After seeing its most deadly fire years on record in 2017 and 2018, California continues the effort to prevent future tragedies. On Friday, March 22, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a proclamation of emergency “throughout California” that will suspend environmental regulations for fuel reduction projects over the next 12 months.
However, while the governor’s statement implies a statewide proclamation, a closer read of the document shows that the regulatory suspension applies only to approximately 94,000 acres on 35 project areas across the state.
By contrast, more than 25 million acres of California wildlands are classified as under “very high” or “extreme” fire threat, according to a report issued last month by California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE).
The 94,000 acres slated for treatment also pale in comparison to a goal of former California governor, Jerry Brown. In May of last year, Brown signed an executive order aiming to increase fuel-reduction treatments to 500,000 acres per year. This goal will almost certainly be unattainable without the waiver of more acres from California’s extensive web of regulations.
The 35 project sites announced March 22 were selected based on fuels present, as well as “socioeconomic characteristics” of the communities that would be protected. Factors such as age, income, and language barriers were considered. The selected projects, if carried out, are estimated to protect 200 communities.
Work that will be done on those sites will include removal of hazardous dead trees, vegetation clearing, creation of fuel breaks and community defensible spaces, and creation of ingress and egress corridors, according to the CAL FIRE report.
The emergency proclamation suspends regulations required under laws such as the California Environmental Quality Act and the California Endangered Species Act, as well as advertising and competitive bidding requirements.
Newsom made a televised appearance in Lake County, CA on March 22, where he admitted the proclamation he was about to sign was “controversial” because some people would rather keep California’s environmental processes in place. But, he said, declaring “an emergency in advance of an emergency” would protect lives and property before they are lost.
“Some of these projects quite literally, not figuratively, could take two years to get done,” Newsom said.
“But we could get them done in the next two months. That’s our choice. We can choose to go through an advertising process, a procurement process, we can go through an environmental process and get nothing done, or we can actually get some things done in real time. And so, we’re going to move forward.”
The emergency proclamation does still require the secretaries of the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Agency to sign off on projects. The secretaries must “make a determination that the proposed activities are eligible to be conducted under this [regulatory] suspension and will take protection of the environment into account while ensuring timely implementation.”
In addition to the regulatory suspension in the specified areas, Newsom announced $20 million in block grants for “regional projects that improve forest health and increase fire resiliency.”
The block grants will go to four regions.
In addition, Newsom announced details on a $50 million campaign to ensure that, in an emergency, “at least one million of the most vulnerable Californians are connected to culturally and linguistically competent support.” Funding for the campaign was authorized by the state legislature and signed by Newsom last month. It will provide grants for local natural disaster preparedness and a “linguistically and culturally appropriate” public awareness and outreach campaign.
The recent emergency proclamation joins a smattering of other wildfire laws, executive orders, and budget requests over the past several years. As reported in December 2018, former governor Brown signed multiple wildfire bills designed to allow more fuels management on private and state land. One of those bills, SB 901, appropriated $1 billion to be distributed by CAL FIRE in the form of grants over the next five years.
Additionally, Brown signed an executive order last year to increase the rate and scale of forest management in the state. To that end, the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection is in the beginning stages of preparing a Program Environmental Impact Report for what is being called the “California Vegetation Treatment Program” (CalVTP). If approved, CalVTP would “reduce fire fuels, improve protection from wildfire through strategically located fuel breaks, and mimic a natural fire regime using prescribed burning.”
Newsom also requested additional funding for wildfire preparedness and fuels-reduction activities in his budget request released in January. If approved by state legislature, the budget proposal would allow for 13 additional year-round engines; replacement Vietnam War-era helicopters; deployment of new large air tankers; and investment in initial-attack fire suppression technology. — Theodora Johnson, WLJ correspondent
