the benefits of trees through multiple-objective
projects that provide environmental services can provide
cost-effective solutions to the needs of urban communities and local
agencies, including, but not limited to, increased water supply,
clean air and water, reduced energy use, flood and stormwater
management, recreation, and urban revitalization.
(h) Growing conditions in urban areas for trees and associated
plants have worsened so that many of California's urban communities
are now losing more trees than are replaced.

4799.08. The purpose of this chapter is to:
(a) Promote the use of urban forest resources for purposes of
increasing integrated projects with multiple benefits in urban
communities.
(b) Arrest the decline of our urban forest resources, facilitate
the planting of trees in urban communities, and improve the quality
of the environment in urban areas through the establishment and
improved management of urban forest resources.
(c) Facilitate the creation of permanent jobs in tree maintenance
and related urban forestry activities in neighborhood, local, and
regional urban areas.
(d) Optimize the potential of tree and vegetative cover in
reducing energy consumption and producing fuel and other products.
(e) Encourage the coordination of state and local agency
activities in urban forestry and related programs and encourage
maximum citizen participation in their development and
implementation.
(f) Prevent the introduction and spread within this state of known
and potentially damaging or devastating pests and diseases,
including, but not limited to, Dutch elm disease, pine pitch canker,
sudden oak death disease, the Asian long-horned beetle, and
mistletoe.
(g) Reduce or eliminate tree loss resulting from these diseases
and others that are identified.

4799.09. As used in this chapter the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Disadvantaged community" means a community with a median
household income less than 80 percent of the statewide average.
(b) "Severely disadvantaged community" means a community with a
median household income less than 60 percent of the statewide
average.
(c) "Urban forestry" means the cultivation and management of
native or introduced trees and related vegetation in urban areas for
their present and potential contribution to the economic,
physiological, sociological, and ecological well-being of urban
society.
(d) "Urban forest" means those native or introduced trees and
related vegetation in the urban and near-urban areas, including, but
not limited to, urban watersheds, soils and related habitats, street
trees, park trees, residential trees, natural riparian habitats, and
trees on other private and public properties.
(e) "Urban area" means an urban place, as that term is defined by
the United States Department of Commerce, of 2,500 or more persons.

4799.10. (a) (1) The department may implement a program in urban
forestry to encourage better tree management and planting in urban
areas to increase integrated, multibenefit projects by assisting
urban areas with innovative solutions to problems, including
greenhouse gas emissions, public health impacts of poor air and water
quality, urban heat island effect, stormwater management, water
shortages, lack of green space, lack of urban parks that are
accessible to pedestrians, vandalism, and insufficient tree
maintenance, and to otherwise accomplish the purposes of this
chapter.
(2) The department shall encourage demonstration projects that
maximize the benefits of urban forests in conjunction with state and
local agency programs to improve water conservation, energy
conservation, stormwater capture and reuse, urban parks and river
parkways, school construction and improvements, school greening or
sun-safe schoolyards, air quality, water quality, flood management,
urban revitalization, solid waste prevention, and other projects.
(3) The department shall assume the primary responsibility in
carrying out the intent of this chapter in cooperation with statewide
and regional urban forestry organizations or associations and
arboricultural organizations or associations, other private and
public entities or persons, and appropriate local, state, and federal
agencies, including the Department of Water Resources, the
California Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Fish
and Game, regional water quality control boards, regional and local
air districts, the University of California Cooperative Extension,
the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Department of
Transportation, resource conservation districts, and the United
States Forest Service.
(b) (1) The department shall be the agent of the state and shall
have full power to cooperate with those agencies of the federal
government that have powers and duties concerning urban forestry and
shall perform all things necessary to secure the benefits of federal
urban forestry programs.
(2) To facilitate implementation of this chapter, the director may
enter into agreements and contracts with a public or private
organization including a local agency that has urban forestry-related
jurisdictional responsibilities and an established and operating
urban forestry program. The director shall consult with those
agencies when carrying out this chapter in their respective areas.
(c) The director shall take all feasible steps to prevent or
retard the introduction, establishment, and spread of known or
potentially damaging or devastating pests and diseases. Any agreement
shall ensure that the department will not need additional funds to
participate in the program.
(d) The department and the Department of Food and Agriculture
shall cooperate in setting quarantine boundary lines and in enforcing
the provisions relating to quarantine and pest abatement contained
in Division 4 (commencing with Section 5001) of the Food and
Agricultural Code when a quarantine is established to prevent the
spread of introduced pests and diseases affecting the state's urban
forests.
(e) Whenever it is feasible to do so, the department may utilize
inmates and wards assigned to conservation camps or the California
Conservation Corps or certified Community Conservation Corps in
implementing this chapter.
(f) The department may utilize available recipients of the Aid to
Families with Dependent Children or General Assistance Program, who
are participating in state or county work experience programs for
carrying out the purposes of this chapter. The participation of
registrants for the welfare-to-work program under the CalWORKs
program, under Article 3.2 (commencing with Section 11320) of Chapter
2 of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
shall be consistent with their participant contract requirements. A
person being utilized by the department pursuant to this subdivision
shall not be placed in the same crew as persons utilized pursuant to
subdivision (e).

