SB 1370

Bill Text  - SB-1370 Covered wildfire mitigation projects: consolidated and expedited review.
            /* Hide page by default*/
            html { display : none; }
         // = 0)) {
                        window.top.location.replace(window.location);
                        top.location = self.location;
                    }
                }
            }
            // ]]>
            /* Hide page by default*/
            html { display : inline; }
             //
        function changePlaceHolder() {
            var x = document.getElementById("billheaderinit_form:quick_search_select_id");
            var input = document.getElementById("billheaderinit_form:searchall");
            if (x !== null) {
                if (x.options[0].selected) {
                    input.placeholder = "AB1 or ab 1 or ABX1-1";
                } else {
                    input.placeholder = "Search phrase";
                }
            }
        }
                          skip to content
                            home
                          accessibility
                          FAQ
                              feedback
                          sitemap
                          login
                          x
                               Quick Search:
                          	 Bill Number
	 Bill Keyword
         Home
         Bill Information
         California Law
         Publications
         Other Resources
         My Subscriptions
         My Favorites
            Bill Information
            >>
            Bill Search
            >>
           Text
         Bill Text
        function asAmendsPopup() {
            window.open("asAmendsInfo.xhtml", "Information", "width=330, height=220, toolbar=no, location=no, directories=no, menubar=no, scrollbars=no, top=270, left=150")
        }
        function selectVersion() {
            var versionObj = document.getElementById("version");
            var selectedVersionId = '20250SB137095AMD';
            var len = versionObj.options.length;
            //alert('selectedVersionId='+selectedVersionId);
            for (i = 0; i
                  PDF2
                         Bill PDF
                      |  Add To My Favorites   |  Track Bill   |   Version:  	 08/28/26 - Amended Assembly
	 08/27/26 - Amended Assembly
	 07/02/26 - Amended Assembly
	 06/11/26 - Amended Assembly
	 02/20/26 - Introduced
                     SB-1370 Covered wildfire mitigation projects: consolidated and expedited review. (2025-2026)
                   Text
                         >>
                   Votes
                         >>
                   History
                         >>
                   Bill Analysis
                         >>
                   Today's Law As Amended
                         >>
                   Compare Versions
                         >>
                   Status
                         >>
                   Comments To Author
                         >>
                       Track Bill
                             >>
                       Add To My Favorites
                             >>
                selectVersion();
               SHARE THIS:
               Date Published: 08/28/2026 07:50 PM
SB1370:v95#DOCUMENT
       Bill Start
                Amended
               IN 
                Assembly
                 August 28, 2026
                Amended
               IN 
                Assembly
                 August 27, 2026
                Amended
               IN 
                Assembly
                 July 02, 2026
                Amended
               IN 
                Assembly
                 June 11, 2026
                    CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
                    2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
                Senate Bill
                    No. 1370  Introduced by Senators Stern and Becker       February 20, 2026  An act to add and repeal Article 8.5 (commencing with Section 4745) of Chapter 10 of, and to add and repeal Chapter 1.8 (commencing with Section 4240) of, Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, relating to wildfire.      LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST     SB 1370, as amended, Stern.
