§ 971. — 971. (Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 541, Sec. 1.)

(a)
The Wildfire Safety and Risk Mitigation Program shall be administered by the department.
(b)
The department shall award grants on a competitive basis. The department shall establish minimum standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants. In determining these standards, the department shall do all of the following:
(1)
Outline performance criteria and metrics.
(2)
Ensure that the program is administered in furtherance of applicable insurance laws and regulations, including, but not limited to, Sections 2642.7, 2644.16, 2644.25,
2644.4.5, and 2644.9 of Title 10 of the California Code of Regulations.
(3)
Consider research and development of modeling techniques and actuarial analyses specific to the effectiveness of actions to mitigate and prevent the risk of loss due to wildfires, including those actions at the property, community, and regional scale by utilities and local, state, and federal governments.
(4)
Promote publicly accessible information to inform individual property and community-scale mitigation planning, focusing on reducing the primary risk factors for wildfire catastrophes through providing regional and property-level risk assessments.
(5)
Leverage, to the maximum extent feasible, federal or private funding.
(6)
Ensure activities undertaken pursuant to this article complement efforts by the federal government and private industries, including insurance, to achieve wildfire safety at the community scale.
(7)
Ensure activities undertaken pursuant to this article complement wildfire mitigation priorities identified in local and state hazard mitigation plans and in after-action reports following federal major disaster declarations related to wildfires.
(8)
Consider recommendations to the commissioner by the Public Wildfire Catastrophe Model Strategy Group.

Legislative History

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 541, Sec. 1. (SB 429) Effective January 1, 2026. Conditionally operative pursuant to Section 978.