Senate BillChaptered/SignedPublic Resources
SB 484: Coastal resources: coastal development permits: infill area categorical exclusion.
What SB 484 does, verified December 7, 2025
This bill would add a new section to the Public Resources Code to create a categorical exclusion for coastal development permits in infill areas that lack a certified local coastal program. Infill areas would be identified based on considerations such as local jurisdiction and the need for affordable housing. Until June 30, 2037, a residential housing project in one of these areas would be exempt from the coastal development permitting requirement if it consists only of deed-restricted units for persons with very low, low, or moderate income. The commission would issue a notice of exclusion before commencing development, and the area would be exempt from the regulation requiring the public agency to accept and agree to the terms and conditions of the categorical exclusion. The commission would post clearly defined maps of the categorical exclusion areas on its website by August 1, 2027.…
Bill journey
✓IntroducedComplete
✓In CommitteeComplete
✓First Chamber FloorComplete
✓Second ChamberComplete
✓GovernorComplete
6ChapteredCurrent
Last action: Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 416, Statutes of 2025. (2025-09-08)Alert me
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions38 total · showing 5
| Oct. 06, 2025 | Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 416, Statutes of 2025. |
| Oct. 06, 2025 | Approved by the Governor. |
| Sep. 16, 2025 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m. |
| Sep. 08, 2025 | Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 2607.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. |
| Sep. 08, 2025 | Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 2607.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. |
Latest bill textChaptered version, October 6, 2025 · 1,053 words
Senate Bill No. 484
CHAPTER 416
An act to add Section 30610.05 to the Public Resources Code, relating to coastal resources.
[ Approved by Governor October 06, 2025. Filed with Secretary of State October 06, 2025. ]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 484, Laird. Coastal resources: coastal development permits: infill area categorical exclusion.
Existing law, the California Coastal Act of 1976, among other things, requires anyone wishing to perform or undertake any development in the coastal zone, except as specified, in addition to obtaining any other permit required by law from any local government or from any state, regional, or local agency, to obtain a coastal development permit from the California Coastal Commission or a local government, as provided. The act provides that a coastal development permit is not required for specified types of development in specified areas, as provided. Existing law provides that a coastal development permit is not required for any category of development, or any category of development within a specified geographic area, if the commission, after a public hearing, and by a 2/3 vote of its appointed members, finds that there is no potential for any significant adverse effect, as specified, on coastal resources or on public access to, or along, the coast and, where the exclusion precedes certification of the applicable local coastal program, that the exclusion will not impair the ability of local government to prepare a local coastal program.
Existing regulation, before a categorical exclusion becomes effective, requires specified things to occur, including that the public agency issuing the permit accepts and agrees to the terms and conditions to which the categorical exclusion has been made subject.
This bill would require the commission, in consultation with the Department of Housing and Community Development, by July 1, 2027, to identify, based on specified considerations, infill areas within at least 3 local jurisdictions that do not have a certified local coastal program for a categorical exclusion from the coastal development permitting requirement. Specifically, until June 30, 2037, if a development in one of those identified infill areas is a residential housing project comprised only of units that are deed restricted for persons of very low, low, or moderate income, as specified, this bill would categorically exclude the development from that requirement. The bill would exempt the categorically excluded infill areas from the above-described regulation. The bill would require, before commencing development, a proponent of the development to request from the commission, and for the commission to issue, a notice of exclusion.
This bill would require the commission, on or before August 1, 2027, to post on its internet website clearly defined maps of the categorical exclusion areas. The bill would also require the commission, on or before January 1, 2035, to report to the Legislature the number of projects that were constructed or are currently under construction pursuant to this categorical exclusion.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 30610.05 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:30610.05.
(a) (1) By July 1, 2027, the commission shall, pursuant to the requirements of subdivision (e) of Section 30610, and in consultation with the Department of Housing and Community Development, identify infill areas within at least three local jurisdictions that currently do not have a certified local coastal program, wherein development of a residential housing project comprised entirely of units, excluding managers’ units, that are deed-restricted for persons of very low-, low-, or moderate-income shall be categorically excluded from the requirement to obtain a coastal development permit.(2) The categorical exclusion described in this subdivision shall remain in effect until June 30, 2037. The categorical exclusion described in paragraph (1) shall be of no further force or effect within an identified jurisdiction if the certification of the applicable local coastal program occurs on or before June 30, 2037.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 13244 of Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, each of the areas identified by the commission pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be effective upon the commission certifying the exclusion pursuant to the two-thirds vote of its appointed members.
(c) (1) In identifying categorical exclusion areas within the jurisdictions described in subdivision (a), the commission, in consultation with the Department of Housing and Community Development, shall do both of the following:
(A) Select jurisdictions located in various regions of the coast.
(B) Select jurisdictions that vary in population size from one another.
(2) In identifying the categorical exclusion infill areas described in subdivision (a), the commission, in consultation with the Department of Housing and Community Development, shall do all of the following:
(A) Identify the largest feasible categorical exclusion areas.
(B) Ensure the areas affirmatively further fair housing, consistent with paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 8899.50 of the Government Code.
(C) Consider each selected jurisdiction’s inventory of sites in its housing element prepared pursuant to Section 65583 of the Government Code.
(D) Avoid sites that are projected to be impacted by sea level rise and associated coastal hazards.
(d) Nothing in this section shall exempt a qualifying residential housing project proposed in a categorical exclusion area from obtaining a land use entitlement approval otherwise required by the local jurisdiction pursuant to Division 1 (commencing with Section 65000) of Title 7 of the Government Code.
(e) Before commencing construction of a proposed residential housing project that is categorically excluded from the permit requirements of this chapter pursuant to subdivision (a), the development proponent shall request, and the commission shall issue, a notice of exclusion documenting that the proposed project is categorically excluded from the requirement to obtain a coastal development permit.
(f) On or before August 1, 2027, the commission shall post on its internet website clearly defined maps of the categorical exclusion areas established pursuant to this section.
(g) (1) On or before January 1, 2035, the commission shall submit a report to the Legislature identifying the number of projects that were constructed or that are currently under construction that were categorically excluded from the permit requirements of this chapter pursuant to subdivision (a).
(2) The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(3) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the requirement for submitting a report imposed by this subdivision shall become inoperative on January 1, 2039.
Text of SB 484 as chaptered, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions