California Assembly Republican Caucus
A Fire Safe California
For decades, California has faced forest management challenges, with limited progress on implementing projects to thin overgrown forests that fuel wildfires.
This has left the forests heavily overgrown and highly vulnerable to devastating wildfires.
Wildfire Prevention
ABX1 3 (Wallis) Provide Tax Relief for Home Hardening.
Creates an income tax credit covering 40% of the costs for older homeowners in wildfire-prone areas to help them “harden” their homes.
ABX1 6 (Patterson): CEQA Exemption for Timberlands Fuels Reduction.
Authorizes projects exclusively for noncommercial wildfire fuels reduction in timberland, paid for in part or in whole with public funds, to prepare a timber harvesting plan as an alternative to complying with CEQA, and would require these projects to be regulated as timber operations.
ABX1 7 (Essayli): Exempt all Wildfire Prevention Projects from CEQA.
Exempts all wildfire projects from CEQA requirements.
ABX1 8 (Essayli): Exempts Prescribed Burns From CARB Permitting Requirements.
Requires air quality management districts (AQMDs) to process a permit for a smoke management plan within ten business days.
ABX1 9 (Essayli): Reduce Cost and Time for Undergrounding Power Lines.
Exempts utility undergrounding projects from CEQA to cut down on permitting delays for projects intended to make our grid safer.
AB 66 (Tangipa): Improve Fire Safety Egress.
Creates a pilot program to exempt fire safety egress route projects from CEQA in high or very high fire hazard severity zones.
AB 267 (Macedo): Water Infrastructure and Wildfire Prevention.
Redirects money from High-Speed Rail to pay for upgrades to water infrastructure and wildfire prevention.
AB 295 (Macedo): Streamline CEQA for Water Projects.
Provides expedited CEQA review for water storage projects, water conveyance projects, and groundwater recharge projects.
AB 297 (Hadwick, Sanchez): Increase Penalties for Aggravated Arson.
Creates a sentence enhancement for aggravated arson if a wildfire destroys more than 500 acres.
AB 336 (Wallis): Increase Penalties for Recklessly Burning Forest Land.
Removes the misdemeanor option applicable to a person who recklessly causes a fire of a structure or forest land and instead provides that this offense is a felony.
AB 389 (Wallis)/ABX1 3 (Wallis): Provide Tax Relief for Home Hardening.
Creates an income tax credit covering 40% of the costs for older homeowners in wildfire-prone areas to help them “harden” their homes.
AB 441 - Maintain Funding for Wildfire Prevention (Hadwick)
Prevents termination of the California Wildfire Mitigation Program (CWMP), which provides financial assistance for working families to fortify their homes against wildfires.
AB 442 - Exempt Roadside Wildfire Prevention Projects from CEQA (Hadwick, Tangipa)
Expands an existing CEQA exemption for prescribed fire, thinning or fuel reduction projects to protect communities with only one fire evacuation route.
AB 513 (Gonzalez & Essayli)/ABX1 13 (Gonzalez): Tracking Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
Requires the California Air Resources Board to include greenhouse gas emissions from wildlands and forest fires in the Scoping Plan. Creates parity with all other emissions sources tracked and recorded by CARB in the Scoping Plan.
AB 623 (Dixon): Reduces Red Tape for Fuel Reduction Projects and Fuel Modification Projects.
Exempts fuel treatment projects from Coastal Commission permitting mandates.
AB 1467 (Hoover): Allow Homeowners to Quickly Remove Trees that Pose Fire Risk.
This bill waives any state and local laws, ordinances, fees, and fines associated with the removal of a homeowner’s tree that their insurance has identified as a fire risk.
Improve Fire Safety Egress (Tangipa)
Creates a pilot program to exempt fire safety egress route projects from CEQA in high or very high fire hazard severity zones.
Wildfire Response
ABX1 11 (Macedo): Increase Penalties for Drones Near Fires.
Makes it a felony to fly a drone that interferes with law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, or other first responders at the scene of an emergency.
AB 271 (Hoover): Increase Penalties for Looting.
Makes it a felony to commit burglary or grand theft in an area where there has been a declared state of emergency, local emergency, or which is under an evacuation order. Increases the penalty from a misdemeanor to an alternate felony/misdemeanor (“wobbler”) for committing petty theft under those circumstances.
AB 438 (Hadwick): Faster OES Response Times.
Allows local Office of Emergency Services vehicles to be authorized emergency vehicles and drive Code 3 (using lights & sirens) to expedite evacuations and provide immediate assistance.
Wildfire Recovery
ABX1 10 (Macedo): Support Nonprofits Providing Essential Services.
Improves nonprofits’ ability to provide services during emergencies.
ABX1 14 (Castillo): Exempts Power Generator Purchases During Declared State of Emergency.
Permit the sale of generators banned by CARB during a declared state of emergency, as well as create an income tax write-off for generator purchases all year round.
AB 294 (Gallagher): Prioritize Aid to Vulnerable Communities.
Allows the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to prioritize funding and assistance to communities heavily impacted by disasters/emergencies.
AB 429 - Tax Relief for Wildfire Survivors (Hadwick)
Exempts wildfire payments from income tax and allows victims of the 2021 Dixie Fire, the 2022 Mill Fire, and the 2024 Park Fire to receive the full payments they are owed.
AB 624 (Dixon) Increase Aid to Local Communities.
Creates a grant program to provide financial assistance for disaster costs when federal assistance is not available.
AB 738 (Tangipa & Patterson): Suspend Solar Mandate when Rebuilding Damaged Homes.
Permits the temporary suspension of solar requirements when rebuilding homes that were damaged or destroyed as a result of a natural disaster.