Issue · Housing

Housing (Zoning)

Every housing bill, vote, and legislator stance in California, automatically classified by Maddy, our AI policy reader.

Total bills
77
2025-2026 Regular Session
Top supporter
Jesse Arreguín
100% support rate
Top opponent
Steve Choi
0% support rate
Ranked legislators
10
5 support · 5 oppose
Key legislators

Who's moving zoning in California

Legislators moving zoning in California
Legislator Party Stance Support rate Votes
JA
Jesse Arreguín Senate · District 7
D
Strong +
100% 69
Tim Grayson
Tim Grayson Senate · District 9
D
Strong +
100% 51
Dave Cortese
Dave Cortese Senate · District 15
D
Strong +
100% 48
Lena Gonzalez
Lena Gonzalez Senate · District 33
D
Strong +
100% 44
Angelique Ashby
Angelique Ashby Senate · District 8
D
Strong +
100% 39
Steve Choi
Steve Choi Senate · District 37
R
Strong −
0% 41
Brian Jones
Brian Jones Senate · District 40
R
Strong −
0% 27
Suzette Valladares
Suzette Valladares Senate · District 23
R
Strong −
0% 25
Kate Sanchez
Kate Sanchez House · District 71
R
Strong −
0% 23
Carl DeMaio
Carl DeMaio House · District 75
R
Strong −
0% 22
Showing 51–60 of 77 bills

All housing bills

passed both · California · Assembly Aug 27, 2026

AB 647: Abandoned recreational vehicles.

Existing law, until January 1, 2030, authorizes the Counties of Alameda and Los Angeles to implement a program for the disposal of abandoned recreational vehicles. Existing law imposes specified conditions on this authority, including, among other things, requiring a public agency, immediately after removal of the recreational vehicle, to notify the Stolen Vehicle System of the Department of Justice of the removal. This bill would also authorize any public agency within the Counties of Alameda and Los Angeles or a state agency, as specified, to implement a program to dispose of these recreational vehicles within the County of Alameda or the County of Los Angeles and would extend this authorization until January 1, 2032. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Alameda and Los Angeles.
failed · California · Assembly Feb 2, 2026

AB 1083: California Environmental Quality Act: exemptions: housing development projects: natural and protected lands: record of proceedings.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. Existing law exempts from CEQA a rezoning that implements the schedule of actions contained in an approved housing element, as specified, except, among other things, a rezoning that would allow for the construction of a distribution center or for oil and gas infrastructure. This bill would instead exempt a rezoning to the extent that it is necessary to implement a schedule of actions contained in an approved housing element, except, among other things, a rezoning that would allow for the construction of a distribution center, for a tourism facility, as defined, or for oil and gas infrastructure. Existing law, for a proposed housing development project, as defined, that would otherwise be exempt from CEQA pursuant to a statutory exemption or specified categorical exemptions, but for a single condition, limits the application of CEQA to the effects upon the environment that are caused by that single condition, except as provided. This bill, for purposes of those provisions, would modify the definition of housing development project to exclude a project that has any portion of the project designated for use as a tourism facility, as defined. To the extent that this would create new duties for a lead agency, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law exempts specified projects from CEQA, including a project that consists exclusively of a facility for advanced manufacturing, as defined, if the project is located on a site zoned exclusively for industrial uses. Existing law excludes projects located on natural and protected lands, as defined, from these exemptions, as provided. Existing law includes in the definition of natural and protected lands, lands protected as preserve areas or reserve lands pursuant to an adopted natural community conservation plan or habitat conservation plan, as specified. This bill would instead include, for that portion of the definition of natural and protected lands, lands identified for conservation in an adopted natural community conservation plan, habitat conservation plan, or other adopted natural resource protection plan, as specified. The bill would also expand the definition of natural and protected lands to include habitat for protected species, as specified, fully protected species, or species protected by the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, the California Endangered Species Act, or the Native Plant Protection Act. The bill would eliminate the exemption from CEQA for advanced manufacturing projects. The bill would instead exempt from CEQA, until January 1, 2030, a project that consists exclusively of a facility for semiconductor manufacturing if the project is located on a site that was zoned exclusively for heavy industrial use on or before August 1, 2025, and meets specified criteria, including, among other things, that the project does not involve the storage, use, or discharge of extremely hazardous gases or chemicals above California's accidental release program reporting thresholds, the project applicant demonstrates high road employment standards and certifies to the lead agency that it will maintain those standards in the development, construction, and operation of the facility, and the project applicant has provided a legally binding commitment to comply with specified labor-related requirements with respect to the initial construction of the facility and subsequent maintenance that is contracted out to a contractor in the construction industry, as specified. Because a lead agency would be required to determine the applicability of this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to develop and make available to lead agencies guidelines for evaluating whether a project applicant demonstrates high road employment standards. The bill would require the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, on or before January 1, 2029, to report to the Legislature on projects that were exempted from CEQA pursuant to the above exemption, as provided, and require the report to include a list of the projects for semiconductor manufacturing facilities that have been approved for development in the state, as specified. CEQA requires in an action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul certain acts or decisions of a public agency to be commenced according to a specified process and requires the record of proceedings to contain specified information, including all internal agency communications, except as specified. Existing law provides that for those projects that do not include a distribution center or oil and gas infrastructure, internal agency communication does not include staff notes and electronic internal agency communications, including emails, that were not presented to the final decisionmaking body, other than those communications and documents consulted, or reviewed by the lead agency executive or a local agency executive, as provided, thereby limiting what the record of proceeding is required to contain for these projects. This bill would eliminate the above-described limitation on internal agency communication required to be included in the record of proceedings for those projects that do not include a distribution center or oil and gas infrastructure, thereby requiring additional information to be included in the record of proceeding. By imposing new duties on a lead agency in order to comply with this provision, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
passed · California · Assembly Aug 29, 2025

AB 660: Planning and Zoning Law: postentitlement phase permits: Housing Accountability Act.

(1) The Planning and Zoning Law requires a local agency, as defined, to compile one or more lists that specify in detail the information required from any applicant for a postentitlement phase permit, as defined. Existing law also establishes time limits for completing reviews regarding whether an application for a postentitlement phase permit is complete and compliant, and whether to approve or deny an application. If a local agency finds that a complete application is noncompliant, existing law requires the local agency to provide the applicant with a list of items that are noncompliant and a description of how the application can be remedied by the applicant within specified time limits. Existing law requires the time limits to be tolled, if the local agency requires review of the application by an outside entity, until the outside entity completes the review and returns the application to the local agency, as specified. This bill would prohibit the local agency from requiring or requesting more than 2 plan check and specification reviews in connection with an application for a building permit, as part of its review, except as specified. The bill would authorize a local agency to deny an application that is not compliant with the permit standards following 2 plan check and specification reviews. The bill would also authorize an applicant to request additional submittals of applications that are not compliant with the permit standards. The bill, if a local agency finds that a complete application is noncompliant, would prohibit a local agency from requesting or requiring any action or inaction as a result of a building inspection undertaken to assess compliance with the applicable building permit standards that would represent a deviation from a previously approved building plan or similar approval for the building permit, except as specified. This bill would remove the above-described tolling requirements relating to outside entity reviews and, instead, would require, if federal or state law requires review of the application by another public agency that is independent of the local agency before the local agency is authorized to act on the application, the time limits to be tolled for the application until the public agency completes the review and returns the application to the local agency. The bill would require the local agency to notify the applicant, within 3 business days of the start of the tolling and within 3 business days of the resumption of the time limit, of the tolling and the resumption of the time limit, respectively. (2) Existing law, if a postentitlement phase permit is determined to be incomplete or noncompliant, requires a local agency to provide a process for an applicant to appeal that decision in writing to the governing body of the agency or, if there is no governing body, to the director of the agency, as provided by that agency. Existing law requires the city or county to provide that the right of appeal is to the governing body or, at their option, the planning commission, or both. Existing law requires a local agency to provide a final written determination on the appeal not later than 60 business days after receipt of the applicant's written appeal, for housing development projects with 25 units or fewer, and not later than 90 business days for a housing development projects with 26 units or more. Existing law also specifies that the fact that an appeal is permitted to both the planning commission and to the governing body does not extend the specified time period. This bill would revise those timelines to not later than 30 business days for housing development projects with 25 units or fewer and 45 business days for housing development projects with 26 units or more. The bill would remove the specification that the fact that an appeal is permitted to both the planning commission and to the governing body does not extend the specified time period. The bill would remove the requirement that, if a postentitlement phase permit is determined to be incomplete or noncompliant, a local agency provide a process for an applicant to appeal that decision to the director of the agency if there is no governing body, as provided by that agency. The bill would remove the requirement that a city or county provide that the right of appeal is to the governing body or, at their option, the planning commission, or both. This bill would authorize the applicant to seek a writ of mandate to compel approval of the application, if the applicant's appeal is denied, or a decision on the appeal is not made within the timelines provided, or an appeals process is not provided as required. By imposing additional duties on local agencies regarding postentitlement phase permits, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law, the Housing Accountability Act, among other things, prohibits a local agency from disapproving, or conditioning approval in a manner that renders infeasible, a housing development project for very low, low-, or moderate-income households unless the local agency makes written findings as to one of certain sets of conditions, as specified. The act also requires, when a proposed housing development project complies with applicable, objective general plan, zoning, and subdivision standards and criteria in effect at the time that the application was deemed complete, but the local agency proposes to disapprove the project or to impose a condition that the project be developed at a lower density, that the local agency base its decision regarding the proposed housing development project upon written findings supported by a preponderance of the evidence on the record that 2 specified conditions exist. Existing law defines the term "disapprove the housing development project" for these purposes to include any instance in which a local agency takes certain actions or fails to comply with certain requirements, including the time limits described above. Existing law makes a local agency's failure to meet the above-described time limits relating to postentitlement phase permits a violation of the Housing Accountability Act. This bill would, instead, make a violation of the above-described provisions relating to postentitlement phase permits, among others, a violation of the Housing Accountability Act. The bill would also revise the definition of "disapprove the housing development project" under the Housing Accountability Act to include any instance in which a local agency fails to comply with any of the provisions described above relating to postentitlement phase permits. By requiring local agencies to take certain actions, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) The bill would make other conforming changes and would provide that certain changes are declaratory of existing law. (5) The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. (6) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
signed · California · Assembly Jun 30, 2025

AB 130: Housing.

