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Committee advances bill to define ‘environmentally sensitive vegetation management’ to guide funding
Summary
SB 653 would establish a voluntary, science‑based definition for environmentally sensitive vegetation management (ESVM) to help state funders prioritize projects that combine wildfire fuel reduction with ecological restoration; the committee passed the bill to the floor as amended.
SB 653, which would establish a voluntary, science‑based definition for “environmentally sensitive vegetation management” (ESVM), was advanced by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee with a due‑pass recommendation to the Assembly floor.
Proponents said the definition would not change existing vegetation management practice but would provide consistent language for grant programs and funding bodies to prioritize projects that reduce wildfire risk while protecting biodiversity and restoring native habitats. The bill’s sponsor, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, and conservation witnesses said the measure is voluntary and imposes no new mandates or costs.
Cody Cifuentes Winter, supervisory vegetation ecologist for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, told the committee the district manages about 70,000 acres and for 50 years has combined ecological restoration with fuel reduction. “SB 653 supports this dual purpose approach by establishing a clear, science based definition for environmentally sensitive vegetation management,” Cifuentes Winter said. He emphasized the definition is intended to be a consistent voluntary framework for agencies and project partners to recognize ecologically beneficial projects.
Doug Johnson, executive director of the California Invasive Plant Council, supported the bill and highlighted an operational concern: vegetation management can disturb soils and enable invasive plants to spread. He said the voluntary definition would allow funders to create special programs that prioritize ESVM approaches and help land managers reduce weed spread when fuels treatment is conducted.
Committee members asked questions and one member asked to be added as a co‑author after the presentation. The author accepted amendments; the committee’s roll call showed the motion carried and the measure was referred to the Assembly floor as amended.
SB 653 includes a direction for CAL FIRE to quantify how much biomass is produced from funded projects and to provide guidance on how much material might be suitable for use in alternatives to burning; witnesses noted the bill does not mandate outcomes but requests additional quantification to inform future programs.
