An act to add Article 12 (commencing with Section 4773) to Chapter 10 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Public Resources Code, relating to forestry.
AB 706 would create the Forest Organic Residue, Energy, and Safety Transformation and Wildfire Prevention Fund Act, or the FOREST and Wildfire Prevention Fund Act, within the Public Resources Code. The bill establishes a new fund in the State Treasury and continuously appropriates it to the Natural Resources Agency to finance a fire fuel reduction procurement program. That program is intended to support the procurement, transport, and beneficial use of forest biomass waste, with the stated goal of reducing wildfire fuel by up to 15 million bone-dry tons per year.
The bill defines key terms such as biomass, BioMAT, BioRAM, and forest biomass waste, and it gives funding priority to existing BioRAM and BioMAT fleets operating on or before January 1, 2031. It also specifies that ratepayer funds may not be used to support the new fund. In practical terms, the measure is designed to channel state funding toward biomass removal and bioenergy-related projects that can help clear hazardous forest material and support wildfire mitigation, forest restoration, and public safety infrastructure.
AB 706 would add a new article to the Public Resources Code and create a continuously appropriated special fund for forest biomass removal and related procurement activities. It would direct the Natural Resources Agency to administer funding for biomass transport and beneficial use, while prioritizing existing bioenergy facilities tied to the state’s BioRAM and BioMAT programs. The bill would not directly alter CAL FIRE’s core responsibilities, but it would expand the state’s forestry and wildfire-prevention policy framework by creating a dedicated financing mechanism for biomass utilization and fuel reduction.
The bill appears to have generally favorable support in committee and on the Assembly floor. The recorded votes were unanimous at each stage shown, including committee votes of 13-0, 18-0, and 11-0, followed by a 75-0 Assembly third-reading vote. The bill’s findings frame it as a wildfire-prevention, forest-restoration, climate, and jobs measure, suggesting broad policy appeal across environmental, public safety, and economic-development interests.
The main policy tension in the bill is not reflected in the vote counts, but in the structure of the program itself. The measure prioritizes BioRAM and BioMAT fleets, which may benefit existing biomass and bioenergy operators over new entrants or other forest-management approaches. Another likely point of contention is funding: the bill creates a continuously appropriated state fund, but expressly bars ratepayer funds, raising questions about the source, scale, and long-term stability of financing. More broadly, the bill’s reliance on biomass energy as a wildfire solution may draw scrutiny from stakeholders who favor other forest treatment methods, air-quality concerns, or different climate strategies.