00 SENATE CS FOR CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 355(JUD) 01 "An Act relating to the crime of criminally negligent burning; relating to protection of 02 and fire management on forested land; relating to prohibited acts and penalties for 03 prohibited acts on forested land; requiring the Alaska Supreme Court to establish a bail 04 schedule; and providing for an effective date." 05 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06  * Section 1. AS 11.46.427(a) is amended to read: 07 (a) A person commits the crime of criminally negligent burning in the first 08 degree if the person 09 (1) violates AS 11.46.430; and 10 (2) within the preceding 10 years, has been convicted on two separate 11 occasions of violating  12 (A) AS 11.46.400 - 11.46.430;  13 (B) misdemeanor crimes under AS 41.15.060 - 41.15.120; or 14 (C) [AS 41.15.150 OR] a law or ordinance of this or another 01 jurisdiction with elements similar to the [THOSE] offenses in (A) or (B) of  02 this paragraph.  03  * Sec. 2. AS 41.15.010 is amended to read: 04 Sec. 41.15.010. Intent. It is the intent of AS 41.15.010 - 41.15.170 to provide 05 protection from wildland fire and other destructive agents, commensurate with the 06 values at risk, on forested land that is owned privately, by the state, or by a 07 municipality. 08  * Sec. 3. AS 41.15.040 is amended to read: 09 Sec. 41.15.040. Right of entry to control and suppress fires. Upon approval 10 by the commissioner or an authorized agent, an employee of the division of forestry 11 [LANDS], or of any organization authorized to prevent, control, or suppress a fire or a 12 destructive agent, and others assisting in the control or suppression of a fire upon 13 request of an officer or employee of the United States or the state may, when  14 responding to a wildland fire or suspected wildland fire or administering the  15 provisions of this chapter, [AT ANY TIME] enter upon any land, whether publicly 16 or privately owned, for the purpose of preventing, investigating, suppressing, or 17 controlling a wildland fire or a destructive agent. 18  * Sec. 4. AS 41.15.040 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 19 (b) A person may not interfere with or prohibit the access authorized under (a) 20 of this section. 21  * Sec. 5. AS 41.15.050 is amended to read: 22 Sec. 41.15.050. Fire season. The period from April 1 to August 31, inclusive, 23 of each year is designated the fire season. [THE COMMISSIONER MAY 24 DESIGNATE OTHER PERIODS AS FIRE SEASON.] The commissioner may, at  25 any time, proclaim an additional period for all or any portion of the state when 26 weather or other conditions require action for the protection of forested land. The 27 commissioner may also, at any time [DURING THE FIRE SEASON], prohibit, or 28 allow only by permit, the setting of fires, smoking, entry, or other use on the land, 29 when, in the judgment of the commissioner, the activities would unduly increase the 30 fire danger. 31  * Sec. 6. AS 41.15.060 is amended to read: 01 Sec. 41.15.060. Permits. The commissioner shall, by regulation, prescribe the 02 conditions of and the manner for obtaining a permit for the setting of fires, use of  03 burning devices, and other activities and uses of land that increase fire danger [. 04 FAILURE TO OBTAIN THE REQUIRED PERMIT, OR VIOLATION OF A 05 CONDITION OF THE PERMIT IS A MISDEMEANOR]. 06  * Sec. 7. AS 41.15.060 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 07 (b) A person may not set fires, use burning devices, or conduct other activities 08 or use land that increases fire danger without a permit as prescribed by the 09 commissioner in regulation under (a) of this section. 10  * Sec. 8. AS 41.15.070 is amended to read: 11 Sec. 41.15.070. Disposal of burning materials. During the fire season, a  12 burn closure, or restriction established under AS 41.15.050, a [A] person may not  13 discard any [WHO, DURING THE FIRE SEASON, THROWS AWAY] lighted 14 tobacco, cigar, cigarette, match, firecracker, or other burning material on forested land 15 [, WHETHER PUBLIC OR PRIVATE, IS GUILTY OF A MISDEMEANOR]. 