(a)

1. (1) The Legislature acknowledges that federally recognized California Native American tribes have inherent sovereignty and authority to regulate their members and cultural practices, including, but not limited to, cultural fire practitioners and cultural burning.
2. (2) The Legislature finds and declares that in order to meet fuel management and wildfire resilience goals of the state and to address the historical wrongs of criminalizing cultural use of fire, the state must work collaboratively with federally recognized California Native American tribes that engage in cultural burning within their ancestral territories.

(b)

1. (1) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, in consultation with its departments, commissions, boards, conservancies, and other entities, may enter into written agreements with federally recognized California Native American tribes in support of tribal sovereignty with respect to cultural burning in their ancestral territories. In deference to tribal sovereignty, the secretary may agree in a written agreement regarding cultural burning that compliance with either of the following is not required:

   1. (A) The state permitting or regulatory requirements in Article 3 (commencing with Section 4491).
   2. (B) The burn plan requirements in subdivision (e) of Section 4500.
2. (2) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency shall consult with federally recognized California Native American tribes on the implementation of paragraph (1).

3. (3)

   1. (A) Local air districts may enter into written agreements with federally recognized California Native American tribes in support of tribal sovereignty with respect to cultural burning in their ancestral territories.
   2. (B) A local air district may agree in a written agreement regarding cultural burning that compliance with its permitting, regulatory, or administrative requirements is not required.
   3. (C) In the event of a disagreement between a local air district and a tribe in developing or implementing an agreement, the Secretary for Environmental Protection shall assist in resolving the disagreement.
4. (4) The Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency or the local air district shall provide a copy of a final written agreement developed under this subdivision to the Deputy Secretary for Tribal Affairs at the Natural Resources Agency. In addition, a local air district shall provide a copy of a final written agreement developed under this subdivision to the State Air Resources Board.