Public health: emergency plans and wildfire research.

The amendment date was updated from April 23, 2025 to May 23, 2025, with the prior date retained as a secondary amendment line.

A grammatical correction was made in the legislative counsel's digest: 'to add Section 107251 to, the Health and Safety Code' was changed to 'to add Section 107251 to, of the Health and Safety Code.'

Page numbers were renumbered from 96 to 95 throughout the bill.

A section numbering correction was made at the end of the bill: an empty 'SEC. 4.' was inserted and the state mandates reimbursement clause was renumbered from SEC. 4 to SEC. 3.

Section 107250(e)(2)(B) was clarified to direct distribution of the state plan to 'the director and public health officer for each local health department, as defined in Section 101185' instead of separately naming 'the director of the public health department for each county, including a city and county' and 'public health officer for each local health department.' This uses the statutory definition of local health department rather than listing county-level entities separately.

The bill was assigned Chapter 537 and received the standard 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL' header replacing the enrolled bill's passage-date and clerk-signature block.

Page numbers changed from 93 to 92 and running headers changed from 'AB 1003' to 'Ch. 537' to reflect the chaptered format.

The deadline for the State Department of Public Health to complete its wildfire smoke plan was extended from June 30, 2026 to June 30, 2027.

Section 107251 of the Health and Safety Code was entirely removed. This section required the department to appoint and convene a wildfire smoke mitigation task force with members from emergency services, air quality, public health, and other fields. The task force was to research topics including current program impacts, prevention strategies, public outreach, multiagency coordination, and funding sources, and was to report recommendations to the Legislature by January 1, 2028.

The distribution list for the completed state plan was expanded to include the public health officer for each local health department, as defined in Section 101185 of the Health and Safety Code, in addition to the existing requirement to distribute to county public health directors.

Section renumbering: the state mandates reimbursement provision moved from Section 4 to Section 3 following the removal of the task force section.

The Wildfire Smoke Research and Education Fund was entirely removed from the bill. This fund would have been created in the General Fund and, upon legislative appropriation, distributed for research on short-term and long-term health effects of wildfire smoke exposure, burned remains, and fire-retardant materials, with specific focus on impacts to firefighters, residents of damaged areas, and those affected by smoke.

The title 'Director of Emergency Services' was clarified to 'Director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services' in the plan distribution requirements of Section 8593.25(g)(4).

Removed a redundant word 'protective' before 'respiratory protection' in Health and Safety Code Section 107250(b)(4), changing 'obtain protective respiratory protection' to 'obtain respiratory protection.'

Item (D) in the plan distribution list was expanded from 'The Director of Emergency Services' to also include 'the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services,' broadening which state entities receive copies of adopted county-specific or multicounty plans.

A new provision requires the State Department of Public Health to appoint and convene a wildfire smoke mitigation task force to research and recommend best practices to minimize public health impacts of wildfire smoke. The task force must include representatives with experience in wildfire response, air quality, public health, and emergency response, and may include members from the Office of Emergency Services, State Air Resources Board, hospitals, local air districts, and nonprofit organizations.

The task force is directed to consider five specific topics: the impact of current public health protection programs, prevention and mitigation practices for state agencies and counties, public outreach strategies for first responders and the public, multiagency coordination between state/local/regional governments, and possible funding sources for wildfire smoke mitigation.

The task force must report its recommendations to the Legislature and relevant policy committees on or before January 1, 2028, and the department must publish those recommendations on its internet website.

The legislative digest was updated to describe the bill as 'as amended' and to include a summary of the new task force provision. Page numbers shifted throughout due to the added content. There is a duplicate section number (two sections labeled SEC. 3) which appears to be a drafting error.