16  * Sec. 9. AS 41.15.090 is amended to read: 17 Sec. 41.15.090. Building or leaving fires. A person may not start [WHO 18 BUILDS] a fire in or near forested land [TIMBER, BRUSH, GRASS, OR OTHER 19 INFLAMMABLE MATERIAL] without first clearing the ground immediately around 20 it free from materials that will carry fire [OR WHO LEAVES THE FIRE BEFORE 21 TOTALLY EXTINGUISHING IT, IS GUILTY OF A MISDEMEANOR]. 22  * Sec. 10. AS 41.15.090 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 23 (b) A person who starts a fire in or near forested land may not leave the fire 24 before totally extinguishing the fire. 25  * Sec. 11. AS 41.15.100 is amended to read: 26 Sec. 41.15.100. Setting fires without consent. A person may not set [WHO 27 SETS] on fire forested land [TIMBER, BRUSH, GRASS,] or other inflammable 28 material located or growing on land that is not owned, possessed, or controlled by the 29 person, without the consent of the owner or lawful occupant of the land [, IS GUILTY 30 OF A MISDEMEANOR]. 31  * Sec. 12. AS 41.15.110 is amended to read: 01 Sec. 41.15.110. Uncontrolled spread of fire; leaving fire unattended. (a) A 02 person who knows of a fire or sets a fire on forested land owned, possessed, or 03 controlled by the person, shall exercise due care to prevent the uncontrolled spread of 04 the fire. [A PERSON FAILING TO EXERCISE DUE CARE WHICH RESULTS IN 05 SPREAD OF THE FIRE AND DAMAGE TO PROPERTY OF ANOTHER IS 06 GUILTY OF A MISDEMEANOR.] 07 (b) A person shall [WHO NEGLECTS TO] make every effort possible to 08 extinguish a fire the person knowingly sets on forested land and may not leave a fire  09 unattended [OR WHO LEAVES SUCH A FIRE UNATTENDED IS GUILTY OF A 10 MISDEMEANOR]. 11 (c) In a criminal action brought under this section, the escape of the fire may  12 be considered by a court as [IS PRESUMPTIVE] evidence that [OF NEGLIGENCE 13 BY] the person responsible for starting the fire acted knowingly [AND UNLESS 14 REBUTTED IS SUFFICIENT TO SUSTAIN A CONVICTION]. 15  * Sec. 13. AS 41.15.120 is amended to read: 16 Sec. 41.15.120. Failure to assist in preventing or suppressing fires. If an 17 officer or employee of the United States or the state who is authorized to prevent,  18 investigate, or suppress fires requests a person to assist in the prevention or 19 suppression of a fire and informs the person of the officer or employee's official status, 20 [AND] the person shall [FAILS TO] assist the officer or employee [IN THE 21 PERFORMANCE OF DUTIES, THE PERSON IS GUILTY OF A 22 MISDEMEANOR]. 23  * Sec. 14. AS 41.15.130 is amended to read: 24 Sec. 41.15.130. Backfires and burnouts excluded. AS 41.15.010 - 41.15.040  25 and 41.15.050 - 41.15.170 [AS 41.15.010 - 41.15.170] do not apply to the setting of 26 backfires, burnouts, and other burning or clearing of land [A BACKFIRE] under 27 the direction of an officer or employee of the United States or the state who is 28 authorized to prevent or suppress fires. 29  * Sec. 15. AS 41.15.140 is repealed and reenacted to read:  30 Sec. 41.15.140. Penalty. Except as provided in AS 41.15.150, a person who 31 (1) knowingly violates a provision of AS 41.15.040 - 41.15.130 is 01 guilty of a class A misdemeanor punishable as provided in AS 12.55; 02 (2) without any culpable mental state, violates a provision of 03 AS 41.15.040 - 41.15.130 or a regulation adopted under AS 41.15.040 - 41.15.130 is 04 guilty of a violation and upon conviction is punishable by a fine under AS 12.55. 05  * Sec. 16. AS 41.15.150 is repealed and reenacted to read: 06 Sec. 41.15.150. Criminal burning of forested land in the first degree. (a) A 07 person commits the crime of criminal burning of forested land in the first degree if 08 (1) the person violates AS 41.15.155; and 09 (2) the person's actions or conduct violate a provision of AS 41.15.010 10 - 41.15.130 or a regulation adopted under AS 41.15.010 - 41.15.130. 11 (b) Criminal burning of forested land in the first degree is a class B felony 12 punishable as provided in AS 12.55. 