California Climate Bills 2026: Priority Legislation Tracker
The 2026 bill-signing period is over, and 18 of California Environmental Voters’ priority bills are now California law. These new laws cover climate, energy, water, democracy, and insurance, from lowering utility bills to protecting Californians’ voting rights. We supported 17 of them, including two we sponsored, and opposed one. This page lists every bill, what it does, and what it means for you. Most of these laws take effect January 1, 2027.
Last updated: October 1, 2026
Tell Governor Newsom to sign climate solutions into law
Governor Newsom has until September 30 to sign or veto more than two dozen top priority climate bills. They’ve already passed through the California legislature—sign your name to make sure he signs them into law.
All 2026 priority bills at a glance
| Bill | What it will do | Status | Our position |
|---|---|---|---|
| AB 28 | Make landfill operators act fast to prevent health risks from overheating that releases toxic gas | Signed into law | Support |
| AB 40 | Require environmental review of large coal storage and export facilities | Signed into law | Support |
| AB 1448 | Block new construction tied to federal offshore oil leases and strengthen rules for restarting old drilling sites | Signed into law | Support |
| AB 1661 | Direct cash help for families near the Inglewood Oil Field with a child who has a respiratory condition | Signed into law | Support |
| AB 2313 | Let homeowners use redirected utility funds to go electric instead of replacing gas lines | Signed into law | Support |
| AB 2383 | Make new data centers build clean power onsite and cover their own grid costs | Signed into law | Support |
| SB 193 | Direct GGRF climate funds to transit, clean air, housing, and wildfire safety | Signed into law | Support |
| SB 886 | Stop everyday utility customers from subsidizing data center power use | Signed into law | Support |
| SB 905 | Cut electricity bills by lowering the amount ratepayers cover for utility grid upgrades | Signed into law | Support |
| SB 1085 | Keep water supply checks in the approval process for big developments | Signed into law | Support |
| SB 1098 | Make utilities get spending approved before charging customers | Signed into law | Support |
| SB 1164 | Stop voter dilution, suppression, and discrimination and let Californians enforce voting rights in state court | Signed into law | Sponsored |
| SB 1213 | Bring price transparency to zero-emission trucks | Signed into law | Support |
| SB 1268 | Write Outdoors for All park access goals into state law | Signed into law | Support |
| SB 1301 | Give homeowners more warning and clearer reasons before insurance is canceled or reduced | Signed into law | Support |
| SB 1359 | Stop ratepayers from funding gas pipelines if there's a viable electric alternative | Signed into law | Support |
| SB 1360 | Guarantee translated ballot materials for limited-English voters | Signed into law | Sponsored |
| SB 1392 | Exempt pre-1986 "collector" cars from smog check | Signed into law | Oppose |
Wildfire prevention, forests, and public lands
California’s forests, wetlands, and open space are a first line of defense against fire, flood, and extreme heat, and the communities with the least access to them are often the most exposed. Protecting these natural resources stores carbon, filters water, cools neighborhoods, and brings California closer to its 30×30 goal of conserving 30% of the state’s lands and coastal waters by 2030.
SB 1268 (Gonzalez): Park access for everyone
Status: Signed into law. Support. Access to outdoor recreation shouldn’t depend on your zip code. SB 1268 writes the state’s Outdoors for All initiative into law, aligning California’s 30×30 conservation goal with a commitment to reduce the barriers that keep people out of public lands.
Read more: The Solution to Wildfires Is… More Fire? →
Home insurance and wildfire recovery
Wildfire risk has pushed insurers to cancel policies, raise premiums, and delay claims. These two bills set basic rules for how homeowners get treated before and after a disaster.
SB 1301 (Allen): More warning before you lose coverage
Status: Signed into law. Support. SB 1301 requires insurers to give homeowners significantly more notice in plain language with specific reasons before cancelling, nonrenewing, or reducing coverage. It gives you time to fix the problem and keep your policy, limits certain grounds for nonrenewal, and requires the state to publish nonrenewal data by region.
Lower energy bills and utility accountability
Californians’ electricity rates have climbed far faster than inflation, and more than 2 million households are behind on their bills. These bills go after the reasons why.
