(a) The department, with the approval of the Department of General Services, may enter into a cooperative agreement upon the terms and under the conditions as it deems wise, for the purpose of preventing and suppressing forest fires or other fires in any lands within a county, city, or district that makes an appropriation for that purpose.

(b) Within 30 days of the final approval of a new or renewed cooperative agreement, as described in this section, valued at five million dollars ($5,000,000) or more, the department shall submit to the relevant fiscal and policy committees of each house of the Legislature, in accordance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, a copy of the final agreement and a brief summary of the agreement for purposes of highlighting information relevant to the Legislature’s fiscal oversight of the agreement. The summary shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(1) The value of the agreement.

(2) The number of positions associated with the agreement.

(3) Whether the agreement is new or a renewal.

(4) Whether the agreement expands upon an existing agreement.

(5) A brief discussion of the manner in which the agreement scored on the department’s evaluation criteria, and the degree to which the agreement aligns with the department’s base mission, as described in Sections 713 and 714.

(6) A brief discussion of any subjective factors that influenced the director’s decision.

(c) When the state assumes personnel from a county, city, or district, an actuarially determined benefit factor shall be included as a cost in the cooperative agreement, including renewals of the agreement, for a county, city, or district that elects to allow the completed years an employee worked at that county, city, or district, or a lesser number of completed years specified by the local agency, to be credited towards the vesting period for state postretirement health benefits. The department shall certify the completed years of county, city, or district service to be credited to an employee to the Board of Administration Public Employees’ Retirement System at the time of separation for retirement. The actuarially determined benefit factor shall be accepted as sufficient by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, upon review by the Department of Finance, to fully compensate the state for the postretirement health benefit costs of those employees. The postretirement health benefit costs charged under this subdivision may be paid in periodic installments at the discretion of the department. If the costs are paid in installments, the payment of the postretirement health benefit costs for years credited for nonstate service shall be a continuing obligation of a county, city, or district that made that election, regardless of whether or not the cooperative agreement continues or is renewed, and regardless of whether or not the employees continue in state service.

(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 718, Sec. 10. (SB 855) Effective October 19, 2010.)