Sincerely,
Christopher Macon
City Manager
CC: The Honorable Steven Choi
The Honorable Catherine S. Blakespear
The Honorable Diane Dixon
Members, Senate Transportation Committee
ITEM 9.3 - Attachment B
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 23, 2026
SENATE BILL No. 1135
Introduced by Senator Blakespear
February 17, 2026
An act to add Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Section 1810) to Division 2 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to wildlife. An act to add Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 2960) to Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to wildlife.
legislative counsel’s digest
SB 1135, as amended, Blakespear. Human and wildlife coexistence.
California Wildlife Coexistence Act.
Existing law establishes the Department of Fish and Wildlife in the Natural Resources Agency. Under existing law, the department has jurisdiction over the conservation, protection, and management of fish, wildlife, native plants, and habitat necessary for biologically sustainable populations of those species.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to reestablish and enact a statewide program to manage and promote human and wildlife coexistence. require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish the Wildlife Coexistence Program to manage and promote wildlife coexistence by conducting specified activities, including maintaining a statewide wildlife incident reporting tool. The bill would rename the California Wolf-Livestock Compensation Pilot Program to the Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and Compensation Program and would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish the program to provide resources to eligible participants for purposes relating to wolves and livestock. The bill would authorize the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, 98 ITEM 9.3 - Attachment C
including the cost for implementation, to provide resources to wildlife coexistence partners, as defined, to support efforts required for the Wildlife Coexistence Program and the Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and Compensation Program. The bill would require the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish the Wildlife Coexistence Technical Advisory Committee to provide technical guidance, public input, and programmatic recommendations related to the department’s wildlife coexistence efforts. The bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2028, to include specified information on its internet website, as provided.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 2960) is line 2 added to Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, to read:
line 3
line 4 Chapter 14. California Wildlife Coexistence Act
line 5
line 6 Article 1. General Provisions
line 7
line 8 2960. This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the line 9 California Wildlife Coexistence Act.
line 10 2961. It is the policy of the state that the management of wildlife line 11 shall include an emphasis on the coexistence of humans and line 12 wildlife through department-led efforts to reduce, minimize, and line 13 mitigate conflicts. These efforts shall also seek to align with the line 14 state’s conservation, public safety, environmental planning, and line 15 climate adaptation goals and to be accomplished through line 16 coordination and cooperation between the department and wildlife line 17 coexistence partners.
line 18 2962. For purposes of this chapter, “wildlife coexistence line 19 partners” means local, state, and federal agencies, nonprofit line 20 organizations, federally recognized tribes, non-federally recognized line 21 California Native American tribes included on the contact list line 22 maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission, other line 23 entities, and academic programs.
98 SB 1135 — 2 —
ITEM 9.3 - Attachment C
line 1 Article 2. The Wildlife Coexistence Program
line 2
line 3 2963. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the department line 4 shall establish the Wildlife Coexistence Program to manage and line 5 promote wildlife coexistence by conducting all of the following line 6 activities:
line 7 (a) Managing, tracking, and responding to wildlife conflict line 8 calls, reports, and incident responses.
line 9 (b) Avoiding, minimizing, and mitigating conflicts between line 10 humans and wildlife by proactively and continuously implementing line 11 best practices that emphasize effective and ecologically appropriate line 12 nonlethal conflict resolution solutions developed using best line 13 available science and indigenous knowledge.
line 14 (c) Investigating, documenting, and analyzing reported line 15 human-wildlife incidents, including, but not limited to, depredation, line 16 perceived or actual human-wildlife conflicts, and wildlife health line 17 issues.
line 18 (d) Maintaining a statewide wildlife incident reporting tool. line 19 (e) Consistent with existing law, supporting community-based line 20 efforts in coordination with wildlife coexistence partners and line 21 providing technical assistance, resources, and recommendations. line 22 (f) Conducting ongoing public outreach and education. line 23 (g) Implementing the provisions of this chapter. line 24 2964. Upon appropriation by the Legislature, including the line 25 cost for implementation, the department may provide resources line 26 to wildlife coexistence partners to support efforts required for the line 27 Wildlife Coexistence Program pursuant to Section 2963 and the line 28 Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and Compensation Program pursuant line 29 to Section 2966.