SB 905 (Becker): Lower the cost of grid upgrades
Status: Signed into law. Support. Utilities borrow money to build and upgrade the grid, then pass the borrowing costs to customers. SB 905 requires state regulators to look at cheaper financing options and to consider reducing the profit utilities earn on certain projects so consumers aren’t forced to foot the full cost. It builds on SB 254 (Becker, 2025), a priority bill signed into law last year.
SB 1098 (Pérez): Approve utility spending before the money is spent
Status: Signed into law. Support. Utilities hold more than 100 special accounts that work like credit cards—they spend first, then ask regulators to let them recover the money from customers afterward. SB 1098 moves those decisions into the regular rate-setting process, where the spending gets reviewed before it lands on your bill.
SB 886 (Padilla): Make data centers pay their own power costs
Status: Signed into law. Support. Data centers used about 4.4% of all U.S. electricity in 2024, and the number is climbing fast. SB 886 creates a separate rate structure so their demand doesn’t get subsidized by ordinary customers, and require them to fund clean energy. It moved as a package with AB 2383.
SB 1359 (Stern): Stop building gas pipelines we won’t need
Status: Signed into law. Support. When gas utilities build new infrastructure, customers pay for it for decades, even if demand falls and the pipes sit unused. SB 1359 requires regulators to forecast gas demand independently instead of taking utilities’ word for it, requires utilities to show electric alternatives won’t work before building, and puts decommissioning costs on shareholders rather than ratepayers.
AB 2313 (Berman): Help switching from gas to electric
Status: Signed into law. Support. When a home’s aging gas line is due for replacement, the utility pays to replace it. AB 2313 lets the utility offer that money to the homeowner as an incentive to switch to electric appliances instead. It’s safer, and it means the rest of us aren’t paying to rebuild fossil fuel infrastructure we’re trying to retire.
AB 2383 (Zbur): Build clean power for the data centers we’re adding
Status: Signed into law. Support. Every new data center on the grid means new electricity generation somewhere, and it should be clean. AB 2383 gives data centers an incentive to build zero-emission power onsite, so growing demand is met with new clean energy instead of fossil fuels. It also makes data centers responsible for the cost of energy generation and distribution instead of everyday Californians, and protects households if a facility leaves before its first 10 years are up. It moved as a package with SB 886.
Cleaner air and less toxic pollution
California has some of the worst air quality in the country, and federal protections are being rolled back. These bills keep state standards moving in the right direction to protect public health and clean air.
AB 40 (Bonta): Review coal facilities before they’re built
Status: Signed into law. Support. California has no coal mines and no coal power, but coal still moves through California communities by rail and ship, exposing residents to fine particulate matter and heavy metals. AB 40 requires facilities handling five million tons of coal a year or more to go through full environmental review before being built or expanded.
AB 28 (Schiavo): Landfill safety
Status: Signed into law. Support. When underground landfill temperatures climb past 131°F, chemical reactions can release toxic gas into nearby neighborhoods—as happened at Chiquita Canyon Landfill in 2022. When temperatures stay elevated for more than 60 days, AB 28 requires operators to notify the public, submit a corrective plan, and work with agencies, with penalties for those who don’t.
AB 1661 (Bryan): Direct help for families near the Inglewood Oil Field
Status: Signed into law. Support. AB 1661 sends the first $5 million from the Equitable Community Repair and Reinvestment Account directly to families living within 2.5 miles of low-production oil wells like the Inglewood Oil Field who have a child with a respiratory condition. This direct cash assistance addresses the immense environmental and public health harm that these communities have endured from nearby oil drilling.
AB 1448 (Hart): No new infrastructure for offshore drilling
Status: Signed into law. Support. AB 1448 extends California’s ban on new construction tied to federal offshore oil leases, requires a two-thirds vote to extend or modify existing drilling agreements, mandates the safest available technology for moving oil onshore, and tightens the rules for restarting idle wells.
Read more: Oil Spills, Offshore Drilling, and Senator Adam Schiff’s Take →
SB 1213 (Gómez Reyes): Price transparency for zero-emission trucks
Status: Signed into law. Support. Fleet operators can’t plan a clean vehicle transition if they don’t know the costs. SB 1213 brings standard price transparency to the medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicle market, giving buyers a predictable basis for decisions and unlocking private investment in cleaner freight.