(1) Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, authorizes a local agency to provide for the creation of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in single-family and multifamily residential zones by ordinance, and sets forth standards the ordinance is required to impose with respect to certain matters, including, among others, maximum unit size, parking, and height standards. Existing law authorizes a local agency to provide by ordinance for the creation of junior accessory dwelling units (JADUs) , as defined, in single-family residential zones and requires the ordinance to include, among other things, standards for the creation of a JADU, required deed restrictions, and occupancy requirements. Existing law makes void and unenforceable any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed, contract, security instrument, or other instrument affecting the transfer or sale of any interest in real property that either effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts the construction or use of an ADU or JADU on a lot zoned for single-family residential use that meets the above-described minimum standards established for those units. However, existing law permits reasonable restrictions that do not unreasonably increase the cost to construct, effectively prohibit the construction of, or extinguish the ability to otherwise construct, an ADU or JADU consistent with those aforementioned minimum standards provisions. This bill would prohibit fees and other financial requirements from being included in the above-described reasonable restrictions. Existing law provides for the creation of ADUs in areas zoned for single-family or multifamily dwelling residential use, by ministerial approval if a local agency has not adopted an ordinance, in accordance with specified standards and conditions. Under existing law, a local agency is also required to ministerially approve an application for a building permit within a residential or mixed-use zone to create any of specified variations of ADUs. Existing law prohibits a local agency from imposing any objective development or design standard that upon any accessory dwelling unit that meets one of those specified variations of ADUs, except as specified. Existing law authorizes a local agency to establish minimum and maximum unit size requirements for both attached and detached ADUs, subject to certain limitations. Notwithstanding that authorization and the ministerial approval requirement, as described above, existing law requires a local agency that adopted an ordinance by July 1, 2018, providing for the approval of ADUs in multifamily dwelling structures to ministerially consider a permit application to construct an ADU, as specified, and authorizes that local agency to impose objective standards including, but not limited to, design, development, and historic standards on said ADUs, except for requirements on minimum lot size. This bill would remove the requirement that a local agency ministerially consider a permit application to construct one of the above-specified variations of ADUs, and would remove the authorization for a local agency to impose objective standards on those ADUs, as specified above. By further prohibiting local governments from imposing certain standards on ADUs, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law prescribes various requirements to be satisfied before the exercise of a power of sale under a mortgage or deed of trust. Existing law authorizes a borrower to bring an action for injunctive relief to enjoin material violations of certain of these requirements, and requires that the injunction remain in place and any trustee's sale be enjoined until the court determines that the violations have been corrected, as specified. This bill would make certain conduct an unlawful practice in connection with a subordinate mortgage, including, among others, that the mortgage servicer did not provide the borrower with any communication regarding the loan secured by the mortgage for at least 3 years. The bill would prohibit a mortgage servicer from conducting or threatening to conduct a nonjudicial foreclosure until the mortgage servicer (A) simultaneously with the recording of a notice of default, records or causes to be recorded a certification, as specified, under penalty of perjury that either the mortgage servicer did not engage in an unlawful practice or the mortgage servicer lists all instances when it committed an unlawful practice and (B) simultaneously with the service of a recorded notice of default, the mortgage servicer sends the recorded certification and a notice to the borrower, as specified. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law, the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, governs the formation and operation of common interest developments. Existing law requires that a common interest development be managed by an association. Existing law, if an association adopts or has adopted a policy imposing any monetary penalty on any association member for a violation of the governing documents, requires the board to adopt and distribute to each member a schedule of the monetary penalties that may be assessed for those violations, as provided, and prohibits an association from imposing a monetary penalty on a member for a violation of the governing documents in excess of that schedule. Existing law requires the board to notify a member 10 days before a meeting to consider or impose discipline on the member, as specified. Existing law requires the board to provide a member with written notification of a decision to impose discipline on the member within 15 days. This bill would prohibit monetary fees from exceeding the lesser of that specified schedule or $100 per violation, except as specified. The bill would require the board to give a member the opportunity to cure a violation prior to the meeting to consider or impose discipline, as specified. If the board and the member are in agreement after the meeting to consider or impose discipline, the bill would require the board to draft a written resolution. The bill would provide that the written resolution, signed by the association and member of a dispute pursuant to the procedure not in conflict with the law or governing documents, binds the association and is judicially enforceable. The bill would reduce the time to provide written notification of a decision to impose discipline from 15 days to 14 days. (4) Existing law, until July 1, 2042, establishes the Seismic Retrofitting Program for Soft Story Multifamily Housing for the purposes of providing financial assistance to owners of soft story multifamily housing for seismic retrofitting to protect individuals living in multifamily housing that have been determined to be at risk of collapse in earthquakes, as specified. Existing law establishes the Seismic Retrofitting Program for Soft Story Multifamily Housing Fund, and its subsidiary account, the Seismic Retrofitting Account, within the State Treasury. Existing law requires the California Residential Mitigation Program, also known as the CRMP, to develop and administer the program, as specified. This bill would require, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the CRMP to fund the seismic retrofitting of affordable multifamily housing, as specified. The bill would require the CRMP to prioritize affordable multifamily housing serving lower income households, as defined. (5) Existing law creates the National Mortgage Special Deposit Fund in the State Treasury, which is continuously appropriated and subject to allocation by the Department of Finance, for the receipt of moneys from the National Mortgage Settlement. Existing law allocates $300,000,000 from the fund to be administered by the California Housing Finance Agency for the purpose of providing housing counseling services certified by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to homeowners, former homeowners, or renters and providing mortgage assistance to qualified California households, as specified. This bill would expand the purpose of the above-described allocation to include providing legal services for home ownership preservation, as specified. By providing new purposes for which an appropriation may be used, this bill would make an appropriation. (6) Existing law prescribes requirements for the disposal of surplus land by a local agency. Existing law provides that an agency is not required to follow the requirements for disposal of surplus land for "exempt surplus land," except as provided. Existing law defines "exempt surplus land" to mean, among other things, real property that a school district is required to appoint a district advisory committee prior to sale, lease, or rental of any excess real property, as specified, and real property that a school district may exchange for real property of another person or private business firm, as specified. This bill would remove the above-described school district real property from the definition of "exempt surplus land," thereby requiring that the disposal of that property be done in accordance with the above-described requirements for surplus land disposal. (7) Existing law, the Affordable Housing on Faith and Higher Education Lands Act of 2023, specifies that a housing development project shall be a use by right, as defined, upon the request of an applicant who submits an application for streamlined approval if, among other criteria, the development is located on land owned on or before January 1, 2024, by an independent institution of higher education or a religious institution, as specified. Existing law prohibits the development from being adjoined to any site where more than 13 of the square footage of the site is dedicated to light industrial use, and defines "light industrial use" for these purposes as a use that is not subject to permitting by a district, as defined. This bill would instead define "light industrial use" as an industrial use that is not subject to permitting by a district. Existing law authorizes a development project that is eligible for approval as a use by right pursuant to the act to include ancillary uses on the ground floor of the development. For single-family residential zones, the ancillary uses are limited to childcare centers and facilities operated by community-based organizations, and in all other zones, for commercial uses that are permitted without a conditional use permit or planned unit development permit. This bill would specify that the childcare facilities are without limitation on the number of children and that the permitted commercial uses for all zones other than single-family residential zones also include childcare centers and facilities operated by community-based organizations. Existing law specifies that a development project eligible for approval as a use by right pursuant to the act includes any religious institutional use or any use that was previously existing and legally permitted if, among other things, the total parking requirement for nonresidential space on the site does not exceed the lesser of the amount existing or of the amount required by a conditional use permit. This bill would delete that parking requirement and would instead require the proposed development to provide up to one space per unit, unless a state law or local ordinance provides for a lower standard of parking. Existing law, for a housing development project that qualifies as a use by right pursuant to the act, allows a certain density based on zoning and other factors, as applicable, including a height of one story above the maximum height otherwise applicable to the parcel. This bill would instead specify the development is entitled to a height of one story or 11 feet above the maximum height otherwise applicable to the parcel. The Planning and Zoning Law requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for its physical development, and the development of certain lands outside its boundaries, that includes, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. After a legislative body has adopted all or part of a general plan, existing law requires, among other things, that a planning agency provide by April 1 of each year an annual report to specified entities that includes prescribed information, including the number of units of housing demolished and new units of housing that have been issued a completed entitlement, a building permit, or a certificate of occupancy, thus far in the housing element cycle, and the income category, by area median income category, that each unit of housing satisfies, as specified. This bill would require the annual report to also include specified information with respect to housing development projects under the Affordable Housing on Faith and Higher Education Lands Act of 2023. (8) Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires each county and each city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and specified land outside its boundaries, that contains certain mandatory elements, including a housing element. That law requires each local government to review its housing element and to revise the housing element in accordance with a specified schedule. For the 4th and subsequent revisions of the housing element, existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to determine the existing and projected need for housing for each region, and requires the appropriate council of governments, or the department for cities and counties without a council of governments, to adopt a final regional housing need plan that allocates a share of the regional housing need to each city, county, or city and county, as provided. Existing law requires the department to meet and consult with the council of governments regarding the assumptions and methodology used to determine a region's housing needs at least 26 months prior to the scheduled revision. Existing law requires the council of governments to provide certain data assumptions from the council's projections, if available, including, among other things, the percentage of households that are overcrowded, the overcrowding rate for a comparable housing market, the percentage of households that are cost burdened, and the rate of housing cost burden for a healthy housing market. This bill would revise these data assumptions requirements to, instead, require the council of governments to provide data on the percentage of households that are overcrowded within the region, the percentage of households that are overcrowded throughout the nation, the percentage of households that are cost burdened within the region, and the percentage of households that are cost burdened throughout the nation. Existing law requires each council of governments, or delegate subregion, as applicable, to develop, in consultation with the department, a proposed methodology for distributing the existing and projected regional housing need to cities, counties, and cities and counties within the region or within the subregion, where applicable, at least 2 years before a scheduled revision. This methodology is also referred to as the allocation methodology. Existing law requires the council of governments, or delegate subregion, as applicable, to publish a draft allocation methodology on its internet website and submit the draft allocation methodology to the department. Existing law requires the department to determine whether the methodology furthers the specified objectives within 60 days. If the department determines that the methodology is not consistent with the objectives, existing law requires the council of governments, or delegate subregion, as applicable, to either (A) revise the methodology to further the objectives and adopt a final regional, or subregional, housing need allocation methodology or (B) adopt the regional, or subregional, housing need allocation methodology without revisions and include within its resolution of adoption findings, supported by substantial evidence, as to why the council of governments, or delegate subregion, believes that the methodology furthers the objectives, despite the findings of the department. This bill, if the department determines that the draft allocation methodology is not consistent with the objectives, would instead require the council of governments, or delegate subregion, to revise the methodology, in consultation with the department, to further the objectives within 45 days, receive department acceptance that the revised methodology furthers the objectives, and adopt a final regional, or subregional, housing need allocation methodology. The bill would remove the ability for a council of governments or delegate subregion to adopt the regional or subregional housing need allocation methodology without revision, as described above. (9) Existing law, except as provided, generally requires that a public hearing be held on an application for a variance from the requirements of a zoning ordinance, an application for a conditional use permit or equivalent development permit, a proposed revocation or modification of a variance or use permit or equivalent development permit, or an appeal from the action taken on any of those applications. Existing law, until January 1, 2034, prohibits a city or county from conducting more than 5 hearings, as defined, held pursuant to these provisions, or any other law, ordinance, or regulation requiring a public hearing, if a proposed housing development project complies with the applicable objective general plan and zoning standards in effect at the time an application is deemed complete, as defined. Existing law, until January 1, 2034, requires the city or county to consider and either approve or disapprove the housing development project at any of the 5 hearings consistent with the applicable timelines under the Permit Streamlining Act. This bill would remove the January 1, 2034, repeal date with respect to the requirements that a city or county conduct no more than 5 hearings on a housing development project, and either approve or disapprove that housing development at any of those hearings, as described above, thereby extending these provisions indefinitely. (10) Existing law, until January 1, 2030, for purposes