March 20, 2019
The Honorable Cathleen Galgiani Member, California State Senate State Capitol, Room 5097 Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Senate Bill 632 – SUPPORT As Introduced February 22, 2019
Dear Senator Galgiani:
On behalf of the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), I write to inform you of our support for your Senate Bill 632, which provides a temporary California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemption for actions consistent with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s (CAL FIRE) draft Program Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Vegetation Treatment Program (VTP). RCRC is an association of thirty-six rural California counties, and the RCRC Board of Directors is comprised of elected supervisors from each of those member counties.
Over the last several decades, wildfires have grown larger and increased in intensity. This is troubling since high intensity fires are much more ecologically devastating and leads to the growth of fewer-fire-resistant species, thereby adding to future fire risk. RCRC member counties contain much of California’s forested lands and have suffered the vast majority of the State’s most catastrophic wildfire events in the last decade, including the Camp Fire, which completely devastated the City of Paradise and stands on record as the most destructive wildfire in California history with 85 lives lost, nearly 19,000 structures destroyed, and 50,000 people displaced.
Despite years of effort, CAL FIRE’s Program EIR for the VTP has stalled because of threats of lawsuits and protracted litigation. The Program was intended to reduce the risk of wildfires on non-federal lands by managing vegetation to reduce hazardous fuel levels, thereby avoiding personal injury and property loss resulting from wildfires. After years of increasingly damaging wildfires, and with an ever-increasing toll in terms of lives lost and structures destroyed, we must increase the pace and scale of fuel reduction, thinning, the use of prescribed fire, and forest restoration projects.
1215 K Street, Suite 1650, Sacramento, CA 95814 | www.rcrcnet.org | 916.447.4806 | Fax: 916.448.3154
ALPINE AMADOR BUTTE CALAVERAS COLUSA DEL NORTE EL DORADO GLENN HUMBOLDT IMPERIAL INYO LAKE LASSEN MADERA MARIPOSA MENDOCINO MERCED MODOC MONO NAPA NEVADA PLACER PLUMAS SAN BENITO SAN LUIS OBISPO SHASTA SIERRA SISKIYOU SONOMA SUTTER TEHAMA TRINITY TULARE TUOLUMNE YOLO YUBA The Honorable Cathleen Galgiani Senate Bill 632 March 20, 2019 Page 2
On January 29, 2019, CAL FIRE Director Thom Porter and Board of Forestry and Fire Protection Chairman Keith Gilless called for the speeding up of “logging and prescribed burns designed to slow wildfires.” They announced that they are starting anew on creating a single environmental review process to cover projects on private land, such as cutting back dense stands of trees and setting controlled fires to burn out thick brush.” CAL FIRE’s recent Community Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Report recommends certification of the VTP EIR and development of a streamlined permitting process for projects not covered by the VTP EIR.
SB 632 facilitates those wildfire risk reduction recommendation by establishing a limited-duration CEQA exemption for actions consistent with the draft VTP EIR. SB 632 will reduce procedural and potential litigation delays and allow desperately-needed vegetation management projects to quickly move forward and thereby reduce the State’s fire risk and improve forest health.
For the above reasons, RCRC supports your SB 632. If you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or (916) 447-4806.
Sincerely,
JOHN KENNEDY Legislative Advocate
cc: The Honorable Jim Nielsen, Member of the State Senate The Honorable Andreas Borgeas, Member of the State Senate The Honorable Bill Dodd, Member of the State Senate The Honorable James Gallagher, Member of the State Assembly Member of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee Consultant, Senate Environmental Quality Committee