                          Covered wildfire mitigation projects: consolidated and expedited review.      Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which is known as and may be referred to as CAL-FIRE. Existing law establishes in CAL-FIRE the Office of the State Fire Marshal and requires that office to establish the Community Wildfire Mitigation Assistance Program to coordinate regional and local efforts with state policies, strategies, and programs for community wildfire mitigation in order to improve wildfire preparedness and prevention, with an emphasis on the most vulnerable communities.  This bill would require that, notwithstanding any other law, any state-level environmental and resource permits, approvals, consultations, and reviews required for a covered wildfire mitigation project, as defined, be consolidated into a single coordinated review by a project review team, as
			 defined, and administered jointly by the consolidated review agencies, defined as the Natural Resources Agency in coordination with the California Environmental Protection Agency. The bill would require an applicant seeking authorization to undertake a covered wildfire mitigation project to submit a single, consolidated application package to the consolidated review agencies. The bill would require a decision to be rendered by the consolidated review agencies within 60 calendar days of the consolidated review agencies deeming an application is complete, as provided, and would authorize the applicant and the consolidated review agencies to agree to extend the 60-day timeline if both parties agree to the extension. The bill would require the approvals to be in writing and to include specified information, including, among other things, a description of the project and a list of permits, agreements, consultations, or approvals waived by the review agencies’ authorization.  This bill would further provide for an expedited authorization, as defined, issued pursuant to these requirements, which would waive the requirement that the covered wildfire mitigation project comply with statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements, within the jurisdiction of boards, departments, commissions, offices, and agencies within the consolidated review agencies, except as provided. The expedited authorization would replace any other permit, agreement, or authorization required by state statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements that falls within the jurisdiction of boards, departments, commissions, offices, and agencies within the consolidated review agencies. The bill would require covered wildfire mitigation projects to be conducted in compliance with specified requirements and would impose a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each intentional, knowing, or negligent violation, as provided. The bill would require covered wildfire mitigation
			 projects to be limited in project size based on the type of project, as specified, and completed within 5 years, for prescribed fire projects, or 2 years, for all other projects, of approval by the consolidated review agencies. The bill would further require CAL-FIRE to provide a cost-benefit analysis to estimate a project’s return on investment for risk reduction or an explanation of why an estimate could not be assigned for each department state-funded grant project. This bill would specify that the authority to issuance expedited authorizations becomes inoperative on January 1, 2029.  This bill would provide that the above-described provisions do not preclude compliance with applicable local and federal statutes, rules, and regulations.  This bill would also require, on or before July 1, 2028, the consolidated review agencies to report to the Legislature on, among other required things, the implementation of all wildfire
			 mitigation projects that were permitted pursuant to the above-described provisions, as provided.  This bill would repeal the above provisions on January 1, 2034.  The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment.  CEQA authorizes the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency to certify a regulatory program that meets specified requirements as a certified regulatory program. For actions taken under a certified regulatory program, CEQA exempts those actions from certain of its provisions.  Existing law authorizes the Director of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to enter into an agreement for prescribed burning or other hazardous fuel reduction with any person to conduct prescribed burning operations and joint prescribed burning operations that serve the public interest and are beneficial to the state. Existing law requires, to the extent feasible, that the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Vegetation Treatment Program Programmatic Environmental Impact Report serve as the programmatic environmental document for prescribed fires initiated by a third party for a public purpose, as provided.   This bill would require the board to develop the Nontimber Vegetation Management Program for nontimber vegetation management activities that are not subject to specified forest practice rules for permitting of activities on local, nonfederal, private, and state-owned lands. The bill would authorize an eligible entity proposing to conduct those vegetation management activities to seek authorization under the program. The bill would require the board, on or before July 1, 2028, to adopt emergency regulations for the program, as provided, that qualifies for certification by the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency as a certified regulatory program under CEQA and would require the board to submit those emergency regulations to the secretary for review and certification. The bill would require the board, in developing the emergency regulations to conduct no fewer than 3 public meetings to receive public comments with one of those meetings occurring in southern
			 California. The bill would require the board, following the adoption of the emergency regulations to adopt permanent regulations in compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act before July 1, 2030. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2035.     Digest Key
      Vote:
       MAJORITY   
      Appropriation:
       NO   
      Fiscal Committee:
       YES   
      Local Program:
