August 20, 2020

The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), in partnership with its technical assistance contractors, will be holding a virtual community workshop on conducting public engagement when updating the sixth cycle housing element on Tuesday, September 1, 2020 from 1:30pm – 3pm.

HCD will discuss guidance and best practices on conducting public engagement as well as creative strategies to engage the public on housing topics during the COVID-19 pandemic.

August 13, 2020

The legislative session is drawing to a close as the August 31 deadline for the Legislature to pass bills approaches, and members are working hard to get their bills out committees and onto the Senate and Assembly floors. This has been a truncated session as a result of changes made to legislative deadlines and to the committee referral process after the Legislature adjourned for an emergency recess earlier this year.

August 6, 2020

CSAC has been monitoring measures intended to prevent homelessness and to protect renters from evictions and homeowners from foreclosures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including current funding resources available for counties to help prevent homelessness.

July 30, 2020

Several housing bills will soon be heard by the Assembly Local Government Committee or the Senate Housing Committee. CSAC has been working closely with the authors to encourage amendments to the following bills consistent with county priorities.

SB 1385 (Caballero) – Housing in Sites Designated for Commercial Uses: Would allow housing on qualifying commercially-zoned sites, regardless of current local zoning.

June 25, 2020

June 11, 2020

The California Department of Housing and Community Development recently released the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for approximately $18.7 million in new federal funds for the Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Response Round 1 (CDBG-CV1).

These funds are available pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Funding is available on an allocation basis for eligible non-entitlement jurisdictions.

May 15, 2020

April 23, 2020

Earlier this week, CSAC filed and served comments in response to the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) staff proposal for revisions to the Rule 20 utility undergrounding tariff program. The CPUC’s staff proposal is available here.

April 16, 2020

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) recently revised the Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) CEQA Significance Determinations for State Highway System Projects Implementation Timeline Memorandum (Implementation Timing Memo). Caltrans is also soliciting feedback on the draft Transportation Analysis Framework (TAF) and Transportation Analysis under CEQA (TAC).

Revised Caltrans Implementation Timing Memo

April 9, 2020

March 19, 2020

Caltrans recently released its Draft Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT)-Focused Transportation Impact Study Guide (Draft TISG). It is guidance to Caltrans Districts, lead agencies, developers, and consultants regarding Caltrans review of a land use project or plan’s transportation analysis using a VMT metric.

March 19, 2020

Counties are required to submit a Board-approved resolution including a proposed project list to the California Transportation Commission (CTC) each fiscal year prior to receiving SB 1 local street and roads funding. On March 20, counties may begin online submittal of FY 2020-21 Proposed Project List-Adopted Resolutions to the CTC via the CalSMART system. Final submittals are due by Friday, May 1, 2020.

February 27, 2020

The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) will be hosting two webinars for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) applicants and grantees on completing a budget and developing and describing project tasks and deliverables in its new CDBG Grants Management System.

The new system, eCivis, allows CDBG and CDBG-DR applicants and grantees to submit applications and financial reports and to manage awards all in one place.

February 13, 2020

Stanislaus County Supervisor Vito Chiesa testified on behalf of CSAC this week at a Senate Transportation Committee oversight hearing on implementation of SB 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.

Since February 2018, when the first SB 1 funds began flowing to counties and cities, more than 2,500 local projects have been proposed, representing more than $3.5 billion in planned investments in local streets and roads. Over 1,800 SB 1-funded local projects have been completed through June 2019.

January 23, 2020

The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) has updated technical advisories on disaster response and housing to include references to recently enacted legislation. These technical advisories are intended to provide guidance on California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) provisions that may streamline disaster recovery response and housing construction.

January 8, 2020

The California Department of Housing and Community Development has released the January 2020 Multifamily Housing Program (MHP) Notice of Funding Availability for approximately $297 million, which is funded from Proposition 1—the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2018, which California voters approved on November 6, 2018.

January 9, 2020

October 31, 2019

Caltrans has released its SB 1 Annual Efficiencies Report for fiscal year 2018-2019, which notes that its efficiency measures saved nearly $233 million – more than double the statutory goal of $100 million per year. These funds will be reinvested to maintain and rehabilitate the State Highway System. 

October 31, 2019

Governor Newsom signed 870 bills into law this year. To keep counties informed of new laws that impact them, CSAC will be publishing a series of articles to spotlight those laws in each policy area. This week, the Housing, Land Use and Transportation policy area provides information on new laws affecting housing, land use, transportation, public works, building standards, and more.

The new laws listed below become effective January 1, 2020.

Housing and Land Use

October 11, 2019

Yesterday, Governor Newsom signed a package of 18 housing-related bills, including several that were closely-tracked by CSAC:

October 3, 2019