Santa Barbara Mountain Communities Defense Zone Project
Summary
SCH Number
2025120127
Public Agency
Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District
Document Title
Santa Barbara Mountain Communities Defense Zone Project
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
12/3/2025
Document Description
The use of an air curtain incinerator at various locations in or near the Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara County in support the Santa Barbara Mountain Communities Defense Zone Project. As part of the Santa Barbara Mountain Communities Defense Zone Project, fuel breaks will be created in the areas around the communities of Painted Cave, San Marcos Trout Club, Haney Tract, and Rosario Park. Shrubs cut for fuel breaks around infrastructure are often left onsite, posing a significant wildfire risk. In partnership with the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, the USFS will use an air curtain incinerator to address biomass disposal and reduce hazardous fuels by converting biomass created as part of this project into biochar.
Contact Information
Name
Carly Barham
Agency Name
Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District
Job Title
Air Quality Specialist
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Email
Location
Cities
Santa Barbara
Counties
Santa Barbara
Regions
Countywide
Other Location Info
Los Padres National Forest
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Other
Type, Section or Code
California Public Resources Code Section 4799.05, Subdivision (d)(2)
Reasons for Exemption
This project is exempt from CEQA pursuant to California PRC Section 4799.05, Subdivision (d)(2) that provides that CEQA does not apply to the issuance of a permit or other project approval by a state or local agency for prescribed fire, reforestation, habitat restoration, thinning, or fuel reduction projects, or to related activities included in the project description, undertaken, in whole or in part, on federal lands to reduce the risk of high-severity wildfire that have been reviewed under the federal National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). The project includes prescribed fire, thinning, and fuel reduction activities undertaken on federal, and immediately adjacent non-federal, land. The project was evaluated under NEPA as part of the USFS Santa Barbara Mountain Communities Defense Zone Project and the USFS's corresponding Decision Memo signed March 21, 2017.
County Clerk
Santa Barbara
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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