AB 314 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program: project eligibility.

Summary

Existing law requires the Strategic Growth Council to develop and administer the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through projects that implement land use, housing, transportation, and agricultural land preservation practices to support infill and compact development, and that support other related and coordinated public policy objectives. Existing law specifies the types of projects eligible for funding under the program, including, among others, transit capital projects, active transportation capital projects, and transit-oriented development projects, as provided. This bill would expressly include certain transit capital projects and transit-oriented development projects near planned high-speed rail stations that meet specific criteria as eligible for funding under the program.

Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2025 Last action Feb 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

01/23/25 - Introduced → 04/10/25 - Amended Assembly · 4 edits · Apr 10, 2025

MODERATE

The amended version of AB 314 significantly expands the bill's scope by adding a new section that amends the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program to explicitly fund transit, active transportation, and transit-oriented development projects near planned high-speed rail stations. The original CEQA change (adding high-speed rail stations to the 'major transit stop' definition) is retained but renumbered. This matters because it creates a direct funding pathway for infrastructure around future high-speed rail stations before they are operational.

SCOPE

The bill now amends Section 75212 of the Public Resources Code (AHSC Program), which was not in the introduced version. This adds an entirely new policy area to the bill beyond CEQA.

The bill's title and legislative digest were expanded to reflect that it now covers both CEQA (major transit stop definition) and the AHSC Program (project eligibility), rather than only CEQA.

ELIGIBILITY

New subsection (j) of Section 75212 makes transit capital projects, active transportation capital projects, and transit-oriented development projects near planned high-speed rail stations eligible for AHSC funding, provided environmental documentation identifying station locations has been posted on the High-Speed Rail Authority's website.

DEFINITION

Projects described in the new subsection (j) are deemed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions due to proximity to high-speed rail service regardless of when the station becomes operational, effectively allowing funding before the rail line is built.

04/10/25 - Amended Assembly → 04/30/25 - Amended Assembly · 4 edits · Apr 30, 2025

MODERATE

AB 314 was significantly narrowed in this amendment. The entire CEQA provision (which would have added planned or existing high-speed rail stations to the definition of 'major transit stop' for environmental review exemptions) was removed, eliminating the state-mandated local program. In its place, the bill now requires that projects near planned high-speed rail stations meet three specific criteria - full funding received, construction started, and at least 10 percent of funding spent - before they qualify for AHSC Program funding.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed from two separate code sections (AHSC Program eligibility plus CEQA major transit stop definition) to a single section (AHSC Program eligibility only). The CEQA exemption pathway for projects near high-speed rail stations was eliminated entirely, while the AHSC funding eligibility pathway was made more restrictive by adding concrete construction and spending milestones.

SCOPE

The entire CEQA amendment (old Section 21064.3) was deleted. Previously the bill would have defined 'major transit stop' to include planned or existing high-speed rail stations, which would have allowed residential and mixed-use projects near those stations to be exempt from full environmental review under CEQA.

ENFORCEMENT

The state-mandated local program designation was changed from 'yes' to 'no' because the CEQA provision that would have required lead agencies to make additional determinations about major transit stop status was removed.

ELIGIBILITY

Three new criteria were added for projects near planned high-speed rail stations to qualify for AHSC Program funding: (A) the station must have received full funding for construction from the High-Speed Rail Authority, (B) construction must have started, and (C) at least 10 percent of the authority's construction funding must have been spent.

The prior version only required that environmental documentation identifying station locations be posted on the High-Speed Rail Authority website. The new version replaces that single requirement with the three more specific criteria above, making it harder for projects to qualify before a station is actually under construction and funded.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Feb 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.

lower

May 23, 2025

Lower · Passed

In committee: Held under submission.

lower

May 14, 2025

Committee

In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.

lower

May 1, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Apr 30, 2025

Lower · Passed

Read second time and amended.

lower

Apr 29, 2025

Introduced

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 4.) (April 28).

lower

Apr 21, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on TRANS. pursuant to Assembly Rule 96.

lower

Apr 21, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES.

lower

Apr 10, 2025

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on NAT. RES. Read second time and amended.

lower

Feb 10, 2025

Committee

Referred to Com. on NAT. RES.

lower

Jan 24, 2025

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee February 23.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors