Forestry: timber operations: maintenance of timberlands for fuels reduction.

Assembly Member Patterson's forestry management legislation creates an alternative compliance pathway for publicly funded wildfire fuel reduction projects in California's timberlands. The measure allows these noncommercial projects to submit timber harvesting plans instead of completing the standard environmental review process required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Under the proposed framework, projects focused exclusively on reducing wildfire fuels would be regulated as timber operations while maintaining a distinct classification from traditional commercial harvesting activities. This applies only to projects receiving partial or full public funding. The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection would oversee these operations through the timber harvesting plan review process rather than through CEQA's environmental impact assessment requirements.

The measure maintains existing enforcement mechanisms, with violations subject to misdemeanor penalties under the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act. While the bill expands regulated activities under the Act, it specifies that local agencies and school districts will not require state reimbursement for any associated costs, as the changes relate solely to criminal statute modifications.