Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 4783

The department may enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with any person, firm, public or private corporation, district, or municipal corporation, or other political subdivision of the state, or any group or combination of them, that owns or controls brush-covered land within any state responsibility area for the purpose of engaging in controlled land clearance and revegetation, including the burning of brush from such lands, or portions of such lands, under the supervision of the department or by the department.