of any state or local law, ordinance, or regulation that requires a city or county to determine whether the site of a proposed housing development project is a historic site, requires the city or county to make that determination, which remains valid for the pendency of the housing development, at the time the application is deemed complete, except as provided. This bill would remove the January 1, 2030, repeal date for these provisions, thereby extending them indefinitely. (11) Existing law, the Housing Accountability Act, among other things, prohibits a local agency from disapproving a housing development project that complies with applicable objective general plan, zoning, and subdivision standards and criteria, or from imposing a condition that it be developed at a lower density, unless the local agency bases its decision on written findings supported by the preponderance of the evidence on the record that specified conditions exist, as provided. That act also prohibits a local agency from disapproving, or from conditioning approval in a manner that renders infeasible, a housing development project for very low, low-, or moderate-income households or an emergency shelter unless the local agency makes written findings, based on the preponderance of the evidence, that one of 6 specified conditions exists. The act authorizes the applicant, a person who would be eligible to apply for residency in the housing development project or emergency shelter, or a housing organization to bring an action to enforce its provisions and authorizes a court to issue an order or judgment directing the local agency to approve the housing development project or emergency shelter under certain circumstances. Those circumstances include, among others and until January 1, 2030, that the local agency required or attempted to require a housing development project to comply with an ordinance, policy, or standard not adopted and in effect when a preliminary application was submitted, as specified. This bill would remove the January 1, 2030, inoperative date for this provision of the act, thereby extending this provision of the Housing Accountability Act indefinitely. The act, except as specified, requires that a housing development project be subject only to the ordinances, policies, and standards, as defined, adopted and in effect when a preliminary application, including specified information, required by specified law as described below, was submitted. The act makes this requirement inoperative on January 1, 2034. This bill would remove the January 1, 2034, inoperative date for this requirement under the act, thereby extending this provision of the Housing Accountability Act indefinitely. Among other terms, the act defines the term "deemed complete" for its purposes to mean, until January 1, 2030, that the applicant has submitted a preliminary application or a complete application, as specified, and requires that the local agency bear the burden of proof in establishing that the application is not complete. The act also defines the term "determined to be complete" for its purposes to mean, until January 1, 2030, that the applicant has submitted a complete application, as specified. The act also defines the term "objective" to mean, until January 1, 2030, involving no personal or subjective judgment by a public official and being uniformly verifiable by reference to an external and uniform benchmark or criterion available and knowable by both the development applicant or proponent and the public official. This bill would remove the January 1, 2030, inoperative date for each of these definitions, thereby extending their application under the Housing Accountability Act indefinitely. (12) Existing law, the Permit Streamlining Act, requires public agencies to compile one or more lists that specify in detail the information that will be required from any applicant for a development project. The act requires a public agency to determine in writing whether the application is complete and to immediately transmit the determination to the applicant for the development project, not later than 30 calendar days after the public agency received the application for the development project. The act defines "development project" for purposes of its provisions to mean any project undertaken for the purpose of development, including a project involving the issuance of a permit for construction or reconstruction but not a permit to operate, and excludes from this definition any ministerial projects proposed to be carried out or approved by public agencies. This bill, notwithstanding the exclusion for ministerial projects, would include in the definition of "development project" under the Permit Streamlining Act a housing development project that requires an entitlement from a local agency, regardless of whether the process for permitting that entitlement is discretionary or ministerial. The bill would also exclude from this definition a postentitlement phase permit, as defined by specified law. The act requires a city or county to deem an applicant for a housing development project to have submitted a preliminary application upon providing specified information about the proposed project to the city or county from which approval for the project is being sought. Existing law also authorizes a development proponent that submits a preliminary application for a housing development project to request a preliminary fee and exaction estimate, as defined, and requires a city, county, or city and county to provide the estimate within 30 business days of the submission of the preliminary application. Existing law repeals these provisions as of January 1, 2030. This bill would remove the January 1, 2030, repeal date for these provisions, thereby extending the provisions indefinitely. No later than 30 calendar days after receiving an application for a development project, the act requires a local agency to determine in writing whether the application is complete and immediately transmit that determination to the applicant. The act, until January 1, 2030, requires a public agency, upon its determination that an application for a development project is incomplete, to provide the applicant with an exhaustive list of items that were not complete, as specified. The act, until January 1, 2030, requires each city and each county to make copies of any list compiled, as described above, with respect to information required from an applicant for a housing development project, as defined, available in writing to those persons to whom the agency is required to make information available, as provided, and publicly available on the internet website of the city or county. This bill would remove the January 1, 2030, repeal date with respect to provision of an exhaustive list of requirements not complete, and availability of lists compiled with respect to housing development projects, thereby extending these provisions indefinitely. The act requires public agencies to approve or disapprove of a development project within certain timeframes, as specified. The act, until January 1, 2030, generally requires that a public agency that is the lead agency for certain development projects approve or disapprove the project within 90 days from the date of certification by the lead agency of an environmental impact report prepared for the project, but reduces this time period to 60 days from the certification of an environmental impact report if the project meets certain additional conditions relating to affordability. The act, until January 1, 2030, defines the term "development project" for this purpose to mean a housing development project, as that term is defined for purposes of the Housing Accountability Act, except as specified. Beginning January 1, 2030, the act extends the above-described timelines from 90 days to 120 days, and from 60 days to 90 days, respectively, and defines the term "development project" to mean a use consisting of residential units only or certain mixed-use developments. This bill would remove the January 1, 2030, repeal date for the 90-day and 60-day timelines described above and for the definition of "housing development project," thereby extending these provisions indefinitely, and would make a conforming change by repealing the above-described provisions that take effect on January 1, 2030. This bill would also require that a public agency that is the lead agency for a development project approve or disapprove a project within 60 days, as specified, from the date of receipt of a complete application, if the project is subject to ministerial review by the public agency. The bill would, for a development project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to the below-described CEQA exemption for housing development projects, require that a public agency that is the lead agency for the development projects approve or disapprove the project within 30 days from the conclusion of specified environmental assessments. Existing law requires a public agency, other than the California Coastal Commission, that is a responsible agency for a housing development, as defined, that has been approved by the lead agency to approve or disapprove the development within specified time periods. This bill would require the California Coastal Commission to comply with those time periods applicable to a responsible agency. The act authorizes an applicant for a permit for a development project, if any provision of law requires a lead agency or responsible agency to provide public notice of the development project or to hold a public hearing on the development project and the agency has not done so at least 60 days before the expiration of specified time limits, to file an action to compel the agency to provide the public notice or hold the hearing, as specified. In the event that a lead agency or a responsible agency fails to act to approve or to disapprove a development project within the time limits required by the act, existing law deems the failure to act as an approval of the permit application for the development project, only if the public notice required by law has occurred, as specified. This bill would remove the requirement that the public notice required by law has occurred, in order for the failure to act to be deemed as an approval of the permit application for the development project. The act provides that the time limits specified in the act are maximum time limits for approving or disapproving development projects. The act requires, if possible, public agencies to approve or disapprove development projects in shorter periods of time. This bill would require that the time limits specified in the act only apply to the extent that the time limits are equal to or shorter than the applicable time limits for public agency review established in any other law. (13) Existing law, known as the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, prohibits an affected county or an affected city, as defined and determined by the Department of Housing and Community Development, as specified, from enacting certain development policies, standards, or conditions with respect to land where housing is an allowable use, including policies, standards, or conditions that impose a moratorium or similar restriction or limitation on housing development or that limit the number of land use approvals or permits necessary for the approval and construction of housing that will be issued or allocated. The act also prohibits an affected city or an affected county from approving a housing development project that will require the demolition of one or more residential dwelling units, unless the project will create at least as many residential dwelling units as will be demolished, or from approving a development project that will require the demolition of occupied or vacant protected units or that is located on a site where protected units were demolished in the previous 5 years, unless specified conditions are met. The act repeals these provisions as of January 1, 2034. This bill would remove the above-described January 1, 2034, repeal date, thereby extending application of the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 indefinitely. (14) Existing law, the Subdivision Map Act, vests the authority to regulate and control the design and improvement of subdivisions in the legislative body of a local agency and sets forth procedures governing the local agency's processing, approval, conditional approval or disapproval, and filing of tentative, final, and parcel maps, and the modification thereof. The act generally requires a subdivider to file a tentative map or vesting tentative map with the local agency, as specified, and the local agency, in turn, to approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the map within a specified time period. A violation of any provision of this act is a crime. Existing law, known as the Starter Home Revitalization Act of 2021, among other things, requires a local agency to ministerially consider, without discretionary review or a hearing, a parcel map or a tentative and final map for a housing development project that meets certain requirements, including that the housing development project on the lot proposed to be subdivided will contain 10 or fewer residential units, except as provided. This bill would authorize the proposed subdivision to designate a remainder parcel, as described, that retains existing land uses or structures, does not contain any new residential units, and is not exclusively dedicated to serving the housing development project. Under the bill, the remainder parcel would not count against the 10-parcel maximum, as described above. The bill would also exclude the area of any designated remainder parcel from specified residential density calculations under the Starter Home Revitalization Act of 2021. By expanding the duties for a local agency to ministerially consider a housing development project, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would make nonsubstantive and related conforming changes to the Starter Home Revitalization Act of 2021. Existing law authorizes a local agency to condition the approval and recordation of a subdivision map upon the completion of a residential structure in compliance with all applicable provisions of the California Building Standards Code that contains at least one dwelling unit on each resulting parcel that does not already contain an existing legally permitted residential structure or is reserved for internal circulation, open space, or common area. This bill would, instead, generally prohibit a person from selling, leasing, or financing any parcel or parcels of real property resulting from a subdivision under this section, as specified, separately from any other such parcel or parcels, unless each parcel that is sold, leased, or financed meets one of 4 specified alternative criteria, including that the parcel contains a residential structure completed in compliance with all applicable provisions of the California Building Standards Code that includes at least one dwelling unit. Under the bill, a violation of this prohibition would constitute the sale of real property that has been divided in violation of the Subdivision Map Act, subject to the penalties and remedies set forth in specified provisions of the Subdivision Map Act. However, the bill would authorize a local agency, by ordinance or map condition, to authorize the sale, lease, or finance of any parcel or parcels of real property resulting from a subdivision, as specified, without compliance with the above-described prohibition on the sale, lease, or finance of a parcel or parcels of real property. Because a violation of these prohibitions would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (15) Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development (department) in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency. Existing law, the California Building Standards Law, establishes the California Building Standards Commission (commission) within the Department of General Services. Existing law requires the commission to approve and adopt building standards and to codify those standards in the California Building Standards Code (code) . Existing law, the State Housing Law, establishes statewide construction and occupancy standards for buildings used for human habitation. Existing law requires, among other things, the building standards adopted and submitted by the department for approval by the commission, as specified, to be adopted by reference, with certain exceptions. Existing law authorizes any city or county to make changes in those building standards that are published in the code, including to green building standards. Existing law requires the governing body of a city or county, before making modifications or changes to those green building standards, to make an express finding that those modifications or changes are reasonably necessary because of local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions. This bill would, from October 1, 2025, to June 1, 2031, inclusive, prohibit a city or county from making changes that are applicable to residential units to the above-described building standards unless a certain condition is met, including that the commission deems those changes or modifications necessary as emergency standards to protect health and safety. This bill would, from October 1, 2025, to June 1, 2031, inclusive, require the commission to reject a modification or change to any building standard, as described above, affecting a residential unit and filed by the governing body of a city or county unless a certain condition is met (excluded conditions) , including that the commission deems those changes or modifications necessary as emergency standards to protect health and safety. The bill would also make related findings and declarations. The bill would authorize the commission to rely on a statement by the local agency that specified excluded conditions are met. The bill would also authorize the city or county to request the commission to review one of the excluded conditions relating to changes or modifications related to administrative practices. The California