Sacramento, CA – You win some, you lose some. But this year, there were more wins for environmental justice than losses. The California Environmental Justice Alliance Action (CEJA Action), a project of Beyond Impact, is excited to share our recap of the 2026 legislative session and share what comes next!
This legislative agenda is held in partnership with our 501(c)(3) affiliated organization, the California Environmental Justice Alliance. To learn more about how we partner on our legislative work, check out the initial agenda announcement.
Want to help get these bills signed into law? Check out CEJA’s call to action here to reach out to Governor Newsom!
By The Numbers:
| Supported Bills that Passed | Supported Bills that Failed | Opposed Bills that Passed | Opposed Bills that Failed | |
| Priority Bills | 12 out of 18 | 6 out of 18 | 1 out of 2 | 1 out of 2 |
| Solidarity Bills | 3 out of 6 | 3 out of 6 | N/A | N/A |
| Combined Total | 16 out of 25 | 10 out of 25 | 1 out of 2 | 1 out of 2 |
| Priority Bill Numbers | SB 954 AB 1457 AB 40 SB 1091 SB 417 SB 716 AB 1661 SB 1180 AB 1813 SB 327 AB 2313 SB 913 | AB 2170 AB 1543 SB 1259 AB 2461 SB 1075 AB 1777 | SB 1350 | AB 2057 |
| Solidarity Bill Numbers | AB 2227 AB 2157 SB 1125 | SB 982 AB 1790 SB 1243 | N/A | N/A |
Excluded from Table:
Support, Updated to No Position: AB 1216 – divided into AB 193 (Failed) and AB 113 (Passed)
Support if Amended, Updated to No Position: SB 886 (Passed)
Equitable Land Use: Healing the Land, Healing the People Campaign
Support: SB 954 (Blakespear)
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
This bill addresses the environmental and public health rollbacks enacted under Senate Bill 131 (2025), and takes critical steps toward fulfilling the commitments made last year by legislative leadership to scale back the most harmful of these provisions. SB 954 would address these impacts by restoring necessary protections for communities, workers, and the environment, and by establishing state oversight over the use of the “advanced manufacturing” CEQA exemption.
Why We Supported It:
We reject the false narrative that Californians must choose between a strong economy and a clean environment. In reality, the state has developed the largest manufacturing sector in the country, and the fourth largest economy in the world, while upholding robust protections for workers and communities. Economic growth must support the well-being of all Californians and must not compromise the health of our workers and residents, nor the quality of our air, water, and natural ecosystems.
Support: AB 1457 (Bryan)
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
AB 1457 (Bryan) would amend SB 1000 (Leyva, 2016) to set a specific compliance deadline for the existing requirement for local governments to adopt an environmental justice element, or related policies, goals, and objectives in other general plan elements. Additionally, AB 1457 would add transparency and local public process requirements to ensure disadvantaged communities can provide input during the development and adoption of these elements.
Why We Supported It:
AB 1457 upholds community engagement in the environmental justice element development which is a vital component that allows communities to have a voice in the decisions made in their neighborhoods. The passage of this bill will ensure that communities have the opportunity to provide input in the development of their local environmental justice element.
Support: AB 40 (Bonta)
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
AB 40 would require a full Environmental Impact Report before any local agency may grant a discretionary approval for a new or expanded coal handling, storage, or export terminal with a design capacity exceeding 5 million short tons per year. The bill also requires an updated environmental review when the type or quantity of coal changes materially or when the existing EIR is 10 or more years old.
Why We Supported It:
The bill ensures that communities and decision-makers have access to current information about a project’s potential impacts, particularly when scientific understanding or project conditions have significantly changed over time. By strengthening transparency and public participation, AB 40 helps ensure that decisions affecting air quality, public health, and environmental justice are based on the best available information.
