Good Fire Act: Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Program: burn bosses: California Environmental Quality Act

The law broadens financial coverage and operational pathways for prescribed and cultural burns intended to reduce wildfire risk. It also eases specified permitting, training, grant-cost, and environmental-review barriers.

What the law does ​

• Makes the Prescribed Fire Liability Program indefinite and extends claims-fund coverage to eligible burns on any land in California.
• Allows individuals and entities other than the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the federal government to receive claims-fund coverage, subject to program rules.
• Requires burn plans to be submitted to the claims portal before ignition and lets the department or a burn boss approve them.
• Prioritizes broadcast burns and burns led by nonpublic people or entities or California Native American tribes if the claims fund is oversubscribed.
• Requires the department to report to the Legislature within one year after a claim payment on the claims process and potential improvements.
• Requires burn-boss recertification no more often than every three years, expands potential instructors, and creates a pathway for qualified out-of-state and national-standard practitioners to become state-certified burn bosses.
• Lets the department waive site inspections or modify standard permit precautions for qualified burn bosses, cultural fire practitioners, and other parties chosen by the director.
• Requires public grant makers to allow necessary overtime or double-rate labor costs for beneficial-fire projects.
• Exempts specified department assistance for prescribed-fire and cultural-burning projects from CEQA when the projects otherwise do not require CEQA review.
• Extends forest-health grant advance-payment reporting intervals from four months to six months.

Who it affects ​

• Burn bosses, cultural fire practitioners, California Native American tribes, private landowners, nonprofits, and other nonpublic prescribed-fire operators.
• The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, State Fire Marshal, state grant-making bodies, and claims-fund administrators.
• Employees and contractors preparing or carrying out beneficial-fire projects.

Context ​

The law took effect immediately as an urgency statute.