On Monday, the Board of Forestry (BOF) approved its Fire Safe Regulations proposal for submission to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). Supervisors and county staff from 20 RCRC member counties made oral comments during the meeting, unanimously requesting that the BOF delay moving the proposal forward until it convenes a multidisciplinary working group of local government planning and fire safety experts to collaborate on the rulemaking language. Of the eight members present and voting, only BOF members Husari and Los Huertos voted not to approve the proposal for submission to OAL. Once the proposed rulemaking is published in the Regulatory Notice Register, the formal 45-day public comment period will begin.
The revised draft proposal released March 15th makes substantial changes to the previous version that was released in early February. The proposed rules continue to condition the rebuilding of homes destroyed by wildfire and appears to expand the number of roads subject to the pre-development upgrade requirements. Several portions of the draft language are unclear and create questions on applicability.
The State Fire Safe regulations set forth basic wildfire protection standards for development in the State Responsibility Area and, beginning July 1, 2021, the Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones of the Local Responsibility Area.
For updates from the BOF on the Fire Safe Regulations and other activities of the BOF Resource Protection Committee, subscribe to email updates here. And, for more information, please contact RCRC Senior Legislative Advocate,Tracy Rhine.