Brown signs wildfire safety bill blasted as PG&E bailout
"Wildfires in
The newly signed bill, SB 901, obliges the powerful state
When the PUC allows a utility, such as
"We are very disappointed the governor signed the
The legislation also includes a plan for the state to spend
The money,
The package also includes proposals by Brown to relax logging rules on private land statewide to make thinning forests easier. In a compromise between environmental groups and timber interests, the new law will allow trees up to 30 inches in diameter to be cut without landowners needing a state timber harvest permit -- up from 26 inches now, but not the 36 inches Brown originally had requested -- when they are thinning forests to reduce fire risk. It also will allow logging roads up to 600 feet long to be built on private land without a permit, as long as they are replanted.
"The forestry management funding in SB 901 makes broad changes that will encourage local communities to better plan for wildfires and ease landowners' efforts to conduct fuel treatments on their land," said Assembly Speaker
The foresting thinning rule changes drew some controversy in the final weeks of the legislature, but it paled compared to the debate over how much liability utilities should absorb when their power lines cause massive wildfires.
Among other key provisions in SB 901: protection for past and future fire victims; upgrades to electricity grid safety; establishing past and future wildfire-related financial responsibilities for
State Sen.
State fire investigators have determined that
The bill also requires investor-owned utilities to harden their equipment so it's less likely to cause fires. It makes it easier to clear dead trees and brush through controlled burns and other means.
Toney of TURN noted the pressure on state politicians from some
"We think that policy makers need to stand up to
Pushed by a century of fire suppression that has left forests dense, a growing population moving into areas that historically burned as part of natural cycles, and a warming climate, the total area burned in 2018 in
Brown signed roughly two dozen other fire-related bills Friday, including measures to toughen arson laws; to provide free tuition at state colleges and universities to the children of firefighters killed in the line of duty; to require manufacturers of electric garage doors to include back-up batteries so homeowners can open them during power outages; and to require insurers to renew a residential insurance policy for at least two renewal periods (24 months) for victims of wildfires and other disasters.
___
(c)2018 the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)
Visit the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
EDITORIAL: Florida and the nation need Bill Nelson in the U.S. Senate | Editorial
The Latest: Death toll rises to 43 in aftermath of Florence
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News