       NO        Bill Text     The people of the State of California do enact as follows:       SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:  (a) Accelerating critical wildfire prevention projects, while at the same time protecting public health and the environment, is critical for climate resiliency as well as maintaining utility operations.  (b) The California Earthquake Authority’s report, “Enhancing California’s Resiliency to Natural Catastrophes,” prepared pursuant to Chapter 119 of the Statutes of 2025 (Senate Bill 254), identifies the escalating risk and cost of catastrophic wildfires and calls for expanded community wildfire risk reduction, including streamlining
				environmental review and permitting for priority mitigation projects while maintaining appropriate environmental safeguards.  (c) Catastrophic wildfire risk and damages arise from interacting factors, including climate-driven extreme conditions, accumulated fuels, development in high-risk areas, and a range of ignition sources, and that reducing wildfire risk requires urgent, coordinated mitigation actions by communities, public agencies, tribes, resource conservation districts, nongovernmental organizations, fire safe councils, utilities, and professional land managers.  (d) To implement these risk-reduction priorities at the necessary pace and scale, it is necessary to enable the Secretaries of the Natural Resources Agency and for Environmental Protection to expedite eligible
				fuels reduction and ignition-risk reduction projects, conditioned on compliance with best management practices and measures in the Statewide Fuels Reduction Environmental Protection Plan to protect public health, water and air quality, cultural resources, and sensitive species and habitats.  (e) Accelerating wildfire risk reduction should incentivize vegetation management methods that effectively achieve wildfire risk reduction objectives while minimizing unnecessary impacts to water quality, soil health, ecosystem resilience, wildlife, public health, and community health.      SEC. 2.  Chapter 1.8 (commencing with Section 4240) is added to Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
                CHAPTER
               1.8. Wildfire Mitigation Projects: Consolidated and Expedited Review       4240.  For purposes of this chapter, all of the following definitions apply:  (a) “Consolidated review agencies” means the Natural Resources Agency in coordination with the California Environmental Protection Agency to provide coordinated environmental and regulatory review of covered wildfire mitigation projects.  (b) (1) “Covered wildfire mitigation project” means any one of the following categories of activities undertaken for the purpose of reducing wildfire risk:  (A) Required by law.  (B) Identified in a utility’s wildfire mitigation plan or in a community wildfire preparedness plan or adopted by a local agency.  (C) In a plan proposed by the department.  (2) Activities that qualify as a covered wildfire mitigation project include any of the following:  (A) Removal of hazardous, dead, or dying trees.  (B) Removal of vegetation for the creation of strategic fuel
						  breaks. A fuel break in chaparral, shrubland, grassland, and coastal sage scrub lands where less flammable or native vegetation is removed and replaced with ignition-prone or nonnative vegetation shall not be permissible pursuant to this chapter. Fuel break treatments shall not exceed 300 feet in width.  (C) Removal of vegetation for community defensible space of up to 200 feet from a structure.  (D) Removal of vegetation along roadways, highways, and freeways up to 100 feet, as measured from the center line of the roadway, for a public roadway identified as an egress and evacuation route for a community for the creation of safer ingress and egress routes for the public and first responders and to reduce roadside ignitions.  (E) Removal or modification of vegetation in forests that create more fire-resilient conditions.  (F) Removal of nonnative vegetation in chaparral, shrubland, grassland, and coastal sage scrub ecosystems.  (G) Maintenance of previously established fuel
						  breaks.  (H) Removal of vegetation around electrical utility lines consistent with Section 4293, poles consistent with Section 4292, and rights-of-way consistent with General Order 95 or FAC-003-5 Transmission Vegetation Management of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation to reduce the risk of wildfire.  (I) Notwithstanding any plan inclusion, prescribed or cultural fire in ecosystems with a fire deficit, excluding coastal sage scrub and chaparral communities.  (c) A project that includes the use of a pesticide, as defined in Section 12753 of the Food and Agricultural Code, does not qualify as a covered wildfire mitigation project for the purposes of this chapter.  (d) Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) does not apply to a covered wildfire mitigation project authorized pursuant to this chapter.  (e) “Expedited authorization” means a written decision by the Secretary for Environmental Protection or the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency authorizing a covered wildfire mitigation project and requiring the covered wildfire mitigation project to comply with the State Environmental Protection Plan, the issuance of which waives the requirements that the covered wildfire mitigation project comply with state statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements within the jurisdiction of the boards, departments, commissions, offices, and agencies within the consolidated review agencies, to the extent necessary and for the purpose of
						  expediting a covered wildfire mitigation project, and replaces any other permit, agreement, or authorization required or authorized by state statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements that fall within the jurisdiction of those boards, departments, commissions, offices, and agencies, including any permitting authority delegated to local governments by those entities, except as provided in paragraph (2) of subdivision (f) of Section 4241.  (f) “Project review team” means an interdisciplinary team led by the department, including, but not limited to, representatives from the appropriate regional water quality control board, the State Water Resources Control Board, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Geological Survey, the California Coastal Commission, the Department of Conservation, and the Department of Parks and
						  Recreation, as applicable. Further, “project review team” refers to a team that is tasked with evaluating proposed covered wildfire mitigation projects and assisting the consolidated review agencies in the determination of project conformance with the State Environmental Protection Plan.  (g) “State Environmental Protection Plan” means the Statewide Fuels Reduction Environmental Protection Plan (EPP), issued
