CA AB 706

in committee

Forest Organic Residue, Energy, and Safety Transformation (FOREST) and Wildfire Prevention Fund Act.

California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · lower

Description

Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL-FIRE) and makes CAL-FIRE responsible for, among other things, fire protection and prevention, as provided. Existing law establishes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection in CAL-FIRE to represent the state's interest in the acquisition and management of state forests and requires the board to maintain an adequate forest policy. Former Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., issued a proclamation of a state of emergency on October 30, 2015, that required CAL-FIRE, the Natural Resources Agency, the Department of Transportation, and the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) , among other things, to identify areas of the state that represent high hazard zones for wildfire and falling trees, known as Tier 1 and Tier 2 high hazard zones. Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. The California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program requires every electrical corporation to file with the PUC a standard tariff for electricity generated by an electric generation facility, as defined, that qualifies for the tariff, is owned and operated by a retail customer of the electrical corporation, and is located within the service territory of, and developed to sell electricity to, the electrical corporation. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, make moneys from the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund or from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund available to the state board to establish the Forest Organic Residue Energy and Safety Transformation (FOREST) program in order to maintain and expand biomass power generation in the state, to revitalize idle facilities for biomass power generation, and to support biomass power generation facilities by creating additional capacity for power generation or feedstock utilization in strategically located regions of the state. The bill would make a facility's solid fuel biomass electrical generation eligible for reimbursement at an incentive rate determined by the state board if, among other things, the facility uses solid fuel biomass or forest biomass waste, as defined, to generate electricity and the electricity is sold to specified retail sellers. The bill would require, among other things, that no less than 60% of the feedstock used by a facility originate from Tier 1 and Tier 2 high hazard zones, as defined. The bill would create an application process for an operator of a facility to seek this reimbursement that also requires the operator to demonstrate the facility is certified by the Energy Commission as an eligible renewable energy resource for purposes of the California Renewable Portfolio Standards Program, as provided, and would require the state board to adopt regulations to implement the FOREST program, as provided. This bill would establish the FOREST and Wildfire Prevention Fund in the State Treasury, and would make moneys in the fund available, upon appropriation, to the Natural Resources Agency for the FOREST program, as specified.

Introduced: 2025-03-28
Status date: —
Latest action: 2026-07-02 — Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
Bill type: bill
Last updated: —

Subjects

ForestOrganicResidue,Energy,andSafetyTransformation(FOREST)andWildfirePreventionFundAct

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

2025-02-14
Read first time. To print.
reading-1
2025-02-15
From printer. May be heard in committee March 17.
2025-03-28
Referred to Coms. on NAT. RES. and U. & E.
referral-committee
2025-03-28
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on NAT. RES. Read second time and amended.
amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2025-04-01
Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES.
referral-committee
2025-04-10
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on NAT. RES. Read second time and amended.
amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2025-04-21
Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES.
referral-committee
2025-04-22
Coauthors revised.
2025-04-22
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on U. & E. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (April 21).
amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,referral-committee
2025-04-23
Read second time and amended.
amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2
2025-04-24
Re-referred to Com. on U. & E.
referral-committee
2025-04-28
Measure version as amended on April 23 corrected.
amendment-passage
2025-05-01
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 18. Noes 0.) (April 30). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee
2025-05-14
In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.
referral-committee
2025-05-23
Assembly Rule 63 suspended. (Ayes 51. Noes 16. Page 1644.)
2025-05-23
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (May 23).
amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage
2025-05-23
Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.
amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2
2025-05-27
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
reading-1,reading-2,reading-3
2025-06-02
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 75. Noes 0. Page 1906.)
passage,reading-1,reading-3
2025-06-03
In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
reading-1,referral-committee
2025-06-11
Referred to Coms. on N.R. & W. and E., U & C.
referral-committee
2026-06-18
In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
2026-06-18
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on N.R. & W.
amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee
2026-06-24
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on E., U & C. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 23). Re-referred to Com. on E., U & C.
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,referral-committee
2026-07-02
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (June 30).
amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,referral-committee
2026-07-02
Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

Versions

02/14/25 - Introduced — 2025-02-14Compare
03/28/25 - Amended Assembly — 2025-03-28Compare
04/10/25 - Amended Assembly — 2025-04-10Compare
04/23/25 - Amended Assembly — 2025-04-23Compare
05/23/25 - Amended Assembly — 2025-05-23Compare
06/18/26 - Amended Senate — 2026-06-18Compare
07/02/26 - Amended Senate — 2026-07-02Compare
AB706Compare
(document, no version)Compare

