California Environmental Quality Act: exemption: wildfire prevention projects.

Assembly Members Ellis and Gallagher propose exempting wildfire prevention projects from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements through new provisions in the Public Resources Code. The exemption would apply to a broad range of activities including fuel breaks, forest thinning, prescribed fire, timber harvesting, and other vegetation management efforts in wildland-urban interface zones.

The legislation defines qualifying projects to encompass installation and maintenance of fuel breaks, fuels reduction along roadways, reforestation, dead fuel removal, and similar initiatives focused on reducing fire risk. While these projects would bypass standard CEQA environmental review processes, the exemption includes limitations established under existing state code. Local agencies would retain responsibility for determining whether specific projects qualify for the exemption.

Under the bill's provisions, local agencies and school districts could levy service charges, fees, or assessments to fund implementation of exempt projects, with no state reimbursement required for these new administrative responsibilities. This maintains local control over project funding while establishing a streamlined approval pathway for wildfire prevention work.