						  December 2025, and any subsequent updates.       4241.  (a) Without limiting any other statutory exemption or categorical exemption, and notwithstanding any other law, and consistent with Executive Order No. N-38-25, any state-level environmental and resource permits, approvals, consultations, and reviews required for a covered wildfire mitigation project shall be consolidated into a single coordinated review by a project review team and administered jointly by the consolidated review agencies.  (b) (1) Timber operations, as defined in Section 4527, shall comply with the Z’berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 (Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 4511)) and the Forest Practice Rules (Chapter 4 (commencing
						  with Section 895) of Division 1.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations).  (2) This chapter does not affect any stipulated agreement issued by an administrative law judge for an electrical corporation or public utility regarding applicability of the Forest Practice Act Rules (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 895) of Division 1.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations) to that utility’s operations.  (c) The consolidated review agencies shall do all of the following:  (1) Use the application process established under the State Environmental Protection Plan for entities that elect to submit a complete consolidated application package.   (2) (A) Post information about the proposed project on an internet website within five business days of the application being deemed complete.  (B) Information about the proposed project posted on an internet website shall include all state statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements proposed to be waived for the project pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d).  (C) The internet website shall include a function for the public to submit written comment on the proposed project for at least 20 days after the project is posted on the internet website.  (3) Consider all timely submitted public comments and whether any comments warrant modification of the project before approving the
						  project.  (4) (A) Identify which proposed state statute, rule, regulation, and requirement proposed pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) would be waived and use their sound discretion to ensure that the waiver is necessary and serves the purpose of expediting the proposed project activities while protecting public health and the environment.  (B) The consolidated review agencies shall not approve a project that requires an incidental take permit under the California Endangered Species Act (Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section 2050) of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code) or the Native Plant Protection Act (Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 1900) of Division 2 of the Fish and Game Code).  (d) (1) An entity seeking to complete a wildfire mitigation project requiring state authorization may apply for an expedited authorization pursuant to this chapter. An applicant seeking state authorization to undertake a covered wildfire mitigation project shall submit a single, consolidated application package to the consolidated review agencies. An applicant shall have a legal entitlement to enter the property on which the wildfire mitigation project is performed or consent of landowner of record of that property.  (2) The applicant shall propose the full list of state statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements within the jurisdiction of the boards, departments, commissions, offices, and agencies within the consolidated review agencies to be waived or suspended for the purpose of expediting a proposed
						  covered wildfire mitigation project in the consolidated application package.  (3) A decision shall be rendered by the consolidated review agencies within 60 calendar days of the consolidated review agencies deeming an application is complete. The applicant and the consolidated review agencies may agree to extend the 60-day timeline if both parties agree to the extension.  (e) If the consolidated review agencies authorize a project under this section, the approvals shall be in writing and shall include all of the following:  (1) A description of the project.  (2) The basis for eligibility.  (3) A list of state statutes, rules, regulations, requirements, permits, agreements, consultations, or approvals waived by the review agencies’ authorization.  (4) The required environmental protection measures, including
						  documentation that the covered wildfire mitigation project will comply with the State Environmental Protection Plan and project-specific best management practices.  (f) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), an expedited authorization issued pursuant to this chapter waives the requirement
						  that the covered wildfire mitigation project comply with state statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements, within the jurisdiction of boards, departments, commissions, offices, and agencies within the consolidated review agencies, as determined by subparagraph (A) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (c), and replaces any other permit, agreement, or authorization required by state statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements that fall within the jurisdiction of boards, departments, and offices within the consolidated review agencies.  (2) This section does not apply to either of the following:  (A) A permit issued by a state agency pursuant to program authorization or primary enforcement responsibility under the federal Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1251 et seq.) or
						  other federal law.  (B) Any permit or other requirement of Division 2 (commencing with Section 1000) of the Water Code.  (g) (1) Any covered wildfire mitigation project shall be conducted in compliance with the State Environmental Protection Plan and the associated best management practices. Any person who intentionally, knowingly, or negligently violates any provision of the State Environmental Protection Plan is subject to a civil penalty imposed by a court in an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation. For purposes of this section, natural resource damage that occurs over multiple days that results from a single action shall not be considered a continuing violation.  (2) For purposes of this section, each specific act that results in a violation of the State Environmental Protection Plan, including an act that is repeated on separate days, shall be considered a separate violation.  (3) The Attorney General or district attorney, upon request of the director or any agencies, board, commission, departments, and offices, within the consolidated review agencies with jurisdiction over these projects, shall petition the superior court to impose, assess, and recover a civil penalty pursuant to this subdivision.  (4) In determining the appropriate amount, the court shall consider all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, persistence, circumstances, extent and gravity of the violation, the length of the time over which the
