You can verify the current SB 131 facts before selecting a CEQA path
You can give the lead agency a reviewable SB 131 record by naming the current Public Resources Code section and proving every condition that applies to the project. SB 131, Chapter 24 of the Statutes of 2025, took effect on June 30, 2025. SB 158, Chapter 650 of the Statutes of 2025, changed parts of that framework on October 11, 2025.
The current code controls the project review. The chaptered SB 131 text supplies legislative history.
SB 158 changed the section record after SB 131 took effect
SB 131 added the farmworker-housing exemption as Public Resources Code section 21080.44. SB 158 renumbered that provision to section 21080.45. Current section 21080.44 now governs a statewide vehicle-miles-traveled mitigation program enacted by AB 130.
SB 158 also amended section 21080.1 and section 21067.5. A project record should capture the current section text, its effective history, and the facts used on the review date.
Each current section asks you to prove a different fact set
| Current path | Facts to verify from the current code | Record to keep |
|---|---|---|
| Housing-element rezoning, §21080.085 | Identify the approved housing element and its schedule of actions. Check distribution-center, oil-and-gas, and natural-and-protected-lands boundaries. Map any protected portion excluded from the rezoning. | HCD status record, adopted housing element action, proposed rezoning boundary, and each location/exclusion source. |
| Housing project with one exemption condition, §21080.1(b) | Name the underlying statutory or listed categorical exemption. Identify the single condition that makes the project ineligible. Document the effects caused solely by that condition. Check every exclusion in subdivision (b)(4), including the current four-acre rule for specified projects. | Exemption analysis, condition finding, substantial-evidence citations, project area, and lead-agency scope decision. |
| Agricultural employee or farmworker housing, §21080.45 | For new housing, verify §21159.22, Health and Safety Code §17021.8(i)(1)–(4), and an enumerated funding or ownership path. For existing housing, confirm the project consists exclusively of repair or maintenance. | Project scope, funding or ownership evidence, and each cross-referenced statutory condition. |
| Small-community water or sewer work, §21080.47 | Verify system and community definitions, eligible facility thresholds, environmental conditions, Water Board contact, workforce or wage duties, notice filing, and the January 1, 2032 repeal date. | System data, design quantities, mapped constraints, consultation record, labor certifications, and notice of exemption. |
| Funded community-water work, §21080.48 | Verify the named funding source, absence of additional construction, long-term net benefits, environmental management procedures, and the January 1, 2030 repeal date. | Funding award, scope, benefits evidence, management plan, and review date. |
| Wildfire-risk reduction, §21080.49 | Match the project to prescribed fire or fuel reduction, roadway clearance, home hardening or defensible space, or fuel break. Apply the category’s acreage, distance, community-size, vegetation, habitat, consultation, water, and tribal-resource conditions. | Project map, dimensions, vegetation scope, habitat sources, DFW consultation, and tribal-resource review. |
| Linear broadband, §21080.51 | Verify right-of-way location, 30-foot relationship, underground restoration or existing-pole method, environmental measures, agency and public notice, private-property permission, and other-law compliance. | Alignment map, construction method, permit conditions, notices, permissions, and compliance record. |
| State climate-adaptation strategy update, §21080.55 | Confirm the action updates the Natural Resources Agency plan adopted under §71153. | Agency action and the plan provision being updated. |
| Bond-funded park or trail facility, §21080.57 | Confirm the public park or nonmotorized recreational trail scope and funding under the 2024 climate-bond act. | Facility scope and funding record. |
| Day care, health, food, or advanced manufacturing, §21080.69 | Match one defined project type. Verify its location, zoning, size, nonprofit, or service facts. Check the natural-and-protected-lands exclusion. | Use definition, floor area, zoning record, entity evidence, service record, and constraint sources. |
| Electrically powered high-speed rail, §21080.70 | Identify a covered maintenance facility or passenger-station action. Verify the prior EIR, applicable mitigation, location relationship, and natural-and-protected-lands exclusion. | Project description, certified EIR, mitigation crosswalk, rail map, and constraint sources. |
This table directs source collection. The lead agency makes the exemption and document determination under section 21080.1(a).
The defined terms can decide the path before project effects enter the review
SB 131 added three definitions that recur across the housing and infrastructure provisions:
- Section 21060.4 defines a distribution center as a warehouse distribution center under Labor Code section 2100 that is at least 50,000 square feet.
- Section 21064.8 defines oil and gas infrastructure by its production, processing, transmission, storage, or distribution function.
- Section 21067.5 defines natural and protected lands through sixteen location categories and stated exceptions.
For section 21067.5, check the complete current list. It includes listed hazardous-waste sites, regulatory floodways, conservation lands, wetlands and their 300-foot radius, coastal environmentally sensitive areas, identified conservation areas, certain fire-hazard areas, and specified farmland. Several categories contain their own exceptions.
The project record separates exemptions from procedural changes
SB 131 also changed CEQA administration:
| Current section | Statutory action | Fact to record |
|---|---|---|
| §21167.6 | Defines which staff notes and internal agency communications enter the record of proceedings for different project categories. | Project category, communication type, recipient/reviewer, privilege or Public Records Act status, and the subdivision applied. |
| §21083.03 | Directs the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to map eligible urban infill sites by July 1, 2027 through the specified local and public review process. | Map version, adoption status, project location, and the source used on the review date. |
| §21094.5.5 | Directs LCI to update guidelines implementing §21094.5 by January 1, 2027 and at least every two years. | Adopted guideline version, adoption date, and the §21094.5 text used for project review. |
Classify the path before writing “exempt,” “limited review,” or “record of proceedings.” Each phrase points to a different statutory action.
Your verification record shows how the section applies
Keep one row for each condition you rely on:
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Current code section | Direct California Legislative Information URL and access date |
| Statutory action | Exemption, limited review, record rule, mapping duty, or guideline duty |
| Project fact | Address, use, area, funding, design quantity, location, prior review, or other fact named by the section |
| Evidence | Adopted plan, map, permit record, funding document, design sheet, consultation record, or agency source |
| Condition | Exact subdivision and the fact that satisfies it |
| Exclusion | Exact subdivision and evidence resolving it |
| Effective date or sunset | Date stated in the current code |
| Decision owner | Lead agency or other public agency named by the section |
| Review date | Date the reviewer checked the current code and source artifact |
This record lets a reviewer trace the selected CEQA path to current law and project evidence.
You verify the current section before drafting the CEQA determination
Open the current Public Resources Code section for the path you are reviewing. Record every condition, exclusion, cross-reference, and date beside the project evidence that resolves it.
These primary sources support the guide
- California Legislature, SB 131 bill status and chaptered text, Chapter 24, Statutes of 2025, approved and filed June 30, 2025.
- California Legislature, SB 158 bill status and chaptered text, Chapter 650, Statutes of 2025, approved and filed October 11, 2025.
- California Legislative Information, current Public Resources Code sections linked in each table, accessed September 9, 2026.
- California Department of Housing and Community Development, CEQA Reforms for Housing Element Rezoning, Public Resources Code section 21080.085, May 19, 2026.