Support: SB 1091 (Caballero) – The Community Anti-Displacement and Preservation Program (CAPP)
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
This bill will allow community organizations, nonprofit affordable housing developers, and local jurisdictions to access resources to acquire unsubsidized rental housing from the private market where tenants are at risk of displacement and preserve its affordable rental housing status. Not only will this help maintain the availability of affordable housing, but it will also prevent community members from being displaced if the private market plans to move to market rate housing.
Why We Supported It:
Even with initiatives to build affordable housing, many affordable homes are lost each year to the transfer to market rates, slowing progress to address the housing crisis in the state. This bill will create a pathway to reduce the loss of affordable housing, while keeping community members in their homes.
Support: SB 417 (Cabaldon)
Result: Passed, signed into law by Governor Newsom on 6/16/26.
This bill is in support of issuing $10 billion in bonds to support affordable rental housing and home ownership programs.
Why We Supported It:
There is no environmental justice without housing justice. Safe, affordable housing is a basic human right. It is impossible to have an environmentally just community where people cannot afford to live safely.
Support: SB 716 (Durazo)
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
In response to the Lineage Logistics PFS, LLC warehouse fire on June 2026, Senator Durazo introduced SB 716 to prevent another environmental disaster and public health crisis. SB 716 increases fines for city and county ordinance violations for nonresidential structures of 20,000 or more square feet. Violators would face $1,000 for a first violation, $2,000 for a second violation, and $5,000 for each additional violation. If the violation results from a state or federal disaster declaration, these fines can be multiplied up to $50,000 per violation.
Why We Supported It:
This bill gives fenceline communities like Boyle Heights and East LA real leverage against large facility operators who drag their feet on remediation by replacing the $2,000/day fine cap with escalating penalties. This directly serves environmental justice communities already overburdened by industrial hazards, ensuring companies can no longer treat minor fines as a routine cost of doing business at residents’ health.
Other Bills That Didn’t Advance to the End of Session:
Support: AB 2170 (Boerner) – The Families and Neighborhood Safety Act – held in committee on 5/14/26
Support: AB 1543 (Quirk-Silva) – did not advance beyond committee referral on 2/2/2026
Climate Justice: Managed Decline Campaign
Support: SB 1259 (Blakespear) – Transparency for Refinery Asset Retirement Obligations
Result: Author moved to inactive file, no further action this legislative session
This bill would require oil refineries to assess and report the cost and timelines of environmental clean-up for when they eventually close, even if their retirement date is unknown. This is a step towards meeting the more stringent requirements as other energy sectors (wind, solar, and nuclear), which are all also required to set aside funds to pay for the cleanup. The reports will allow communities time to plan and prepare for the transition phase when the refinery closes and the following clean-up period. It also provides a foundation for future bills to expand upon how refineries should prepare to fund the clean-up.
Why We Supported It:
A critical step in having a managed decline from fossil fuels is knowing what the clean-up will look like and how long it will take so communities can plan accordingly. Lacking this information delays site remediation and development planning for the next use of the land, elongating public health and economic impacts.
Support: AB 1661 (Bryan) – Oil and gas: low-production wells: Baldwin Hills Conservancy: Equitable Community Repair and Reinvestment Account
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
Existing law (through AB 2716) states that oil wells in certain regions (LA County, near state parks and within Baldwin Hills Conservancy) cannot remain “low-producing” for more than 12 months without incurring a $10,000/month penalty until the well is plugged and abandoned. The penalty fees go into the Equitable Community Repair and Reinvestment Account, which funds community benefit projects in the same region. AB 1661 (Bryan) proposes to amend this law to require that the first $5 million brought into the account must be used for direct cash assistance to families and children with respiratory health conditions living within 2.5 miles of Inglewood Oil Field.
Why We Supported It:
This bill will ensure that impacted residents truly benefit from this program and create a model for environmental reparations within a historically Black community.
Support: AB 2461 (Hart)
Result: Held in Appropriations Committee on 8/13/26, no further action this legislative session
Although current law requires oil and gas operators to pay to plug and remediate their wells, many fail to meet this obligation and leave taxpayers covering the cost. This bill reduces that risk by requiring operators that acquire idle and marginally producing oil wells to post a bond or other financial assurances for the full cost of plugging and environmental clean-up.