						  violation occurred, whether any substantial damage caused by the violation is susceptible to corrective action, whether the violation was willful or caused by negligence, and, with respect to the violator, the ability of the violator to pay any fines or penalties, the effect on the ability to continue in business, the corrective action, if any, taken by the violator, whether the violator has any prior history of violations, the degree of culpability, economic savings, if any, resulting from the violation, and other matters as justice may require.  (5) Any money recovered by the department pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the General Fund.  (6) For purposes of this subdivision, “person” includes a private individual, organization, partnership, corporation, limited liability company,
						  city, county, district, or the state or any department or agency of a city, county, district, or the state.  (h) The consolidated review agencies may require additional environmental protection measures where the measures are reasonably necessary to protect the resources present in the project area or affected by the project, or mitigate the impact on those resources.  (i) (1) Covered wildfire mitigation projects shall be limited to the following sizes and completed within two years of approval by the consolidated review agencies. Prescribed fire projects shall have up to five years from approval by the consolidated review agencies to be completed.  (2) Projects that maintain right-of-way and
						  maintain existing fuel breaks along utility infrastructure shall be less than 3,000 acres.  (3) Projects in forests to improve ecosystem health shall
						  be less than 1,000 acres.  (4) Projects in chaparral, shrubland, grassland, and coastal sage scrub to remove flammable nonnative grasses and herbaceous plants shall be less than 50 acres.  (j) Except for defensible space, roadside, and fuel breaks, where conversion to bare ground or mowed vegetation is the desired project outcome, project activities in native chaparral and coastal sage scrub that could lead to type conversion
						  shall be avoided.  (k) For each department state‑funded grant project, the department shall provide a cost-benefit analysis to estimate the project’s return on investment for risk reduction or an explanation of why an estimate could not be assigned to a particular project.  (l) (1) This chapter does not authorize a project that is inconsistent with any applicable local ordinance or regulation. Compliance with applicable local requirements shall be a condition of expedited authorization, and a project that is inconsistent with applicable local requirements shall not qualify for expedited authorization.   (2) This chapter does not affect the applicability of federal statutes,
						  rules, and regulations.        4242.  On or before July 1, 2028, the consolidated review agencies shall, in accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, report to the Legislature on the implementation of all wildfire mitigation projects that were permitted in compliance with the Statewide Environmental Protection Plan as authorized by this chapter. The reports shall contain all of the following information:  (a) Information about instances in which any project failed to comply with the Statewide Fuels Reduction Environmental Protection Plan.  (b) Information on violations of permit requirements and details of enforcement actions, including any challenges with
						  exercise of state authority to protect resources.  (c) Information on adequacy of staff resources to implement the program, and the impact on other department and agency priorities by redirecting internal staff resources.  (d) The total number of expedited projects approved.  (e) The location and acreage of each approved project.       4243.  (a) The authority for the issuance of an expedited authorization shall become inoperative on January 1, 2029.  (b) This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2034, and as of that date is repealed.  SEC. 3.  Article 8.5 (commencing with Section 4745) is added to Chapter 10 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
                Article
               8.5. Nontimber Vegetation Management Program       4745.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:  (a) Accelerating community wildfire resilience is critical for the protection and enhancement of public health and the environment.  (b) Catastrophic wildfire adversely impacts the residents of the state, climate and air quality, fish and wildlife, biodiversity, public recreation opportunities, and California’s economy.  (c) The board and the department, in coordination with relevant state agencies and departments with overlapping jurisdiction, are the appropriate bodies to regulate the conduct of nontimber vegetation
						  management activities on local, nonfederal, private, and state-owned lands.  (d) Protection of the environment is a principal purpose of the certified regulatory program defined pursuant to Section 4746. The program shall ensure that nontimber vegetation management activities are planned, designed, and conducted in a manner that protects environmental resources and ecological functions, including fish and wildlife, native vegetation, water quality, sensitive habitats and ecosystems, and cultural resources, and avoids or minimizes adverse environmental impacts consistent with the standards established pursuant to Section 4746.  (e) This article does not require or otherwise limit wildfire mitigation projects to be permitted through alternative
