So, if you haven't heard, the Gov is going to be waiving CEQA requirements for fuels reduction projects for the next two years.  This is in part to give the Board of Forestry time to revise the VTP.  THIS WILL NOT BE A PERMANENT SUSPENSION!

Projects must be submitted to the state through their project portal which will go live next week.  The state will review the project and within 30 days make a determination on whether or not a project can be waived.  

There are of course sideboards.  There can be a commercial component to this, but it is unclear right now how much????

Some important things that folks will have to do:

1. The primary objective of the project is at least one of these activities:

• Removal of hazardous, dead, and/or dying trees
• Removal of vegetation for the creation of strategic fuel breaks as identified by approved fire prevention plans, including without limitation, CAL FIRE Unit Fire Plans or Community Wildfire Preparedness Plans
• Removal of vegetation for community defensible space
• Removal of vegetation along roadways, high-ways, and freeways for the creation of safer ingress and egress routes for the public and responders and/or to reduce roadside ignitions
• Removal of vegetation using cultural traditional ecological knowledge for cultural burning and/or prescribed fire treatments for fuels reduction
• Maintenance of previously established fuel breaks or fuels modification projects

The following are able to submit for the exemption:  Eligible entities include, but are not limited to, public agencies, Tribes, Resource Conservation Districts, non-governmental organizations, Fire Safe Councils, utilities and professional land managers.

Finally, you have to comply with the EPP as Best Management Practices for this to work.

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