(a) The board shall adopt district forest practice rules and regulations for each district in accordance with the policies set forth in Article 1 (commencing with Section 4511) of this chapter and pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code to ensure the continuous growing and harvesting of commercial forest tree species and to protect the soil, air, fish, wildlife, and water resources, including, but not limited to, streams, lakes, and estuaries.
(b) (1) The board shall ensure that its rules and regulations that govern the harvesting of commercial tree species, where applicable, consider the capacity of forest resources, including above ground and below ground biomass and soil, to sequester carbon dioxide emissions sufficient to meet or exceed the state’s greenhouse gas reduction requirements for the forestry sector, consistent with the scoping plan adopted by the State Air Resources Board pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500) of the Health and Safety Code).
(2) The costs of the contracts for research studies or technical analyses initiated by the board or the department to comply with paragraph (1) shall be funded, upon appropriation by the Legislature, from fee revenues collected pursuant to Section 38597 of the Health and Safety Code.
(Amended by Stats. 2010, Ch. 534, Sec. 4. (AB 1504) Effective January 1, 2011.)