On Wednesday the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection directed its staff to move forward with drafting emergency regulations to impose a fee on residences in the State Responsibility Area (SRA).

The board took the actions in accordance with Assembly Bill AB X 1 29, by Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield (D-Van Nuys).

The new state law, adopted as part of the state budget package in and later signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on July 7, requires the board to adopt emergency regulations to establish a fire prevention fee of up to $150 to be charged on each “habitable” structure within the over 31 million acres of SRA on or before Sept. 1, 2011.

The bill's purpose, according to the governor's signing statement, is “to make the necessary statutory changes to realize $50 million of General Fund savings” by allocating the revenue generated to Cal Fire.

AB X 1 29 was opposed by groups including the California State Association of Counties, which called the legislation “a flawed approach to address Cal Fire's funding needs,” citing concerns with potential impact on community support for local funding of fire needs as well as possible impacts on California's mutual aid system.

The group also asserted that similar proposals had previously tried and failed, with a similar bill in 2003 repeated by the Legislature “due to a number of administrative and legal issues.”

At the Wednesday Board of Forestry and Fire Protection meeting, Executive Officer George Gentry presented the board with a comprehensive overview of the new law.

The full board will hold a special public meeting on the new rules in Sacramento on Monday, Aug. 22, in the first floor auditorium of the Resources Building, located at 1416 Ninth St. in downtown Sacramento.

Among the items the regulations need to address are refining the definition of “habitable structure” as it relates to the law and a determination of the scalability of the fee based on prevention measures already in place, according to a Wednesday Cal Fire statement.

Board Chairman Stan Dixon noted, “The law requires the board to act and we will continue to move ahead with this task.”

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