republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20152016/ab-417.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Forest practices: resource conservation standards."
description: "The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations on timberland unless a timber harvesting plan has been prepared by a registered professional forester and has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and approved by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection or the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. Existing law establishes minimum acceptable stocking standards and provides that an area covered by a timber harvesting plan is considered acceptably stocked if either one of 2 conditions are met within 5 years after completion of timber operations: (1) that the area contains an average point count of 300 per acre, as provided, or (2) that the average residual basal area is at least 85 square feet per acre, as provided. Existing law requires the board to adopt stocking standards for each district, after a public hearing, that are equal to or stricter than the minimum standards. Existing law, notwithstanding the stocking conditions relating to areas with an average point count of 300 per acre, authorizes the board to adopt alternative stocking standards if those alternative standards reasonably address variables in forest characteristics and achieve suitable resource conservation, as provided."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "AB 417"
citation: "California AB 417 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Forest practices: resource conservation standards."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dahle"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 19
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2015-02-19"
last_action: "2015-08-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/274ff5d6-b1d9-4b3a-97f1-6e3c1d115f39"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB417"
source_hash: "d9622f859912a45b4ba70bd94c2b459e7799b323cd465a074898cac0203d4340"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 417 (20152016) — Forest practices: resource conservation standards.

The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations on timberland unless a timber harvesting plan has been prepared by a registered professional forester and has been submitted to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and approved by the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection or the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. Existing law establishes minimum acceptable stocking standards and provides that an area covered by a timber harvesting plan is considered acceptably stocked if either one of 2 conditions are met within 5 years after completion of timber operations: (1) that the area contains an average point count of 300 per acre, as provided, or (2) that the average residual basal area is at least 85 square feet per acre, as provided. Existing law requires the board to adopt stocking standards for each district, after a public hearing, that are equal to or stricter than the minimum standards. Existing law, notwithstanding the stocking conditions relating to areas with an average point count of 300 per acre, authorizes the board to adopt alternative stocking standards if those alternative standards reasonably address variables in forest characteristics and achieve suitable resource conservation, as provided.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/19/15 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB417&version=20150AB41799INT)
2. **06/16/15 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB417&version=20150AB41798AMD)
3. **08/12/15 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB417&version=20150AB41796CHP)
4. **AB417** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB417)
5. **07/08/15 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB417&version=20150AB41797ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 417 DAHLE Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **80–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- Consent Calendar 2nd — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **17–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 417 DAHLE Consent Calendar Second Day — **77–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Dahle — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2015-02-19** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2015-02-20** From printer. May be heard in committee March 22.
- **2015-03-09** Referred to Com. on NAT. RES. `referral-committee`
- **2015-04-14** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (April 13). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2015-04-22** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (April 22). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2015-04-23** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-04-30** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 1223.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2015-04-30** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2015-05-14** Referred to Com. on N.R. & W. `referral-committee`
- **2015-06-15** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (June 9). `amendment-introduction, committee-passage, amendment-passage`
- **2015-06-16** Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, reading-2, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2015-06-29** From committee: Be placed on second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to consent calendar. `committee-passage`
- **2015-06-30** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2015-07-02** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 1755.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2015-07-02** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after July 4 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2015-07-06** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 2254.). `committee-passage-favorable, amendment-passage`
- **2015-08-03** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2015-08-12** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2015-08-12** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 182, Statutes of 2015.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/274ff5d6-b1d9-4b3a-97f1-6e3c1d115f39`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).