Documents

Votes

Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Utilities and Energy]
2025-04-21 · pass · 13-0
Member-level votes (14)
- Alanis: yes
- Garcia: yes
- Zbur: yes
- Bryan: yes
- Hoover: yes
- Wicks: yes
- Flora: yes
- Kalra: yes
- Connolly: yes
- Haney: yes
- Pellerin: yes
- Ellis: yes
- Schultz: yes
- Muratsuchi: other
Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]
2025-04-30 · pass · 18-0
Member-level votes (18)
- Patterson: yes
- Boerner: yes
- Zbur: yes
- Hart: yes
- Calderon: yes
- Chen: yes
- Irwin: yes
- Rogers: yes
- Wallis: yes
- Fong: yes
- Solache: yes
- Ta: yes
- Petrie-Norris: yes
- Harabedian: yes
- Papan: yes
- Schiavo: yes
- Davies: yes
- Mark González: yes
Do pass as amended.
2025-05-23 · pass · 11-0
Member-level votes (15)
- Calderon: yes
- Elhawary: yes
- Hart: yes
- Mark González: yes
- Arambula: yes
- Pacheco: yes
- Solache: yes
- Caloza: yes
- Wicks: yes
- Pellerin: yes
- Fong: yes
- Ta: other
- Sanchez: other
- Dixon: other
- Tangipa: other
AB 706 Aguiar-Curry Assembly Third Reading
2025-06-03 · pass · 75-0
Member-level votes (79)
- Addis: yes
- Garcia: yes
- Rivas: yes
- Petrie-Norris: yes
- Bryan: yes
- Michelle Rodriguez: yes
- Rogers: yes
- Gallagher: yes
- Irwin: yes
- Wicks: yes
- Arambula: yes
- Caloza: yes
- Ahrens: yes
- Krell: yes
- Stefani: yes
- Harabedian: yes
- Mark González: yes
- Calderon: yes
- Nguyen: yes
- Patterson: yes
- Ward: yes
- Carrillo: yes
- Blanca Rubio: yes
- Patel: yes
- Solache: yes
- Chen: yes
- Bonta: yes
- Lowenthal: yes
- McKinnor: yes
- Ellis: yes
- Papan: yes
- Jeff Gonzalez: yes
- Schiavo: yes
- Gabriel: yes
- Dixon: yes
- DeMaio: yes
- Pacheco: yes
- Ávila Farías: yes
- Aguiar-Curry: yes
- Ransom: yes
- Connolly: yes
- Fong: yes
- Quirk-Silva: yes
- Ramos: yes
- Soria: yes
- Tangipa: yes
- Pellerin: yes
- Elhawary: yes
- Davies: yes
- Kalra: yes
- Wallis: yes
- Alanis: yes
- Haney: yes
- Gipson: yes
- Macedo: yes
- Castillo: yes
- Hart: yes
- Boerner: yes
- Alvarez: yes
- Bauer-Kahan: yes
- Sanchez: yes
- Schultz: yes
- Berman: yes
- Sharp-Collins: yes
- Jackson: yes
- Wilson: yes
- Hoover: yes
- Lackey: yes
- Ta: yes
- Flora: yes
- Bennett: yes
- Hadwick: yes
- Ortega: yes
- Bains: yes
- Valencia: yes
- Zbur: other
- Lee: other
- Muratsuchi: other
- Celeste Rodriguez: other
Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Energy, Utilities and Communications]
2026-06-23 · pass · 7-0
Member-level votes (7)
- Becker: yes
- Laird: yes
- Grove: yes
- Stern: yes
- Allen: yes
- Seyarto: yes
- Cabaldon: yes
Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations]
2026-06-30 · pass · 17-0
Member-level votes (17)
- Dahle: yes
- Arreguín: yes
- Archuleta: yes
- Hurtado: yes
- Ashby: yes
- Allen: yes
- Becker: yes
- Reyes: yes
- Strickland: yes
- Caballero: yes
- Grove: yes
- Gonzalez: yes
- McNerney: yes
- Ochoa Bogh: yes
- Wahab: yes
- Stern: yes
- Richardson: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB706

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T01:34:27.960412Z

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