Part II: Legislative Update
Foster City
February 24, 2026
2025 Legislative Themes
•Cost of living concerns drove efforts to cap housing, energy costs, and other essential services •Determined the fate of many billsAffordability
•Continues to be a top issue of legislative focus
•Created enough momentum for SB 79 and AB 130
Housing/Homelessness
•Inspired climate package and the re-authorization of of cap and “invest” (f.k.a. cap and trade) •Desire to ensure stability to the trading market and meet climate commitments in the face of federal uncertainty
•Provides funding for climate projects, including high-speed rail and affordable housing Climate
•Budget questions and federal relations threaten state programs •Need fpr natural disaster recovery changes legislative focusUncertainty Key Terms and Figures
2025 Legislative Session Ended
September 13
• Governor signed or vetoed
all bills that passed both
chambers
• 2025 was First Year of Two-
Year Session; most bills
introduced in the first year
can be carried over to
second year
Stats
• 2400 + bills introduced
• 300 + directly related to
land use, planning and
environmental topics
• 800 + sent to the Governor
2025 CEQA REFORMS
CEQA Reform via Budget Trailer Bills
AB 130 / SB 158
• Creates new statutory exemption
for qualifying infill housing
development projects
• Establishes TOD Implementation
Fund for VMT mitigation
• Makes SB 330’s provisions
permanent
• Simplifies PSA process for a
project to be deemed approved
SB 131
• Exempts rezonings necessary to
comply with the Housing Element
from CEQA review
• Exempts myriad new project
types from CEQA review
• Creates “near miss” provisions for
streamlined CEQA review
• Limits the scope of the AR in
CEQA litigation
Criteria for AB 130’s CEQA Exemption
• Housing-rich projects: at least 2/3 residential
• Minimum density - at least 50% of jurisdiction’s
“Mullin density” of 30 du/acre
• Consistent with zoning and general plan
• Project site up to 20 acres (or 4 for “Builders Remedy” projects)
• Incorporated municipality or “urban area” (per U.S.
Census)
• Must be previously developed with urban uses or
surrounded by them – relatively flexible approach
• No demolition of structures on a historic register
• No hotels (unless already complete app as of January
2025)
SB 35's site eligibility criteria:
• Farmland, wetlands and conservation/species habitat
areas are excluded, as are some but not all Coastal
Zone parcels
• Fire hazard zones, hazardous waste sites, earthquake
fault zones and flood areas are subject to specified
restrictions
• Projects within 500 feet of a freeway must meet
additional air filtration and air quality requirements
to qualify for the exemption and cannot have
balconies facing a freeway
• Phase I required; preliminary endangerment
assessment required if any RECs; mitigation required
for any release or potential exposure
AB 130 “Shot Clocks”
• AB 130 CEQA-exempt projects: Agency must approve /
disapprove project within 30 days of the later to occur of:
• Conclusion of tribal consultation, subject to deadlines in PRC Sec. 21080.66(b)
• Expiration of the HAA’s consistency review deadline in Gov.
Code Sec. 65589.5(j)(2)
• Ministerial projects: Agency must approve/disapprove project within 60 days of “the receipt of a complete application.” • Under the Permit Streamlining Act, an application is
“deemed complete” once all the required information is
submitted.
• Once the agency receives the complete application, it has 60 days to act on the project.
• Failure to meet these deadlines is a defined, actionable HAA violation.
• Failure to meet PSA deadlines can result in “deemed approval”
ADUS AND JADUS
2025 Legislation
• AB 462 (Lowenthal) Land use: accessory
dwelling units.
• AB 1154 (Carrillo) Junior accessory dwelling
units.
• SB 9 (Arreguin) Accessory dwelling units:
ordinances.
• SB 543 (McNerney) Accessory dwelling units
and junior accessory dwelling units.
HOUSING ELEMENTS & RHNA
Annual Progress Report Requirements
• AB 670 (Quirk-Silva) Planning
and zoning: housing element:
converted affordable units
– Allows inclusion of the number
of qualifying rehabilitated
existing units that are deed
restricted affordable units
(average of 45% AMI), at least
15 years old, and the value of
the rehabilitation is $60,000+.
In APR
Annual Progress Report Requirements
• AB 726 (Avila-Farias) Planning and zoning: annual report:
rehabilitated units
• AB 253 (Ward) California Residential Private Permitting Review Act
• Beginning April 1, 2027:
– Requirement for APR to distinguish which housing
development applications were discretionary or subject to ministerial approval;
– What applications triggered housing replacement or
assistance obligation;
– For each entitlements, permits, and CofOs, include the total number of replacement housing units by income level
required pursuant to local, state, or federal law;
– Include total number, by income level, of replacement housing units entitlement, permitted, or issued CofO;
– A report on the total number of housing units approved for and actually demolished for any purpose during the year, including information on for-rent, for-sale, income levels, relocation programs used, and replacement units;
– A report on replacement housing units required for non- residential development projects, including location of replacements, developer entity, completion date of
replacement units.
