CA SB131

Establishes Round 7 of the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) program with a $500 million appropriation effective July 1, 2026, contingent on future legislation specifying program parameters and requirements that recipients have compliant housing elements, local encampment policies, and demonstrated progress on housing metrics

Exempts from CEQA various project types including: rezonings implementing approved housing elements, new agricultural employee housing, wildfire risk reduction projects (prescribed burns, defensible space, fuel breaks), broadband deployment in road rights-of-way, public parks funded by the 2024 bond act, and high-speed rail maintenance facilities and stations

Creates new CEQA streamlining for housing projects that miss statutory or categorical exemptions by only a single condition, limiting environmental review to effects caused solely by that condition (excludes distribution centers 50,000+ sq ft, oil and gas infrastructure, and projects on natural/protected lands)

Requires the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to map eligible urban infill sites statewide by July 1, 2027, and mandates biennial updates to CEQA infill project guidelines starting January 1, 2027, to address rigid requirements and reduce frivolous litigation

Excludes staff notes and most internal agency electronic communications from CEQA litigation administrative records (except for distribution centers and oil/gas projects), and extends the small disadvantaged community water system CEQA exemption to January 1, 2032