Building Standards Law defines various terms to govern the construction of its provisions, including "model code," which means any building code drafted by private organizations or otherwise, and is required to include, but not be limited to, the latest edition of various codes. This bill would modify the definition of "model code" to add the latest edition of the International Wildland-Urban Interface Code of the International Code Council. Existing law requires the commission to receive proposed building standards from state agencies for consideration in an 18-month code adoption cycle and to develop regulations, as specified, setting forth the procedures for the 18-month adoption cycle. This bill, from October 1, 2025, to June 1, 2031, inclusive, would provide that the above-described requirement does not apply to any building standards affecting residential units and would prohibit the commission from considering, approving, or adopting any proposed building standards affecting residential units, unless a certain condition is met, including that the commission deems those changes necessary as emergency standards to protect health and safety. The California Building Standards Law provides for the adoption of building standards by state agencies by requiring all state agencies that adopt or propose adoption of any building standard to submit the building standard to the commission for approval and adoption. This bill, from October 1, 2025, to June 1, 2031, inclusive, would prohibit the commission or any other adopting agency from considering, approving, or adopting any proposed building standards affecting residential units, unless a certain condition is met, including that the commission deems those changes necessary as emergency standards to protect health and safety. Existing law requires only those building standards approved by the commission, and that are effective at the local level at the time an application for a building permit is submitted, to apply to the plans and specifications for, and to the construction performed under, that building permit. Existing law requires a local ordinance adding or modifying building standards for residential occupancies, which are published in the California Building Standards Code, to apply only to an application for a building permit submitted after the effective date of the ordinance and to the plans and specifications for, and the construction performed under, that permit, subject to certain exceptions. This bill would, notwithstanding those provisions, require the state and local building standards in effect at the time an application for a building permit is submitted, for a residential dwelling based on a model home design approved under those standards, to apply to all future residential dwellings based on that approved model home design in the same jurisdiction, unless a certain condition applies. By requiring local entities to apply certain building standards, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law provides that neither the State Building Standards Law, nor the application of certain building standards, limits the authority of a city, county, or city and county to establish more restrictive building standards, including, but not limited to, green building standards, reasonably necessary because of local climatic, geological, or topographical conditions, and pursuant to making certain findings. This bill would, notwithstanding those provisions, from October 1, 2025, to June 1, 2031, inclusive, prohibit a city or county from establishing more restrictive building standards that are applicable to residential units, unless a certain condition is met, including that the commission deems those changes or modifications necessary as emergency standards to protect health and safety. Existing law requires the commission to publish, or cause to be published, editions of the code in its entirety once in every 3 years, and supplements as necessary in the intervening period. Existing law also requires an emergency building standards supplement to be published whenever the commission determines it is necessary. This bill would limit the changes adopted during the intervening period to changes deemed necessary for editorial or clarity reasons, certain technical updates to existing code requirements, emergency building standards, amendments by the State Fire Marshal to specified building standards, certain necessary building standards and related state amendments, certain changes or modifications to administrative practices, and building standards necessary to incorporate minimum federal accessibility requirements, as specified. (16) Existing law provides authority for an enforcement agency to enter and inspect any buildings or premises whenever necessary to secure compliance with or prevent a violation of the building standards published in the California Building Standards Code and other rules and regulations that the enforcement agency has the power to enforce. Existing law requires an inspection, by January 1, 2026, and by January 1 every 6 years thereafter, of exterior elevated elements and associated waterproofing elements, as defined, including decks and balconies, for buildings with 3 or more multifamily dwelling units, as specified. This bill would provide that, notwithstanding the above-described inspection timeline, a building owner who confirms the presence of asbestos containing material (ACM) during an inspection, as specified, has up to 9 months to complete the necessary ACM abatement, as provided. The bill would require the building owner to, upon completion of ACM abatement, complete the inspection within no more than 4 months. The bill would require the building owner to retain records confirming the presence of ACM and its abatement for 3 years after completion of the inspection. By imposing additional duties on local officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (17) The State Housing Law, among other things, requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to adopt, amend, or repeal rules and regulations for the protection of the health, safety, and general welfare of the occupant and the public relating to specified residential structures, as provided, which apply throughout the state. Existing law requires the housing or building department of every city or county, or the health department if there is no building department, to enforce within its jurisdiction the provisions of the State Housing Law, building standards, and the other rules and regulations adopted by the department pertaining to the maintenance, sanitation, ventilation, use, or occupancy of apartment houses, hotels, or dwellings. Existing law authorizes an officer, employee, or agent of an enforcement agency to enter and inspect any building or premises whenever necessary to secure compliance with, or prevent a violation of, specified law, including the State Housing Law. A violation of the State Housing Law, or of the building standards or rules and regulations adopted pursuant to that law, is a misdemeanor. Existing law requires a city or county that receives a complaint from an occupant of a homeless shelter, as defined, or an agent of an occupant, alleging that a homeless shelter is substandard to, among other things, inspect the homeless shelter or portion thereof intended for human occupancy that may be substandard, as specified. Existing law requires a city or county that determines a homeless shelter is substandard to issue a notice to correct the violation to the owner or operator of the homeless shelter, as specified. Existing law makes the owner or operator of a homeless shelter responsible for correcting any violation cited pursuant to these provisions. This bill would require a city or county to additionally perform an annual inspection of every homeless shelter located in its jurisdiction, as prescribed. The bill would authorize the above-described inspection or annual inspection to be announced or unannounced. The bill would require homeless shelters to prominently display notice of an occupant's rights, the process for reporting a complaint alleging a homeless shelter is substandard, and prescribed information, including specified contact information. The bill would require the homeless shelter to provide the same notice in writing to new occupants upon intake. Existing law authorizes a city or county to impose additional civil penalties on an owner or operator that fails to correct a violation within the required time period. Existing law prohibits a city or county from awarding or distributing any state funding, as defined, to the owner or operator of a homeless shelter for purposes of operating the homeless shelter if, among other things, the owner or operator fails to correct a violation within the required time period. Existing law also authorizes legal action to enforce the requirements of these provisions, as specified. This bill would entitle a plaintiff who prevails in an above-described legal action to recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs. The bill would additionally authorize the Department of Housing and Community Development to bring a civil action to enforce these provisions. Existing law requires each city and county to annually submit a report that provides specified information relating to inspections of homeless shelters, including a list of owners or operators of homeless shelters who received 3 or more violations within any 6-month period. If there are no outstanding violations or violations corrected during the applicable period, existing law exempts a city or county from submitting that report. Existing law authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development or the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency to deem an owner or operator of a shelter ineligible for state funding, as defined, for shelter operations based on the information provided in the report. This bill would, instead, require a city or county to submit a report each year, regardless of whether the city or county received any complaints, and to include in its annual report the number of complaints received by the city or county that year, including if the city or county did not receive any complaints. The bill would require the department to withhold state funding from a city or county that fails to comply with its reporting requirements or fails to take action to correct a violation by a homeless shelter. By adding to the duties of local officials with respect to enforcement of the State Housing Law, the violation of which is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (18) The California Constitution prohibits the development, construction, or acquisition in any manner of a low-rent housing project by any state public body, as defined, until a majority of the qualified electors of the city, town, or county in which it is proposed to develop, construct, or acquire the same, voting upon that issue, approve the project by voting in favor at an election. The California Constitution, for purposes of this prohibition, defines "low-rent housing project" to mean any development composed of urban or rural dwellings, apartments, or other living accommodations for persons of low income, financed in whole or in part by the federal government or a state public body, or to which the federal government or a state public body extends assistance by supplying all or part of the labor, by guaranteeing the payment of liens, or otherwise. Existing law establishes exclusions from this definition of "low-rent housing project," including, among others, a development that consists of the acquisition, rehabilitation, reconstruction, alterations work, new construction, or any combination thereof of lodging facilities or dwelling units using moneys appropriated and disbursed pursuant to the Zenovich-Moscone-Chacon Housing and Home Finance Act and the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program. Existing law, the Behavioral Health Infrastructure Bond Act of 2024 (bond act) , which establishes the Behavioral Health Infrastructure Fund, requires specified proceeds of interim debt and bonds that are issued and sold pursuant to the bond act to be deposited in the fund, and continuously appropriates the fund for purposes of the bond act. Existing law requires the moneys in the fund to be used for certain purposes, including making loans or grants administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development to state, regional, and local public entities and development sponsors to acquire capital assets for the conversion, rehabilitation, or new construction of permanent supportive housing for persons who are homeless, chronically homeless, or are at risk of homelessness, and are living with a behavioral health challenge, are veterans, or are part of a veteran's household. Existing law allocates moneys in the fund for those purposes. This bill would expand the above-described exclusion to include a development that consists of the acquisition, rehabilitation, reconstruction, alterations work, new construction, or any combination thereof of lodging facilities or dwelling units using moneys appropriated and disbursed pursuant to the bond act, thereby excluding the developments that receive moneys from the specified fund and program from the scope of the above-described constitutional provision. (19) Existing law establishes the Interagency Council on Homelessness and requires the goals of the council to include, among other things, identifying mainstream resources, benefits, and services that can be accessed to prevent and end homelessness in California. Existing law requires the council to administer certain grant programs to assist local governments in addressing homelessness. Existing law establishes the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention program (HHAP) for the purpose of providing jurisdictions with grant funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address their immediate homelessness challenges, as specified. Existing law provides for the allocation of funding under the program among continuums of care, cities, counties, and tribes in 6 rounds, which are administered by the council. Existing law requires a program applicant to provide specified information through data collection, reporting, performance monitoring, and accountability framework. Existing law mandates that responsibility for administering specified grant programs transferred from the council to the Department of Housing and Community Development, including the HHAP program. This bill would specify that the reporting requirements described above apply to all rounds of the HHAP program and make conforming changes to reflect the transfer of responsibility for the reporting framework from the council to the department. (20) Existing law establishes the Encampment Resolution Funding program, administered by the Interagency Council on Homelessness, to increase collaboration between the council, local jurisdictions, and continuums of care for specified purposes. Existing law requires the council to administer the funding round 1 moneys of the programs in accordance with specified timelines, and requires recipients of funding round 1 moneys to expend all program funds no later than June 30, 2024, as specified. Existing law requires recipients of additional funding round moneys for projects from prior funding rounds that the council determined satisfied applicable program requirements but were not funded in the prior round to expend at least 50% of their allocation within 2 fiscal years of the appropriation from the Legislature, to obligate 100% of their allocation within 2 fiscal years of the appropriation, and to expend all program funds within 3 fiscal years of the appropriation, as specified. Existing law requires recipients of additional funding round moneys awarded on a rolling basis pursuant to specified provisions to expend at least 50% of their allocation within 2 fiscal years of the appropriation from the Legislature, to obligate 100% of their allocation within 2 fiscal years of the appropriation, and to expend all program funds within 4 fiscal years of the appropriation. This bill would revise the above-described timelines to instead be within the above-specified fiscal years of the date of the award. (21) Existing law, the Zenovich-Moscone-Chacon Housing and Home Finance Act, among other things, establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development and requires it to administer various programs intended to promote the development of housing and to provide housing assistance and home loans. Existing law sets forth various general powers of the department in implementing these programs, including authorizing the department to enter into long-term contracts or agreements of up to 30 years for the purpose of servicing loans or grants or enforcing regulatory agreements or other security documents. Existing law, unless an extension of a department loan, the reinstatement of a qualifying unpaid matured loan, the subordination of a department loan to new debt, or an investment of tax credit equity would result in a rent increase for tenants of a development, authorizes the department to approve an extension, reinstatement, subordination, or investment pursuant to specified rental housing finance programs, as specified, or if the department determines that a project has, or will have after rehabilitation or repairs, a potential remaining useful life equal to or greater than the term of the restructured loan. Existing law authorizes the adjustment of rents for assisted units to the minimum extent necessary to support new debt to pay for rehabilitation, as specified, and provides formulas to calculate the maximum allowable rent increase for different programs. Existing law authorizes the department to charge a monitoring fee to cover the aggregate monitoring costs in years the loan is extended and a transaction fee to cover its costs for processing restructuring transactions, and requires developer fee limitations to be consistent with specified laws and regulations, including regulations by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee. This bill would revise and