California can reduce wildfire risk by boosting Zone Zero compliance | Opinion

California faces the greatest wildfire risk in the nation. And we have confronted tragedy after tragedy since 2017 as these risks become catastrophes — most recently in Los Angeles in January. Meanwhile, wildfire risk is contributing significantly to California’s housing affordability crisis by raising both electricity and home insurance bills for all of us (by hundreds of dollars per month on average).

Yet, instead of being defined by that risk, we’ve chosen to lead — building the nation’s most advanced and capable firefighting force and pioneering proven strategies that protect communities, reduce risk and deliver results.

Now, Senate Bill 326, co-authored by Sens. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, and John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, which awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature, builds on this leadership by accelerating one of the most effective tools available to prevent homes from burning: Zone Zero.

Zone Zero is the five-foot buffer immediately around a home where all combustible materials — such as plants, wood fences or mulch — must be removed or replaced to reduce the likelihood of a home burning down in a wildfire.

In recent weeks, Zone Zero has become a lightning rod in California’s wildfire debate. As the Los Angeles Times recently reported, proposed rules to clear all combustible plants within five feet of homes in the highest risk areas have triggered sharp pushback. That opposition was on full display at last week’s Board of Forestry hearing in Pasadena, where a large crowd turned out to object.

While many homeowners have spoken out in defense of their plants, Newsom has stood firmly on the side of Zone Zero — issuing an executive order to speed up adoption of its regulations. Five years after the Zone Zero law was first enacted, California finally has the chance to turn it into real action: insurers and scientists agree that this mitigation technique, when combined with home hardening, is one of the most important steps we can take to reduce wildfire losses.

A cornerstone of the Senate’s “Golden State Commitment” wildfire legislative package, SB 326 is the only bill this year that accelerates Zone Zero adoption. Under current law, existing homes would have three years to comply with Zone Zero requirements. SB 326 accelerates compliance in a balanced way (immediately for rental properties and at the point of sale for owner-occupied homes) while also providing funding to counties to support them as they move quickly and effectively.

SB 326 gets us started on building science-based wildfire resilience and provides support for communities as they navigate this necessary but challenging new task.

Importantly, in the long run, SB 326 also strengthens the governor’s outcomes-driven approach to wildfire. Just as California has tied homelessness funding to demonstrated reductions in unhoused populations, SB 326 brings greater accountability to wildfire resilience by equipping the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the State Fire Marshal with the most advanced risk assessment tools available. The bill calls for the creation of a planning framework and annual reports that show how risk changes as projects are completed and investments are made.

California will be the first state to measure wildfire risk in real time and show which strategies are actually working. SB 326 expands on and reinforces the pioneering work by CAL FIRE and the governor’s California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force by giving the department sharper, more dynamic tools to plan, execute and demonstrate progress. It also expands on that work by including all types of wildfire investment — by electric utilities, communities and homeowners — into the planning and reporting process for the first time.

As the anniversaries of the Palisades and Eaton fires approach, SB 326 gives Newsom the chance to show real, transformative progress — demonstrating that California is learning from tragedy and building a system to prevent it from happening again.

Michael Wara is director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program and senior research scholar at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

This story was originally published September 30, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "California can reduce wildfire risk by boosting Zone Zero compliance | Opinion."