Official Summary Text
SB 1182, as amended, Allen.
New developments: fire hazards: insurance requirements.
General plan: safety element: very high fire hazard severity zones: insurance.
The Planning and Zoning Law requires the legislative body of a city or county to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan that includes various elements, including, among others, a housing element, as provided, and a safety element for the protection of the community from specified risks. Existing law requires, upon the next revision of the housing element on or after January 1, 2014, the safety element to be reviewed and updated as necessary to address the risk of fire for land classified as state responsibility areas and land classified as very high fire hazard severity zones, as defined. Other existing law requires the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation to update a specified guidance document to include specific land use strategies to reduce fire risk to buildings, infrastructure, and
communities.
This bill would, for safety elements updated on or after January 1, 2028, require the safety element to include the availability of insurance for existing and planned uses within very high fire hazard severity zones and in state responsibility areas. The bill would require the office, on or before July 1, 2027, to update the guidance document described above to identify sources of information that a city or county may use to satisfy the above requirement.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, among other things, requires each public agency to compile one or more lists that specify in detail the information that will be required from any applicant for a development project.
This bill would require a developer, prior to seeking all the required land use approvals or entitlements necessary for the issuance of a building permit for a proposed development project in a high fire or very high fire hazard severity zone, as defined, to make a good faith effort to obtain a minimum of 2 insurance quotes, as provided, that contain estimates of the cost to insure the structures or units that will be built as part of the development project. The bill would require a city, county, or city and county to require a developer
to submit those insurance quotes as part of the applications for all the required land use approvals or entitlements, or to report that it was not able to obtain those insurance quotes. The bill would also require a developer to submit those insurance quotes to the Department of Real Estate and the Department of Insurance.
Existing law, the California Building Standards Law, continues into existence the California Building Standards Commission and requires the commission to approve and adopt building standards and to codify those standards in the California Building Standards Code.
This bill, on and after June 1, 2031, would require a developer of a new development that is unable to obtain the insurance quotes described above to ensure that a structure or unit located in a high fire hazard severity zone area meets the
applicable building standard requirements adopted by the commission for a very high fire hazard severity zone and that a structure or unit located in a very high fire hazard severity zone area meets the applicable highest level of wildfire building standards adopted by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety.
By imposing new duties on local governments relating to the approval of new developments, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures
for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.