AB1960 - Wildfire Prevention Grants Program: wildfire mitigation validation.

Enrolled September 03, 2026 Passed IN Senate August 30, 2026 Passed IN Assembly August 30, 2026 Amended IN Senate August 19, 2026 Amended IN Senate June 25, 2026 Amended IN Assembly April 08, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 26, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 1960 Introduced by Assembly Member Bennett (Coauthors: Assembly Members Ahrens, Connolly, Harabedian, and Hart) (Coauthor: Senator Stern) February 13, 2026 An act to add Section 4124.9 to the Public Resources Code, relating to fire prevention. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1960, Bennett. Wildfire Prevention Grants Program: wildfire mitigation validation. Existing law requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to establish a local assistance grant program for fire prevention and home hardening education activities in California and extends eligibility for grants to, among others, local agencies, resource conservation districts, fire safe councils, the California Conservation Corps, certified community conservation corps, Native American tribes, and qualified nonprofit organizations. Existing law requires the department, on or before December 31, 2023, and annually thereafter, to post on its internet website certain information regarding hazardous fuel reduction and vegetation management projects funded or conducted by the department for the preceding fiscal year, including projects funded under the department’s Wildfire Prevention Grants Program, as provided. Existing law requires the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to establish a statewide program to allow qualified entities, as defined, who have completed a specific training program developed and administered by the department to support and augment the department in its defensible space and home hardening assessment and education efforts. This bill would require the department, in consultation with the State Fire Marshal’s Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee, to establish a wildfire mitigation validation program to provide voluntary official recognition to a community that achieves progress toward community-scale wildfire preparedness and mitigations. The bill would require the department, in consultation with the committee, to (1) set the wildfire mitigations, including, among other things, home hardening and defensible space requirements, and (2) set the minimum percentage of mitigations required to achieve recognition and set increases in those percentages, as provided. The bill would authorize the department, commencing with the 2028–29 fiscal year, to disburse funds appropriated for the Wildfire Prevention Grants Program to recognized communities that partner with fire safe councils or other eligible groups, as provided. The bill would authorize the department to prioritize disadvantaged recognized fire communities pursuant to its established procedures for prioritizing disadvantaged applicants for the Wildfire Prevention Grants Program. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Section 4124.9 is added to the Public Resources Code, immediately following Section 4124.8, to read: 4124.9. (a) In consultation with the State Fire Marshal’s Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee, established pursuant to Section 4209.4, the department shall establish a wildfire mitigation validation program to provide voluntary official recognition to a community that achieves progress towards community-scale wildfire preparedness and mitigations. (b) The department, in consultation with the State Fire Marshal’s Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee, shall set the wildfire mitigations, including the following: (1) Home hardening pursuant to Section 13108.5 of the Health and Safety Code and paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 4291.5 of this code. (2) Defensible space requirements pursuant to Section 51182 of the Government Code and Section 4291 of this code. (3) Recognition as Firewise USA Communities. (4) Fuel reduction projects adjacent to the community including maintained green space. (5) Other science-backed mitigations or requirements determined by the State Fire Marshal. (c) (1) The department, in consultation with the State Fire Marshal’s Wildfire Mitigation Advisory Committee, shall set the minimum percentage of mitigations required to achieve recognition pursuant to this section and shall set increases in those percentages to incentivize continued community-scale preparedness. (2) For purposes of this subdivision, the department shall base recognition upon objective, verifiable, and periodically reviewed wildfire mitigation criteria supported by publicly available methodology and data. (d) The department may, commencing with the 2028–29 fiscal year, disburse funds appropriated for the department’s Wildfire Prevention Grants Program to recognized communities that partner with a fire safe council or other eligible group as identified in subdivision (a) of Section 4124.5. (e) For purposes of the funding described in subdivision (d), a fire safe council or other eligible group shall be both of the following: (1) The entity that applies to the department for grant funding. The application shall be on behalf of an individual or group of individuals affiliated with the community. (2) The entity that receives and manages any grant funding awarded to a recognized community from the Wildfire Prevention Grants Program. The fire safe council or eligible group shall determine how to use the funds in the community for hazardous fuels reduction, wildfire prevention planning, and wildfire prevention education, among other activities. (f) Disadvantaged recognized communities may be awarded preference pursuant to the department’s established procedures for prioritizing disadvantaged applicants in their evaluation of applicants for the Wildfire Prevention Grants Program. (g) Qualification as a recognized community pursuant to this section shall not be used for purposes of the business of insurance, and shall not establish actuarial justification for insurance rate adjustments, catastrophe model modifications, underwriting changes, or mitigation credits absent supporting empirical and statistical evidence.