AB 2410: Wildfire safety: fuels reduction projects: California Environmental Quality Act.
<blockquote> California Assembly Bill proposes amendments to wildfire safety measures, specifically regarding fuels reduction projects in high-risk areas. The bill exempts critical fuels reduction projects from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements until January 1, 2030, and mandates local agencies to determine eligibility for this exemption. Additionally, it adds these projects to a list of developments exempt from coastal development permit review by the California Coastal Commission in certain areas. The bill also removes the requirement that repair or maintenance activities not result in additions or expansions when applying for permits, allowing critical fuels reduction projects to proceed without such restrictions until 2030. </blockquote>
| Aug. 13, 2026 | In committee: Held under submission. |
| Aug. 03, 2026 | In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file. |
| Jul. 09, 2026 | Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. |
| Jul. 09, 2026 | From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (July 1). |
| Jun. 24, 2026 | From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on N.R. & W. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (June 24). Re-referred to Com. on N.R. & W. |
| Amended IN Senate July 09, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly April 22, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly April 13, 2026 |
| Introduced by Assembly (Coauthors: Assembly Members Alanis, Castillo, Sanchez, and Wallis) |
February 20, 2026 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
Existing law, the California Coastal Act of 1976, among other things, requires anyone wishing to perform or undertake any development in the coastal zone, except as specified, in addition to obtaining any other permit required by law from any local government or from any state, regional, or local agency, to obtain a coastal development permit from the California Coastal Commission or a local government, as provided. The act generally requires each local government lying in whole or in part within the coastal zone to prepare a local coastal program for that portion of the coastal zone within its jurisdiction and prescribes procedures for the preparation, approval, and certification of local coastal programs. The act generally prohibits, after certification of a local coastal program and all implementing actions within the affected area, the commission from exercising its coastal development permit review authority over any new development within the area to which the certified local coastal program, or any portion thereof, applies. Under the act, this prohibition does not apply to specified types of development including development proposed or undertaken on any tidelands, submerged lands, or on public trust lands. The act provides that a coastal development permit is not required for specified types of development in specified areas, as provided.
This bill would provide that, until January 1, 2030, a coastal development permit is not required for critical fuels reduction projects, as provided. The bill would add these critical fuels reduction projects to the list of specified types of development that the above-described prohibition on the commission exercising its coastal development permit review authority does not apply to.
The act provides for the certification of public works plans by the commission and for limited review by the commission for projects contained in a public works plan after certification.
This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2028, the commission to report to the Legislature certain information on fuel modification and reduction projects, including the number of fuel modification or reduction projects requested under a public works plan from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2026, inclusive, among other information.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 21080.7 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:21080.7.
(a) Without limiting any other statutory or categorical exemption provided under this division and subject to subdivision (b), this division does not apply to a critical fuels reduction project that addresses extremely flammable species and is conducted in a community located in a high fire threat district as determined by the Public Utilities Commission, or very high fire hazard severity zone as identified by the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Section 51178 of the Government Code or Section 4202 or as designated by an ordinance pursuant to Section 51179 of the Government Code that(1)Removes hazardous, dead, or dying trees.
(2)Removes vegetation for the creation of strategic fuel breaks as identified by approved fire prevention plans, including CAL-FIRE Unit Fire Plans or community wildfire protection plans.
(3)Removes vegetation along roadways, highways, and freeways for the creation of safer ingress and egress routes for the public and first responders and to reduce roadside ignitions.
(4)Removes vegetation around electric utility lines, poles, and rights-of-way to reduce the risk of wildfire and fire-related service outages.
(5)Removes vegetation using cultural traditional ecological knowledge for cultural burning or prescribed fire treatments or both of those types of treatments for fuels reduction projects.
(6)Maintains previously established fuel breaks or fuel modification projects.
(b)For purposes of paragraphs (2) and (3), subdivision (a) only applies if the vegetation removed for the critical fuels reduction project meets all of the following requirements:
(1)The vegetation is a nonnative species.
(2)The vegetation is 12 inches or less in diameter.
(3)The vegetation is a common species.
(c)
(d)
(a)Except for appeals to the commission, as provided in Section 30603, after a local coastal program, or any portion thereof, has been certified and all implementing actions within the area affected have become effective, the development review authority provided for in Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 30600) shall no longer be exercised by the commission over any new development proposed within the area to which the certified local coastal program, or any portion thereof, applies and shall at that time be delegated to the local government that is implementing the local coastal program or any portion thereof.
(b)Subdivision (a) shall not apply to any development proposed or undertaken on any tidelands, submerged lands, or on public trust lands, whether filled or unfilled, lying within the coastal zone, nor shall it apply to a critical fuels reduction project pursuant to subdivision (j) of Section 30610, any development proposed or undertaken within ports covered by Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 30700) or within any state university or college within the coastal zone; however, this section shall apply to any development proposed or undertaken by a port or harbor district or authority on lands or waters granted by the Legislature to a local government whose certified local coastal program includes the specific development plans for the district or authority.
(c)The commission may, from time to time, recommend to the appropriate local government local coastal program amendments to accommodate uses of greater than local importance, which uses are not permitted by the applicable certified local coastal program. These uses may be listed generally or the commission may recommend specific uses of greater than local importance for consideration by the appropriate local government.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, a coastal development permit shall not be required pursuant to this chapter for the following types of development and in the following areas:
(a)Improvements to existing single-family residences; provided, however, that the commission shall specify, by regulation, those classes of development that involve a risk of adverse environmental effect and shall require that a coastal development permit be obtained pursuant to this chapter.
(b)Improvements to a structure other than a single-family residence or a public works facility; provided, however, that the commission shall specify, by regulation, those types of improvements that (1) involve a risk of adverse environmental effect, (2) adversely affect public access, or (3) involve a change in use contrary to any policy of this division. Any improvement so specified by the commission shall require a coastal development permit.