13  * Sec. 17. AS 41.15 is amended by adding a new section to read: 14 Sec. 41.15.155. Criminal burning of forested land in the second degree. (a) 15 A person commits the crime of criminal burning of forested land in the second degree 16 if 17 (1) the person knowingly sets a fire; 18 (2) with criminal negligence, the person 19 (A) permits the fire to spread beyond the person's control; or 20 (B) fails to prevent the fire from spreading to forested land or 21 other flammable material; and 22 (3) as a result, the fire burns forested land or other flammable material 23 located or growing on land that is not owned, possessed, or controlled by the person. 24 (b) The crime of criminal burning of forested land in the second degree is a 25 class C felony punishable as provided in AS 12.55. 26  * Sec. 18. AS 41.15.160 is amended to read: 27 Sec. 41.15.160. Double damages in civil actions. In addition to the criminal 28 punishment provided for by AS 11.46.400 - 11.46.450, AS 41.15.140, and 41.15.150 29 [AS 41.15.010 - 41.15.170], the United States, the state, a municipality, or any person 30 may recover in a civil action double the amount of damages sustained as a 31 consequence of a violation of AS 11.46.400 - 11.46.450, AS 41.15.010 - 41.15.150 01 [AS 41.15.010 - 41.15.170]. In a civil action brought under AS 41.15.010 - 41.15.170 02 or any other law relating to the subject matter of AS 41.15.010 - 41.15.170, the escape 03 of a fire is presumptive evidence of negligence by the person responsible for starting 04 the fire and unless rebutted is sufficient to sustain the recovery. 05  * Sec. 19. AS 41.15.170 is amended by adding new paragraphs to read: 06 (5) "criminal negligence" has the meaning given in AS 11.81.900; 07 (6) "knowingly" has the meaning given in AS 11.81.900. 08  * Sec. 20. AS 41.15.950(b) is amended to read: 09 (b) A person designated in (a) of this section may, when enforcing the 10 provisions of this chapter or a regulation adopted under this chapter, 11 (1) execute a warrant or other process issued by an officer or court of 12 competent jurisdiction; 13 (2) administer or take an oath, affirmation, or affidavit; [AND] 14 (3) arrest a person who violates a provision of this chapter or a 15 regulation adopted under this chapter; and 16 (4) issue a citation to a person who violates a provision of  17 AS 41.15.010 - 41.15.170 or a regulation adopted under this chapter. 18  * Sec. 21. AS 41.15.950 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 19 (c) A person is not required under this section to disclose a deadly weapon 20 under AS 11.61.220(a)(1)(A) to a peace officer described under (a)(1) of this section.  21  * Sec. 22. AS 41.15 is amended by adding a new section to read: 22 Sec. 41.15.960. Bail schedules. The supreme court shall establish by rule or 23 order a schedule of bail amounts for offenses under this chapter or under regulations 24 adopted under this chapter that allow the disposition of a citation without a court 25 appearance. The bail amount may not exceed the maximum fine authorized by law for 26 that offense. 27  * Sec. 23. AS 41.15.080 is repealed.  28  * Sec. 24. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 29 read: 30 TRANSITION: REGULATIONS. The Department of Natural Resources may adopt 31 regulations necessary to implement the changes made by this Act. The regulations take effect 01 under AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before the effective date of the law 02 implemented by the regulation. 03  * Sec. 25. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 04 read: 05 TRANSITION: SCHEDULE OF BAIL AMOUNTS. Notwithstanding AS 41.15.960, 06 enacted by sec. 22 of this Act, the supreme court shall establish the bail schedule required 07 under sec. 22 of this Act within 120 days after the effective date of sec. 22 of this Act. 08  * Sec. 26. Sections 24 and 25 of this Act take effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c). 09  * Sec. 27. Except as provided in sec. 26 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 2018.