(a)The State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection shall adopt regulations to implement the rules described in this subdivision. Pursuant to these regulations, a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains an occupied dwelling or occupied structure within a very high fire hazard severity zone designated by the local agency pursuant to Section 51179, shall at all times do all of the following:
(1)
(A)Maintain defensible space of 100 feet from each side and from the front and rear of the structure, but not beyond the property line except as provided in subparagraph (B). The amount of fuel modification necessary shall consider the flammability of the structure as affected by building material, building standards, location, and type
of vegetation. Fuels shall be maintaine
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(a)
The State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection shall adopt regulations to implement the rules described in this subdivision. Pursuant to these regulations, a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains an occupied dwelling or occupied structure within a very high fire hazard severity zone designated by the local agency pursuant to Section 51179, shall at all times do all of the following:
(1)
(A)
Maintain defensible space of 100 feet from each side and from the front and rear of the structure, but not beyond the property line except as provided in subparagraph (B). The amount of fuel modification necessary shall consider the flammability of the structure as affected by building material, building standards, location, and type
of vegetation. Fuels shall be maintained and spaced in a condition so that a wildfire would be unlikely to ignite the structure. This subparagraph does not apply to single specimens of trees or other vegetation that are well-pruned and maintained so as to effectively manage fuels and not form a means of rapidly transmitting fire from other nearby vegetation to a structure or from a structure to other nearby vegetation or to interrupt the advance of embers toward a structure. The intensity of fuels management may vary within the 100-foot perimeter of the structure, with more intense fuel reductions being used between 5 and 30 feet around the structure, and an ember-resistant zone being required within 5 feet of the structure, based on regulations promulgated by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, in consultation with the Office of the State Fire Marshal, to consider the elimination of materials in the ember-resistant zone that would likely be ignited by embers. The regulations may also alter the
fuel reduction required between 5 and 30 feet to integrate the ember-resistant zone into the requirements of this section. Consistent with fuels management objectives, steps should be taken to minimize erosion, soil disturbance, and the spread of flammable nonnative grasses and weeds.
(B)
A greater distance than that required under subparagraph (A) may be required by state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation. Fuel modification beyond the property line may only be required by state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation in order to maintain 100 feet of defensible space from a structure. Fuel modification on adjacent property shall only be conducted following written consent by the adjacent landowner. Any local ordinance related to fuel modification shall be in compliance with all applicable state laws, regulations, and policies. Any local ordinance may include provisions to allocate costs for any fuel modification beyond the property
line.
(C)
An insurance company that insures an occupied dwelling or occupied structure may require a greater distance than that required under subparagraph (A) if a fire expert, designated by the fire chief or fire official from the authority having jurisdiction, provides findings that the fuel modification is necessary to significantly reduce the risk of transmission of flame or heat sufficient to ignite the structure, and there is no other feasible mitigation measure possible to reduce the risk of ignition or spread of wildfire to the structure. The greater distance may not be beyond the property line unless allowed by state law, local ordinance, rule, or regulation.
(2)
Remove that portion of a tree that extends within 10 feet of the outlet of a chimney or stovepipe.
(3)
Maintain a tree, shrub, or other plant
adjacent to or overhanging a building free of dead or dying wood.
(4)
Maintain the roof of a structure free of leaves, needles, or other vegetative materials.
(5)
Before constructing a new dwelling or structure that will be occupied or rebuilding an occupied dwelling or occupied structure damaged by a fire in that zone, the construction or rebuilding of which requires a building permit, the owner shall obtain a certification from the local building official that the dwelling or structure, as proposed to be built, complies with all applicable state and local building standards, including those described in subdivision (b) of Section 51189, and shall provide a copy of the certification, upon request, to the insurer providing course of construction insurance coverage for the building or structure. Upon completion of the construction or rebuilding, the owner shall obtain from the
local building official a copy of the final inspection report that demonstrates that the dwelling or structure was constructed in compliance with all applicable state and local building standards, including those described in subdivision (b) of Section 51189, and shall provide a copy of the report, upon request, to the property insurance carrier that insures the dwelling or structure.
(b)
A person is not required under this section to manage fuels on land if that person does not have the legal right to manage fuels, nor is a person required to enter upon or to alter property that is owned by any other person without the consent of the owner of the property.
(c)
(1)
The State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, in consultation with the Office of the State Fire Marshal, shall develop, periodically update, and post on its internet website a guidance document
on fuels management pursuant to this chapter. The guidance document shall include, but not be limited to, regionally appropriate vegetation management suggestions that preserve and restore native species that are fire resistant or drought tolerant, or both, minimize erosion, minimize the spread of flammable nonnative grasses and weeds, minimize water consumption, and permit trees and shrubs near homes for shade, aesthetics, and habitat; and suggestions to minimize or eliminate the risk of flammability of nonvegetative sources of combustion such as woodpiles, propane tanks, decks, and outdoor lawn furniture.
(2)
No later than one year after the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection adopts regulations in compliance with the deadline in Executive Order No. N-18-25, the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection shall, in consultation with the Office of the State Fire Marshal, update the guidance document to reflect the new regulations.
(d)
Existing and new structures shall meet the same standard for the ember-resistant zone, but the regulations adopted by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection pursuant to this section shall allow the staging of work for existing structures to support implementation of the ember-resistant zone and address the costs of compliance.
(e)
For purposes of this section, a structure for the purpose of an ember-resistant zone shall include any attached deck. This section does not limit the authority of the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection or the Office of the State Fire Marshal to require the removal of fuel or vegetation on top of or underneath a deck pursuant to this section.
(f)
(1)
A local agency responsible for fire protection may designate, by ordinance, defensible space
requirements based on regulations promulgated by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection pursuant to subdivision (a). In developing the ordinance, a local agency may, in order to meet the intent of the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection regulations, consider local variations in local fire hazards, geography, development, and other conditions and authorize alternative practices to those in the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection regulations, if the alternative practices provide for substantially similar practical effects as those stated in the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection regulations. This subdivision does not preclude a local agency from adopting an ordinance designating defensible space requirements that are more stringent than the regulations adopted by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection pursuant to subdivision (a).
(2)
For purposes of Sections 51185, 51186, 51187, and any other laws
imposing penalties for violations of this section, or any other laws otherwise requiring compliance with this section, a property owner in compliance with the applicable alternative practices adopted by that property owner’s local agency in an ordinance described in paragraph (1) shall not be deemed to have violated this section.
(3)
For purposes of this subdivision, “property owner” means a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains an occupied dwelling or occupied structure within a very high fire hazard severity zone designated by the local agency pursuant to Section 51179, as described in subdivision (a).