HOUSE BILL REPORT
HB 1652
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in
their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a
statement of legislative intent.
As Reported by House Committee On:
Agriculture & Natural Resources
Title: An act relating to wildfire prevention and protection.
Brief Description: Establishing the wildfire prevention and protection work group.
Sponsors: Representatives Grant, Kretz, Hailey, Blake, Pearson, McCoy, B. Sullivan and Kristiansen.
Brief History:
Agriculture & Natural Resources: 2/8/07, 2/14/07 [DPS].
Brief Summary of Substitute Bill |
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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE & NATURAL RESOURCES
Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 15 members: Representatives B. Sullivan, Chair; Blake, Vice Chair; Kretz, Ranking Minority Member; Warnick, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Dickerson, Eickmeyer, Grant, Hailey, Kagi, Lantz, McCoy, Newhouse, Orcutt, Strow and VanDeWege.
Staff: Jason Callahan (786-7117).
Background:
The Department of Natural Resources (Department) is the lead state entity responsible for
forest fire prevention and response on both state-owned and private forest land in
Washington. The Department's role is to assume direct charge of and supervision of all
matters pertaining to forest fires.
The costs of forest fire protection are intended to be equitably shared between forest
landowners and the state. Owners of forest land are under an obligation to provide forest fire
protection on their land to a level that provides adequate protection against the spread of fire
from or across their land. However, if a landowner's property is located on forest land not
included within the boundaries of a rural or municipal fire district, and the landowner fails to
provide adequate protection against the spread of forest fire, then the landowner must pay to
the Department a forest fire protection assessment (assessment).
Landowners paying the assessment are billed both at a flat rate and at an additional rate
according to the size of the forest land they own. All landowners must pay a flat rate
assessment fee of $14.50. This flat rate fee is paid by all forest land owners regardless of
ownership size. Landowners who own more than 50 acres of forest land must pay the flat
rate fee plus an additional 25 cents on each acre over the initial acre.
Summary of Substitute Bill:
The Wildfire Prevention and Protection Work Group (Work Group) is established to review
existing fire studies and draw conclusions on a number of forest fire issues. Topics to be
addressed by the Work Group include the utility of the existing assessment, fire suppression
efforts used by other states, the proper scope of the Department's fire protection authority, the
role of state and local building codes, and the interaction between fire danger and insurance
rates.
The Work Group is composed of 24 individuals with diverse backgrounds. The Work
Group's membership includes representatives from state government, local government, fire
districts, the environmental community, industrial and small forest landowners, the home
building industry, the insurance industry, realtors, agriculture, contract loggers, foresters, fire
chiefs, and land owners. Staff to the Work Group is provided by the Department.
The final report will take the form of draft legislation and is due to be reported to the
Legislature by December 1, 2007.
Substitute Bill Compared to Original Bill:
The substitute bill specifies that the building industry representative on the Work Group is to
be from the home building industry, adds representatives from the fire chiefs to the Work
Group, further specifies local land use programs to be studied by the Work Group, changes
the staffing of the bill from legislative staff to the Department, and replaces the appropriation
with a null and void clause.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Not requested.
Effective Date of Substitute Bill: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed. However, the bill is null and void if not funded in the budget.
Staff Summary of Public Testimony:
(In support) Recent forest fires have shown problems in the current system for protecting
against and fighting forest fires. There are important public policy issues that should be
reviewed and there needs to be clarification as to who has what firefighting responsibility and
when they have it. People should have the authority to protect their own property. It has
been over 10 years since a review of this caliber has been conducted.
A study of this sort was included in the Governor's budget, and will complement the
Department's strategic plan for forest fire prevention. The current firefighting policies can be
dangerous for firefighters.
(Opposed) None.
Persons Testifying: Representative Grant, prime sponsor; Vicki Christiansen, Department of Natural Resources; Bill Pickell, Washington Contract Loggers; Carolyn Kelly; Andrew Cook, Building Industry Association of Washington; Rick Nelson, Washington Cattlemen's Association; Gordon Walgren, Fire Chiefs; and Kenton Brine, Property Casualty Insurers Association.