Wildfire Safety and Risk Mitigation Program.

Senator Cortese's wildfire safety legislation establishes a new research program authorizing California universities to develop public catastrophe modeling tools for wildfire risk assessment and mitigation planning. The Department of Insurance would administer competitive grants to create research centers tasked with building computer simulations that analyze potential property damage from major wildfires, making this data accessible to emergency planners, safety groups, and communities.

The program requires grant recipients to produce models that inform state and local emergency planning, aid wildfire safety initiatives, advance risk mitigation research, and support insurance regulation. Universities must also develop outreach programs to educate potential users of the modeling tools, including emergency responders, agricultural organizations, researchers and educators. The Department would establish performance metrics and funding criteria focused on complementing existing federal and private sector wildfire mitigation efforts while prioritizing projects benefiting disadvantaged communities facing insurance access challenges.

A new Wildfire Safety and Risk Mitigation Account within the Insurance Fund would support model development and deployment. The Department must create a multi-year implementation framework, identify key milestones after initial grants are awarded, and provide budget recommendations to the Legislature and Governor by September 2026. The program becomes operational upon receiving legislative appropriation.