(a) Within the boundaries of special treatment areas adjacent to wild, scenic, or recreational river segments, all of the following provisions shall apply, in addition to any other applicable provision under this chapter or generally, whether by statute or regulation:

(1) A timber operator, whether licensed or not, is responsible for the actions of his or her employees. The registered professional forester who prepares and signs a timber harvesting plan, a timber management plan, or a notice of timber operations is responsible for its contents, but is not responsible for the implementation or execution of the plan or notice unless employed for that purpose.

(2) A registered professional forester preparing a timber harvesting plan shall certify that he or she or a qualified representative has personally inspected the plan area on the ground.

(b) In order to temporarily suspend timber operations that are being conducted within special treatment areas adjacent to wild, scenic, or recreational rivers designated pursuant to Section 5093.54, while judicial remedies are pursued pursuant to this section, an inspecting forest officer of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection may issue a written timber operations stop order if, upon reasonable cause, the officer determines that a timber operation is being conducted, or is about to be conducted, in violation of Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 4511) of Part 2 of Division 4, or of rules and regulations adopted pursuant to those provisions, and that the violation or threatened violation would result in imminent and substantial damage to soil, water, or timber resources or to fish and wildlife habitat. A stop order shall apply only to those acts or omissions that are the proximate cause of the violation or that are reasonably foreseen would be the proximate cause of a violation. The stop order shall be effective immediately and throughout the next day.

(c) A supervising forest officer may, after an onsite investigation, extend a stop order issued pursuant to subdivision (b) for up to five days, excluding Saturday and Sunday, if the forest officer finds that the original stop order was issued upon reasonable cause. A stop order shall not be issued or extended for the same act or omission more than one time.

(d) Each stop order shall identify the specific act or omission that constitutes a violation or that, if foreseen, would constitute a violation, the specific timber operation that is to be stopped, and any corrective or mitigative actions that may be required.

(e) The Department of Forestry and Fire Protection may terminate the stop order if the timber operator enters into a written agreement with the department assuring that the timber operator will resume operations in compliance with Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 4511) of Part 2 of Division 4, and with the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to that chapter, and will correct any violation. The department may require a reasonable cash deposit or bond payable to the department as a condition of compliance with the agreement.

(f) Notice of the issuance of a stop order or an extension of a stop order shall be deemed to have been made to all persons working on the timber operation when a copy of the written order is delivered to the person in charge of operations at the time that the order is issued or, if no persons are present at that time, by posting a copy of the order conspicuously on the yarder or log loading equipment at a currently active landing on the timber operations site. If no person is present at the site when the order is issued, the issuing forest officer shall deliver a copy of the order to the timber operator either in person or to the operator’s address of record prior to the commencement of the next working day.

(g) As used in this section, “forest officer” means a registered professional forester employed by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in a civil service classification of forester I or higher grade.

(h) (1) Failure of the timber operator or an employee of the timber operator, after receiving notice pursuant to this section, to comply with a validly issued stop order is a violation of this section and is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment for not more than one year in the county jail, or both. The person shall also be subject to civil damages to the state not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each misdemeanor violation. However, in all cases, the timber operator, and not an employee of the operator or any other person, shall be charged with that violation. Each day or portion of the day that the violation continues shall constitute a new and separate offense.

(2) In determining the penalty for a timber operator guilty of violating a validly issued stop order, the court shall take into consideration all relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the following:

(A) The extent of harm to soil, water, or timber resources or to fish and wildlife habitat.

(B) Corrective action, if any, taken by the defendant.

(i) Nothing in this section prevents a timber operator from seeking an alternative writ as prescribed in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1084) of Title 1 of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, or as provided by any other provision of law.

(j) (1) If a timber operator believes that a forest officer lacked reasonable cause to issue or extend a stop order pursuant to this section, the timber operator may present a claim to the Department of General Services pursuant to Part 3 (commencing with Section 900) of Division 3.6 of Title 1 of the Government Code for compensation and damages resulting from the stopping of timber operations.

(2) If the Department of General Services finds that the forest officer lacked reasonable cause to issue or extend the stop order, the board shall award a sum of not less than one hundred dollars ($100), nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), per day for each day the order was in effect.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 349, Sec. 10. (AB 3257) Effective January 1, 2019.)