Forestry: priority fuel reduction projects.

Existing law authorizes the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to provide grants to, or enter into contracts or other cooperative agreements with, specified entities for the implementation and administration of projects and programs to improve forest health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Under the authority provided pursuant to the California Emergency Services Act, the Governor, on March 22, 2019, issued a proclamation of a state of emergency directing the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to implement, without delay, fuel reduction projects identified using a methodology developed by the department to determine which communities are at greatest risk of wildfire based on best available science and socioeconomic factors and to identify projects that would reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire, if completed. The proclamation of a state of emergency exempts those identified fuel reduction projects from various legal requirements, including, among others, requirements regarding public contracting for those projects, requirements for environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act for those projects, and licensure requirements for individual conducting certain activities for those projects, as provided. This bill would require the department, before December 31, 2022, and before December 31 of each year thereafter, to identify priority fuel reduction projects, as provided. The bill would exempt the identified priority fuel reduction projects from certain legal requirements in a similar manner as provided in the proclamation of a state of emergency described above.