Why We Supported It:
As amended, this bill supports protecting the communities already bearing the health and environmental burdens of the fossil fuel industry from also having to pay for its cleanup. It is also a step toward polluter accountability.
Support: SB 1075 (Reyes)
Result: Held in Appropriations Committee on 8/13/26, no further action this legislative session
This bill reforms how the AB 617 program is administered by ensuring that community emissions reduction plans (CERP) are completed, strengthening the enforceability and oversight of the program funding and spending, and providing guidance for communities to graduate from the program.
Why We Supported It:
These reforms will support the achievability of emissions reductions on the community level from CERPs and better support communities in the implementation process.
Support: SB 1180 (Allen) – Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act: California Plastic Pollution Mitigation Fund
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
In 2022, California legislators passed SB 54 (Allen), which established the Plastic Pollution Mitigation Fund (PPMF), requiring plastic producers to pay $500 million annually to the fund for 10 years, starting in 2027. Money from this fund will be used to address the impacts of plastics, prioritizing disadvantaged communities facing environmental justice and health impacts of plastics. SB 1180 proposes that the fund’s allocation prioritize programs and projects that benefit communities most affected by the impacts of plastic pollution, align with or implement community-driven solutions, provide multiple benefits, and demonstrate engagement with communities and Tribes in planning, development, and implementation.
Why We Supported It:
Plastics are made from fossil fuels, and their environmental and health impacts are becoming better understood over time. Environmental justice communities often face multiple hazards simultaneously, such as poor air quality from refineries and plastic pollution. As amended, this bill is another approach to help our communities recover from the impacts of the fossil fuel industry.
Previously Support: SB 1216 (Laird), Updated to No Position on AB 193 and AB 113
Results: The GGRF trailer bill proposal was ultimately divided into two bills, AB 193 and AB 113, the weekend before the deadline to introduce legislation. Due to the short timeline, CEJA was unable to coordinate with our members to review, weigh in on, or take a stance on either bill. More information on AB 193 and AB 113 is included below.
SB 1216 protects the integrity of California’s climate investments by making targeted adjustments to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) and limiting the California Air Resources Board’s implementation of the Manufacturing Decarbonization Incentive (MDI). The bill helps ensure that Cap-and-Invest revenues continue to support programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve public health, expand affordable housing and clean transportation, protect safe drinking water, and advance environmental justice.
Why We Supported It:
CEJA supports SB 1216 because it safeguards critical climate and environmental justice investments that directly benefit communities disproportionately impacted by pollution. Following CARB’s approval of expanded subsidies for oil refiners, the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated that GGRF revenues could decline by approximately $2 billion annually, putting essential programs at risk, including affordable housing, public transit, community air protection (AB 617), safe drinking water (SAFER), and sustainable agriculture. SB 1216 restores accountability by prioritizing public investments that reduce pollution, strengthen climate resilience, and ensure California’s climate policies deliver meaningful benefits to frontline communities rather than expanded subsidies for the fossil fuel industry.
No Position: AB 193 – GGRF Trailer Bill
Result: Failed to Pass
Key provisions included:
- Preserves interest income within the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).
- Allows GGRF dollars to fund “any state operations costs” determined by the Department of Finance, as well as other administrative costs, at the top of the funding waterfall. This raises concerns about potentially reducing funding available for programs and community investments.
- Makes technical changes but does not otherwise substantially modify the SB 840 GGRF framework.
- Includes chaptering amendments related to AB 1608 and SB 741.
No Position: AB 113 — Budget Bill Jr.: GGRF Appropriations
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
Key GGRF appropriations and adjustments include:
- $230 million to CalSTA for Statewide Transportation Priorities (0277). The bill does not specify eligible projects or project types; this may be intended to support SB 125-related transportation needs.
