CHAPTER 3. Wildfire and Forest Resilience [91500. - 91550.]

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC 3.

in effect

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 91500. Section 91500.

The sum of one billion five hundred million dollars ($1,500,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for wildfire prevention, including reducing community wildfire risk and restoring the health and resilience of forests and landscapes.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 91510. Section 91510.

(a) Of the funds made available by Section 91500, one hundred thirty-five million dollars ($135,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Office of Emergency Services for a wildfire mitigation grant program. The Office of Emergency Services shall coordinate with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in administering these moneys. The grant program shall assist local and state agencies to leverage additional funds, including matching grants from federal agencies. Funds may be used to provide loans, rebates, direct assistance, and matching funds for projects that prevent wildfires, increase resilience, maintain existing wildfire risk reduction projects, reduce the risk of wildfires to communities, or increase home or community hardening. Projects shall benefit disadvantaged communities, severely disadvantaged communities, or vulnerable populations. Eligible projects include, but are not limited to, any of the following: (1) Grants to local agencies, state agencies, joint powers authorities, nonprofit organizations, resource conservation districts, and tribes for projects that reduce wildfire risks to people and property consistent with an approved community wildfire protection plan. (2) Grants to local agencies, state agencies, joint powers authorities, tribes, resource conservation districts, fire safe councils, and nonprofit organizations for structure hardening of critical community infrastructure, wildfire smoke mitigation, evacuation centers, including community clean air centers, structure hardening projects that reduce the risk of wildfire for entire neighborhoods and communities, water delivery system improvements for fire suppression purposes for communities in very high or high fire hazard areas, wildfire buffers, and incentives to remove structures that significantly increase hazard risk. (3) Grants, in coordination with the Public Utilities Commission, to local agencies, state agencies, special districts, joint powers authorities, tribes, and nonprofit organizations for zero-emission backup power, energy storage, and microgrids for critical community infrastructure in order to provide continuity of electrical service, reduced wildfire ignitions, and to safeguard communities from disruption due to deenergization events, wildfire, or air pollution caused by wildfire, extreme heat, or other disaster. (4) Grants under the Home Hardening Program to retrofit, harden, or create defensible space for homes at high risk of wildfire in order to protect California communities. (b) The Office of Emergency Services and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shall prioritize wildfire mitigation grant funding applications from local agencies based on the Fire Risk Reduction Community list, pursuant to Section 4290.1. (c) The Office of Emergency Services and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shall provide technical assistance to disadvantaged communities, severely disadvantaged communities, or vulnerable populations, including those with access and functional needs, socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers, and economically distressed areas to ensure the grant program reduces the vulnerability of those most in need.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 91520. Section 91520.

