AB 1699: Good Fire Act: Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Program: burn bosses: California Environmental Quality Act.

Official summary

Legislative Counsel’s Digest (official, as of the latest version). Written by nonpartisan legislative staff; reproduced verbatim.

Existing law establishes, until January 1, 2028, the Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Program, to be administered by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to increase the pace and scale of the use of prescribed fire and cultural burning and to reduce barriers for conducting prescribed fires and cultural burning. Existing law creates the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund in the State Treasury to support coverage for losses from prescribed fires and cultural burning by nonpublic entities, such as cultural fire practitioners, private landowners, and nongovernmental entities. Under existing law, moneys in the fund are under the control of the department, and the department or a contracted third-party administrator is authorized to direct payments for claims from the fund, consistent with specified guidelines adopted by the department. These guidelines include, among other things, (1) a requirement that an eligible claim relate to either a prescribed fire conducted or supervised by a burn boss, as defined, or a cultural burn conducted or supervised by a cultural fire practitioner, and (2) a requirement that a claim shall not be paid from the fund unless the department reviewed and approved a burn plan before the prescribed fire or cultural burning. Existing law requires, upon order of the Department of Finance, the $20,000,000 appropriated to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection by the Legislature in the Budget Act of 2021 be transferred into the fund, and provides that all moneys deposited or transferred into the fund be continuously appropriated to the department for these purposes.

By Executive Order N-35-25, Governor Gavin Newsom suspended the limitation on public and governmental agencies enrolling in the Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Program to the extent that the limitation would prohibit resource conservation districts and volunteer fire departments or districts from such enrollment.

This bill would establish the Good Fire Act, which would indefinitely extend the Prescribed Fire Liability Program. The bill would explicitly state that the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund shall support coverage for losses from prescribed fires and cultural burning on any lands within the state. The bill would also expand program eligibility by changing the entities who may receive coverage for losses from prescribed fires and cultural burning from nonpublic entities to individuals and entities other than the department or the federal government, as provided. By extending the term of a continuous appropriation and authorizing the expenditure of continuously appropriated funds for new purposes, the bill would make an appropriation.

This bill would eliminate the requirement for department approval for a plan reviewed and approved by a burn boss, and would require a burn plan to be submitted to the claims fund portal before ignition. The bill would also require the guidelines to include methods for prioritizing broadcast burns and burns by non-public individuals or entities or California Native American tribes in the event the fund is oversubscribed. Within one year of a claim being paid from the fund, the bill would require the department to submit a report to the Legislature regarding the claim process and propose statutory changes related to the fund, as provided.

Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal, with the involvement of the Statewide Training and Education Advisory Committee, to develop a curriculum for, or amend into an existing curriculum, a certification program for burn bosses who possess authority to engage in a prescribed burning operation and to enter into the necessary contracts related to a prescribed burning operation. Existing law requires this curriculum to provide for the initial certification as well as the continuing education of burn bosses. Under existing law, specified civil liability protections and eligibility for claims from the Prescribed Fire Claims Fund extend to prescribed burns that, among other things, are reviewed and approved by a burn boss certified pursuant to these provisions, as provided.

This bill would require, as part of the continuing education of burn bosses, the State Fire Marshal to require recertification no sooner than every 3 years. The bill would also require the department to consider methods to increase the pool of available instructors for the certification program, including the use of non-department instructors. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the Statewide Training and Education Advisory Committee, to develop a mechanism to allow specified individuals to be designated as a burn boss. The bill would authorize these individuals certified pursuant to this process to use the above-described recertification process to maintain currency.

Sponsors

Sponsors by party (alphabetical): Democratic 7 · Republican 3

“Support” is shown only as formal sponsorship recorded by the legislature. Roll-call votes are available on the official bill page.

Recent official actions

1. September 29, 2026Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 761, Statutes of 2026.
2. September 29, 2026Approved by the Governor.
3. September 9, 2026Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 1 p.m.
4. August 30, 2026Urgency clause adopted. Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 6913.).
5. August 30, 2026In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
6. August 30, 2026Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly.
7. August 30, 2026Ordered to special consent calendar.
8. August 24, 2026Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
9. August 20, 2026Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.
10. August 13, 2026Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
11. August 13, 2026From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 13).
12. August 3, 2026In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.