January 14, 2021

This week, the Board of Forestry (BOF) held a public workshop to discuss proposed changes to the state’s Fire Safe Regulations. The discussion primarily focused on the first article of the regulations dealing with applicability. CSAC staff has been closely monitoring the development of these regulations for months and appreciated elements of the discussion and comments from Board members and staff around developing reasonable regulatory triggers related to development size in State Responsibility Area and Local Responsibility Very High Fire Severity Zones.

The online workshop was attended by over 100 participants including staff from counties across the state. Several county staff members provided detailed and useful public comment to the Board. CSAC is actively engaged with several other local government advocacy working groups in tracking and commenting on these regulations. It is expected the BOF will release an update draft text of the regulations in early February that may incorporate recent county feedback. CSAC will continue to monitor and provide updates on the development of these regulations moving forward. The BOF will send out meeting materials and recordings of the January 13^th workshop and post the materials on their website.

You can also sign up for updates directly from the Board of Forestry using this link.

The next public workshop is scheduled for January 27^th.  Please register below if you are interested.

Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 9:00am-12:00pm

GoToWebinar Registration link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3121031237644825869  

TOPICS OF DISCUSSION

• California Code of Regulations, Title 14. Natural Resources, Division 1.5. Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, Chapter 7. Fire Protection, Subchapter 2. SRA Fire Safe Regulations
  • Article 4. Emergency Water Standards
  • Article 5. Fuel Modification Standards

If you have any questions about these regulations, please email Nick Cronenwett