The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to, and approved by, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Existing law prohibits an entity from substantially diverting or obstructing the natural flow of, or substantially changing or using any material from the bed, channel, or bank of, a river, stream, or lake, or deposit or dispose of debris, waste or other materials where it may pass into a river, stream, or lake unless the Department of Fish and Wildlife receives written notification of the activity and the entity has entered into a lake or stream agreement with the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Existing law provides that an entity submitting a timber harvesting plan, as prescribed, is deemed to have given notice to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Existing law specifies that the Department of Fish and Wildlife is not required to issue an agreement fewer than 60 days from the date the notification is complete.
This bill would require the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue an agreement within 5 working days of the approval of a timber harvesting plan by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act requires a California regional water quality control board to prescribe waste discharge requirements for the discharge of pollutants into state waters and authorizes the regional board to prescribe general waste discharge requirements for a category of discharges if the regional board finds or determines that certain criteria apply to the discharges in that category.
This bill would require, for a regional board that has adopted general waste discharge requirements for timber harvesting, the regional board to authorize timber harvesting operations performed consistent with an approved timber harvesting plan subject to those general waste discharge requirements within 5 working days of receiving a complete request.

Statutes affected:
AB 763: 1611 FGC
02/18/25 - Introduced: 1611 FGC