line 30 2965. On or before July 1, 2028, the department shall include line 31 on its internet website, accessible to the public, all of the following:
line 32 (a) The annual number, general locations, and species involved line 33 in reported human-wildlife conflicts and department responses line 34 pursuant to Section 2963.
line 35 (b) An inventory of known types of proactive wildlife coexistence line 36 activities within each region and statewide, including line 37 community-based and tribal efforts.
line 38 (c) Descriptions of resources provided pursuant to Section 2964, line 39 including recipients, regions, and dollar amounts. line 40 (d) Depredation permits issued by species and regions. 98 — 3 — SB 1135
ITEM 9.3 - Attachment C
line 1 (e) The outcomes of the Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and line 2 Compensation Program pursuant to Section 2966, including a list line 3 of any resources funded by activity, county, and wolf pack. line 4
line 5 Article 3. The Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and Compensation line 6 Program
line 7
line 8 2966. (a) The California Wolf-Livestock Compensation Pilot line 9 Program established pursuant to the annual Budget Act of 2021 line 10 shall be renamed the Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and line 11 Compensation Program.
line 12 (b) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, including the cost line 13 for implementation, the department shall establish the line 14 Wolf-Livestock Coexistence and Compensation Program to provide line 15 resources to eligible participants for all of the following:
line 16 (1) Providing equipment and information on practices used to line 17 proactively and nonlethally deter wolf attacks on livestock. line 18 (2) Compensation for confirmed or provable losses of livestock line 19 verified by the department to have been caused by wolves. line 20 (3) Compensation for indirect impacts on livestock from the line 21 presence of wolves.
line 22 (c) At least 50 percent of the funds appropriated to the program line 23 shall be used for purposes of paragraph (1) of subdivision (b). line 24 (d) To be eligible for any resources from the program for the line 25 purposes of paragraphs (2) and (3) of subdivision (b), a participant line 26 shall have adopted, implemented, and documented proper and line 27 ongoing deployment of proactive, nonlethal conflict reduction line 28 measures approved by the department.
line 29
line 30 Article 4. The Wildlife Coexistence Technical Advisory line 31 Committee
line 32
line 33 2967. (a) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the line 34 department shall establish the Wildlife Coexistence Technical line 35 Advisory Committee to provide technical guidance, public input, line 36 and programmatic recommendations related to the department’s line 37 wildlife coexistence efforts.
line 38 (b) The advisory committee shall advise the department on all line 39 of the following:
98 SB 1135 — 4 —
ITEM 9.3 - Attachment C
line 1 (1) Best available science, indigenous knowledge, and line 2 management practices for reducing human-wildlife conflict. line 3 (2) Development, implementation, and evaluation of coexistence line 4 programs.
line 5 (3) Program metrics, data collection standards, and reporting line 6 practices.
line 7 (4) Equity and geographic balance in program design and line 8 funding distribution.
line 9 (5) Opportunities for coordination with wildlife coexistence line 10 partners.
line 11 (c) The advisory committee shall consist of no fewer than 11 line 12 and no more than 15 members, appointed by the director, line 13 representing expertise or experience in one or more of the line 14 following areas, with no more than two people from each category:
line 15 (1) Wildlife biology or ecology.
line 16 (2) Human-wildlife conflict mitigation or coexistence practices. line 17 (3) Tribal natural resource management.
line 18 (4) Conservation or environmental science.
line 19 (5) Rural community or agricultural interests. line 20 (6) Animal behavior or veterinary science.
line 21 (7) Land management.
line 22 (8) Urban community.
line 23 (d) Members shall serve three-year terms and may be line 24 reappointed. Initial appointments may include shorter terms to line 25 ensure staggering.
line 26 (e) Members of the advisory committee shall serve without line 27 compensation.
line 28 (f) The advisory committee shall meet at least twice per year, line 29 or more frequently at the request of the department. line 30 (g) The department shall consider, but is not required to adopt, line 31 recommendations made by the advisory committee. line 32 SECTION 1. Chapter 8.5 (commencing with Section 1810) is line 33 added to Division 2 of the Fish and Game Code, to read:
98 — 5 — SB 1135
ITEM 9.3 - Attachment C
line 1 Chapter 8.5. Wildlife Coexistence
line 2
line 3 1810. It is the intent of the Legislature to reestablish and enact line 4 a statewide program to manage and promote human and wildlife line 5 coexistence.
