Committee advances AB 1455 to require emergency rulemaking for ember‑resistant "Zone 0" defensible space standards

The Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee moved AB 1455 to appropriations. The bill would clarify the Board of Forestry’s authority and timing to adopt emergency regulations implementing an ember‑resistant defensible‑space zone around structures, commonly called “Zone 0,” if normal rulemaking would prevent meeting the governor’s deadline set in an executive order.

The author said embers are a leading cause of structure ignitions and that the state is overdue on the board’s responsibility to establish zone‑0 standards; the bill accepts committee amendments aligning statutory language with the governor’s executive order and the author indicated intent to add an urgency clause to accelerate adoption. Supporters included Pacific Forest Trust and others who pointed to prior legislative direction and the 2023 deadlines that have not been met.

No organized opposition appeared in committee. Members discussed the need to finalize standards quickly but also to preserve adequate public participation and technical rigor. The committee passed the measure as amended and left it on call for absent members.