On Tuesday the Board of Forestry (BOF) Resource Protection Committee met and discussed the latest draft of the State Fire Safe regulations, released February 8th. RCRC staff expressed concerns during the meeting on the continued inclusion of language that preludes all development on roads that fail to meet specified standards. These “no-build” areas apply to the construction of Accessory Dwelling units and wildfire rebuilds.
At its board meeting Wednesday, the BOF reviewed and discussed the February 8th draft proposal for the first time as a full board. Some Board members expressed concern on the limitation of wildfire rebuilds, however, allowing for a full exemption from upgraded road standards in those circumstances was not considered. Instead, staff proposed authorizing local jurisdictions to accept alternative means of complying with the minimum road standards for wildfire rebuilds, though no detail was provided. At the conclusion of the meeting BOF staff was directed to convene a special meeting before the scheduled April board meeting expressly for the purpose of approving regulatory language for submission to the Office of Administrative Law. Once the proposed rulemaking is published in the Regulatory Notice Register, the formal 45-day public comment period will begin.
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. RCRC, along with the California State Association of Counties and the Urban Counties of California, submitted comments to the BOF on the revised proposal, outlining the extremely detrimental impacts the new regulations will have in all areas of that state, but particularly in rural areas.
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.