(c)Maintenance dredging of existing navigation channels or moving dredged material from those channels to a disposal area outside the coastal zone, pursuant to a permit from the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
(d)Repair or maintenance activities that do not result in an addition to, or enlargement or expansion of, repair or maintenance activities; provided, however, that if the commission determines that certain extraordinary methods of repair and maintenance involve a risk of substantial adverse environmental impact, it shall, by regulation, require that a permit be obtained pursuant to this chapter.
(e)Any category of development, or any category of development within a specifically defined geographic area, that the commission, after public hearing, and by two-thirds vote of its appointed members, has described or identified and with respect to which the commission has found that there is no potential for any significant adverse effect, either individually or cumulatively, on coastal resources or on public access to, or along, the coast and, where the exclusion precedes certification of the applicable local coastal program, that the exclusion will not impair the ability of local government to prepare a local coastal program.
(f)The installation, testing, and placement in service or the replacement of a necessary utility connection between an existing service facility and a development approved pursuant to this division; provided, however, that the commission may, where necessary, require reasonable conditions to mitigate any adverse impacts on coastal resources, including scenic resources.
(g)(1)The replacement of a structure, other than a public works facility, destroyed by a disaster. The replacement structure shall conform to applicable existing zoning requirements, shall be for the same use as the destroyed structure, shall not exceed either the floor area, height, or bulk of the destroyed structure by more than 10 percent, and shall be sited in the same location on the affected property as the destroyed structure.
(2)For purposes of this subdivision, the following definitions apply:
(A)“Bulk” means total interior cubic volume as measured from the exterior surface of the structure.
(B)“Disaster” means a situation in which the force or forces that destroyed the structure to be replaced were beyond the control of its owner.
(C)“Structure” includes landscaping and any erosion control structure or device which is similar to that which existed prior to the occurrence of the disaster.
(h)Any activity anywhere in the coastal zone that involves the conversion of any existing multiple-unit residential structure to a time-share project, estate, or use, as defined in Section 11212 of the Business and Professions Code. If any improvement to an existing structure is otherwise exempt from the permit requirements of this division, no coastal development permit shall be required for that improvement on the basis that it is to be made in connection with any conversion exempt pursuant to this subdivision. The division of a multiple-unit residential structure into condominiums, as defined in Section 783 of the Civil Code, shall not be considered a time-share project, estate, or use for purposes of this subdivision.
(i)(1)Any proposed development that the executive director finds to be a temporary event that does not have any significant adverse impact upon coastal resources within the meaning of guidelines adopted pursuant to this subdivision by the commission. The commission shall, after public hearing, adopt guidelines to implement this subdivision to assist local governments and persons planning temporary events in complying with this division by specifying the standards that the executive director shall use in determining whether a temporary event is excluded from permit requirements pursuant to this subdivision. The guidelines adopted pursuant to this subdivision shall be exempt from the review of the Office of Administrative Law and from the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(2)Exclusion or waiver from the coastal development permit requirements of this division pursuant to this subdivision does not diminish, waive, or otherwise prevent the commission from asserting and exercising its coastal development permit jurisdiction over any temporary event at any time if the commission determines that the exercise of its jurisdiction is necessary to implement the coastal resource protection policies of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 30200).
(j)(1)A critical fuels reduction project, subject to paragraph (2), that does at least one of the following:
(A)Removes hazardous, dead, or dying trees.
(B)Removes vegetation for the creation of strategic fuel breaks as identified by approved fire prevention plans, including CAL-FIRE Unit Fire Plans or community wildfire protection plans.
(C)Removes vegetation along roadways, highways, and freeways for the creation of safer ingress and egress routes for the public and first responders and to reduce roadside ignitions.
(D)Removes vegetation using cultural traditional ecological knowledge for cultural burning or prescribed fire treatments or both of those types of treatments for fuels reduction projects.
(E)Removes vegetation around electric utility lines, poles, and rights-of-way to reduce the risk of wildfire and fire-related service outages.
(F)Maintains previously established fuel breaks or fuel modification projects.
(2)For purposes of subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (1), paragraph (1) only applies if the vegetation removed for critical fuel reductions projects meets all of the following requirements:
(A)The vegetation is a nonnative species.
(B)The vegetation is 12 inches or less in diameter.
(C)The vegetation is a common species.
(3)Projects pursuant to this subdivision shall comply with the best management practices under the 2025 Statewide Fuels Reduction Environmental Protection Plan as prepared by the Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency.
(4)This subdivision shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030.
SEC. 4.Section 30618 is added to the Public Resources Code, immediately following Section 30617, to read:30618.(a)On or before January 1, 2028, the commission shall, in accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, report to the Legislature all of the following information:
(1)The number of coastal development permit applications for fuel modification or reduction projects received annually by the commission from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2026, inclusive, including, to the extent this information is available to the commission, both of the following:
(A)The number of applications for fuel modification or reductions projects that were approved or denied.
(B)The number of notices received from local governments with certified local coastal programs pursuant to Section 30603 for coastal development permit applications for fuel modification or reduction projects that the applicant acted upon.
(2)The acreage of fuel modification or reduction projects approved annually under coastal development permits from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2026, inclusive.
(3)The average time annually, from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2026, inclusive, for a coastal development permit to be approved by the commission for a fuel modification or reduction project after submission of a complete coastal development permit application.
(4)The number of fuel modification or reduction projects requested under a public works plan from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2026, inclusive.
(5)The average time annually, from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2026, inclusive, for the commission to approve a fuel modification or reduction project under a public works plan.
(b)This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2029, and as of that date is repealed.
SEC. 5.SEC. 2.