Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a) The Department shall provide a minimum
time period for public comment, starting from the date of the receipt of a
WFMP, as follows:
(1) Ninety (90) days for a
WFMP for less than 5,000 acres.
(2)
One hundred ten (110) days for a WFMP between 5,000 and 10,000
acres.
(b) Before a WFMP
may be approved, all of the following requirements shall be met:
(1) Within thirty (30) working days of the
receipt of a WFMP, or within forty (40) working days of the receipt of a Plan
to which a Road Management Plan pursuant to
14 CCR
§
1093 is appended, the Department shall
determine if the Plan is accurate, complete, and in proper order, and if so,
the Plan shall be filed. An unfiled Plan shall be returned to the plan
submitter(s) with an explanation that includes provisions for resubmitting the
Plan.
(2) The initial inspection
shall be initiated within twenty (20) working days from the date of filing of
the WFMP, and completed no more than thirty (30) working days from the date of
filing.
(3) Upon completion of the
initial inspection, the Department shall have up to forty five (45) working
days to conduct the final interagency review of the Plan.
(4) The public comment period shall end
twenty (20) working days after the completion of the final interagency review
of the Plan or until the requirement in subsection (a) is met, whichever is
greater.
(5) After the final
interagency review and public comment period has ended, the Department shall
have up to thirty (30) working days to review the public input, to consider
recommendations and mitigation measures of other agencies, to respond in
writing to the issues raised, and to determine if the Plan is in conformance
with the applicable Board Rules and other applicable provisions of
law.
(c) If after final
interagency review the Director determines that the Plan is not in conformance
with the Board Rules or the FPA, the Director shall deny and return the Plan,
stating the reasons for the denial and advising the plan submitter of the
person's right to a hearing before the Board pursuant to
14 CCR
§
1054.
(d) If the Director does not act within the
time periods provided in
14 CCR
§
1094.17(b), the
Director and the timberland owner(s) submitting the WFMP shall negotiate and
mutually agree upon a longer period for the Director to review the Plan. If a
longer period cannot be mutually agreed upon, the WFMP shall be deemed denied
and returned to the timberland owner(s) submitting the Plan.
(e) The following provisions apply to the
appeal of a denied WFMP:
(1) A timberland
owner(s) whose Plan is denied pursuant to
14 CCR
§§
1094.17(c) or
1094.17(d) may
request, within thirty (30) working days from the receipt of the Plan, a public
hearing before the Board. The Board shall schedule a public hearing to review
the Plan to determine if the Plan is in conformance with the Board Rules and
the FPA.
(2) Board action shall
take place within thirty (30) working days from the filing of the appeal, or a
longer period mutually agreed upon by the Board and the person filing the
appeal.
(3) If the Director's
decision to deny the Plan is overturned by the Board, the Board shall prepare
findings and its rationale for overturning the decision, and return the Plan to
the Department for approval by the Director.
(4) If the Plan is not approved on appeal to
the Board, the Director, within ten (10) working days of Board action, shall
advise the plan submitter(s) regarding changes needed that would achieve
compliance with the FPA and other applicable provisions of the law. The Plan
submitter(s) shall have forty five (45) working days from the date of the
notification letter, or longer if mutually agreeable to the Department and the
plan submitter(s), to revise the Plan to bring it into full conformance with
the Board Rules and the FPA. Upon receipt of the information requested of the
plan submitter(s), the Department shall recirculate the Plan and reopen the
public comment period for thirty (30) working days. Prior to determining
whether to approve the proposed revised Plan, the Director shall have thirty
(30) working days to review public input and consider recommendations and
mitigation measures of other agencies, and to respond in writing to issues
raised.
1. New
section filed 6-2-2017; operative 1-1-2018 pursuant to Public Resources Code
section
4554.5(a)
(Register 2017, No. 22).
2. Amendment of subsection (a)(2) and
repealer of subsection (a)(3) filed 2-15-2019 as an emergency; operative
2-15-2019 (Register 2019, No. 7). Pursuant to Statutes 2018, chapter 626,
section 46 (SB 901) this amendment is deemed an emergency, and shall remain in
effect until revised by the Board of Forestry and Fire
Protection.
Note: Authority cited: Sections
4551,
4551.5,
4552
and
4553,
Public Resources Code. Reference: Section
4597.6,
Public Resources Code.
