The working forest landowner who owns, leases, or otherwise controls or operates on all or any portion of any timberland within the boundaries of an approved working forest management plan, and who plans to harvest any of the timber during a given year, shall file a working forest harvest notice with the department in writing. A notice shall be filed prior to the harvesting of any timber and shall be effective for a maximum of one year from the date of filing. If the person who files the notice is not the owner of the timberland, the person filing the notice shall notify the timberland owner by certified mail that the notice has been submitted and shall certify that mailing to the department. The notice shall be a public record and shall include all of the following information:

(a) The name and address of the timber owner.

(b) The name and address of the timber operator.

(c) The name and address of the registered professional forester preparing the working forest management plan.

(d) A description of the land on which the work is proposed to be done.

(e) A statement that no archaeological sites have been discovered in the harvest area since the approval of the working forest management plan.

(f) A statement that state or federally listed rare, threatened, candidate, or endangered plant or animal species have not been discovered in the harvest area since the approval of the working forest management plan. Prior to submitting the notice, a review of the California Natural Diversity Database or other public databases for any species listed as threatened, endangered, candidate, or rare, or species that meet the criteria of endangered or rare as provided in Section 15380 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, shall be conducted after the initial year after the plan is approved. When a notice of operations is filed after the initial year the plan is approved, it shall comply with the following:

(1) Documented occurrences obtained from a review of public and readily available sources of species state or federally listed as threatened, endangered, candidate, or rare within the biological assessment area and outside the area identified in the working forest harvest notice not addressed in the approved plan shall be submitted to the director as a minor deviation concurrently with the filing of a working forest harvest notice.

(2) Occurrences of species that are state or federally listed as threatened, endangered, candidate, or rare discovered inside the area identified in the working forest harvest notice not addressed in the approved plan shall be submitted to the director as an amendment to the plan prior to filing a working forest harvest notice. The amendment shall contain take avoidance and mitigation measures if no such information is currently contained within the approved plan.

(g) A statement that there are no physical environmental changes in the harvest area that are so significant as to require any amendment of the working forest management plan.

(h) A certification by the registered professional forester that states either of the following:

(1) The notice as carried out will protect the beneficial uses of water, soil stability, forest productivity, and wildlife as provided by the rules and regulations of the board and other applicable provisions of law.

(2) Compliance with the rules and regulations of the board and the provisions of this chapter that were in effect at the time the working forest management plan was approved will not result in any significant degradation to the beneficial uses of water, soil stability, forest productivity, or wildlife. This paragraph shall only apply if the forester certifies that adherence to current or modified rules and regulations of the board would cause unreasonable additional expense to the working forest landowner.

(i) Special provisions to protect unique areas, if any, within the area of timber operations.

(j) The expected dates of commencement and completion of timber operations during the year.

(k) A statement that the harvesting notice conforms to the provisions of the approved management plan. If any aspects of the proposed operation are less protective than the current forest practices rules, an explanation of the deviation and how resource values will be adequately protected.

(l) An update on erosion control mitigation measures for the harvest area and any appurtenant roads if conditions have changed since the working forest management plan was approved and a certification from the registered professional forester that no additional listings of water bodies to the Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1313(d)) list have occurred on the lands of the plan.

(m) Any other information the board provides by regulation to meet its rules and the standards of this chapter and other applicable provisions of law.

(Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 648, Sec. 1. (AB 904) Effective January 1, 2014.)