2007 California Public Resources Code Article 3. Responsibility For Fire Protection

CA Codes (prc:4125-4137)

4125.  (a) The board shall classify all lands within the state,
without regard to any classification of lands made by or for any
federal agency or purpose, for the purpose of determining areas in
which the financial responsibility of preventing and suppressing
fires is primarily the responsibility of the state.  The prevention
and suppression of fires in all areas that are not so classified is
primarily the responsibility of local or federal agencies, as the
case may be.
   (b) On or before July 1, 1991, and every 5th year thereafter, the
department shall provide copies of maps identifying the boundaries of
lands classified as state responsibility pursuant to subdivision (a)
to the county assessor for every county containing any of those
lands.  The department shall also notify county assessors of any
changes to state responsibility areas within the county resulting
from periodic boundary modifications approved by the board.
   (c) A notice shall be posted at the offices of the county
recorder, county assessor, and county planning agency that identifies
the location of the map, and of any information received by the
county subsequent to the receipt of the map regarding changes to
state responsibility areas within the county.



4126.  The board shall include within state responsibility areas all
of the following lands:
   (a) Lands covered wholly or in part by forests or by trees
producing or capable of producing forest products.
   (b) Lands covered wholly or in part by timber, brush, undergrowth,
or grass, whether of commercial value or not, which protect the soil
from excessive erosion, retard runoff of water or accelerate water
percolation, if such lands are sources of water which is available
for irrigation or for domestic or industrial use.
   (c) Lands in areas which are principally used or useful for range
or forage purposes, which are contiguous to the lands described in
subdivisions (a) and (b).


4127.  The board shall not include within state responsibility areas
any of the following lands:
   (a) Lands owned or controlled by the federal government or any
agency of the federal government.
   (b) Lands within the exterior boundaries of any city, except a
city and county with a population of less than 25,000 if, at the time
the city and county government is established, the county contains
no municipal corporations.
   (c) Any other lands within the state which do not come within any
of the classes which are described in Section 4126.



4128.  In establishing boundaries of state responsibility areas, the
board may, for purposes of administrative convenience, designate
roads, pipelines, streams, or other recognizable landmarks as
arbitrary boundaries.


4129.  The board of supervisors of any county may provide by
ordinance that the county elects to assume responsibility for the
prevention and suppression of all fires on all land in the county,
including lands within state responsibility areas when the Director
of Forestry and Fire Protection concurs in accordance with criteria
adopted by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, but not
including lands owned or controlled by the federal government or any
agency of the federal government or lands within the exterior
boundaries of any city.  After the effective date of the contract
referred to in Section 4133, the county shall exercise for the
duration of the contract all the duty, power, authority, and
responsibility for the prevention and suppression of all fires on all
land in the county for which the county is authorized by this
section to elect to assume responsibility.



4129.1.  When the incorporation of a city removes land from a state
responsibility area and the county continues to provide residential
fire service for the newly incorporated city and remains under
contract to provide fire service for the state responsibility area,
the county shall, during the three years subsequent to incorporation,
contract with the city to continue to provide fire service to the
area removed from the state responsibility area under the same terms
and conditions as under the state contract.  The county may bill the
newly incorporated city for actual revenue lost under the state
contract because of removal of land from the state responsibility
area during that period, but may not, during the three-year period,
require the city to pay an amount greater than that apportioned for
the affected area under the state contract.
   If the budget of the department is revised to reflect the removal
of the affected lands from a state responsibility area and payments
to the county are accordingly reduced, the county may bill the newly
incorporated city for the allocable decrease, or if the amount cannot
be readily ascertained, the county may, after the effective date of
the new budget, charge the city an amount equal to the total payment
to the county divided by the total acres of the state responsibility
area times the removed acres which are annexed to the city.
   This section does not change any power, duty, or responsibility of
the department.  This section does not require the department to
base its budget on per acre costs and does not impose any requirement
that the department implement or design any formula or budget.
   This section applies only in counties with a population greater
than 8,000,000.


4130.  The board shall classify all lands within state
responsibility areas into types of land based on cover, beneficial
use of water from watersheds, probable damage from erosion, and fire
risks and hazards, and shall determine the intensity of protection to
be given to each such type of land.  A plan for adequate statewide
fire protection of state responsibility areas shall be prepared by
the board in which all land of each type shall be assigned the same
intensity of protection, and the estimated cost of such intensity of
protection shall be determined.



4131.  In the preparation of budgets for fire protection, the total
funds available or estimated to be available shall be allocated to
the areas to be protected in conformance to such fire protection
plan.  If the funds available are less than the estimated adequate
cost of such plan the board shall determine whether the intensities
of fire protection shall be reduced or withdrawn, maintaining uniform
consideration for all lands in each type.



4132.  In those counties assuming responsibility pursuant to Section
4129 for fire protection and suppression in the lands thus
classified within the respective counties, there shall be budgeted
sums to be allocated to those counties at least equal to the direct
cost of fire protection which is determined pursuant to Section 4130
and which shall include the salaries and wages of suppression crews
and lookouts and maintenance of firefighting facilities.