4799.11. (a) The department shall provide technical assistance to
urban areas with respect to all of the following:
(1) Planning for regional, county, and local land use analysis
projects related to urban forestry.
(2) Preparation of urban tree plans and the selection of trees in
large-scale landscaping and reforestation efforts.
(3) Development and coordination of training programs for
neighborhood and local agency tree planting and maintenance crews.
(4) Advice to cities, counties, districts, and regional entities,
homeowner neighborhood groups, and nonprofit organizations on tree
disease, insect problems, tree planting, and maintenance.
(5) The role of forest ecology in planning for the future of urban
areas, including climate change and greenhouse gas emission
reductions, air quality, watershed problems, and energy conservation.
(6) Retention of native trees and riparian habitats.
(7) Any other matter relating to the purposes of this chapter.
(b) The department and other state agencies are also authorized to
assist local tree maintenance and green waste utilization programs
by making equipment available on loan where feasible and not
detrimental to department or other state agency operations. That
equipment may be used only to support regional or local urban
forestry efforts consistent with this chapter, including by nonprofit
organizations involved in urban tree care or urban green waste
utilization efforts.

4799.12. The director, with advice from other appropriate state
agencies and interested parties, may make grants to provide
assistance of 25 to 90 percent of costs for projects meeting
guidelines established by the board upon recommendation by the
director. The director may waive the cost sharing requirement for
projects that are in disadvantaged and severely disadvantaged
communities. Grants may be made to cities, counties, districts, and
nonprofit organizations. The director may also waive the cost sharing
requirement if the funding source for a grant prohibits cost sharing
requirements. Contributions required as a condition of grants made
pursuant to this section may be made in the form of material,
services, or equipment, or funds. Authorized assistance may include,
but is not limited to, any of the following needs:
(a) Funding for development of urban tree plans that include
coordination of local agency efforts and citizen involvement.
(b) Funding for development of urban tree plans that include
coordination of multiple jurisdictions, multiple agency efforts, and
citizen involvement.
(c) Funding for development of urban forest master plans or
similar plans designed to provide comprehensive protection,
maintenance, and management of the urban forest.
(d) Provision of seedling and tree stock.
(e) Tree planting projects.
(f) Funding and other assistance to local agencies and nonprofit
organizations for partnerships as follows:
(1) Energy saving urban forest programs similar to the Los Angeles
Department of Water and Power's Trees for Green LA program and the
Sacramento Municipal Utility District's Sacramento Shade Tree
program.
(2) Developing projects or programs that use urban forests for
water conservation, improving water quality, or stormwater capture.
(3) Developing projects or programs that use urban forests for air
quality improvement, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, or
reduction of urban heat island effect.
(4) Developing community education and engagement programs on the
benefits and proper care of trees.
(g) Funding for the development of training and educational
materials on the benefits of the urban forest.
(h) Funding for the development of training and educational
materials on proper care and maintenance of trees and the urban
forest, including young and mature tree care.
(i) Funding and other assistance, based on criteria developed by
the department, for management of urban forests to ensure their
survival and ability to optimize the benefits that urban forests
provide the community and the environment.
(j) Funding and other assistance for demonstration projects in
urban forestry with special attention given to projects or programs
assisting the state in meeting the requirements of the Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500)
of the Health and Safety Code), improving energy and water
conservation, capturing and filtering urban stormwater, improving
water quality, reducing the urban heat island effect, improving air
quality, and wood and fiber utilization projects, including, but not
limited to, biofuel and bioenergy.
(k) Other categories of projects recommended by the director and
approved by the board.