Assembly Member Quirk-Silva's fire safety legislation establishes new protocols for the State Fire Marshal to receive and respond to information about changing fire hazard conditions between mandatory review periods of fire hazard severity zones.

The bill creates a formal process for public agencies, tribes, nonprofit organizations, project applicants, and members of the public to consult with the State Fire Marshal about actions affecting fire hazard levels in specific areas. Under this framework, the State Fire Marshal may provide written responses to inquiries about how various activities could impact an area's fire hazard status. These entities may also submit documentation about completed or planned actions that could influence future fire hazard severity zone designations, which the State Fire Marshal may factor into subsequent official reviews. All correspondence and documentation from these interactions must be posted on the State Fire Marshal's website.

To offset administrative costs, the bill permits the State Fire Marshal to charge fees to entities that participate in consultations or submit information through these new channels. This provision applies to both state responsibility areas and other lands where the State Fire Marshal maintains fire hazard severity zone classifications based on fuel loading, slope, fire weather, and wind conditions.

The measure maintains the existing requirement for the State Fire Marshal to conduct periodic reviews of fire hazard severity zones and make necessary adjustments to zone boundaries or hazard ratings. These new consultation and documentation procedures operate within that established review framework while providing additional mechanisms for stakeholder input between formal reassessments.