CA AB448

Authorizes persons who own, control, operate, or maintain electrical transmission or distribution lines to traverse land and fell, cut, or trim trees to maintain clearances and remove hazardous, dead, rotten, diseased, leaning, or structurally defective trees, after providing notice and opportunity to be heard to the landowner.

Requires tree identification using evaluation tools or methods developed or approved by an International Society of Arboriculture certified arborist.

Makes valuable timber or wood from felled trees the property of the landowner unless the landowner requests removal, in which case the utility must remove it at no cost.

Requires compliance with Public Utilities Commission clearance requirements in Section 4293 and Rule 35 of General Order 95 for all felling, cutting, and trimming activities.

Directs the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety to develop by April 1, 2022: standardized notice content for landowners, standardized content for wood removal requests, and a process for landowners to be heard when challenging proposed tree work.