Compliance timeline
The four Zone 0 deadlines
Press coverage and the Board's own summary describe two phases, three years and five. The rule text sets four separate compliance dates, and the first one lands the day the regulation takes effect.
Why four and not two
The Board's public summary describes Phase 1 within three years and Phase 2 within five. That is a fair description of the two big tranches of work, but it collapses two distinctions the rule text keeps separate: new structures are treated differently from existing ones, and a short list of items applies to existing structures immediately rather than in three years.
Those immediate items exist because they already appear in statute — Public Resources Code 4291 and Government Code 51182 — so the regulation could not delay them without conflicting with current law. The Board says as much in its summary: certain tree maintenance requirements take effect immediately to ensure alignment with state law.
Tier by tier
All requirements New structures · 14 CCR 1298.04(c)(1) / 1299.03(e)(1)
Due on the effective date
- Every Zone 0 requirement applies in full.
Note: Subject to the guidance-document gate — see the enforcement page.
Immediate items Existing structures · 14 CCR 1298.04(c)(2) / 1299.03(e)(2)
Due on the effective date
- Roof and rain gutters kept clear of leaves, needles and combustible debris
- No firewood stored in Zone 0
- No dead or dying tree branches
- Live tree branches at least 10 feet from chimneys and stovepipe outlets
- No live tree branches underneath eaves
Within 3 years Existing structures · 14 CCR 1298.04(c)(3) / 1299.03(e)(3)
Due within 3 years
- No combustible materials in Zone 0 — fallen leaves and needles, bark and woodchip mulch, other combustible debris
- Areas under decks, balconies, pergolas and stairs kept free of vegetation and combustible items
- Ladder fuels removed — the first 6 feet from the ground, or the lower third of the tree, whichever is smaller
- Live branches at least 5 feet above the roof, and 1 foot from walls where there is no eave
3 to 5 years Existing structures · 14 CCR 1298.04(c)(4) / 1299.03(e)(4)
Due between 3 and 5 years
- The vegetation-free safety zone under eaves and around decks
- Plant size, spacing and container rules
- Five-foot noncombustible span where fences and gates meet the structure
- Outbuildings in Zone 0 built entirely of noncombustible materials
Note: The exact deadline in this tier is set by your local fire agency, within the 3-to-5-year window. It is not the same everywhere.
The item that surprises people
No live tree branches underneath your eaves — due immediately. Not in three years. This sits in the same tier as clearing your gutters, because Government Code 51182 already requires it.
For a small ornamental that is trivial. For a mature oak or pine grown up against the house it can mean hiring an arborist in the first year, and in some cases the branch that has to go is a structural limb. If you have a big tree close to the house, this is the item to look at first.
Firewood moved between the draft and the filing
In the August draft, firewood storage sat in the three-year tier. In the version filed with OAL it moved to the immediate tier — compare 1298.04(c)(2), which now includes subsection (b)(4), against the draft, which did not.
If you are reading anything written from the draft, it will put firewood three years out. It is due on day one.
The last tier is not the same everywhere
The final tranche — the safety zone under eaves, plant rules, fences and gates, outbuildings — is the one with local variation, and the two halves of the regulation are drafted differently:
| Area | Section | What the text says |
|---|---|---|
| Local Responsibility Area | 1298.04(c)(4) | Within 3 years, or within 5 years on a timeline set by the local agency responsible for fire protection. |
| State Responsibility Area | 1299.03(e)(4) | Within 5 years, or on a timeline set by the Director, which shall not be less than 3 years. |
The defaults run in opposite directions. In the LRA the baseline is three years and the local agency may extend to five. In the SRA the baseline is five and the Director may pull it in, but never below three. Same window, opposite starting assumptions.
Practical effect: if you are in the LRA and your local agency says nothing, plan for three years. If you are in the SRA and the Director says nothing, you have five.
What starts the clock
Every date above counts from the day the regulation is filed with the Secretary of State, which is also the day it takes effect. That has not happened yet. The Board adopted the regulation on August 19, 2026; it still has to clear OAL review and be filed with the Secretary of State.
Sources: 14 CCR 1298.04(c) and 1299.03(e) as adopted by the Board of Forestry on August 19, 2026; Board of Forestry Notice of Proposed Emergency Action, August 20, 2026; Summary of Draft Zone 0 Regulation Language, August 2026.