AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 18, 2025

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

97

Introduced by Assembly Member Bryan

February 21, 2025

An act to add Section 21088.1 to the Public Resources Code, relating to environmental quality.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment.

CEQA authorizes the preparation and certification of an EIR for a program, plan, policy, or ordinance, commonly known as a “program EIR,” and requires a lead agency to examine later activities in the program in light of the program EIR to determine whether an additional environmental document is required to be prepared.

This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2027, the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to update the California Vegetation Treatment Program Final Program Environmental Impact Report (FPEIR) to, among other things, expand the area that is treatable landscape under the FPEIR to portions of the state suitable for vegetation treatment consistent with the FPEIR, regardless of fire suppression responsibility designation, and recognize cultural burning conducted pursuant to a specified law as a covered treatment activity. The bill would authorize a public agency to partner with a federally recognized California Native American tribe to conduct a project under the FPEIR in the agency’s jurisdiction.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 21088.1 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

21088.1.

(a) For purposes of this section, “FPEIR” means the Final Program Environmental Impact Report. Report for the California Vegetation Treatment Program, certified by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection on December 30, 2019.

(b) On or before January 1, 2027, the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection shall update the California Vegetation Treatment Program FPEIR, certified by the state board in December 2019, FPEIR in accordance with Section 21166. The update shall, at a minimum, do all of the following:

(1) Expand the area that is treatable landscape under the FPEIR to portions of the state suitable for vegetation treatment consistent with the FPEIR, including for the treatment types of ecological restoration, fuel breaks, and wildland-urban interface fuel reduction, regardless of fire suppression responsibility designation.

(2) Require a project under the FPEIR to incorporate in its project description the disposition of biomass generated by vegetation treatments, as necessary, including any commercial sale of biomass for the purpose of cost recovery.

(3) Include provisions that recognize the dual objectives of cultural and ecological restoration through vegetation management activities that integrate indigenous knowledge and tribal ecological knowledge, and recognize cultural burning conducted pursuant to Section 4505 as a covered treatment activity.

(d) A public agency may partner with a federally recognized California Native American tribe to conduct a project under the FPEIR in the agency’s jurisdiction.