AB 367 focuses narrowly on ensuring that water systems supporting firefighting in Ventura County’s high and very high fire hazard zones remain operable during power outages and extreme fire weather. It directs local coordination between water suppliers, the Ventura County Office of Emergency Services, and the Ventura County Fire Department to identify critical assets, create emergency plans, and inspect infrastructure and backup systems.
The bill matters because it translates wildfire risk into concrete operational requirements for water service continuity: obligated parties must plan and prepare physical and procedural measures so that firefighters have water when they need it. For risk managers and utility compliance officers, AB 367 converts an abstract resilience goal into deadlines, inspection routines, and post-incident reporting obligations that carry real implementation costs and coordination demands.
At a Glance
What It Does
Requires eligible Ventura County water suppliers to ensure critical wells and pumps can be powered or supplied with alternate water for at least 24 hours; allows either permanent backup energy or alternative supplier sources. Sets activation timing standards (immediate where possible, within 30 minutes for automatic transfer switches, and specific mobilization windows tied to National Weather Service red flag warnings). Establishes identification, inspection, and emergency planning duties and post-fire reporting when fires render more than 10 dwellings uninhabitable.
Who It Affects
Community water systems that serve more than 20 residential dwellings in high/very high fire hazard zones in Ventura County (excluding wholesalers and gravity-fed systems). It also creates responsibilities for the Ventura County Office of Emergency Services and the Ventura County Fire Department to receive lists, set procedures, consult on standards, and carry out inspections and reporting.
Why It Matters
It turns county-level wildfire preparedness into enforceable operational tasks for water systems, linking meteorological alerts to pre-positioned responses and inspections. The bill raises the bar on continuity planning for critical infrastructure in a high-risk wildfire region and forces water utilities to budget for backup power, alternative sourcing, and inspection cycles.
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What This Bill Actually Does
AB 367 targets the narrow problem of ensuring that water needed for firefighting remains available when the electric grid or regular delivery channels fail during extreme fire conditions in Ventura County. The bill requires qualifying community water systems to either have on-site or contractor-provided energy backup sized to run critical wells and pumps for 24 hours, or to have access to alternative water sources from a different supplier that can deliver the equivalent volume and reach the affected infrastructure quickly.
It builds flexibility into how suppliers comply: permanent stationary generators, mobile units, or pre-arranged mutual aid are all permitted so long as the supplier meets the responsiveness and duration standards the statute sets.
The statute ties preparedness to concrete deadlines and institutional coordination. Water suppliers must identify the pieces of infrastructure that are essential for fire suppression and give that list to the Ventura County Office of Emergency Services by a fixed date; the county OES must create submission procedures.
The Ventura County Fire Department must develop minimum fire-hardening standards for both infrastructure and backup power and then inspect assets annually; where local fire departments exist, those inspections happen in consultation. Suppliers must also run annual inspections of critical infrastructure that sits outside the high-hazard zone but serves it.Operational triggers and reporting are central.
The bill requires water suppliers to put an emergency preparedness plan in place that contemplates actions when the National Weather Service issues a red flag warning, including pre-filling tanks and staging backup power. It imposes notification rules for reduced water delivery capacity—both immediate alerts during fires and three-business-day notices for significant capacity reductions.
If a fire damages more than 10 homes within a supplier’s service area, the county fire department, cooperating with the supplier, must produce a focused report for the Board of Supervisors reviewing whether preparedness, fuel/electric mitigation, and hardening standards were met.Definitions and exemptions narrow the obligation: only community water systems serving more than 20 residential dwellings in the County’s high/very high hazard zones are covered; gravity-fed systems that need no backup power and nonpotable/irrigation systems not used for fire suppression are excluded. The bill preserves confidentiality protections for the facility lists shared with county OES while still requiring accountability through inspections and post-incident assessments.Practically, compliance will require suppliers to do equipment inventories, update operational plans, coordinate mutual-aid agreements or contracts for mobile power, and budget for annual inspections.
The law does not create a new statewide enforcement agency; instead, it relies on county-level planning, inspections, and public reporting to the Board of Supervisors to drive accountability.
The Five Things You Need to Know
Starting July 1, 2030, qualifying Ventura County water suppliers must provide backup energy or alternate water capable of powering or supplying critical fire-suppression wells and pumps for at least 24 hours.
Alternative water sources must be able to begin supplying the same volume within 30 minutes of a loss of power; backup generators with automatic transfer switches must start within 30 minutes, while manual systems must be started 'as soon as practically possible.', Mobile backup energy or mutual-aid energy may be used only if it can be mobilized within 12 hours after a National Weather Service red flag warning and then provide 24 hours of power, with an additional 60-minute activation requirement after a loss of power.
Water suppliers must submit a list of critical fire-suppression infrastructure to the Ventura County Office of Emergency Services by May 1, 2026, and update that list within 120 days whenever changes occur.