recast these provisions, including additionally authorizing the department to approve the payoff of a department loan in whole or part before the end of its term and the extraction of equity from a development for purposes approved by the department. The bill would specify eligible uses of loan and equity sources, if the department determines that a project has, or will have after rehabilitation or repairs, a potential remaining useful life equal to or greater than the term of the department's regulatory agreement for purposes of approving an extension, reinstatement, subordination, payoff, extraction, or investment, as described above. The bill would prohibit the extension, reinstatement, subordination, payoff, extraction, or investment, as described above, if it would result in a rent increase for tenants of a development over and above the annual adjustment to the tenants' rents under the department's regulatory agreement. This bill would recast certain provisions related to regulatory agreements, including authorizing the department to add another regulatory agreement and authorizing the department to waive specified requirements in the regulatory agreement if the loan is paid off, including requiring occupancy and financial reports. The bill would specify that rents for assisted units may not be adjusted to support new debt for the extraction of equity. The bill would revise certain provisions related to calculating a permitted rent increase, as provided. The bill would authorize the department to charge additional fees as necessary to cover its costs for processing restructuring transactions, and would provide that the monitoring fees continue until the end of the term of the department's regulatory agreement, as specified. The bill would limit developer fees to the amount allowed by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee or to 25% of actual rehabilitation costs, as applicable. This bill would require the department, subject to certain conditions, to allow property owners subject to a regulatory agreement with the department to take out additional debt on the development in order to finance, with the department's approval, the rehabilitation of the property or investment in new affordable housing. Existing law, known as the No Place Like Home Program, requires the department to award up to $2,000,000,000 among counties to finance capital costs, including, but not limited to, acquisition, design, construction, rehabilitation, or preservation, and to capitalize operating reserves, of permanent supportive housing for the target population, as specified. This bill would define "capitalized operating reserves" for purposes of the Zenovich-Moscone-Chacon Housing and Home Finance Act and the No Place Like Home Program. (22) Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to administer various programs intended to promote the development or rehabilitation of housing, including the Joe Serna, Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant Program, the Multifamily Housing Program, the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Program, the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Act of 2014, the No Place Like Home Program, the Deferred-Payment Rehabilitation Loan Program, the Family Housing Demonstration Program, and the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program. Existing law authorizes the department to set aside, designate, use, or expend a portion of the funds in those programs for specified purposes, including to cure or avert a default on certain loans or obligations, or to bid at a foreclosure sale where the default or foreclosure sale would jeopardize the department's security in certain rental housing developments. This bill would establish the Affordable Housing Default Reserve Account. The bill would provide that all moneys in the account are continuously appropriated to the department for the purpose of curing or averting a default on the terms of any loan or other obligation by the recipient of financial assistance, or bidding at any foreclosure sale where the default or foreclosure sale would jeopardize the department's security in the rental housing development assisted by the department. The bill also would authorize the department to use the funds in the account to repair or maintain specified rental housing developments. The bill would authorize the Department of Finance to transfer amounts in specified funds or programs to the Affordable Housing Default Reserve Account for expenditure by the department. During any fiscal year, if the department spends a total of more than 25% of the balance that was in the account at the start of that fiscal year, the bill would require, within 30 days of surpassing that amount, the department to provide written notice to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, as specified. (23) Existing law establishes the Regional Early Action Planning Grants Program of 2021 (program) for the purpose of providing regions with funding, including grants, for transformative planning and implementation activities, as defined. Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development (department) to develop and administer the program, in collaboration with the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, the Strategic Growth Council, and the State Air Resources Board, and to distribute funds, upon appropriation, in accordance with specified requirements. Existing law requires a recipient of funds under the program to obligate those funds no later than September 30, 2024, and expend those funds no later than June 30, 2026. Existing law requires each eligible entity that receives an allocation of funds pursuant to certain of the program's provisions to submit a final report on the use of those funds to the department, as specified, no later than December 31, 2026. This bill would instead require a recipient of funds under the program to expend those funds no later than December 31, 2026, and would require the above-described final report to be submitted no later than June 30, 2027. The bill would also require the final invoice submission deadline to reimburse those funds to be June 30, 2027. If certain of those entities that received an allocation have unexpended funds after June 30, 2026, existing law authorizes the department to make those funds available to other of those entities for reimbursement of expenditures incurred before June 30, 2026, as specified, before December 31, 2026, as specified. This bill would instead, if certain of those entities that received an allocation have unexpended funds after December 31, 2026, authorize the department to make those funds available to other of those entities for reimbursement of expenditures incurred before December 31, 2026, as specified, before December 31, 2027, as specified. (24) Under existing law, the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Program is administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development to provide local assistance to developers for the purpose of developing higher density uses within close proximity to transit stations, as provided. This bill would instead authorize the program to provide local assistance for the purpose of supporting the development of higher density vehicle miles traveled-efficient affordable housing or related infrastructure. The bill would additionally authorize the program to provide local assistance to cities, counties, cities and counties, transit agencies, and eligible tribal applicants, as defined. Existing law establishes the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Fund and, to the extent funds are available, requires the department to make loans for the development and construction of housing development projects within close proximity to a transit station that meet specified criteria. This bill would instead authorize the department, to the extent funds are available, to make repayable or forgivable loans for the development and construction of vehicle miles traveled-efficient affordable housing and to make grants for infrastructure necessary for the development of higher density vehicle miles traveled-efficient affordable housing or related infrastructure projects, as specified. This bill would require the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, subject to appropriation, and, with the agreement of the Regents of the University of California, contract with the University of California to conduct an evaluation of the mitigation measures used by projects participating in the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Program to reduce vehicle miles traveled, as specified. The bill would require the office to complete the evaluation and submit a report to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2031. (25) CEQA requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA defines a responsible agency as a public agency, other than the lead agency, which has responsibility for carrying out or approving a project. CEQA exempts from its requirements various projects, including, but not limited to, housing projects that meet certain requirements. This bill would authorize, if a lead agency determines that a project will have a significant transportation impact, the lead agency to mitigate the transportation impact to a less than significant level by helping to fund or otherwise facilitating housing or related infrastructure projects, including by contributing an amount, to be determined pursuant to guidance issued by the office, into the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Fund for purposes of the Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Program. The bill would authorize deposit of those contributions into the fund beginning on or before July 1, 2026, as determined by the department, and would make those moneys available to the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of awarding funding for affordable housing or related infrastructure projects under the program in accordance with specified priorities. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2026, and at least once every 3 years thereafter, the office, in consultation with other state agencies, to issue guidance related to the implementation of these provisions, as provided. The bill would require the office, in consultation with the department, the Transportation Agency, and regions, to evaluate the use of vehicle miles traveled mitigation resources allocated pursuant to the above-described program, as specified, beginning the year following the first distributions of funding. The bill would make related findings and declarations. Existing law requires workers employed on public works to be paid not less than the general prevailing rate of per diem wages for work of a similar character in the locality that the public work is performed, as prescribed, unless an exception applies. This bill would exempt from the requirements of CEQA any aspect of a housing development project, as defined, including any permits, approvals, or public improvements required for the housing development project, as may be required by CEQA, if the housing development project meets certain conditions relating to, for example, size, density, location, and use, including specific requirements for any housing on the project site located within 500 feet of a freeway. This bill would require a local government to, within specified timeframes, provide formal notification to each California Native American tribe that is traditionally and culturally affiliated with the project site as an invitation to consult on the proposed project, as specified. The bill would require a local government, as a condition of approval for the development, to require the development proponent to complete a specified environmental assessment regarding hazardous substance releases. If a recognized environmental condition is found, the bill would require the development proponent to complete a preliminary endangerment assessment and specified mitigation based on that assessment. This bill would also require specified housing development projects that are subject to this CEQA exemption to be paid prevailing wage rates, as specified, regardless of whether the housing development project is a public work. The bill would require specified projects, including specified projects of 50 units or greater in the City and County of San Francisco, to comply with specified labor standards, extend the liability to a development proponent, as defined, for any debt owed to a wage claimant or third party on the wage claimant's behalf under specified law, and authorize a joint labor-management cooperation committee to bring an action to enforce the specified requirements, as specified. Because a lead agency would be required to determine whether a housing development project qualifies for the above-described exemption and because a local government would be required to provide formal notification to California Native American tribes, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (26) The Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2021 authorizes the Governor, until January 1, 2032, to certify environmental leadership development projects that meet specified conditions for certain streamlining benefits related to CEQA. The act requires a lead agency to prepare the record of proceedings for an environmental leadership development project, as provided, and to provide a specified notice within 10 days of the Governor certifying the project. Among other categories of projects, the act authorizes the Governor to certify a housing development project that, among other things, will result in a minimum investment of $15,000,000, but less than $100,000,000, in California upon completion of construction. This bill would authorize the governor to designate for this streamlining one of these housing development projects that will result in an investment of $15,000,000 or more in California upon completion, without an upper limit on the resulting investment. The act requires, as one of the conditions for certification of a housing development project, that it not result in any net additional emission of greenhouse gases, including greenhouse gas emissions from employee transportation. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and to update the scoping plan at least once every 5 years. The bill would authorize, as an alternative to the no net additional greenhouse gas condition for certification of a housing development project as an environmental leadership development project, a demonstration that the project is consistent with the most recent scoping plan adopted by the state board. By expanding the duties imposed on lead agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (27) Existing law, the California Coastal Act of 1976, establishes the California Coastal Commission and prescribes the powers and responsibilities of the commission with regard to the regulation of development along the California coast. The act prescribes procedures for the approval and certification of a local coastal program by the commission, and provides for the delegation of development review authority to a local government, as defined, with a certified local coastal program. Under the act, an action taken by a local government after certification of its local coastal program on a coastal development permit application may be appealed to the commission only on specified grounds and only for certain types of developments, including certain developments located in a sensitive coastal resource area and any development approved by a coastal county that is not designated as the principal permitted use under the zoning ordinance or zoning district map, as specified. This bill would exempt a residential development project, as defined, from the above provisions relating to the appeal of developments located in a sensitive coastal resource area and developments approved by a coastal county. The bill would also require the commission, no later than July 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, to submit a report to the Legislature that includes specified information relating to residential development projects for the preceding calendar year, as specified. (28) Existing law, the Personal Income Tax Law, authorizes various credits against the taxes imposed by that law, including a credit for qualified renters in the amount of $120 for spouses filing joint returns, heads of household, and surviving spouses if adjusted gross income is $50,000, as adjusted, or less, and in the amount of $60 for other individuals if adjusted gross income is $25,000, as adjusted, or less. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax credit to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives that the tax credit will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. Existing law establishes the continuously appropriated Tax Relief and Refund Account in the General Fund and provides that payments required to be made to taxpayers or other persons from the Personal Income Tax Fund are to be paid from that account, including any amount allowable as an earned income tax credit in excess of any tax liabilities. This bill, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and only when specified annually in a bill relating to the Budget Act, would increase the credit amount for a qualified renter to $250 and $500, as provided. In the event the increased credit amount is not specified in a bill relating to the Budget Act, the existing credit amounts of $120 and $60, as described above, respectively, would be the credit amounts for that taxable year. The bill would provide findings and declarations relating to the goals, purposes, and objectives of this credit. (29) This bill would make its provisions severable. (30) This bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. (31) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City and County of San Francisco with respect to the above-described CEQA exemption and minimum wage requirements. (32) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. (33) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.
passed · California · Assembly Aug 13, 2026

AB 906: Planning and zoning: housing elements: affirmatively furthering fair housing.

(1) The Planning and Zoning Law requires a city or county to adopt a general plan for land use development that includes, among other things, a housing element. Existing law requires the housing element to include, among other things, an inventory of land suitable and available for residential development, including specified sites, an analysis of the relationship of zoning and public facilities and services to these sites (first analysis) , and an analysis of the relationship of the sites identified in the land inventory to the jurisdiction's duty to affirmatively further fair housing (2nd analysis) . This bill would remove the requirement on cities and counties to include the 2nd analysis in their housing elements. (2) Existing law requires a housing element to include a program that sets forth a schedule of actions during the planning period, each with a timeline for implementation such that there will be beneficial impacts of the programs within the planning period, that the local government is undertaking or intends to undertake to implement the policies and achieve the goals and objectives of the housing element through specified actions. Existing law requires this program to, among other things, identify actions that will be taken to make sites available, as provided, to accommodate that portion of the city's or county's share of the regional housing need for all income levels that could not be accommodated on sites identified in the inventory of sites without rezoning, and to comply with the certain zoning and rezoning requirements. If the inventory of sites does not identify adequate sites to accommodate the need for groups of all household income levels, as provided, existing law requires that the local government rezone those sites within specified time periods and requires the local government housing element program to identify sites that can be developed for housing within the planning period, as specified. Existing law also requires this program to affirmatively further fair housing and include an assessment that consists of specified components, including an analysis of available federal, state, and local data and knowledge to identify integration and segregation patterns and trends, racially or ethnically concentrated areas of poverty and affluence, disparities in access to opportunity, and disproportionate housing needs, including displacement risk. Under the above-described program, existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to develop a standardized reporting format for certain programs and actions taken, and requires the standardized reporting format to enable the reporting of all of the assessment components and certain fields, including timelines for implementation. This bill would additionally require the above-described program to identify actions that will be taken to make sites available to ensure that the distribution of sites across the jurisdiction affirmatively furthers fair housing. The bill would require those sites, after any required rezoning and among other things, to be distributed throughout the jurisdiction in a manner that affirmatively furthers fair housing, as specified. The bill would additionally require the local government to rezone the sites within specified time periods, as described above, and identify sites that can be developed for housing within the planning period, as described above, if the inventory of sites does not affirmatively further fair housing, as specified. For those additionally identified sites, the bill would require the jurisdiction to demonstrate that those sites will affirmatively further fair housing, as provided. By imposing additional duties on local entities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would revise and recast the requirement that the program affirmatively further fair housing. The bill would require that program to include an assessment of fair housing that includes, among other things, an analysis of available federal, state, and local data and knowledge to identify and examine certain patterns, trends, areas, disparities, and needs, as specified. The bill would also require each city or county to make the draft assessment publicly available and solicit public comments for a period of at least 90 days. The bill would require the city or county to include, among other things, in its first draft revision of the housing element, the assessment, including any revisions made in response to the public comments, and specified strategies and actions to implement the jurisdiction's fair housing priorities and goals. By imposing additional duties on local entities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would instead require the department to develop a standardized format for describing those strategies and actions to be taken, and would require the standardized reporting format to address all of the assessment components and, in addition to the above-described certain fields, a field for which fair housing priority the program is intended to address, the intended impacts, and how the strategies and actions will result in those impacts. (3) Existing law authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development, in evaluating a proposed or adopted housing element for substantial compliance, to allow a city or county to identify adequate sites by a variety of methods, including, among others, redesignation of property to a more intense land use category. Existing law also authorizes the department to allow a city or county to identify sites for accessory dwelling units based on the number of accessory dwelling units developed in the prior housing element planning period whether or not the units are permitted by right, the need for these units in the community, the resources or incentives available for their development, and any other relevant factors, as determined by the department. This bill would revise the department's authorization to allow a city or county to identify sites for accessory dwelling units in each income category based on the number of accessory dwelling units developed in the prior housing element planning period in that income category whether or not the units are permitted by right, the need for these units in the community, the resources or incentives available for their development, and any other relevant factors, as determined by the department. The bill would also require the jurisdiction to provide proof of a recorded deed restriction requiring the continued affordability of the unit, as specified, for accessory dwelling units developed in the prior housing element period to count towards determining the number of sites for accessory dwelling units a jurisdiction can include in the lower income category. (4) Existing law requires a city's or county's inventory of land suitable for residential development to be used to identify sites throughout the community, consistent with certain fair housing requirements, that can be developed for housing within the planning period, and that are sufficient to provide for the jurisdiction's share of the regional housing need for all income levels. This bill would instead require that a city's or county's inventory of land suitable for residential development be used to identify sites that can be developed for housing within the planning period, that are sufficient to provide for the jurisdiction's share of the regional housing need for all income levels, and that are distributed throughout the community in compliance with the requirement that the distribution affirmatively furthers fair housing, as specified. By imposing additional duties on local entities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) Existing law requires a city or county to determine whether each site in its inventory of suitable land, as described above, can accommodate the development of some portion of its share of the regional housing need by income level during the planning period. Existing law also requires the inventory to, among other things, specify for each site the number of units that can realistically be accommodated on that site. This bill would additionally require those sites identified as described above to be distributed throughout the jurisdiction in a manner that affirmatively furthers fair housing by allowing for a reduction in residential segregation, based on a specified determination procedure. By imposing additional duties on local entities, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the department, by no later than April 1, 2027, to develop and publish an online tool to serve as the method for determining whether each city's or county's identification of sites adequate to accommodate its share of the regional housing need at all income levels meets the distribution requirement described above. The bill would authorize the department to grant an adjustment to the distribution requirement described above if underlying data for the jurisdiction renders the tool unreliable. The bill would require the department to include in its materials explaining the online tool a procedure for applying for an adjustment and the factors that the department will consider in determining whether or not to grant an adjustment. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
passed · California · Assembly May 20, 2025