- $10 million to the California Natural Resources Agency for geothermal exploration.
- $50 million to the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program for agricultural land protection, including acquisition of easements and other tools to protect agricultural lands at risk of conversion to nonagricultural uses.
- $100 million reduction to CalFire’s general appropriation for fire protection.
- $70 million added to CalFire for resource management.
- $10 million to CARB for agricultural replacement measures.
- $20 million to CARB for AB 617 implementation.
- $40 million transferred from GGRF to the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund.
- $20 million to the University of California Climate Change Research Institute
Other Bills That Didn’t Advance to the End of Session:
Support: AB 1777 (Garcia) – Air Pollution: Indirect Sources – Did not advance beyond second reading on 5/18/2026
Energy Justice: Retire and Replace Campaign
Support: AB 1813 (Ward)
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
Requires the California Public Utilities Commission to evaluate current renewable energy subscription programs as a steppingstone to establishing a meaningful community solar program in CA. If the current programs are deemed ineffective, a new one would be established. Criteria for the effectiveness of current programs include:
- Complement building energy efficiency standards (Title 24 of CA Building Code),
- Construction workers and apprentices are paid fairly at their respective prevailing wages/rates
- 51% or more of program capacity serves low-income customers
- Programs are aimed to not pass program costs to non-participating customers, by utilizing the avoided cost calculator as a way to better value distributed resources
Why We Supported It:
Improving the effectiveness and scalability of renewable energy subscription programs will help them become or be replaced with programs that are more accessible to low-income and working families. The revamp subscription program is aimed to reduce energy bill costs and ensure the cost of the program is not at the expense of others ( i.e. nonparticipating households). Equitable, local-scale clean energy resources should be accessible to everyone, including those who have been harmed by the fossil fuel industry. The State must invest in a community solar + storage program that secures proper workforce development standards where clean energy workers are paid at a prevailing wage.
Oppose: SB 1350 (McNerney)
Result: Passed, signed into law by Governor Newsom on 6/29/26. No further action this legislative session.
This bill counts a facility with combustion turbines as a renewable energy facility for the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) if those turbines burn a fuel already included in the RPS. In other words, this bill would allow gas plants to get RPS credit while using “green hydrogen” to power their turbines.
Why We Opposed It:
This is a deeply concerning bill that will negatively impact environmental justice communities by prolonging the life of gas plants and incentivizing hydrogen combustion. There is a risk that transitioning a power plant to run on hydrogen will increase NOx emissions because hydrogen burns at a higher flame temperature than methane. Furthermore, the bill does not define green hydrogen, leaving it open for hydrogen producers to interpret it in ways that may increase GHG emissions, ultimately undermining the purpose of having an RPS.
Support: SB 327 (McNerney)
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
SB 327 would explicitly ban the use of ratepayer funds on lobbying or other political activities against efforts by cities and counties to create their own municipal utilities. This bill would also clarify the Public Advocate’s Office’s role in investigating the IOUs’ activities to protect consumers from utilities’ abuses.
Why We Supported It:
With energy rates becoming less affordable, seemingly by the minute, we cannot allow investor-owned utility (IOUs) companies to utilize ratepayer monies for advancing misaligned political positions. For example, Californians are looking to municipalize their energy system, reflective of an energy democracy movement. However, IOUs currently can use our money to lobby against such proposals. Not only is this practice extremely undemocratic, but it also hurts the wallets of everyday residents. As the ones who benefit, shareholders should pay for political positioning activities, not ratepayers.
Support: AB 2313 (Berman)
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
Requires that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) mandate that gas corporations offer a program to provide a financial incentive for households to choose electric alternative appliances instead of replacing their gas service lines when scheduled. The financial incentive will be the equivalent of 85% of the average lifetime cost of replacing the gas service line.
Why We Supported It:
There are two primary reasons why AB 2313 is a progressive bill, moving us to a just transition. Firstly, the cost of replacing gas service lines is passed on to all customers. As the demand for gas decreases, it will become more expensive for each ratepayer to pay for an aging system. Low-income households are most likely to be impacted by rising costs of the gas system, and the least likely to be able to switch to electric appliances without assistance.
