By Reuben Duarte, Vice President for Policy and Legislation Lauren De Valencia, APA California Lobbyist
Governor Newsom Takes Final Actions on Pending Legislation
Governor Newsom officially concluded his final legislative signing period for bills that were sent to him at the end of session on September 30, 2026, ahead of being termed out of office in January 2027. For more insight into what new laws are heading your way, please visit APA California’s advocacy page for a list of bills. Please reach out to [email protected] if you have questions or thoughts on a particular bill or issue.
APA California Legislative Update Conference Session Material
APA California’s VP for Policy and Legislation, Technical Advisors, and Chapter Lobbyist recently presented an extended Legislative Update Session at the APA California Conference in Los Angeles. Also joining were two Section Legislative Representatives from the Central and Sac Valley Sections at the double-header sessions. 2026 was yet another busy year for planning-related legislation and there was certainly a lot to discuss – thank you to those who attended! Presentation slides are now available and a recording will be made available later this year for those of you who missed it – stay tuned!
AB 1457 – Environmental Justice Elements
There are many high-profile bills that passed in the final days of the legislative session, however we want to bring your attention to one bill that was signed and should be reviewed if you are working on implementation of SB 1000 (Leyva, 2016):
Planners should be aware of AB 1457 (Bryan), which will make significant changes to the requirements for environmental justice (EJ) elements and policies in general plans, if signed by the Governor.
What the bill does: AB 1457 was introduced late in the session and revises the requirements established by SB 1000 (Leyva, 2016), which requires cities and counties with disadvantaged communities to address environmental justice in their general plans. Among other changes, AB 1457 establishes new deadlines and adds more specific requirements related to community engagement.
What planners should pay attention to: AB 1457’s impact will depend largely on where a jurisdiction is in its SB 1000 process:
- Already completed: Jurisdictions that have complied with SB 1000 by January 1, 2027, will not need to update their general plan solely to comply with the new AB 1457 requirements.
- Currently in process: Jurisdictions that are already preparing or updating an EJ element or related policies should pay close attention to their adoption schedule. They will have until June 30, 2027, to complete their work under
the existing SB 1000 requirements. - New requirements: Jurisdictions that do not complete their existing process by June 30, 2027, or those who have yet to start will need to complete an update to the general plan pursuant to SB 1000 with the added requirements under AB 1457 by June 30, 2031.
APA California has reached out to the Attorney General’s office requesting they update their existing SB 1000 guidance to assist jurisdictions in understanding and implementing the new requirements as soon as possible.
REMINDER – New Funding for Local Planning
Finally, the end-of-session budget package included new funding that may be of interest to planners. AB 113 (Budget Act of 2026) provides grant funding for local governments to update general plans, zoning and other planning documents to be consistent, to the extent feasible, with adopted Community Emissions Reduction Programs (CERPs).
This is particularly notable following SB 1075 (Reyes), which earlier this year proposed new requirements related to alignment between local general plans and CARB’s Community Air Protection Program (CERPs) but did not move forward. APA California opposed the introduced version of the bill due to its mandate to require general plan consistency with another plan that planners may not have had any role in and could be infeasible to implement.
However, this new funding for alignment is not mandated – it’s optional and depending on grant criteria, might be more flexible. The new funding is also consistent with APA California’s longstanding advocacy that when the state asks
local governments to undertake additional planning work, resources and/or other tools should be provided to help support that work – especially for general plan updates. While this funding opportunity will likely be limited in its applicability, it is an opportunity to support important planning work, nonetheless. APA California will share additional information as grant criteria and funding opportunities become available.
Stay Connected on Legislation
If you’re interested in receiving updates on legislative and regulatory issues from the Chapter’s Policy and Legislation Team, please join here. Have questions on policy and legislative related issues, including bills and regulations? APA California members are welcome to reach out to the VP for Policy and Legislation at [email protected].