Of the funds made available by Section 91500, one billion two hundred five million dollars ($1,205,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Natural Resources Agency and to its departments, boards, and conservancies for projects and grants to improve local fire prevention capacity, improve forest health and resilience, and reduce the risk of wildfire spreading into populated areas from wildlands. Where appropriate, projects may include activities on lands owned by the United States. The funding made available by this section shall be allocated as follows: (a) One hundred eighty-five million dollars ($185,000,000) shall be available to the Department of Conservation’s Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program to increase regional capacity to prioritize, develop, and implement projects that improve forest health and fire resilience, implement community fire preparedness demonstration projects, facilitate greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and increase carbon sequestration in forests and other landscapes across regions and throughout the state. The funding shall be allocated based, to the extent feasible, on the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan. (b) One hundred seventy million dollars ($170,000,000) shall be available to implement regional projects, including, but not limited to, landscape-scale projects developed by forest collaboratives as defined in Section 4810, projects developed by regional entities as defined in Section 4208, and projects that implement strategies developed by state conservancies through block grants and direct appropriations by the Legislature. (c) One hundred seventy-five million dollars ($175,000,000) shall be available to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Forest Health Program for long-term forest health projects, including improved forest management, prescribed fire, prescribed grazing, cultural fire, forest watershed restoration, reforestation, upper watershed, riparian, and mountain meadow restoration, and activities that promote long-term carbon storage and sequestration. Funds may be used for tribal wildfire resilience grants. (d) One hundred eighty-five million dollars ($185,000,000) shall be available to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for local fire prevention grants consistent with Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 4124) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 4 and for grants to conduct workforce development for fire prevention and wildfire resiliency work. Workforce development grants may include, but are not limited to, the construction of designated housing for wildfire prevention workers. (e) Twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) shall be available to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for the creation or expansion of a fire training center. (f) Two hundred million dollars ($200,000,000) shall be 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, including, but not limited to, redwoods, conifers, oak woodlands, mountain meadows, chaparral, and coastal forests. Projects shall involve the restoration of natural ecosystem functions in very high, high, and moderate fire hazard areas and may include prescribed fire, cultural fire, environmentally sensitive vegetation management, land protection, science-based fuel reduction, watershed protection, carbon sequestration, protection of older fire-resistant trees, or improved forest health. (g) Fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) shall be available for grants to conduct fuel reduction, structure hardening, create defensible space, reforestation, or targeted acquisitions to improve forest health and fire resilience. (h) Thirty-three million five hundred thousand dollars ($33,500,000) shall be available to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy for watershed improvement, forest health, biomass utilization, chaparral and forest restoration, and workforce development that addresses needs related to this subdivision and is designed to create career pathways for individuals from disadvantaged communities, severely disadvantaged communities, or vulnerable populations. (i) Twenty-five million five hundred thousand dollars ($25,500,000) shall be available to the California Tahoe Conservancy for watershed improvement, forest health, biomass utilization, chaparral and forest restoration, and workforce development that addresses needs related to this subdivision and is designed to create career pathways for individuals from disadvantaged communities, severely disadvantaged communities, or vulnerable populations. (j) Thirty-three million five hundred thousand dollars ($33,500,000) shall be available to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for watershed improvement, wildfire resilience, chaparral and forest restoration, and workforce development that addresses needs related to this subdivision and is designed to create career pathways for individuals from disadvantaged communities, severely disadvantaged communities, or vulnerable populations. (k) Thirty-three million five hundred thousand dollars ($33,500,000) shall be available to the State Coastal Conservancy for watershed improvement, wildfire resilience, chaparral and forest restoration, and workforce development that addresses needs related to this subdivision and is designed to create career pathways for individuals from disadvantaged communities, severely disadvantaged communities, or vulnerable populations. ( l ) Thirty-three million five hundred thousand dollars ($33,500,000) shall be available to the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy for watershed improvement, wildfire resilience, chaparral and forest restoration, and workforce development that addresses needs related to this subdivision and is designed to create career pathways for individuals from disadvantaged communities, severely disadvantaged communities, or vulnerable populations. (m) Twenty-five million five hundred thousand dollars ($25,500,000) shall be available to the San Diego Rivers Conservancy for watershed improvement, wildfire resilience, chaparral and forest restoration, and workforce development that addresses needs related to this subdivision and is designed to create career pathways for individuals from disadvantaged communities, severely disadvantaged communities, or vulnerable populations. (n) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) shall be available to the Wildfire Conservancy to improve firefighter health and safety, advance fire attack effectiveness, and promote community resilience and awareness. (o) Fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) shall be available to the California Fire Foundation to support vegetation mitigation and fuels reduction projects, public education and outreach, personal protective equipment, specialized firefighting equipment, and firefighter health and safety.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 91530. Section 91530.

Of the funds made available by Section 91500, fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of Conservation or State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission for projects in California that provide long-term capital infrastructure to use forest and other vegetative waste removed for wildfire mitigation for noncombustible uses that maximize reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, provide local air quality benefits, and increase local community resilience against climate change impacts.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 91535. Section 91535.

Of the funds made available by Section 91500, twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection for technologies that improve detection and assessment of new fire ignitions.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 91540. Section 91540.

(a) Of the funds made available by Section 91500, thirty-five million dollars ($35,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for uses to reduce wildfire risk related to electricity transmission. (b) The proportion of any asset funded pursuant to this section shall be funded without return on equity for the lifetime of the proportion of that asset that would have otherwise been borne by ratepayers. (c) The proportion of any projects funded pursuant to this section shall be excluded from the ratebase, and no costs may be collected from ratepayers.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 91545. Section 91545.

(a) Of the funds made available by Section 91500, fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the California Conservation Corps or certified community conservation corps, as defined in Section 14507.5, and nonprofit workforce organizations for demonstrated jobs projects, including either of the following: (1) Projects to mitigate unemployment and assist the state with the implementation of critical natural resources, transportation, energy, and housing infrastructure to promote climate resilience. (2) Projects to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and rehabilitate following natural disasters, declared emergencies, or climate-related impacts to communities. (b) At least 60 percent of the amount available pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be available to certified community conservation corps, as defined in Section 14507.5. (c) Eligible workforce organizations include nonprofits, local agencies, and joint powers authorities that have programs that provide park and conservation employment training. (d) The California Conservation Corps may expend the funds made available as grants to certified community conservation corps for purposes specified in this section.

Cal. Public Resources Code - PRC § 91550. Section 91550.

Projects funded pursuant to this chapter shall be consistent with the policies and guidelines established by the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan, and by the Natural Resources Agency and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, if applicable.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026