O
98 SB 1135 — 6 —
ITEM 9.3 - Attachment C
california legislature—2025–26 regular session
ASSEMBLY BILL No. 2517
Introduced by Assembly Member Calderon
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Lackey)
February 20, 2026
An act to amend Sections 51178, 51179, and 51181 of the Government Code, relating to fire safety.
legislative counsel’s digest
AB 2517, as introduced, Calderon. Fire safety: fire hazard severity zones.
Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to identify areas in the state that are not state responsibility areas, commonly known as local responsibility areas, as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to periodically review and make recommendations relative to very high fire hazard severity zones within local responsibility areas. Under existing law, this review is required to coincide with review of state responsibility area lands every 5 years and, when possible, fall within the timeframes for each county’s general plan update. Existing law requires a local agency to designate, by ordinance, moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones in its jurisdiction within 120 days of receiving the recommendations from the State Fire Marshal. Existing law authorizes a local agency to, at its discretion, include areas within its jurisdiction not identified as very high fire hazard severity zones by the State Fire Marshal as very high fire hazard severity zones and areas not identified as moderate and high fire hazard severity zones by the State Fire Marshal as moderate and 99 ITEM 9.3 - Attachment D
high fire hazard severity zones. Under existing law, a local agency is required to transmit a copy of an adopted ordinance to the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection within 30 days of adoption. Existing law provides that changes made by a local agency to the recommendations made by the State Fire Marshal are final.
This bill would require the State Fire Marshal to, no fewer than 180 days before finalizing the designation of local responsibility areas as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones, post specified information on its public internet website, conduct regional public workshops to receive oral public comments and consider those comments, host a 30-day public comment period to receive written comments from interested stakeholders and respond to all written comments by local agencies within 30 days of the end of the public comment period, and coordinate with other state agencies to help educate the public during the public workshops, as specified. The bill would also require, on or before January 1, 2030, and every 5 years thereafter, the State Fire Marshal to review the local responsibility area lands designated as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones and to recommend changes. The bill would no longer require this review to, when possible, fall within the timeframes for each county’s general plan update. The bill would authorize a local agency to, at its discretion, increase the level of fire hazard severity applicable to a parcel in its jurisdiction if a parcel contains 2 or more designations, so that the higher level of fire hazard severity would apply to the entire parcel. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to publish within 60 days the local ordinance transmitted to the board, as described above, on its internet website.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Section 51178 of the Government Code is line 2 amended to read:
line 3 51178. (a) The State Fire Marshal shall identify areas in the line 4 state as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones line 5 based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of line 6 fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. Moderate, line 7 high, and very high fire hazard severity zones shall be based on line 8 fuel loading, slope, fire weather, and other relevant factors 99 AB 2517 — 2 —
ITEM 9.3 - Attachment D
line 1 including areas where winds have been identified by the Office of line 2 the State Fire Marshal as a major cause of wildfire spread. line 3 (b) The State Fire Marshal shall, no fewer than 180 days before line 4 finalizing the designations pursuant to subdivision (a), do all of line 5 the following:
line 6 (1) Post draft maps of preliminary designations on its public line 7 internet website to ensure the preliminary designations are line 8 available for public review and comment.
line 9 (2) Post the data inputs, model, and methodology used to line 10 develop the preliminary designations on its public internet website. line 11 (3) (A) Conduct regional, public workshops on the draft maps, line 12 before initiating the public comment period pursuant to paragraph line 13 (4), to receive oral public comments.
line 14 (B) Provide at least one online virtual option for public line 15 participation in a workshop pursuant to subparagraph (A) of this line 16 paragraph.
line 17 (C) Consider, within 30 days of a public regional workshop line 18 pursuant to subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, all oral public line 19 comments received.
line 20 (4) (A) Host a 30-day public comment period for interested line 21 stakeholders to provide written comment on the draft maps. line 22 (B) Respond to, within 30 days of the end of the public comment line 23 period pursuant to subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, all written line 24 comments received from local agencies regarding land use and line 25 zoning matters.
