These laws took effect immediately on 1 July 2025 and were designed to remove environmentally-review bottlenecks that have historically slowed or blocked housing across the state.

Their combined effect dramatically accelerates the approval of urban infill housing, limits CEQA litigation risk, and creates new “near‑miss” pathways that keep projects from being derailed over a single technical disqualifier.

New Law:

https://www.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1308

1.  AB 130: A New Statutory CEQA Exemption for Housing (Up to 20 Acres)

What AB 130 Does

AB 130 establishes a new, broad statutory CEQA exemption for qualifying housing development projects 20 acres or less in size (or 5 acres for builder’s‑remedy sites).

This exemption is far broader than the traditional Class 32 infill categorical exemption and applies across:

• Incorporated cities
• Unincorporated “urban areas” (as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau)

Key Eligibility Requirements

To qualify, a project must meet conditions including:

• Located within an urban area or surrounded by urban uses.
• Consistent with applicable general plan and zoning standards.
• Meets minimum residential density requirements (5–15 units/acre depending on jurisdiction type).
• Does not require demolition of historic structures.
• Avoids sensitive environmental lands (prime farmland, wetlands, high‑fire zones, etc.).
• Does not include transient lodging such as hotels or motels.
• Complies with tribal consultation, hazardous‑materials assessments, and air‑quality mitigation requirements.

Why This Is Significant

This exemption is statutory, not categorical, meaning it does not fall within existing CEQA categories such as Class 32.  This clarification reduces legal ambiguity.

AB 130 is therefore one of the strongest pro-housing CEQA reforms ever enacted, underscoring its potential to advance housing development and significantly inspire confidence among policymakers.

2.  SB 131: The “Near‑Miss” CEQA Rule—A Safety Net for Almost‑Eligible Projects

SB 131 is designed to help projects that nearly qualify for a CEQA exemption but are disqualified due to a single condition.

This is known as the “near-miss rule,” which reassures stakeholders that projects near the exemption criteria can still proceed with a simplified review.

What SB 131 Does

If a housing project meets all but one criterion of a CEQA exemption:

➡ CEQA review is limited ONLY to environmental effects caused by that single disqualifying condition.
➡ No analysis of project alternatives, cumulative impacts, or growth-inducing effects is required.

This dramatically shortens and simplifies CEQA review.

Additional Near‑Miss Requirements

To use the near-miss pathway, a project:

• Cannot include a distribution center.
• Cannot include oil and gas infrastructure.
• Cannot be located on protected or natural lands.
• Must be “similar in kind” to the projects that generally qualify for the exemption.

3.  Relationship to the Housing Accountability Act (HAA)

Although AB 130 and SB 131 are primarily CEQA‑focused, they interact closely with the Housing Accountability Act (HAA) because:

• Both laws expand the number of projects that qualify as “housing development projects” under Government Code §65589.5(h)(2).
• Projects receiving these CEQA exemptions must still be processed under HAA’s strict limits on local discretion.

Together with bills like AB 1308, these changes sharply restrict cities’ ability to delay or obstruct housing approvals after CEQA review is minimized or eliminated.

4.  State Overrides: How AB 130 and SB 131 Limit Local Control

Both bills significantly reduce local governments’ ability to block or slow housing.

AB 130 Overrides

• Creates a CEQA-free path for many infill housing projects, removing a significant lever cities or opponents can use to delay projects.
• Requires consistency only with objective zoning and general‑plan standards, limiting local discretionary review.
• Requires 30-day completeness determinations on applications, expediting timelines.

SB 131 Overrides

• Prevents agencies from requiring full CEQA documents for minor or technical issues.
• Eliminates entire CEQA chapters (alternatives, cumulative impacts, growth-inducing impacts) for near-miss reviews.

Practical Effect

These reforms:

• Shift CEQA from a comprehensive environmental study to a narrow compliance check for qualifying projects.
• Reduce litigation exposure for developers by eliminating many common CEQA “attack vectors.”
• Substantially shorten entitlement timelines, often by 12–24 months. 

Many analysts call these reforms the most significant pro-housing CEQA changes in modern History.

5.  Combined Impact: California’s New Pro-Housing Regulatory Regime

Together, AB 130 and SB 131 create:

A Two-Layer Acceleration System

·         Full exemption (AB 130): If you qualify → No CEQA review at all.

·         Near‑miss streamlined review (SB 131): If you almost qualify → Minimal CEQA review limited to the disqualifying issue.

A Reduced Litigation Landscape

Because both pathways sharply restrict the grounds for CEQA litigation, the reforms move California toward a more predictable, ministerial, objective-standard-only housing-approval model.

A Shift in State‑Local Power

By limiting discretionary review and exempting far more projects from CEQA, the state has effectively:

• Overridden local environmental‑review powers,
• Reduced local veto points,
• Strengthened state housing mandates,
• Increased alignment with HAA enforcement.

Concise Summary Version

AB 130

• Creates a new statutory CEQA exemption for housing projects up to 20 acres.
• Applies to urban, infill-type locations meeting zoning and environmental criteria.
• Prevents CEQA lawsuits by removing categorical‑exemption loopholes.
• Leads to fast, ministerial approval.

SB 131

• Creates the “near‑miss rule” for projects that miss a CEQA exemption by a single factor.
• Limits CEQA review to that factor alone.
• Eliminates alternatives, cumulative impacts, and growth-inducing analyses.

State Overrides

• Broadly reduces local control over CEQA review for housing.
• Coordinates with HAA restrictions on local discretion.
• Produces materially faster approvals and fewer litigation risks.