						  pathways.       4746.  For purposes of this article, both of the following definitions apply:  (a) “Certified regulatory program” means a program that is certified by the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency pursuant to Section 21080.5.  (b) “Program” means the Nontimber Vegetation Management Program developed pursuant to Section 4747.       4747.  (a) The board shall develop and implement the Nontimber Vegetation Management Program to provide an additional pathway for authorizing vegetation management activities that are not subject to the Forest Practice Rules (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 895) of Division 1.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations) on local, nonfederal, private, and state-owned lands.  (b) An eligible entity seeking to conduct vegetation management activities that are not subject to the Forest Practices Rules (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 895) of Division 1.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations) may seek authorization under the
						  program.       4748.  (a) (1) On or before July 1, 2028, the board shall adopt emergency regulations pursuant to Section 11346.1 of the Government Code for the   program     program, excluding coastal sage scrub and chaparral communities,   and submit those regulations to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency for review and certification of the program as a certified regulatory program. The board shall consult with departments, boards, and commissions in the development of the emergency regulations. The board is authorized to adopt permitting options for conducting
						  operations under the program.  (2) The emergency regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall incorporate and fully satisfy all applicable requirements and criteria set forth in subdivision (d) of Section 21080.5.  (3) The board shall conduct no fewer than three public meetings to receive public comment on the development of the emergency regulations. One of those meetings shall occur in southern California.  (4) To inform the development of the emergency regulations for the program, the board shall rely upon relevant standards of the Forest Practice Rules (Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 895) of Division 1.5 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations), including, but not limited to, standards for the
						  protection of watercourses and lakes, cultural and historical resources, fish and wildlife, and Coastal Commission Special Treatment Areas, and for hazard reduction, erosion control, construction and reconstruction of roads and watercourse crossings, and fire protection.  (5) (A) The emergency regulations shall establish which eligible entities may use the program for nontimber vegetation management on local, nonfederal, private, and state-owned lands. The board shall determine which types of wildfire resilience projects may be eligible under program.  (B) The board has the authority to adopt one or more new authorizations, licenses, permits, or certification types, as needed, for conduct of operations under the program.  (C) The board shall adopt civil penalties and enforcement provisions substantially similar to those in Article 8 (commencing with Section 4601) of Chapter 8 for violations of the program requirements.  (b) After the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency’s certification of the program as a certified regulatory program, permitting documents shall be developed by, and filed with, the
						  department for the authorization of nontimber vegetation treatment activities.  (c) The department and board shall consult with departments, boards, and commissions responsible for state-owned lands, and shall work collaboratively with those departments, boards, and commissions to develop regulatory procedures including protective measures that address the underlying resource values for which these lands have been set aside, including maintaining existing protections for environmentally sensitive habitats and ecosystems.  (d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (e) and (h) of Section 11346.1 of the Government Code, emergency regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall remain in effect until the earlier of either of the following:  (1) The effective date of permanent regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (e).  (2) July 1, 2030.  (e) Following the adoption of emergency regulations pursuant to this section, the board shall adopt permanent regulations in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. The board shall complete the environmental review required by Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) for the permanent regulations and shall adopt permanent regulations sufficiently in advance of July 1, 2030.  (f) The adoption or readoption of the emergency regulations described in this section shall not
						  constitute a project for purposes of Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000). This subdivision does not apply to the adoption of permanent regulations pursuant to subdivision (e).  (g) An action or proceeding brought pursuant to Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) challenging the adoption of, or certification, as a certified regulatory program, of the permanent regulations required by this section, including any appeal therefrom, shall be resolved, to the extent feasible, within 270 days after the filing of the certified record of proceedings with the court.  (h) (1) On or before June 30, 2027, the board, in cooperation with the department, the Department of Conservation, and the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, shall provide a report to
						  the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency and the Legislature describing how the proposed program would provide for a coherent and user-friendly permitting framework for vegetation management in conjunction with existing frameworks, such as the Vegetation Treatment Program, and other permitting mechanisms and exclusions. The report may identify opportunities for improvement in the permitting framework and integration with regional planning and prioritization efforts.  (2) The report required to be submitted to the Legislature pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.  (i) On or before December 31, 2027, the board shall report to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency on the progress of emergency rulemaking
						  pursuant to this section.  (j) On or before December 31, 2028, the board shall report to the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency on the progress of permanent rulemaking pursuant to this section.  (k) On or before December 31, 2028, and annually thereafter, the department shall report to the board on the use of program,
						  including the number of acres treated, compliance with the board’s rules, and any recommendations to improve their use.       4749.  This article shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2035, and as of that date is repealed.