line 26 (5) Coordinate with other state agencies to help educate the line 27 public during the public workshops pursuant to paragraph (3) on line 28 the following topics related to the preliminary designations:
line 29 (A) Mitigation activities.
line 30 (B) Fire insurance.
line 31 (C) Other related maps and models.
line 32 (c) After the process described in subdivision (b), the State Fire line 33 Marshal shall finalize the designations and transmit the maps line 34 identifying the fire hazard severity zones, pursuant to subdivision line 35 (a), to the appropriate local agency.
line 36 SEC. 2. Section 51179 of the Government Code is amended line 37 to read:
line 38 51179. (a) A local agency shall designate, by ordinance, line 39 moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones in its 99 — 3 — AB 2517
ITEM 9.3 - Attachment D
line 1 jurisdiction within 120 days of receiving recommendations from line 2 the State Fire Marshal pursuant to Section 51178. line 3 (b) (1) A local agency may, at its discretion, include areas line 4 within the jurisdiction of the local agency, not identified as very line 5 high fire hazard severity zones by the State Fire Marshal, as very line 6 high fire hazard severity zones following a finding supported by line 7 substantial evidence in the record that the requirements of Section line 8 51182 are necessary for effective fire protection within the area. line 9 (2) A local agency may, at its discretion, include areas within line 10 the jurisdiction of the local agency, not identified as moderate and line 11 high fire hazard severity zones by the State Fire Marshal, as line 12 moderate and high fire hazard severity zones, respectively. line 13 (3) A local agency may, at its discretion, increase the level of line 14 fire hazard severity applicable to a parcel in its jurisdiction if a line 15 parcel contains two or more designations, so that the higher level line 16 of fire hazard severity would apply to the entire parcel. line 17 (3)
line 18 (4) A local agency shall not decrease the level of fire hazard line 19 severity zone as identified by the State Fire Marshal for any area line 20 within the jurisdiction of the local agency, and, in exercising its line 21 discretion pursuant to paragraph (2), may only increase the level line 22 of fire hazard severity zone as identified by the State Fire Marshal line 23 for any area within the jurisdiction of the local agency. line 24 (c) The local agency shall transmit a copy of an ordinance line 25 adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) to the State Board of Forestry line 26 and Fire Protection within 30 days of adoption. line 27 (d) Changes made by a local agency to the recommendations line 28 made by the State Fire Marshal shall be final and shall not be line 29 rebuttable by the State Fire Marshal.
line 30 (e) The State Fire Marshal shall publish within 60 days the line 31 local ordinances transmitted pursuant to subdivision (c) on its line 32 internet website to ensure they are publicly available. line 33 (e)
line 34 (f) The State Fire Marshal shall prepare and adopt a model line 35 ordinance that provides for the establishment of very high fire line 36 hazard severity zones.
line 37 (f)
line 38 (g) Any ordinance adopted by a local agency pursuant to this line 39 section that substantially conforms to the model ordinance of the 99 AB 2517 — 4 —
ITEM 9.3 - Attachment D
line 1 State Fire Marshal shall be presumed to be in compliance with the line 2 requirements of this section.
line 3 (g)
line 4 (h) A local agency shall post a notice at the office of the county line 5 recorder, county assessor, and county planning agency identifying line 6 the location of the map provided by the State Fire Marshal pursuant line 7 to Section 51178. If the agency amends the map, pursuant to line 8 subdivision (b) or (c) of this section, the notice shall instead line 9 identify the location of the amended map.
line 10 SEC. 3. Section 51181 of the Government Code is amended line 11 to read:
line 12 51181. The On or before January 1, 2030, and every five years line 13 thereafter, the State Fire Marshal shall periodically review the line 14 areas in the state identified as review the local responsibility area line 15 lands in the state, including areas identified as moderate, high, line 16 and very high fire hazard severity zones pursuant to this chapter, line 17 and as necessary, shall make recommendations relative to very line 18 high fire hazard severity zones. recommend changes in accordance line 19 with Sections 51178 and 51179. This review of local responsibility line 20 area lands shall coincide with the review of state responsibility line 21 area lands every five years and, when possible, fall within the time line 22 frames for each county’s general plan update. Any revision of line 23 areas included in a very high fire hazard severity zone shall be line 24 made in accordance with Sections 51178 and 51179. years.
