Sen. Dodd Introduces Defensible Space Inspection Bill

SACRAMENTO – Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, introduced legislation today that would encourage creation of defensible space, protecting life and property from California’s worsening wildfires.

“Defensible space inspections and remediation are essential to protecting properties and can help make entire communities more resilient,” Sen. Dodd said. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure, and we need to make smart, informed decisions on where to target investment and activities, and how to build on our progress. It’s an ongoing process – like painting the Golden Gate Bridge.”

In a report last fall, the state Legislative Analyst’s Office cited the creation of defensible spaces around homes and other structures as among the most valuable steps that can be taken to reduce the destructiveness of wildfires. Under existing law, homeowners in certain high-risk areas are required to create these fire-safe spaces. However, because of a number of factors, compliance is inconsistent from region to region, the LAO found.

Sen. Dodd’s new bill, Senate Bill 896, responds to the agency’s recommendations for increasing compliance and reducing future losses. It includes provisions to gather more information on defensible space inspections through improved data collection and to take initial steps to address other barriers to state and local defensible space efforts. It also supports additional research to identify effective strategies to improve defensible space compliance and to conduct oversight activities to learn from and inform future policy decisions.

Defensible space has been a high priority wildfire protection issue for Sen. Dodd for several years, beginning in 2019 with his authorship of SB 190 which directed the state fire marshal to develop model defensive space standards that local governments could voluntarily use as part of their zoning codes. 

“The state faces large and growing risks of potentially devastating wildfire disasters,” the LAO wrote in its September report. “One key step towards mitigating the risk of these disasters is to make homes less likely to ignite through defensible space practices.” 

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Senator Bill Dodd represents the 3rd Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Solano, Yolo, Sonoma, Contra Costa, and Sacramento counties. You can learn more about the district and Senator Dodd at www.sen.ca.gov/dodd.