AB 609: California Environmental Quality Act: exemption: housing development projects.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA exempts from its requirements various projects, including, but not limited to, housing projects that meet certain requirements. This bill would exempt from the requirements of CEQA a housing development project, as defined, that meets certain conditions relating to, for example, size, density, and location, including specific requirements for any housing on the project site located within 500 feet of a freeway. The bill would require a local government, as a condition of approval for the development, to require the development proponent to complete a specified environmental assessment regarding hazardous substance releases. If a recognized environmental condition is found, the bill would require the development proponent to complete a preliminary endangerment assessment and specified mitigation based on that assessment. Because a lead agency would be required to determine whether a housing development project qualifies for this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
signed · California · Senate Oct 10, 2025

SB 79: Housing development: transit-oriented development.

(1) Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and specified land outside its boundaries, that contains certain mandatory elements, including a housing element. Existing law requires that the housing element consist of an identification and analysis of existing and projected housing needs and a statement of goals, policies, quantified objectives, financial resources, and scheduled programs for the preservation, improvement, and development of housing, as specified. Existing law requires that the housing element include, among other things, an assessment of housing needs and an inventory of resources and constraints that are relevant to the meeting of these needs, including an inventory of land suitable for residential development, as provided. Existing law, for the 4th and subsequent revisions of the housing element, requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to determine the existing and projected need for housing for each region, as specified, and requires the appropriate council of local governments, or the department for cities and counties without a council of governments, to adopt a final regional housing need plan that allocates a share of the regional housing need to each locality in the region. Existing law requires the inventory of land to be used to identify sites throughout the community that can be developed for housing within the planning period and that are sufficient to provide for the jurisdiction's share of the regional housing need. Existing law requires each local government to revise its housing element in accordance with a specified schedule. Existing law, the Housing Accountability Act, among other things, requires a local agency that proposes to disapprove a housing development project, as defined, or to impose a condition that the project be developed at a lower density to base its decision on written findings supported by a preponderance of the evidence that specified conditions exist if that project complies with applicable, objective general plan, zoning, and subdivision standards and criteria in effect at the time that the application was deemed complete. The act authorizes the applicant, a person who would be eligible to apply for residency in the housing development project or emergency shelter, or a housing organization to bring an action to enforce the act's provisions, as provided, and provides for penalties if the court finds that the local agency is in violation of specified provisions of the act. This bill would require that a housing development project, as defined, within a specified distance of a transit-oriented development (TOD) stop, as defined, be an allowed use as a transit-oriented housing development on any site zoned for residential, mixed, or commercial development, if the development complies with applicable requirements, as specified. Among these requirements, the bill would require a project to include at least 5 dwelling units and establish requirements concerning height limits, density, and residential floor area ratio in accordance with a development's proximity to specified tiers of TOD stops, as provided. The bill would require that, for the purposes of the Housing Accountability Act, a proposed development consistent with the applicable standards of these provisions as well as applicable local objective general plan and zoning standards be deemed consistent, compliant, and in conformity with prescribed requirements, as specified. The bill would provide that a local government that denies a project meeting the requirements of these provisions located in a high-resource area, as defined, would be presumed in violation of the Housing Accountability Act, as specified, and immediately liable for penalties, beginning on January 1, 2027, as provided. These provisions would not apply to a local agency until July 1, 2026, except as specified, or within unincorporated areas of counties until the 7th regional housing needs allocation cycle. The bill would specify that a development proposed pursuant to these provisions is eligible for streamlined, ministerial approval pursuant to specified law, except that the bill would exempt a project under these provisions from specified requirements, and would specify that the project is required to comply with certain affordability requirements, under that law. This bill would require a proposed development to comply with specified demolition and antidisplacement standards; to not be located on sites where the development would require demolition of housing, or that was previously used for housing, that is subject to rent or price controls; to include housing for lower income households, as specified; be consistent with specified height, noise, safety, and fire standards; and meet specified labor standards, as provided. The bill would also authorize a transit agency's board of directors to adopt agency TOD zoning standards for district-owned real property located in a TOD zone, which establish minimum zoning requirements for an agency TOD project, as specified. Prior to one year following the adoption of the 7th revision of the housing element, this bill would not apply the provisions relating to a housing development project to specified sites for which a local government has adopted an ordinance indicating the site's exclusion, as specified, including a site that is covered by a local TOD alternative plan, as defined, adopted by a local government. For the 7th and subsequent revisions of the housing element, the bill would authorize a local government to include a local TOD alternative plan in its housing element or adopt an alternative plan by ordinance, as specified. The bill would exempt a jurisdiction that has adopted a compliant local TOD alternative plan from the provisions relating to a housing development, as specified. This bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to oversee compliance with the bill's provisions and would require the department to promulgate standards on how to allow for capacity pursuant to these provisions to be counted in the inventory of land included within a county's or city's housing element, as specified. The bill would authorize each metropolitan planning organization to create a map of designated TOD stops and zones within its region by tier in accordance with these standards, which would have a rebuttable presumption of validity. The bill would authorize a local government to enact an ordinance to make its zoning code consistent with these provisions, as provided. The bill would require the local government to submit a draft of this ordinance to the department for review, at least 14 days prior to adoption of the ordinance. The bill would require the local government to submit a copy of this ordinance to the department within 60 days of enactment and would require the department to review the ordinance for compliance, as specified. If at any time the department finds an ordinance is out of compliance, and the local government does not take specified steps to address compliance, the bill would require the department to notify the local government in writing and authorize the department to notify the Attorney General, as provided. This bill would define various terms for its purposes and make related findings and declarations. This bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. By increasing the duties of local officials, and by expanding the crime of perjury by requiring the certification of certain information related to labor standards, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) This bill would provide that its provisions are severable. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.
signed · California · Senate Oct 11, 2025

SB 158: Land use.

