CEQA Reform Is Here: California Prioritizes Common Sense Development Policies Over Paper-Pushing

Part one of a three-part series

Governor Gavin Newsom signed two sweeping budget trailer bills, Assembly Bill 130 (AB 130) and Senate Bill 131 (SB 131), into law on June 30, 2025, enacting meaningful changes to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) intended to boost the delivery of housing and curb CEQA litigation abuse. Borrowing language from housing bills proposed by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks and Senator Scott Wiener—AB 609 and SB 607, respectively—the budget bills aim to accelerate production of housing within and outside urban areas.

In this three-part series, we provide a roadmap to the provisions of the budget bills that offer:

• relief for infill housing and housing projects that would have limited or no environmental impacts;