New California Laws 2026
Public resources: conservation. Makes various chang- es to statutes related to water, parks, and wildlife. An act to amend Sections 1501.5, 1505, 1798.5, and 3704.5 of the Fish and Game Code, to amend Section 57001 of the Health and Safety Code, to amend Sec- tions 5080.07, 5080.18, 5080.26, 5093.52, 5093.542, 5093.545, and 10005 of the Public Resources Code, and to amend Sections 1112, 1228.5, 1535, 1536, 1537, 1551, 5205, 10004, 13160.1, 13385, and 75507 of, to amend and renumber Section 1701 of, to repeal Sections 12949.6 and 13418 of, and to repeal Part 8 (commencing with Section 5975) of Division 2 of, the Water Code, relating to public resources. 2025 Senate Public Resources Laws SB 31, McNerney. Water quality: recycled water. This bill encourages the use of recycled water by changing the requirements for specific recycled wa- ter applications. An act to amend Sections 13529.2, 13551, 13552.4, 13553, and 13554 of the Water Code, relating to water quality. SB 71, Wiener. California Environmental Quality Act: exemptions: transit projects. This bill expands and extends existing California Environmental Qual- ity Act (CEQA) exemptions for transit projects, and exempts Diesel-powered heavy rail projects meeting the “Tier 4” exhaust emissions standard if certain criteria are met, among other changes. An act to amend Sections 21080.20 and 21080.25 of the Public Resources Code, relating to environmen- tal quality. SB 72, Caballero. The California Water Plan: long- term supply targets. Revises and recasts require- ments for the contents of the California Water Plan, requires the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to develop a long-term water supply planning target for 2050, and establishes an interim target to develop an additional nine million acre-feet (AF) of water by 2040. An act to amend Sections 10004.5 and 10004.6 of, to repeal Section 10013 of, and to repeal and add Sec- tion 10004 of, the Water Code, relating to water. SB 124, Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review. Public resources trailer bill. This bill is the omnibus Resources budget trailer bill. It contains provisions necessary to implement the 2025 Budget Act. An act to add Section 4108.5 to the Food and Agricultural Code, to amend Section 66647 of the Government Code, to amend Sections 25299.100, 25299.104, and 25299.107 of the Health and Safety Code, to amend Section 782 of, and to add Section 4114.1 to, the Public Resources Code, to amend Sec- tion 2107.7 of the Streets and Highways Code, and to amend Section 12924 of, and to add Article 3.5 (com- mencing with Section 290) to Chapter 2.5 of Division 1 of, the Water Code, relating to public resources, and making an appropriation therefor, to take effect immediately, bill related to the budget. SB 131, Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review. Public Resources. This bill provides statutory chang- es to facilitate implementation of the Budget Act of
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Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for a change in use approved by a park district to allow public access for non-motorized recreation on preexisting roads, trails, and pathways owned or managed by the park district to allow the exemption in cases where the lead agency is a county park agency. An act to amend Section 21080.28.5 of the Public Resources Code, relating to environmental quality. AB 1319, Schultz. Protected species: California Endangered Species Act. Authorizes the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to ex- tend protections under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) to a California native species listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) if the federal government takes actions to decrease federal protections for that species under ESA. Fur- ther, makes it unlawful for a person to import, cause to be imported, export, cause to be exported, trans- port, sell, offer for sale, possess, receive, acquire, or purchase any fish, wildlife, or plant that was taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of any law, treaty, or statute. An act to add and repeal Sections 2017 and 2076.7 of the Fish and Game Code, relating to protected species. AB 1455, Bryan. State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection: defensible space requirements: em- ber-resistant zones: emergency regulations: Califor- nia Environmental Quality Act. Requires the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection (Board) to adopt regulations to implement the Zone 0 defensible regulations in the State Responsibility Area (SRA) and very high fire hazard severity zone (VHFHSZ) in the Local Responsibility Area (LRA), and autho- rizes the Board to ado An act to amend Section 51182 of, and to add Sec- tion 51182.4 to, the Government Code, and to amend Section 4291 of the Public Resources Code, relating to fire prevention, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. AB 1466, Hart. Groundwater adjudication. Permits a court, in actions to adjudicate groundwater rights, to exempt or treat separately claimants who extract or divert minor quantities of water; requires a party’s initial disclosure to additionally include information relating to agricultural use; and requires a court to request the groundwater sustainability agency (GSA) provide a technical report that quantifies and describes the groundwater uses of parties that have not otherwise appeared before the court. An act to amend Sections 833, 840, 842, and 845 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to groundwater adjudication. AB 1478, Hoover. Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act: mattress recycling charge: consumer education. Allows a retailer, distributor, or seller to directly pay the mattress recycling charge (charge) to the Mattress Recycling Organization (MRO) on behalf of a consumer. An act to amend Section 42989.1 of the Public Re- sources Code, relating to recycling. AB 1520, Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife.
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