(1) Existing law, the Governor's Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 2025 (GRP) , which became effective on July 5, 2025, reorganized specified state agencies and departments, including establishing the Housing Development and Finance Executive Committee (executive committee) within the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency for the purpose of centralizing affordable housing finance policymaking across state government. The GRP requires the executive committee to, among other things, work to align state housing funding sources for the creation of a consolidated application for multifamily affordable housing developers and a coordinated review process for the application of funds. The GRP, beginning July 1, 2026, establishes the Housing Development and Finance Committee within the California Housing and Homelessness Agency, which the GRP also establishes, and transfers the executive committee to the Housing Development Finance Committee effective July 1, 2026. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that, in addition to the other duties required of the executive committee created by the GRP to align state housing funding sources, as described above, the executive committee be required to make recommendations to the Legislature regarding improvements the Department of Housing and Community Development may make to optimize loan administration, as specified. (2) Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires each county and each city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and specified land outside its boundaries, that includes, among other specified mandatory elements, a housing element. That law requires the planning agency of a city or county to provide by April 1 of each year an annual report to, among other entities, the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, formerly known as the Office of Planning and Research, and the Department of Housing and Community Development. This bill would require an annual report required by its provisions to be prepared using standards, forms, and definitions adopted by the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, except as specified. The bill would also make a nonsubstantive change to update a reference to the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation in these provisions. (3) The Permit Streamlining Act establishes requirements for the review and approval of applications for development projects by public agencies. Existing law defines "development project" for purposes of those provisions to include a housing development project that requires an entitlement from a local agency. This bill would define "housing development project" for purposes of those provisions. (4) The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA, for various purposes, including for the purpose of limiting certain exemptions from CEQA, defines "natural and protected lands" to mean sites located within specified locations, including, among other locations, lands protected as preserve areas or reserve lands, as provided. This bill would instead include in the definition of "natural and protected lands" for CEQA purposes lands that are identified for conservation in an adopted natural community conservation plan, as provided, or other adopted natural resource protection plan. (5) Existing law exempts from CEQA specified new agricultural employee housing projects and projects consisting exclusively of the repair or maintenance of an existing farmworker housing project. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change by amending and renumbering the above-described section of law. (6) CEQA exempts from its requirements housing projects that meet certain conditions. Under the exemption for housing projects, CEQA requires a local government to notify and consult, as specified, with each California Native American tribe that is traditionally and culturally affiliated with the project site on the proposed project, as specified. For a development project exempt from CEQA pursuant to this exemption, existing law, the Permit Streamlining Act, requires that a public agency that is the lead agency for the development project approve or disapprove the project within 30 days from the conclusion of the consultation process. Existing law, the Housing Accountability Act (HAA) , among other things, prohibits a local agency from disapproving a housing development project that complies with applicable objective general plan, zoning, and subdivision standards and criteria, or from imposing a condition that it be developed at a lower density, unless the local agency bases its decision on written findings supported by a preponderance of the evidence on the record that specified conditions exist, as provided. When a local agency makes a decision as described above, existing law requires the local agency to provide the applicant documentation describing the reason for the decision within a specified time period. For a development project exempt from CEQA pursuant to the exemption for housing projects, this bill would instead require the public agency to approve or disapprove the project within 30 days from the later of the conclusion of the above-specified consultation process or the above-specified time period under the HAA. (7) Existing law, for a proposed housing development project that would otherwise be exempt from CEQA pursuant to a statutory exemption or specified categorical exemptions, but for a single condition, limits the application of CEQA to the effects upon the environment that are caused by that single condition, except as provided. This bill would exempt from that limited application of CEQA a housing development project that has a project site or parcel size that exceeds 4 acres, if the project is a builder's remedy project, as defined, and the project applicant applied, as specified. (8) Existing law exempts from CEQA any aspect of a housing development project, as defined, including any permits, approvals, or public improvements required for the housing development project, if the housing development project meets specified conditions, as provided. Existing law requires, as one of those conditions, that the project site or parcel size for a builder's remedy project, as defined, not be more than 5 acres. This bill would instead require, as part of those conditions, that the project site or parcel size for a builder's remedy project not be more than 4 acres. The bill would require, if a lead agency determines that CEQA does not apply to an activity pursuant to the above-described exemption and determines to approve or carry out the activity, the lead agency to file a notice of exemption with the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation and the county clerk of the county in which the activity will occur, as specified. (9) This bill, notwithstanding exemptions from CEQA or the limited application of CEQA to housing development projects, would apply CEQA to a housing development project that meets specified criteria, including, among other things, that the project is located in a city with a population of more than 85,000 but less than 95,000, as determined by the 2020 Census, and a portion of the parcel where the project is located is within a regulatory floodway, as provided. (10) Existing law establishes the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) program for the purpose of providing jurisdictions with grant funds to support regional coordination and expand or develop local capacity to address their immediate homelessness challenges, as specified. Existing law provides for the allocation of funding under the program among continuums of care, cities, counties, and tribes in 6 rounds, with rounds 1 to 5, inclusive, administered by the Interagency Council on Homelessness and round 6 administered by the Department of Housing and Community Development, as provided. Existing law establishes a round 7 of the program and states the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation that specifies the parameters, as specified. Existing law, effective July 1, 2026, appropriates $500,000,000, as specified, provided that these funds be disbursed in accordance with specified requirements. Existing law authorizes the Department of Finance to augment Item 2240-001-001 of the Budget Act of 2025 by $8,000,000 to prepare to administer round 7 of the program. This bill would instead require the department, during fiscal year 2025–26, to prepare to administer round 7 of the program with the goal that initial round 7 disbursements will be available to grantees meeting the statutory provisions for disbursement beginning September 1, 2026, as specified. (11) This bill would appropriate the sum of $2,106,000 from the General Fund to the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to support implementation of SB 131 (Chapter 24 of the Statutes of 2025) . (12) By increasing the duties of local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. (13) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.
passed · California · Assembly Aug 29, 2025

AB 1206: Single-family and multifamily housing units: preapproved plans.

Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, provides for the adoption and administration of zoning laws, ordinances, rules and regulations by counties and cities and the implementation of those general plans as may be in effect in those counties or cities. In that regard, existing law requires each local agency, by January 1, 2025, to develop a program for the preapproval of accessory dwelling unit plans. This bill would require each local agency, as defined, to develop a program for the preapproval of single-family and multifamily residential housing plans, whereby the local agency accepts single-family and multifamily plan submissions for preapproval and approves or denies the preapproval applications, as specified. The bill would require a large jurisdiction, as defined, to develop this program by July 1, 2026, and a small jurisdiction, as defined, to develop a program by January 1, 2028. The bill would authorize a local agency to charge a fee to an applicant for the preapproval of a single-family or multifamily residential housing plan, as specified. The bill would require the local agency to post preapproved single-family or multifamily residential housing plans and the contact information of the applicant on the local agency's internet website. The bill would require an application for preapproval to include a statement by the applicant that the applicant has sufficient authority, license, or ownership interest in the plan to submit the plan for preapproval and, if approved, posted as described above. This bill would prohibit the preapproval program from applying to single-family or multifamily residential housing plans intended for use in certain communities and developments, as specified. The bill would require a local agency to either approve or deny an application for a single-family or multifamily residential housing unit, both as defined, within 30 days if the lot meets certain conditions and the application utilizes either a single-family or multifamily residential housing unit plan preapproved within the current triennial California Building Standards Code rulemaking cycle or a plan that is identical to a plan used in an application for a single-family or multifamily residential housing unit approved by the local agency within the current triennial California Building Standards Code rulemaking cycle. The bill would also provide that its provisions do not prevent a local agency from voluntarily accepting or admitting additional plans at higher densities in additional zoning districts into the preapproved housing plan program, at the local agency's discretion. Existing law requires each county and each city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and specified land outside its boundaries, that includes, among other specified mandatory elements, a housing element. That law requires the planning agency of a city or county to provide by April 1 of each year an annual report to, among other entities, the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation. Existing law requires the annual report to include, among other things, the city's or county's progress in meeting its share of regional housing needs, as specified. This bill, beginning on April 1, 2027, for large jurisdictions and beginning on April 1, 2029, for small jurisdictions, would require the local agency to include in its annual report the number of units of residential housing that are approved using a preapproved housing plan pursuant to this act. By imposing new duties on local agencies with regard to developing a preapproval program and its annual report, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. Existing law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) , requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of, an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment. CEQA does not apply to the approval of ministerial projects. To the extent that the ministerial review process established by the bill would apply to final, discretionary approval of an application for a single-family or multifamily housing unit, the bill would exempt those projects from CEQA. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
signed · California · Assembly Oct 10, 2025

AB 87: Housing development: density bonuses.

Existing law, commonly referred to as the Density Bonus Law, requires a city or county to provide a developer that proposes a housing development, as defined, within the city or county with a density bonus, other incentives or concessions, and waivers or reductions of development standards, as specified, if the developer agrees to construct, among other options, specified units and meets other requirements. This bill would specify that certain provisions of the Density Bonus Law do not require a city, county, or city and county to approve, grant a concession or incentive requiring approval of, or waive or reduce development standards otherwise applicable to, transient lodging as part of a housing development, except as specified. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65915 of the Government Code proposed by SB 92 to be operative only if this bill and SB 92 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
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