– Disclose number of permits reviewed by a private
professional provider under AB 253
RHNA & Housing Element
• AB 610 (Alvarez) Housing element: governmental constraints: disclosure statement
– 7th Cycle housing elements must include a disclosure statement containing:
• An identification of each new or amended potential or actual governmental constraint, or revision increasing the stringency of a governmental cons traint, adopted after the due date of the previous housing element and before submittal of the current draft housing element to the department. • An identification of any new or amended potential or actual governmental constraint, or revision increasing the stringency of a governmental constraint, that the governing body of the local government can anticipate adopting during the first three years of the planning period commencing on the date that a local agency’s housing element is considered to be in substantial compliance pursuant to Section 65585.03.
• AB 1275 (Elhawary) Regional housing needs: regional transportation plan – RHNA allocation within a region or subregion must consider the development pattern of the Sustainable Communities Strategy (Plan bay Area 2050)
RHNA & Housing Element
AB 650 (Papan) Planning and zoning: housing element: regional housing needs allocation
• Adjusts deadlines during the run up to Housing Element due date
– HCD must adopt format for reporting on programs by
12/31/2026
– HCD and COGs must determine RHNA 3 years before
Housing Element due date and adopt distribution
methodology 2.5 years before Housing Element due date
– Allows for agencies to form subregion earlier in the process • During its review of draft Housing Elements, requires HCD to:
– identify and explain the specific deficiencies in the draft element or draft amendment, including statutory
references; and
– provide the specific analysis or text that the department expects the planning agency to include in the draft element or draft amendment to remedy those deficiencies
OTHER HOUSING BILLS
Density Bonus
• AB 87 (Boerner) Housing developments:
density bonus
– Density bonus cannot include a concession or
incentive to exceed non-residential floor area
beyond ⅔ limit
• SB 92 Housing developments: density bonus
– Prohibits incentives, concessions, or waivers
apply to a transient use, such as a hotel or
motel as part of the same project
– Meaning projects that include a residential
component and a hotel component, the
incentives, concessions, and waivers may
apply to the residential but not the hotel
HAA and PSA
• SB 838 (Durazo) Housing Accountability Act: housing development projects re-defines “mixed-use development” that qualifies as a housing development project – If 2/3 of the square footage is residential, the transient use would be permitted through normal local process. If the hotel use normally requires a CUP , then the CUP would be required but only for the hotel component
– If 50% of the square footage is residential, project may not include hotel, motel, bed and breakfast inn, or other transient lodging
• AB 1007 (Rubio) Shortens Permit Streamlining Act timelines for responsible agencies to issue approvals after the lead agency approves a project and certifies an EIR • AB 253 (Ward) California Residential Private Permitting Review Act: residential building permit reviews that exceed 30 days can be performed by private providers hired by applicant Housing Law Compliance
AB 712 (Wicks) Housing reform laws: enforcement
actions: fines and penalties
• In an action to enforce “housing reform laws,” a
prevailing applicant is entitled to recover attorney’s
fees
– “Housing reform law” includes laws and regulations
involving streamlining, time limits, or other
protections for the benefit of applicants for housing
development projects as well as procedural and
substantive limitations on the public agency
• If HCD or DOJ provided the local agency with
written warning of violation before the lawsuit, HAA
fines are mandatory; repeat violations are fined by
factor of 5
• Applicants have a 60-day statute of limitations
extension to bring a challenge
Part III: Potential 2026 Legislation
Foster City
February 24, 2026
SB 79 (Wiener) Housing development: transit-oriented development • Applies in Urban Transit Counties
– Sacramento, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa
Clara, Alameda, Los Angeles, Orange, and San
Diego
– 8 of 58 counties, but covering over half the
state’s population
• Upzones housing within ½ mile of “Tier 1”
and “Tier 2” transit stops
• No ministerial mandate, but adjusts eligibility
for SB 35 streamlined process
• Pending Modifications in:
– SB 677
– SB 908
– SB 722
Source:
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?webmap=7689658f319b488ba03c 40ccb903681e¢er=-118.284552%2C33.985519&level=11
Two-Year Bills
AB 874 (Avila-Farias) Would waive impact fees (not school fees) for affordable rental housing
SB 315 (Grayson) Limits on Quimby parkland dedication for infill sites; financial reporting
AB 906 (Gonzalez): Planning and zoning: housing element:
affirmatively furthering fair housing
SB 715 (Allen) Regional housing need: methodology: distribution AB 1294 (Haney) Planning and zoning: housing development: standardized development application ● Set out to create a uniform statewide development application and limit pre-application requirements that delay ability to file applications
● Challenges:
○ In addition to limiting pre-application requirements, it also limited the types of information that could be required for application completeness
○ This conflicted with existing statute that prohib its post-completeness requests for info that could have been included at submittal
Other Pending Legislation
• AB 748 (Harabedian) Single-family and
multifamily housing units: preapproved plans.