SB 1392 (Cortese): We oppose this bill
Status: Signed into law. Oppose. SB 1392 exempts cars from model year 1986 or earlier from smog check if they carry “collector vehicle” insurance. There’s no agreed definition of a collector vehicle, so the exemption is effectively open-ended. CARB data shows a 1982 model year car can emit nearly 100 times more smog-forming NOx than a 2025 model. The law limits how far exempt cars can travel but includes no way to enforce that limit.
Safe, affordable water
Every Californian deserves access to clean, safe, and affordable water. These bills help to address California’s water crisis: ensuring families can afford the water services they depend on every day and preventing dangerous pollution before it contaminates drinking water sources.
SB 1085 (Durazo): Check the water supply before approving big developments
Status: Signed into law. Support. Water Supply Assessments are the reports that confirm a large project actually has water available long-term. As more projects get streamlined past environmental review, SB 1085 keeps those assessments in the process.
Corporate accountability and voting rights
A healthy, fair democracy and climate justice go hand in hand. Climate progress in California relies on more than elected officials and grassroots advocates—it also requires reliable commitments and accountability from corporate leadership.
SB 1164 and SB 1360 (Cervantes): The California Voting Rights Act of 2026
Status: Signed into law. Sponsored by EnviroVoters. These two laws together make up the California Voting Rights Act of 2026, a response to the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision and other federal voting rights rollbacks. SB 1164 works to stop vote dilution, suppression, and discrimination before they happen, and gives voters the ability to enforce their rights in state court. SB 1360 guarantees language assistance at the state level, expands the number of languages covered, and widens the range of election materials that must be translated. We sponsored both.
Read more: What is the California Voting Rights Act of 2026? →
SB 193 (Budget Committee): Fund the climate programs that lower costs
Status: Signed into law. Support. California’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund collects money from polluters and reinvests it in communities. SB 193 directs that money to public transit and clean transportation, affordable housing, community air protection, safe drinking water, and wildfire risk reduction. It also counts the fund’s interest income toward what’s available to spend starting next fiscal year.
Read more: How You Benefit from California’s GGRF — and Why It’s Under Threat →
Bills that didn't make it in 2026
Twenty five of our priority bills stalled, died, or were vetoed this session. We’re listing them because what fails is as much a record of the Legislature’s choices as what passes—and we’ll fight to bring solutions like these back in coming years.
| Bill | What it would have done | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| AB 946 | Direct 30x30 conservation funding toward parks and green space in underserved urban areas | Held in Assembly Appropriations |
| AB 1603 | Phase out PFAS ("forever chemicals") pesticides | Signed into law after amendments removed its core provisions |
| AB 1777 | Confirm the state's authority to limit "indirect source" pollution from ports, warehouses, and freight hubs | Did not advance on the Assembly floor |
| AB 1790 | Close the "Water's Edge" corporate tax loophole | Did not advance in Assembly Appropriations |
| AB 1813 | Expand affordable community solar and energy storage options to renters and apartment residents | Vetoed by Governor Newsom |
| AB 1891 | Fund prescribed and cultural burns to prevent catastrophic wildfire | Vetoed by Governor Newsom |
| AB 2218 | Require state water agencies to include tribes in water decisions | Vetoed by Governor Newsom |
| AB 2253 | Ban misleading recycled-content claims on packaging | Vetoed by Governor Newsom |
| AB 2302 | Require monthly heavy-metal testing of infant formula for toxic contaminants like arsenic and lead | Failed in Senate Environmental Quality |
| AB 2338 | Require utilities to justify rate increases that outpace inflation | Held in Assembly Appropriations |
| AB 2447 | Set deadlines and monitoring to phase out toxic nitrogen fertilizer pollution | Held in Assembly Appropriations |
| AB 2461 | Close the stock-swap ownership transfer loophole in oil well cleanup bonding | Held in Assembly Appropriations |
| AB 2494 | Manage state demonstration forests for restoration, not timber output | Vetoed by Governor Newsom |
| AB 2566 | Establish the Huron Hawk Conservancy in the Central Valley | Held in Assembly Appropriations |