O
99 — 5 — AB 2517
ITEM 9.3 - Attachment D
This page is intentionally blank.
AB 2517
Date of Hearing: April 6, 2026
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Isaac G. Bryan, Chair
AB 2517 (Calderon) – As Introduced February 20, 2026
SUBJECT: Fire safety: fire hazard severity zones
SUMMARY: Establishes a process for public engagement for the State Fire Marshal’s (SFM) development of fire hazard severity zone (FHSZ) maps.
EXISTING LAW:
1) Requires the SFM to identify areas in the state as moderate, high, and very high FHSZ based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. Requires moderate, high, and very high FHSZs to be based on fuel loading, slope, fire weather, and other relevant factors including areas where winds have been identified by the SFM as a major cause of wildfire spread. (Government Code (GC) 51178)
2) Requires a local agency to designate, by ordinance, moderate, high, and very high FHSZs in its jurisdiction within 120 days of receiving recommendations from the SFM pursuant to GC 51178. (GC 51179 (a))
3) Authorizes a local agency, at its discretion, to include areas within the jurisdiction of the local agency, not identified as very high fire hazard severity zones (VHFHSZ) by the SFM, as VHFHSZ following a finding supported by substantial evidence in the record that the requirements of GC 51182 are necessary for effective fire protection within the area. (GC 51179 (b))
4) Requires the SFM to periodically review the areas in the state identified as VHFHSZs, and as necessary, make recommendations relative to VHFHSZs. Requires this review to coincide with the review of state responsibility area (SRA) lands every five years and, when possible, fall within the time frames for each county’s general plan update. Any revision of areas included in a very high fire hazard severity zone shall be made in accordance with Sections 51178 and 51179. (GC 51181)
5) Requires, pursuant to regulations adopted by the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, a person who owns, leases, controls, operates, or maintains an occupied dwelling or occupied structure within a VHFHSZ designated by a local agency pursuant to GC 51179 to maintain specified defensible space requirements. (GC 51182)
THIS BILL:
1) Requires the SFM, no fewer than 180 days before finalizing the FHSZ designations, to do all of the following:
a) Post draft maps of preliminary designations on its public internet website to ensure the preliminary designations are available for public review and comment; ITEM 9.3 - Attachment E
AB 2517
b) Post the data inputs, model, and methodology used to develop the preliminary designations on its public internet website;
c) Conduct regional, public workshops on the draft maps before initiating the public comment period to receive oral public comments. Provide at least one online virtual option for public participation in a workshop. Consider, within 30 days of a public regional workshop, all oral public comments received;
d) Host a 30-day public comment period for interested stakeholders to provide written comment on the draft maps. Requires the SFM to respond to, within 30 days of the end of the public comment period, all written comments received from local agencies regarding land use and zoning matters; and,
e) Coordinate with other state agencies to help educate the public during the public workshops on the following topics related to the preliminary designations:
i) Mitigation activities;
ii) Fire insurance; and,
iii) Other related maps and models.
2) Requires the SFM to finalize the FHSZ designations and transmit the maps identifying the FHSZs to the appropriate local agency.
3) Authorizes a local agency, at its discretion, to increase the level of fire hazard severity applicable to a parcel in its jurisdiction if a parcel contains two or more designations, so that the higher level of fire hazard severity would apply to the entire parcel. 4) Requires the SFM to publish, within 60 days, the adopted local ordinances designating FHSZs on its internet website to ensure they are publicly available. 5) Requires, on or before January 1, 2030, and every five years thereafter, the SFM to review the local responsibility areas (LRA) lands, including areas identified as moderate, high, and very high fire FHSZs, and, as necessary, recommend changes. Requires review of LRA lands to coincide with the review of SRA lands every five years.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1) Author’s statement:
Wildfires are an increasing reality for communities across California, and the way we plan for that risk matters. When the state updates fire hazard severity zone maps, local governments and residents deserve a clear understanding of what those changes mean and a chance to share their input. Assembly Bill 2517 helps make this process more transparent by requiring advance notice, public workshops, and opportunities for communities to provide feedback before maps ITEM 9.3 - Attachment E
AB 2517
are finalized. By improving communication and collaboration, we can help ensure communities are better informed and better prepared for wildfire risk. 2) Fire Hazard Severity Zones. FHSZs are categorized as moderate, high, and very high based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. FHSZ maps evaluate “hazard” based on the physical conditions that create a likelihood and expected fire behavior over a 30 to 50-year period without considering mitigation measures such as home hardening, defensible space, vegetation management, or fuel reduction efforts. The fire hazard severity model for wildland fire has two key elements: probability of an area burning and expected fire behavior under extreme fuel and weather conditions.
