Wildfires: fire hazard severity zones: post-wildfire safety areas.

Senator Durazo and her principal coauthors present a broader, data-driven approach to California’s wildfire risk framework by creating a new category of post-wildfire safety areas and expanding the factors used to designate fire hazard severity zones, tying hazard mapping to wildfire perimeters and urban-conflagration risk while embedding these considerations into local planning processes.

Key provisions establish new and expanded criteria for fire hazard severity zones, including areas within a wildfire’s perimeter and factors such as winds that drive spread, agricultural land’s influence, and the potential for structures to act as fuel that extends ember cast beyond wildland boundaries. The bill also defines post-wildfire safety areas and requires the State Fire Marshal to publish the model and methodology for hazard designations at least 60 days before finalizing them, and to publish methodology whenever revisions are made. It adds a new definitions framework—area burned in a wildfire, post-wildfire safety area, and the set of state fire protection standards drawn from building, fire, residential codes, and related regulations.

The proposal introduces a concrete designations timeline and local-implementation requirements: any area within the specified wildfire perimeters that meets the defined thresholds is designated a post-wildfire safety area for fires occurring on or after January 1, 2025, with maps transmitted to local jurisdictions within a defined window and local agencies obligated to post notices and the map within 10 business days. The designation triggers application of state fire protection standards within 30 days after map transmission, and the designation process includes a rulemaking exemption for the initial post-wildfire safety area designation. Locally, jurisdictions must post notices and the map on government websites and incorporate post-wildfire safety areas into applicable safety- and planning-related timelines, creating a state-mandated local program subject to reimbursement if mandated costs are identified.

Beyond hazard designations, the bill integrates post-wildfire safety areas into the general plan’s safety element, requiring updates to address fire risk in these areas alongside existing state responsibility areas and very high fire hazard zones. It also obligates periodic review and publication of hazard models and methodologies in conjunction with the five-year cycle for state responsibility lands, and contemplates ongoing coordination with multiple state agencies, climate adaptation planning, and hazard mitigation frameworks. The overall aim is to codify a transparent, cross-cutting planning and enforcement framework that aligns hazard mapping, fire protection standards, and local land-use planning with wildfire perimeter data and urban-risk considerations.