Pub. Resources Code, § 4475

(a) The director may enter into an agreement, including a grant agreement, for prescribed burning or other hazardous fuel reduction that is consistent with this chapter and the regulations of the board with any person to conduct prescribed burning operations and joint prescribed burning operations that serve the public interest and are beneficial to the state. To be considered for the public interest and beneficial to the state, each prescribed burn shall be for any of the following purposes, or any combination of those purposes:

(1) Prevention of high-intensity wildland fires through reduction of the volume and continuity of wildland fuels.

(2) Watershed management.

(3) Range improvement.

(4) Vegetation management.

(5) Forest improvement.

(6) Wildlife habitat improvement.

(7) Air quality maintenance.

(b) For the purposes of this article and consistent with subdivision (c), “person” includes, but is not limited to, private or nongovernmental entities, Native American tribes, or local, state, and federal public agencies. For purposes of this article, “person” shall also include the plural when the department determines an agreement needs to contain two or more persons as defined in this section.

(c) The Legislature finds and declares that historically, the department conducted prescribed burns only utilizing its own personnel and therefore was liable for any damages resulting from the burn. However, to reach the statewide prescribed burn goals identified in the “California Forest Carbon Plan: Managing our Forest Landscapes in a Changing Climate,” to limit the threat of catastrophic wildfire, and to improve forest health, the department may have a smaller role on individual prescribed burns with a cooperator taking more control as authorized by the act adding this subdivision. This cooperator control may range from creating the burn plan to being the burn boss and conducting the burn.