Classification of each zone is based on the average hazard across the zone, which have a minimum size of 200 acres. In wildlands, hazard is a function of modeled flame length under the worst conditions and annual burn probability. Both these factors generally increase with increasing hazard level, but there may be instances where one value is ‘very high’ and the other is low, pushing the overall hazard into a more intermediate ranking. On average, both modeled flame length and burn probability increase by roughly 40-60% between hazard classes. Classification outside of wildland areas is based on the fire hazard of the adjacent wildland and the probability of flames and embers threatening buildings.
In 2007, CAL FIRE mapped the three tiered FHSZs for the SRA and the VHFHSZ for the lands managed locally in the LRA, which includes incorporated cities, urban regions, agriculture lands, and portions of the desert where the local government is responsible for wildfire protection.
SB 63 (Stern), Chapter 382, Statutes of 2021, required CAL FIRE to adopt of the FHSZs in the LRA. The maps – including updated maps for the SRA – were released last year.
Approximately 1.2 million acres are now mapped as VHFHSZ – a 35% increase from the old maps published between 2007 and 2011. There are 1.4 million covered acres in the high and very high FHSZs combined. Including all three zones, a total of 6.8 million acres across the state are mapped in a FHSZ. Approximately one in four residential structures in California is located within or near high or very high FHSZ under the new maps.
CAL FIRE uses the same modeling data that are used to map the SRA to develop the FHSZs in the LRA. Creating maps is a laborious process that requires scrutinizing detailed data across the state, including small pockets of potentially flammable wildlands within cities, and then coordinating with hundreds of local jurisdictions for validation of the mapping.
The FHSZs are used for several purposes, including to designate areas where California’s defensible space standards and wildland urban interface (WUI) building codes are required. 3) SFM process for developing the FHSZs. The SFM designates the FHZS maps based on science and measured fire hazard. Many factors are included such as fire history, vegetation, flame length, blowing embers, proximity to wildland, terrain, and weather. How local governments have zoned their jurisdictions in the LRA is not a determining factor for identifying fire hazard. Neither are impacts on the real estate market, local businesses, or defensible space compliance costs. The maps are simply an indication of fire hazard that subsequently informs how new structures are built, which defensible space requirements may ITEM 9.3 - Attachment E
AB 2517
apply, local evacuation planning, and other safety elements for mapped communities.
However, local governments’ zoning and land use information may elucidate the current vegetation status of a parcel or area that the SFM’s technologies may not have current information about.
This bill requires the SFM, at least 180 days before finalizing the FHSZ maps, to post draft maps online, make available their models and methodologies used for designating the maps, and conduct public workshops to solicit public comments. Further, the bill requires the SFM to respond to all written comments received from local agencies regarding land use and zoning matters.
Development of the FHSZ maps are not subject to the Administrative Procedures Act, which means there is no opportunity for local governments to actively track or participate in the maps’ development. Without insight into that process, local governments can feel challenged complying within 120 days with adoption of their own ordinance that accurately reflects their districts.
To prevent creating a public process that could potentially frustrate and/or delay adoption of the maps due to irrelevant comments that shouldn’t influence the fire hazard designation, the bill could be tailored to local government input that is germane to the lands being assessed for fire hazard.
4) Local maps. Once the SFM finalizes the FHSZ designation, it transmits the maps identifying the FHSZs along with a model ordinance to the governing body of a local agency for adoption.
Under current law, local agencies have 120 days from receipt of the state’s recommendations to designate FHSZs by ordinance. A local agency may, at its discretion, increase the level of FHSZ identified by the SFM, or include areas within its jurisdiction into its FHSZ ordinance, but a local agency may not decrease the level of FHSZ identified by the SFM.
