1.Short title; table of
contents
(a)This Act may be cited as the California Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention and Community
Protection Act
.
(b)The table of contents of this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Project authority consistent with community wildfire
protection plan.
Sec. 5. Elements of eligible projects.
Sec. 6. Environmental analysis.
Sec. 7. Administrative and judicial review.
Sec. 8. Acceptance and use of funds or in-kind
services.
Sec. 9. Report.
2.Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)Forested lands
under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management in
California have grown into a state of unnatural density and structure.
(2)Overgrown forest
conditions, in combination with continued drought and other climatic
circumstances, have left these forests at extreme risk to insects, disease, and
catastrophic wildfire.
(3)The risk of
catastrophic wildfire presents a very real threat to the health and safety of
individuals and communities in the wildland-urban interface as well as to the
property of adjacent private landowners.
(4)The catastrophic,
stand-replacing fires that are occurring with increasing frequency as a result
of the forest conditions described in paragraph (2), pose a threat to the
health of lands, watersheds, wildlife, air quality and the environment.
(5)Local communities
and interests are willing to work collaboratively to assure seamless protection
from catastrophic wildfire and to improve forest health across public and
private lands.
(6)The Federal
Government, particularly the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management, must
address these conditions at the appropriate annual pace and scale needed across
the landscape to have a substantial impact in reducing natural
disturbances.
3.In this Act:
(1)The term at-risk community
has the
meaning given that term in Section 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act
of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511).
(2)The term at-risk watershed
means a
watershed—
(A)where there exists
a high risk of losing key ecosystem, wildlife, and watershed components to
severe fire, including post-fire disturbances, as documented by the Secretary
concerned; and
(B)where there
are—
(i)Federal lands in
condition class II or III, as developed by the Forest Service Rocky Mountain
Research Station in the general technical report titled Development of
Coarse-Scale Spatial Data for Wildland Fire and Fuel Management
(RMRS–87) and dated April 2000 (including any subsequent revision to the
report); or
(ii)private lands
that are located in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone
, as
determined by the California State Fire Marshal.
(3)Community
wildfire protection planThe term community wildfire
protection plan
has the meaning given that term in Section 101 of the
Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6511).
(4)The term county fire plan
means a plan
developed similarly to a community wildfire protection plan with an annual
mitigation strategy developed through a collaborative effort and formally
adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the county in which the forest lands
covered by the plan are located.
(5)
(A)The term covered forest lands
means—
(i)National Forest
System lands in California; and
(ii)Public land in
California administered by the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of
Land Management.
(B)The term does not include land that is a component of the
National Wilderness Preservation System or other Federal land (other than
inventoried roadless areas and wilderness study areas) in which the removal of
vegetation is specifically prohibited by Federal law.
(6)The term eligible project
means the
measures and methods included in a project carried out on covered forest lands
by the Secretary concerned for hazardous fuels reduction, forest health, and
forest restoration.
(7)The term Secretary concerned
means—
(A)The Secretary of
Agriculture, in the case of National Forest System lands; and
(B)The Secretary of
the Interior, in the case of public land administered by the Secretary of the
Interior through the Bureau of Land Management.
4.Project authority
consistent with community wildfire protection planThe
Secretary concerned shall carry out eligible projects on covered forest lands
that are within or adjacent to an at-risk community or an at-risk watershed if
the eligible project is consistent with the applicable community wildfire
protection plan or county fire plan.
5.Elements of
eligible projectsEligible
projects on covered forest lands shall be carried out in a cost-effective
manner that—
(1)focuses on
surface, ladder, and canopy fuels reduction activities; or
(2)implements forest
restoration activities in response to severe fire, insect, or disease
infestation, windthrow, or other extreme weather events or natural
disasters.
6.
(a)General rule of
proposed action and no action alternativeThe Secretary concerned
shall prepare an environmental assessment or an environmental impact statement
pursuant to section 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4332(2)) for each proposed eligible project. The Secretary concerned
shall study, develop, and describe the proposed action and the alternative of
no action. Except as provided in subsection (b), the Secretary concerned is not
required to study, develop, or describe any alternative actions to the proposed
agency action.
(b)Consideration of
alternative recommendationThe Secretary concerned shall evaluate
and consider an alternative recommendation submitted by the county in which a
proposed eligible project is to be carried out if the county determines that
the proposed eligible project is or may be inconsistent with its community
wildfire protection plan. The Secretary shall publish the evaluation and
consideration of the alternative recommendation in the environmental assessment
or environmental impact statement prepared pursuant to section 102(2) of the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)) for the proposed
eligible project.
(c)Effect of county
emergency
(1)Council on
environmental qualityPursuant to Section 1506.11 of title 40,
Code of Federal Regulations, the Secretary concerned shall request the Council
on Environmental Quality to develop and approve alternative arrangements for a
proposed eligible project if the county in which the proposed eligible project
is to be carried out, in consultation with the Director of the California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, declares—
(A)a state of
emergency; or
(B)the existence of a
dangerous nuisance to public safety, welfare, infrastructure, watersheds,
wildlife habitat, or other vital assets due to the accumulation of forest fuels
and the associated risk of extreme fire on covered forest lands.
(2)When requesting alternative arrangements under
paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned shall transmit to the Council on
Environmental Quality the following information:
(A)A description of
the proposed eligible project.
(B)The condition of
forest fuels within or near the proposed eligible project.
(C)The threat to
public safety, welfare, infrastructure, watersheds, wildlife habitat, or other
vital assets due to the accumulation of forest fuels and the associated risk of
extreme fire that the proposed eligible project is to relieve.
(D)The degree to
which delaying the implementation of the proposed eligible project will
increase the risk of serious harm to public safety, welfare, infrastructure,
watersheds, wildlife habitat, or other vital assets due to the accumulation of
forest fuels and the associated risk of extreme fire.
(E)Any other
information the Secretary concerned determines relevant.
(3)At the request of either the county in which the
eligible project is to be carried out or the Director of the California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Secretary concerned shall
transmit to the Council on Environmental Quality information provided to the
Secretary concerned by the State or county concerning the threat to public
safety, welfare, infrastructure, watersheds, wildlife habitat, or other vital
assets due to the accumulation of forest fuels and the associated risk of
extreme fire that the proposed eligible project is to relieve.
(4)Deadline for
alternative arrangementsNot later than 15 days after receipt of
a request under paragraph (1) for approval of alternative arrangements for a
proposed eligible project, the Council on Environmental Quality shall submit to
the Secretary concerned either the alternative arrangements for the eligible
project or a statement explaining why the alternative arrangements are denied.
If the Council on Environmental Quality fails to comply with such deadline or
denies alternative arrangements, the Secretary concerned shall proceed
immediately and to completion on the proposed eligible project notwithstanding
any other provision of law including, but not limited to, the National
Environmental Policy Act and the National Forest Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1601
et seq.). Such actions shall also not be subject to the notice, comment, and
appeal requirements of the Appeals Reform Act, (16 U.S.C. 1612 (note), Pub. Law
No. 102–381 Sec. 322). Any action authorized by this subsection shall not be
subject to judicial review by any court of the United States.
7.Administrative
and judicial review
(a)Administrative review of eligible projects shall occur in
accordance with the special administrative review process established under
section 105 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C.
6515).
(b)Judicial review of eligible projects shall occur in
accordance with section 106 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16
U.S.C. 6516).
8.Acceptance and
use of funds or in-kind servicesThe Secretary concerned may accept and use
funds or in-kind services from any public or private entity to assist carrying
out eligible projects under this Act.
9.The Secretary concerned shall submit to the
Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate an annual report
describing all eligible projects conducted under this Act.