The Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024 (act) , approved by the voters as Proposition 4 at the November 5, 2024, statewide general election, authorized the issuance of bonds in the amount of $10,000,000,000 pursuant to the State General Obligation Bond Law to finance projects for safe drinking water, drought, flood, and water resilience, wildfire and forest resilience, coastal resilience, extreme heat mitigation, biodiversity and nature-based climate solutions, climate-smart, sustainable, and resilient farms, ranches, and working lands, park creation and outdoor access, and clean air programs. Of these funds, the act made $200,000,000 available to the Natural Resources Agency and the Department of Parks and Recreation for forest health and watershed improvement projects in forests and other habitats, as specified, that involve the restoration of natural ecosystem functions in very high, high, and moderate fire hazard areas and may include, among other things, environmentally sensitive vegetation management.
This bill would define an environmentally sensitive vegetation management project, for these purposes, to mean vegetation management that reduces catastrophic wildfire risk over the long term while supporting native wildlife and biodiversity. The bill would require relevant state agencies, when funding an environmentally sensitive vegetation management project, to prioritize projects that use specified practices, including, among other things, practices that follow the principles of integrated pest management, as defined.