If a fire renders more than 10 residential dwellings uninhabitable in a supplier’s service area, the Ventura County Fire Department must report to the Board of Supervisors assessing tank levels, electrical mitigation, and whether infrastructure and backups met county fire-hardening standards.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Backup energy or alternate water supply requirement
This provision sets the core operational obligation: eligible water suppliers must ensure critical wells and pumps have power or an alternative water source sufficient for 24 hours. The subsection prescribes activation timing tied to transfer switch capabilities and builds in a phased compliance mechanism for non-permanent sources, allowing mobile units or mutual aid subject to specific mobilization windows. It also includes a limited grandfathering clause that recognizes contracts already in place before the effective deadline, giving suppliers until January 1, 2033 to obtain contracted equipment.
Asset identification and County OES procedures
Water suppliers must identify and report which wells and pumps are 'critical' for firefighting to the Ventura County Office of Emergency Services by a firm deadline, and must update that information within 120 days of any change. The county OES must create and publish the submission and update procedures beforehand. This is operational: it turns asset inventories into structured data for emergency planners, while the short update window forces suppliers to maintain current records.
Fire-hardening standards and inspections
The Ventura County Fire Department must write minimum fire safety and hardening standards for critical infrastructure and backup power and then carry out annual inspections to confirm compliance. Where local fire departments exist, inspections are coordinated with them. The water suppliers themselves must inspect any critical infrastructure located outside the hazard zones that still serves those zones. The practical effect is a two-track inspection regime—county-led inspections inside zones and supplier inspections for off-zone assets—that creates recurring operational duties and documentation expectations.
Emergency preparedness plans and NWS-triggered actions
Each supplier must have an emergency preparedness plan coordinated with county emergency services and the county fire department; the plan must be reviewed annually and incorporated into CPUC-required emergency response plans where applicable. The statute makes the National Weather Service red flag warning a statutory trigger requiring suppliers to take preplanned actions, such as filling tanks and staging backup power, which moves meteorological alerts into executable operational steps for utilities.
Capacity notifications and post-fire reporting
Suppliers must notify the county OES within three business days of any capacity reduction that could materially hinder firefighting, and must notify immediately if such a reduction happens during a fire. If a fire damages over 10 dwellings within a supplier’s area, the county fire department and the supplier must prepare a narrowly-focused report assessing whether preparedness and hardening duties were followed. These provisions create a short-notice reporting regime and a post-incident accountability checklist presented publicly to the Board of Supervisors.
Definitions, scope, and confidentiality carve-outs
The bill defines 'critical fire suppression infrastructure,' ties hazard designations to the State Fire Marshal’s lists, and limits covered 'water suppliers' to community systems serving more than 20 residential dwellings in the county’s high or very high hazard zones, excluding wholesalers and gravity-fed systems. It also exempts certain nonpotable systems and preserves the confidentiality status of the information shared with the county OES, balancing operational secrecy with oversight.
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Explore Infrastructure in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Local firefighters and incident commanders — they gain more predictable, documented access to water and a county-level list of critical assets, improving tactical planning and reducing the chance that pumps go dark during an active suppression effort.
- Residents in high/very high fire hazard zones — by design, the bill increases the likelihood that local water infrastructure will be able to support structure protection during outages, potentially lowering property loss and evacuation risk.
- Ventura County planners and emergency services — county OES and the fire department receive consolidated asset information and inspection authority, improving situational awareness and coordination across jurisdictions during major events.
Who Bears the Cost
- Community water suppliers in Ventura County — they face capital expenditures (generators, transfer switches, fuel contracts), operating costs (annual inspections, maintenance, testing), and administrative burdens (plans, submissions, updates), with smaller systems potentially strained.
- Mutual-aid partners and mobile energy providers — if mobile units are relied on frequently, partner agencies or contractors will need to hold capacity and be ready to mobilize, increasing their staffing and equipment costs.
- Ventura County agencies (OES and Fire Department) — the county must draft procedures, develop standards, coordinate inspections, and produce post-incident reports, which increases workload and may require additional resources or staffing.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
AB 367 forces a trade-off between resilience and practicability: it requires near-term, measurable readiness for water-dependent firefighting while offering limited fiscal or technical support, creating pressure on smaller utilities to meet high standards that could be costly or operationally difficult to achieve.
The law creates practical but unresolved questions about timing, enforceability, and technical standards. It prescribes activation windows (30 minutes for automatic transfer switches, immediate for manual systems 'as soon as practically possible') that may be realistic for some sites but infeasible for remote locations or during multi-front outages.
The allowance for mobile and mutual-aid energy recognizes on-the-ground constraints but adds complexity: requiring mobilization within 12 hours of a red flag warning and 60 minutes after a loss of power in some cases sets a narrow operational envelope that depends on fuel logistics, road access, and available staffing.
Another tension concerns the distributional impact: the statute imposes the same functional standard on any community system serving more than 20 residences, but systems vary dramatically in scale and resources. Smaller, rural, or financially constrained suppliers may struggle to procure permanent backups or enter long-term energy contracts; the bill’s partial grandfathering for preexisting contracts helps some, but there is no explicit funding or grant program in the text to bridge that gap.
Finally, the bill preserves confidentiality for facility lists, which protects security but can limit public scrutiny and cross-agency transparency; balancing secrecy with the need for external auditing and insurer or FEMA review will be an implementation challenge.
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