SB 894: Wildfire resiliency: financial assistance.

26001.

The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:

(a) It is essential that the state, in cooperation with the federal government and other public and private partners, use all practical and commercially feasible means to promote the prompt and efficient development of energy sources that are renewable or that more efficiently use and conserve scarce energy resources.

(b) The promotion of sustainable and renewable energy sources, implementation of measures that increase the efficiency of the use of energy, and advanced transportation technologies that reduce the degradation of the environment and lessen the state’s dependence on fossil fuels, and protect the health, welfare, and safety of the people of this state are in the public interest and serve a public purpose.

(c) It is essential to the public safety, economic stability, and general welfare of the state to promote investments that reduce wildfire-related risk and losses, including home hardening and defensible space improvements.

26002.

It is the purpose of this division to advance the state’s goals of reducing the levels of greenhouse gas emissions, increasing the deployment of sustainable and renewable energy sources, implementing measures that increase the efficiency of the use of energy, creating high-quality employment opportunities, increasing the adoption of wildfire resilience improvements that reduce wildfire-related risk and losses, and lessening the state’s dependence on fossil fuels and to that end to provide an alternative method of financing in providing and promoting the establishment of all of the following:

(a) Facilities using alternative methods and sources of energy.

(b) Facilities needed for the development and commercialization of advanced transportation technologies.

(c) Facilities, projects, improvements, and measures intended to reduce wildfire risk, enhance structural survivability, or improve community resilience to wildfire.

26090.

The California Wildfire Resilience Loan Program is hereby established to be developed and administered, upon appropriation by the Legislature, including the appropriation of any federal or private funds from any source given for purposes of this chapter, excluding any moneys collected from ratepayers of electrical corporations or gas corporations, by the authority to achieve all of the following goals:

(a) Reducing local and statewide wildfire losses through wildfire resilience improvements to residential, multifamily, mixed-use, nonprofit, or small business property.

(b) Improving insurability and resilience of communities vulnerable to wildfire risk.

(c) Increasing the defensible space around and hardening of residential, multifamily, mixed-use, nonprofit, or small business property to mitigate wildfire risk, thereby reducing emissions of greenhouse gases from wildfires and associated air pollution.

(d) Reduce the upfront and overall cost to eligible property owners of obtaining private financing for wildfire resilience improvements and expand access of eligible property owners to private financing tools for wildfire resilience improvements.

26091.

(a) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, including the appropriation of any federal or private funds from any source given for purposes of this chapter, excluding any moneys collected from ratepayers of electrical corporations or gas corporations, the California Wildfire Resilience Loan Program may include, but is not limited to, establishment of a loan loss reserve, interest rate buy-downs, and other credit enhancements.

(b) (1) Eligible activities and wildfire resilience improvements under the program shall include, but are not limited to, any of the following activities and improvements as informed by guidance from the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services and the Department of Insurance:

(A) Home hardening, including ignition-resistant features, vegetation management, and defensible space treatments, including, but not limited to, any of the following:

(i) Risk mitigation identified in Section 2644.9 of Title 10 of the California Code of Regulations or in successor regulations.

(ii) Risk mitigation identified in Part 7 (commencing with Section 1.1) of Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations or in successor regulations.

(iii) Defensible space activities identified in Section 4291 of this code or in Section 51182 of the Government Code.

(B) Smoke mitigation retrofits.

(C) Other measures that improve the survivability of a structure in the event of a wildfire, as determined by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

(D) Inspections and administrative fees associated with inspections of wildfire improvements when incurred in conjunction with other eligible activities or improvements under the program. Inspections and administrative fees shall not constitute a standalone eligible activity or improvement under the program.

(2) Guidance specified in paragraph (1) may reference actions identified in regulations by any relevant state agency, including regulations adopted by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, but shall not be construed to limit the authority’s discretion to approve activities that exceed state standards.

(c) Financial assistance under the program may be made available to eligible individual property owners throughout the state and shall not be in the form of a lien against the property or be limited by land classification, jurisdiction, or hazard severity zone.

(d) (1) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, including the appropriation of any federal or private funds from any source given for purposes of this chapter, excluding any moneys collected from ratepayers of electrical corporations or gas corporations, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection may provide technical assistance and public leadership in support of the program, including, but not limited to, conducting public outreach and education and making recommendations regarding implementation of best practices of existing home hardening financial assistance programs.

(2) The department may use available wildfire risk modeling, decision-support tools, and other relevant data to prioritize outreach and implementation activities in areas where wildfire resilience improvements are expected to provide the greatest reduction in community structure loss.

(e) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, including the appropriation of any federal or private funds from any source given for purposes of this chapter, excluding any moneys collected from ratepayers of electrical corporations or gas corporations, the authority may establish partnerships or referral arrangements with state agencies, local governments, community-based organizations, insurers, lenders, contractors, or other entities for purposes that may include, but are not limited to, identifying and referring eligible applicants, aggregating demand, and facilitating bulk purchasing or group contracting arrangements.

(f) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, including the appropriation of any federal or private funds from any source given for purposes of this chapter, excluding any moneys collected from ratepayers of electrical corporations or gas corporations, the authority may, in consultation with the State Fire Marshal, establish procedures for preassessments or postcompletion verifications of improvements financed through the program for purposes that may include program integrity, evaluation, and continuous improvement.

(g) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, including the appropriation of any federal or private funds given from any source for purposes of this chapter, excluding any moneys collected from ratepayers of electrical corporations or gas corporations, the authority may enter into agreements to design, develop, maintain, and operate a public-facing internet website for the program.