republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20212022/ab-431.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Forestry: timber harvesting plans: defensible space: exemptions."
description: "The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to, and approved by, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, as prescribed, including, only until January 1, 2022, the cutting or removal of trees on the person's property in compliance with specified defensible space requirements, as provided."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "AB 431"
citation: "California AB 431 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Forestry: timber harvesting plans: defensible space: exemptions."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Patterson"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 18
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2021-02-04"
last_action: "2021-09-23"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6c739bc9-5001-4c2e-950e-d57032604504"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB431"
source_hash: "415dc4bc3283b2b25131b344c9f097854168ad45f3411bc5a42ca8380e3a580e"
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 431 (20212022) — Forestry: timber harvesting plans: defensible space: exemptions.

The Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 prohibits a person from conducting timber operations, as defined, unless a timber harvesting plan prepared by a registered professional forester has been submitted to, and approved by, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The act authorizes the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to exempt from some or all of those provisions of the act a person engaging in specified forest management activities, as prescribed, including, only until January 1, 2022, the cutting or removal of trees on the person's property in compliance with specified defensible space requirements, as provided.

## Version chain

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

1. **02/04/21 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB431&version=20210AB43199INT)
2. **09/23/21 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB431&version=20210AB43197CHP)
3. **AB431** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB431)
4. **09/01/21 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB431&version=20210AB43198ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **11–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. To Consent Calendar. — **16–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 431 Patterson Consent Calendar Second Day — **77–0** (pass) · lower
- Consent Calendar AB431 — **39–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Patterson — primary (person)
- Gallagher — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-02-04** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2021-02-05** From printer. May be heard in committee March 7.
- **2021-02-12** Referred to Com. on NAT. RES. `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-25** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (March 24). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-14** From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (April 14). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-15** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-04-22** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 1152.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-04-26** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2021-05-12** Referred to Com. on N.R. & W. `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-09** In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
- **2021-06-29** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0. Page 1719.) (June 29). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2021-07-15** From committee: Be ordered to second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to Consent Calendar. `committee-passage, reading-2`
- **2021-08-16** Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-08-30** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 2237.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-08-31** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2021-09-07** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2021-09-23** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-09-23** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 230, Statutes of 2021. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6c739bc9-5001-4c2e-950e-d57032604504`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).