California officials outline timetable, funding and enforcement plans for 5‑foot "Zone 0" defensible‑space rule

The Joint Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee and Budget Subcommittee 2 convened a hearing to review state progress on adopting and implementing a new defensible‑space requirement known as Zone 0 — a five‑foot ember‑resistant area immediately surrounding a structure — and the challenges of enforcing it across California.

State and local officials said the Board of Forestry and Fire Protection is on a fast regulatory schedule and CAL FIRE is expanding inspections and homeowner assistance to boost compliance while acknowledging cultural, legal and funding challenges.

The Board of Forestry’s assistant executive officer, Dan Stapleton, described Zone 0 as “a new defensible space zone within the first 5 feet of a home or building” and said the board’s March 21 draft rule prohibits “landscaping or other materials that are likely to be ignited by embers” in that area except for limited potted plants that meet specifications. Stapleton said trees shorter than the roof would not be allowed in Zone 0 and that perpendicular fences attached to buildings must be noncombustible.

California State Fire Marshal Daniel Berlant told the committee that preventing structure ignitions is critical because “homes that ignite on wildfire have a 90% chance of being completely destroyed.” He said the state seeks a layered approach — forest management, community mitigation, home hardening and defensible space — and noted a goal to reach every home in the State Responsibility Area on a three‑year cycle. Berlant said CAL FIRE set an annual target of 250,000 inspections and performed nearly 300,000 inspections last fiscal year (covering roughly 200,000 individual properties). He also described a new defensible‑space inspection dashboard the department has posted to provide more granular transparency on inspections and findings.

Local officials described how inspection programs and enforcement vary by jurisdiction. Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner, whose department requires and enforces defensible space locally, said his office inspects tens of thousands of lots annually and reported about 99% compliance on those inspections. Gardner said local government enforcement powers, paired with community education and nonprofit partners, have been central to achieving compliance in Ventura County.

Research and insurance experts at the hearing emphasized that embers — not the wildfire front alone — drive many home ignitions and that clearing combustible material from the first five feet around structures is essential. Steve Hawkes, senior director for wildfire at the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, said, “removing all combustible materials from the first 5 feet around the structure, called Zone 0, is the linchpin of this system.” He and other speakers emphasized that Zone 0 does not require a yard of concrete but does require an ember‑resistant buffer immediately adjacent to structures.

Committee members pressed officials on practical issues raised by homeowners: what plants count as combustible, how to handle trees protected by other laws or association covenants, and whether local governments can adopt Zone 0 before state rules are final. Berlant and Stapleton said local jurisdictions may adopt their own ordinances now; Stapleton noted Berkeley and South Lake Tahoe as localities that had already moved ahead. Berlant said defensible‑space actions are exempt from CEQA but acknowledged legal and permitting complexities can arise when trees or protections conflict with other regulations.

Officials outlined the regulatory schedule Stapleton presented: another public workshop on May 12, additional rule revisions and public meetings in June, a formal public comment and hearing period in the third quarter, and completion of formal rulemaking by the Board of Forestry no later than the governor’s executive‑order deadline of December 31, 2025. Stapleton said, per the draft approach, the new rules would apply immediately to new construction and three years after adoption for existing structures, consistent with the statutory direction referenced in the hearing.

Officials also discussed financial and implementation supports. Berlant said the administration’s January budget proposal would set aside $25 million from a climate bond to create a homeowner financial‑assistance program targeting vulnerable Californians who cannot afford Zone 0 or other defensible‑space work. He also described a pilot home‑hardening program using nearly $20 million in state funds that has leveraged FEMA hazard‑mitigation dollars to provide retrofits in six counties and said the state aims to scale up to thousands of homes.

Committee members and speakers repeatedly returned to education, culture and incentives as the main levers to increase voluntary compliance: Berlant noted a “low cost retrofit list” of actions homeowners can take (such as noncombustible vent screening), Stapleton emphasized public workshops and stakeholder input, and Gardner credited repeated in‑person outreach and local Firewise/Fire Safe Council partnerships for high inspection compliance in Ventura County.

Where the law stands and what it will require remains a work in progress. Stapleton said the board is revising its draft rule based on workshops and public comments and will complete the required economic and technical analyses and a formal rulemaking record (ISOR) before finalizing regulations. Community groups and industry witnesses urged clearer, locally tailored education materials, accessible low‑cost retrofit programs, and targeted financial assistance to avoid disproportionately burdening low‑income households.

Officials said next steps include the May 12 workshop, continued rule revisions and an aggressive public‑comment and formal rule‑adoption timeline aimed at meeting the December 31, 2025 regulatory deadline.

The hearing also produced several operational clarifications: the Board of Forestry’s work is proceeding under the Public Resources Code and other statutory directions noted at the hearing; local jurisdictions are free to adopt Zone 0 rules in advance of the state’s final regulations; defensible‑space enforcement in many counties combines education with authority to abate noncompliant vegetation and place assessments on property tax rolls when abatement is performed by the jurisdiction.