The SFM’s regulationsirequire, within 30 days of adopting a local ordinance designating VHFHSZ, a local agency to transmit a copy of the ordinance and a map to the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) and any information about the decision to include areas within the jurisdiction as VHFHSZ that were not identified as such by SFM.
This bill creates redundancy with the SFM’s requirements to transmit the maps identifying the FHSZs to the appropriate local agency, but also makes an important clarification in local FHSZ mapping by requiring a local agency to increase the level of fire hazard severity applicable to a parcel in its jurisdiction if a parcel contains two or more designations, so that the higher level of fire hazard severity would apply to the entire parcel. 5) Double referral. This bill is also referred to the Assembly Emergency Management Committee.
6) Committee amendments. The committee may wish to consider amending the bill to eliminate redundancies, truncate the public process to require one online public workshop, and clarify the relevant stakeholders submitting comments to the SFM.
ITEM 9.3 - Attachment E
AB 2517
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Planning Association, California Chapter
California Association of Realtors
California Building Officials
California State Association of Counties
California Water Association
City of Artesia, California
City of Belmont
City of Brentwood
City of Buena Park
City of Carpinteria
City of Folsom, California
City of Glendora
City of LA Quinta
City of LA Verne
City of Laguna Niguel
City of Lakeport
City of Lomita
City of Los Alamitos
City of Moorpark
City of Paso Robles Fire Department
City of Pittsburg
City of Rancho Santa Margarita
City of Rocklin
City of Rolling Hills Estates
City of San Clemente
City of Stanton
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Tracy
City of Ventura
City of Vista
City of Walnut Creek
City of Whittier
City of Laguna Beach
City of Mission Viejo
City of Murrieta
City of Palm Springs
City of Paso Robles
League of California Cities
Redwood Empire Division, League of
California Cities
Riverside County, California
West Hollywood/Hernan Molina,
Governmental Affairs Liaison
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by: Paige Brokaw / NAT. RES. /
i California Code of Regulations, Title 14, sec. 1280.02 (a) ITEM 9.3 - Attachment E
This page is intentionally blank.
1400 K Street, Suite 400, Sacramento, CA 95814 • 916.658.8200 • calcities.org February 23, 2026
The Honorable Lisa Calderon
Member, California State Assembly
1021 O Street, Suite 4650
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: AB 2517 (Calderon) Fire Hazard Severity Zones.
Notice of SPONSOR AND SUPPORT (As Introduced on February 20, 2026) Dear Assemblymember Calderon,
The League of California Cities (Cal Cities) is pleased to sponsor and support AB 2517, which would improve the Fire Hazard Severity Zone (FHSZ) designation process by ensuring consistent updates to the FHSZ maps and establishing a more transparent, publicly accessible process for developing and releasing these critical designations.
Under current law, fire hazard severity zone designations are applied in both the state responsibility areas and local responsibility areas to provide the state’s best available science related to what environmental conditions, such as slope, vegetation, and wind patterns, can spread a wildfire. The LRA FHSZ designations are only required to be periodically re-reviewed every five years and statute does not require a comprehensive update to the designations. Prior to the most recent release earlier in 2025, the LRA FHSZ maps had not been updated since between 2007 and 2009. With the 2025 map release, important concerns were raised to the State Fire Marshal, including the accuracy of land use information, including split parcels with multiple designations and the classification of developed areas such as parking lots and bodies of water as very high fire hazard severity zones. These issues create practical challenges for cities who are required to adopt these maps by ordinance and host public comment locally without any ability to respond to the public concerns regarding the model and data.
AB 2517 would address these concerns by clarifying how and when the FHSZ maps are updated, specifically how the public can engage meaningfully in the process. The bill would establish a five-year update cycle for the LRA FHSZ maps, require a preliminary public release of the maps, mandate disclosure of the data, models, and methodology used to develop the designations, and provide opportunities for regional workshops and public comment before maps are transmitted to the local agency for local ordinance adoption.
For these reasons, Cal Cities supports AB 2517 (Calderon) and is pleased to sponsor the bill.
If you have any questions, please contact Legislative Advocate Melissa Sparks-Kranz at [email protected] at 916-658-8232.
Sincerely,
Melissa Sparks-Kranz
Legislative Advocate
League of California Cities
ITEM 9.3 - Attachment F