HB2900 Summary

• Transfers administration and support of the Eastern Red Cedar Registry Board from the State Board of Agriculture to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, while expanding the Board's membership to include the Director of Commerce and representatives from environmental and energy agencies.

• Creates the "Oklahoma Resource Reclamation Act" establishing public interest in managing private unoccupied lands to discourage wildfires, reduce Eastern Red Cedar tree infestation, and create defensible zones around structures per Firewise Program guidelines.

• Authorizes insurers to provide incentives to policyholders who implement Firewise Program guidelines, including creation of fuel-free defensible zones around homes and structures.

• Establishes a tax incentive allowing owners of qualifying Eastern Red Cedar-infested property (cropland, pasture, or nonagricultural land with 50+ cedar trees per acre) to pay a $1.00 per-acre in lieu tax for one tax year after removing infestation, with a statewide cap of 300,000 acres annually.

• Recodifies Eastern Red Cedar Registry Board provisions from Title 2 to Title 74 of Oklahoma Statutes and requires state agencies to register manufacturers of cedar products on the central purchasing vendor system; effective July 1, 2014, with emergency provisions.