(a) (1) “Timber operations” means the cutting or removal, or both, of timber or other solid wood forest products, including Christmas trees, from timberlands for commercial purposes, together with all the incidental work, including, but not limited to, construction and maintenance of roads, fuelbreaks, firebreaks, stream crossings, landings, skid trails, and beds for the falling of trees, fire hazard abatement, and site preparation that involves disturbance of soil or burning of vegetation following timber harvesting activities, but excluding preparatory work such as treemarking, surveying, or roadflagging.

(2) “Commercial purposes” includes (A) the cutting or removal of trees that are processed into logs, lumber, or other wood products and offered for sale, barter, exchange, or trade, or (B) the cutting or removal of trees or other forest products during the conversion of timberlands to land uses other than the growing of timber that are subject to Section 4621, including, but not limited to, residential or commercial developments, production of other agricultural crops, recreational developments, ski developments, water development projects, and transportation projects.

(b) For purposes of this section, the removal of trees less than 16 inches in diameter at breast height from a firebreak or fuelbreak does not constitute “timber operations” if the removal meets all of the following criteria:

(1) It is located within 500 feet of the boundary of an urban wildland interface community at high risk of wildfire, as defined in pages 751 to 776, inclusive, of Volume 66 of the Federal Register (66 FR 751-02), as that definition may be amended from time to time. For purposes of this paragraph, “urban wildland interface community at high risk of wildfire” means an area having one or more structures for every five acres.

(2) It is part of a community wildfire protection plan approved by the department or part of a department fire plan.

(3) The trees to be removed will not be processed into logs or lumber, unless the work is being conducted by, or in partnership with, a public agency or a nonprofit organization that has received a grant from the department for vegetation management or fuel reduction, in which case the logs or lumber may be sold.

(4) The work to be conducted is under a firebreak or fuelbreak project that has been subject to a project-based review pursuant to a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or environmental impact report in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000)). For projects to be conducted on forested landscapes, as defined in Section 754, the project and the project-based review shall be prepared by or in consultation with a registered professional forester.

(5) The removal of surface and ladder fuels is consistent with former paragraph (9) of subdivision (j) of Section 4584, as that section read on December 31, 2018.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 626, Sec. 11. (SB 901) Effective January 1, 2019.)