Laura Richardson

Existing law, contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature, requires the Office of Emergency Services to enter into a joint powers agreement with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to develop and administer a comprehensive wildfire mitigation program to, among other things, encourage cost-effective structure hardening and retrofitting to create fire-resistant homes, businesses, and public buildings. Existing law requires the joint powers authority to develop eligibility criteria for property owners, community organizations, and local governments who may receive financial assistance under the program. Existing law authorizes the joint powers authority to accept any federal funds granted, by act of Congress or by executive order, for any purposes related to the wildfire mitigation program. Existing law requires the joint powers authority to submit a report to the Legislature regarding the implementation of the wildfire mitigation program, including specified information.

This bill would require the joint powers authority, upon appropriation for specified purposes, to provide financial assistance to the counties with the greatest combined risk of wildfire and social vulnerability based on the above-described eligibility criteria, as provided. The bill would also require certain federal funding, subject to specified conditions, to revert to the joint powers authority to fund home hardening in those counties. The bill would authorize the Office of Emergency Services to exercise maximum discretion to adjust its funding allocations and strategy to include more counties with specified approaches to home hardening, as provided. The bill would require the joint powers authority to additionally include an evaluation of the amount of additional funding that would be required to expand the wildfire mitigation program to those counties.

This bill would make related findings and declarations.