4133.  The department shall, with the approval of the Department of
General Services, for periods not to exceed three years, enter into a
contract with any county which enacts an ordinance as provided in
Section 4129.  The budgeted sums in Section 4132 are subject to
annual review in the budget process.



4134.  Any such contract shall provide for payment to such county,
as compensation for the assumption of the duty, power, authority and
responsibility for fire protection and suppression as provided in
Section 4129 of such sum as may be specifically allocated in the
appropriation made by the Legislature for that purpose or, if no
specific appropriation is made for it, the sum allocated for
expenditure in such county pursuant to Sections 4131 and 4132.



4135.  Sections 4129 to 4135, inclusive, do not deprive the
department of the power and duty to require that the money paid by
the department under the contract to a county shall be expended by
the county for fire prevention and suppression in that area the
protection of which is assumed by the county pursuant to Section
4129.



4136.  (a) A transferor of real property that is located within a
state responsibility area determined by the board, pursuant to
Section 4125, shall disclose to any prospective transferee the fact
that the property is located within a wildland area that may contain
substantial forest fire risks and hazards and is subject to the
requirements of Section 4291.
   (b) Except for property located within a county that has assumed
responsibility for prevention and suppression of all fires pursuant
to Section 4129, the transferor shall also disclose to any
prospective transferee that it is not the state's responsibility to
provide fire protection services to any building or structure located
within the wildlands unless the department has entered into a
cooperative agreement with a local agency for those purposes pursuant
to Section 4142.
   (c) Disclosure is required pursuant to this section only when one
of the following conditions is met:
   (1) The transferor, or the transferor's agent, has actual
knowledge that the property is within a wildland fire zone.
   (2) A map that includes the property has been provided to the city
or county pursuant to Section 4125, and a notice has been posted at
the offices of the county recorder, county assessor, and county
planning agency that identifies the location of the map and any
information regarding changes to the map received by the county.
   (d) In all transactions that are subject to Section 1103 of the
Civil Code, the disclosures required by this section shall be
provided by either of the following means:
   (1) The Local Option Real Estate Disclosure Statement as provided
in Section 1102.6a of the Civil Code.
   (2) The Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement as provided in Section
1103.2 of the Civil Code.
   (e) If the map or accompanying information is not of sufficient
accuracy or scale that a reasonable person can determine if the
subject real property is included in a wildland fire zone, the agent
shall mark "Yes" on the Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement.  The
agent may mark "No" on the Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement if he
or she attaches a report prepared pursuant to subdivision (c) of
Section 1103.4 of the Civil Code that verifies the property is not in
the hazard zone.  Nothing in this subdivision is intended to limit
or abridge any existing duty of the transferor or the transferor's
agents to exercise reasonable care in making a determination under
this subdivision.
   (f) For purposes of this section, Section 1103.13 of the Civil
Code applies.
   (g) The specification of items for disclosure in this section does
not limit or abridge any obligation for disclosure created by any
other provision of law or that may exist in order to avoid fraud,
misrepresentation, or deceit in the transfer transaction.



4137.  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the year-round
staffing and the extension of the workweek that has been provided to
the department pursuant to memorandums of understanding with the
state will result in significant increases in the department's
current level of fire prevention activities. It is the intent of the
Legislature that the budgetary augmentations for year-round staffing
not reduce the revenue that the department receives from contracts
with local governments for the department to provide local fire
protection and emergency services, commonly referred to as "schedule
A agreements."
   (b) On or before January 10 of each year, commencing in 2007, the
department shall provide a report to the Legislature, including the
budget and fiscal committees of the Assembly and the Senate,
regarding the department's increased fire prevention activities
described in subdivision (a). The report shall display the
information from previous reports for purposes of comparison. The
report shall include all of the following:
   (1) The percentage of the fire prevention activities that occurred
on lands designated as state responsibility areas.
   (2) The percentage of the fire prevention activities that occurred
in counties where, pursuant to a contract with the department, the
county has agreed to provide fire protection services in state
responsibility areas within county boundaries on behalf of the
department.
   (3) The percentage of the fire prevention activities that were
undertaken pursuant to a contract with a local government for the
department to provide local fire protection and emergency services.
   (4) Identification, with specific reference to the department's
authority, of the percentage of the fire prevention activities that
occurred on other lands.
   (5) A listing of fire prevention performance measures that the
department tracks annually, including, but not limited to, all of the
following:
   (A) The number of structural fire safety and vegetation clearance
inspections, citations, and other enforcement activities.
   (B) The number of acres treated by mechanical fuel reduction.
   (C) Prescribed burns.
   (D) The fire prevention performance measures described in
subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, shall measure and report all
specific fire prevention activities undertaken by the department in
each region on an annual basis and shall also measure and report the
specific level of fire prevention activity that occurs in each region
from December 15 through April 15, inclusive.
   (6) Projected outcomes for each of the fire prevention performance
measures described in paragraph (5) for each year by region that may
occur after the annual report is submitted to the Legislature.
   (7) Information on each of the contracts described in paragraph
(3), including revenues for each fiscal year and an annual update on
the number of those contracts and revenues received from the
contracts that are in effect.