Secondly, the proposed program will give households the choice to move away from gas and electrify their homes. Instead of using these funds to update a polluting pipeline, the money would be used to transition households to electrification. AB 2313 benefits particularly low-income households that have been intentionally left out of adopting clean technologies.
Support: SB 913 (Becker)
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
This bill will mandate that applicable government agencies – California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Independent System Operator (CAISO), and the California Energy Commission (CEC) – enhance pathways, update processes, and simplify enrollment for households to participate in the Resource Adequacy program. The Resource Adequacy program will be required to pay households at the same rate at utility-scale producers for energy that they export into the grid for their full capacity. This means that a home with a solar panel array that exceeds its energy use would be fairly compensated for the additional energy that it passes back into the electrical grid.
Why We Supported It:
Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), such as rooftop solar, strengthen electrical grids, support the transition to clean energy, and lower costs for ratepayers. This bill will make changes to existing law to incentivize additional solar installations and make energy more affordable for all ratepayers.
Previously Support if Amended, Updated to No Position: SB 886 (Padilla) California Technology Innovation and Ratepayer Protection Act
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
This bill creates a framework for protecting customers of investor-owned utilities from subsidizing the largest data centers and other large-load customers by passing the costs of interconnection to ratepayers, requiring the data center to pay these expenses instead. It also requires that the participating customer prefunds a contract of at least 10 years by installing clean resources behind its meter.
What We Liked:
Protecting ratepayers from subsidizing the costs of large energy users, such as data centers, is critical for combating the rising costs of energy in our communities. Prohibiting more infrastructure investment into carbon-intensive systems for on-site energy production and storage supports California’s goals of carbon neutrality.
Proposed Amendments for a Support Position:
- On-site power generation must be limited to zero-emission technologies.
- Since data centers will add additional strain to the power grid, they should be required to fund the development of new zero-emission electric generation sufficient to meet their energy needs each hour, including delivery infrastructure.
- Instead of including all large-load customers (over 75 MW), the threshold should be reduced to 20MW, but make it specific to data centers rather than all large-load customers. This will also need clarification that a project cannot avoid thresholds by being split between multiple utility interconnections.
Other Bills That Didn’t Advance to the End of Session:
Support if Amended: SB 978 (Pérez) – held in committee on 5/14/26.
Oppose: AB 2057 (DeMaio) – held in committee on 4/9/26.
Solidarity Bills
Solidarity bills include proposed legislation related to social or environmental justice issues that CEJA and CEJA Action have a stance on, and they are as follows:
Support: AB 2227 (Connolly) – This bill would increase the bonding used to pay out wage theft claims for farmworkers.
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
Support: AB-2157 (Connolly and Bryan): This bill extends California’s Displaced Oil and Gas Worker Pilot Program, providing continued funding and support for retraining, job placement, and workforce development for workers affected by the decline of the oil and gas industry, helping ensure a managed transition that protects workers and communities as California moves toward a clean energy economy.
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
Support: SB 1125 (Menjivar) – This bill creates a low-income water rate assistance program.
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
Support if Amended: AB 2635 (C. Rodriguez) – The bill aims to support a more equitable transition to zero-emission landscaping equipment statewide and builds on AB 1346 (Berman), which was enacted in 2021. We want to see a continuation of the incentives for air districts, contingent on available funding, and adding a sunset clause.
Result: Passed, to be reviewed by Governor Newsom
Other Bills That Didn’t Advance to the End of Session:
Support: SB 982 (Weiner) – did not pass committee vote on 4/23/26
Support: AB 1790 (Connolly) – held in committee on 5/14/26
Support: SB 1243 (Durazo) – held in committee on 5/14/26
Paid for by the California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) and the California Environmental Justice Alliance Action (CEJA Action), a Project of Beyond Impact.