| AB 2569 | Require new developments to account for wildfire, sea level rise, polluting entities, and other adverse environmental conditions | Held in Assembly Appropriations |
| SB 601 | Write federal Clean Water Act protections into California law after Sackett v. EPA | Held in Assembly Appropriations |
| SB 878 | Require home insurers to pay wildfire claims on a clear, enforceable timeline | Vetoed by Governor Newsom |
| SB 954 | Restore environmental review that 2025's SB 131 allowed polluting projects to bypass | Vetoed by Governor Newsom |
| SB 982 | Let the Attorney General sue oil and gas companies to recover climate disaster costs | Failed in Senate Insurance |
| SB 1075 | Require detailed, community-informed air pollution cleanup plans in the most polluted neighborhoods | Held in Assembly Appropriations |
| SB 1076 | Require insurers to offer and renew policies for wildfire-hardened homes | Failed in Senate Insurance |
| SB 1123 | Let agencies count a regulation's savings and benefits, not just its costs, in economic impact review | Did not advance out of Assembly Economic Development |
| SB 1125 | Create a statewide assistance program for low-income water bills | Vetoed by Governor Newsom |
| SB 1259 | Require refineries to file cleanup plans and workforce impacts before closing | Did not advance out of the Assembly floor |
| SB 1282 | Assess California's need for vehicles that can send power back to the grid | Held in Senate Appropriations |
Anti-environment bills we helped stop
Six bills that would have weakened California’s environmental protections were held or defeated this session.
| Bill | What it would have done | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| AB 839 | Limit legal challenges to broadly defined "sustainable aviation fuel" projects, including ones using fossil fuels | Held in Senate Appropriations |
| AB 1436 | Exempt private trucks contracting with local governments from clean fleet rules | Failed in Senate Environmental Quality |
| AB 1704 | Allow up to a 10-year delay of California's building materials emissions law (AB 2446, 2022) | Held in Senate Appropriations |
| AB 2226 | Repeal the state ban on plastic produce bags in grocery stores | Did not receive a hearing in Assembly Natural Resources |
| AB 2748 | Exempt 100% affordable housing from updated EV charging requirements | Held in Senate Appropriations |
| SB 1039 | Narrow refinery fenceline air monitoring requirements | Held in Senate Appropriations |
Common questions about California's 2026 climate bills
When does the California Legislature vote on these bills?
Bills must pass both houses by August 31, 2026. Floor votes happen throughout August, and many of the most consequential ones land in the final week.
What happens after a bill passes the Legislature?
It goes to Governor Newsom, who had until September 30, 2026 to sign it, veto it, or let it become law without a signature. Most bills signed in 2026 take effect January 1, 2027.
What does it mean when a bill is “held in committee”?
It means the committee declined to advance it, usually without a public vote. Appropriations committees hold bills for cost reasons, but the decision is often political, not just fiscal. A held bill is dead for the session and has to be reintroduced next year.
What’s the difference between a bill EnviroVoters sponsors and one we support?
A sponsored bill is one we helped write and are actively driving. A supported bill is one we’re advocating for but didn’t originate. We sponsored three bills in 2026: SB 1164 and SB 1360 (the California Voting Rights Act of 2026), and SB 982 (the Affordable Insurance and Recovery Act, which failed to pass the Senate Insurance Committee in April 2026).
Where can I read the full text of a bill?
Every bill number on this page links to its official page at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, where you’ll find the full text, amendment history, analyses, and vote records.
How do I find out how my own legislator voted?
Our California Environmental Scorecard grades every state legislator and the Governor on their climate and environmental votes. Scores and full voting record from the 2026 legislative session will be available in early 2027. Look up your legislator’s 2025 score →
How we pick priority bills
Each year we evaluate hundreds of bills and select a short list of priorities. We take positions on many more bills than appear here—those votes are recorded in our annual California Environmental Scorecard. Our federal priorities are tracked separately, and last session’s bills are archived at 2025 Priority Climate Bills.
This page is maintained by California Environmental Voters, a 501(c)(4) climate advocacy organization. Bill statuses are updated periodically throughout the legislative session. Last updated October 1, 2026.