Next Monday, the Board of Forestry (BOF) will hold a special meeting to discuss and possibly approve its Fire Safe Regulations proposal for submission to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL). Once the proposed rulemaking is published in the Regulatory Notice Register, the formal 45-day public comment period will begin.
The current proposal, released Monday evening, makes substantial changes to the February 8th draft that was just discussed at the March 3rd Board meeting. This revised language continues 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. RCRC is asking that the BOF delay submission of the proposal to OAL until a robust, inclusive process of collaboration with local government representatives with expertise in land use planning and fire safety has been completed.
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 Tracy Rhine.