California 20252026 Regular Session Status: Introduced Bipartisan · 1 D · 1 R cosponsors

AB 2517 — Fire safety: fire hazard severity zones.

Last action — In committee: Held under submission.

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  1. 1
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Assembly
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been introduced in the Assembly. Introduced February 20, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee referral and hearing.

Prognosis

Advancing 46% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • Introduced

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 2 sponsors

    1 primary, 1 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (1 D · 1 R) — cross-party backing.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 2 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

In plain language

The bill enhances the process for designating fire hazard severity zones in California.

AB 2517 requires the State Fire Marshal to improve transparency and public participation in fire hazard severity zone designations. It mandates information posting, workshops, and a systematic review of designations every five years.

Summary

Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to identify areas in the state that are not state responsibility areas, commonly known as local responsibility areas, as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to periodically review and make recommendations relative to very high fire hazard severity zones within local responsibility areas. Under existing law, this review is required to coincide with review of state responsibility area lands every 5 years and, when possible, fall within the timeframes for each county's general plan update. Existing law requires a local agency to designate, by ordinance, moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones in its jurisdiction within 120 days of receiving the recommendations from the State Fire Marshal. Existing law authorizes a local agency to, at its discretion, include areas within its jurisdiction not identified as very high fire hazard severity zones by the State Fire Marshal as very high fire hazard severity zones and areas not identified as moderate and high fire hazard severity zones by the State Fire Marshal as moderate and high fire hazard severity zones. Under existing law, a local agency is required to transmit a copy of this adopted ordinance to the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection within 30 days of adoption. Existing law provides that changes made by a local agency to the recommendations made by the State Fire Marshal are final. This bill would require the State Fire Marshal to, no fewer than 180 days before finalizing the designation of local responsibility areas as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones, post specified information relating to those designations on its public internet website, provide at least one workshop on the draft maps for stakeholder participation, host a 30-day public comment period to receive written comments from interested stakeholders, respond to all written comments by local agencies regarding land use and zoning matters that address the accuracy of the data used by the State Fire Marshal for those designations within 30 days of the end of the public comment period, and coordinate with other state agencies to help educate their constituencies, as specified. The bill would also require, on or before January 1, 2030, and every 5 years thereafter, the State Fire Marshal to review the local responsibility area lands designated as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones and to recommend changes. The bill would end the requirement that this review, when possible, fall within the timeframes for each county's general plan update. The bill would authorize a local agency to, at its discretion, increase the level of fire hazard severity applicable to a parcel in its jurisdiction if a parcel contains 2 or more designations, so that the higher level of fire hazard severity would apply to the entire parcel and include documentation of existing wildfire mitigation efforts or programs implemented locally within the fire hazard severity zones in its jurisdiction. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to publish within 60 days the local ordinance transmitted to the board, as described above, on its internet website.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. In committee: Held under submission.

  2. In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

  3. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (April 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  4. Re-referred to Com. on E.M.

  5. Read second time and amended.

  6. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on E.M with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (April 6).

  7. Referred to Coms. on NAT. RES. and E.M.

  8. From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.

  9. Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 1 co-sponsors · 120 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (1)

Not signed on (120)

120 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 120 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar

Passed 7 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 5000
Republican 2000
Total 7000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (7)
Member Party Vote
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Bains, Jasmeet Democratic Yea
Bennett, Steve Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Ransom, Rhodesia Democratic Yea
DeMaio, Carl Republican Yea
Hadwick, Heather Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass as amended, and be re-referred to the Committee on [Emergency Management] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar

Passed 14 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 10000
Republican 4000
Total 14000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (14)
Member Party Vote
Boerner, Tasha Democratic Yea
Bryan, Isaac G. Democratic Yea
Connolly, Damon Democratic Yea
Garcia, Robert Democratic Yea
Haney, Matt Democratic Yea
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Pellerin, Gail Democratic Yea
Schultz, Nick Democratic Yea
Wicks, Buffy Democratic Yea
Zbur, Rick Chavez Democratic Yea
Alanis, Juan Republican Yea
Ellis, Stan Republican Yea
Hoover, Josh Republican Yea
Macedo, Alexandra Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

public-safety environment
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does AB 2517 do?
Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to identify areas in the state that are not state responsibility areas, commonly known as local responsibility areas, as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones based on consistent statewide criteria and based on the severity of fire hazard that is expected to prevail in those areas. Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal to periodically review and make recommendations relative to very high fire hazard severity zones within local responsibility areas. Under existing law, this review is required to coincide with review of state responsibility area lands every 5 years and, when possible, fall within the timeframes for each county's general plan update. Existing law requires a local agency to designate, by ordinance, moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones in its jurisdiction within 120 days of receiving the recommendations from the State Fire Marshal. Existing law authorizes a local agency to, at its discretion, include areas within its jurisdiction not identified as very high fire hazard severity zones by the State Fire Marshal as very high fire hazard severity zones and areas not identified as moderate and high fire hazard severity zones by the State Fire Marshal as moderate and high fire hazard severity zones. Under existing law, a local agency is required to transmit a copy of this adopted ordinance to the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection within 30 days of adoption. Existing law provides that changes made by a local agency to the recommendations made by the State Fire Marshal are final. This bill would require the State Fire Marshal to, no fewer than 180 days before finalizing the designation of local responsibility areas as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones, post specified information relating to those designations on its public internet website, provide at least one workshop on the draft maps for stakeholder participation, host a 30-day public comment period to receive written comments from interested stakeholders, respond to all written comments by local agencies regarding land use and zoning matters that address the accuracy of the data used by the State Fire Marshal for those designations within 30 days of the end of the public comment period, and coordinate with other state agencies to help educate their constituencies, as specified. The bill would also require, on or before January 1, 2030, and every 5 years thereafter, the State Fire Marshal to review the local responsibility area lands designated as moderate, high, and very high fire hazard severity zones and to recommend changes. The bill would end the requirement that this review, when possible, fall within the timeframes for each county's general plan update. The bill would authorize a local agency to, at its discretion, increase the level of fire hazard severity applicable to a parcel in its jurisdiction if a parcel contains 2 or more designations, so that the higher level of fire hazard severity would apply to the entire parcel and include documentation of existing wildfire mitigation efforts or programs implemented locally within the fire hazard severity zones in its jurisdiction. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to publish within 60 days the local ordinance transmitted to the board, as described above, on its internet website.
Who sponsors AB 2517?
AB 2517 is sponsored by Lackey, Tom (Republican) and Calderon, Lisa (Democratic).
What is the current status of AB 2517?
This bill has been introduced in the Assembly. Introduced February 20, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track AB 2517?
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