Planning and zoning: regional housing need allocation: climate change impacts.

The Planning and Zoning Law requires each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city, and specified land outside its boundaries, that includes, among other mandatory elements, a housing element. For the 4th and subsequent revisions of the housing element, existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to determine the existing and projected need for housing for each region. Existing law requires the appropriate council of governments, or the department for cities and counties without a council of governments, to adopt a final regional housing need plan that allocates a share of the regional housing need to each city, county, or city and county, as provided. Existing law requires that the final regional housing plan adopted by a council of governments, or a delegate subregion, as applicable, be based on a methodology that includes specified factors, and similarly requires that the department take into consideration specified factors in distributing regional housing need, as provided. Commencing January 1, 2025, this bill would instead require a council of governments or a delegate subregion to consider including specified factors in developing the above-mentioned methodology. The bill would require a council of governments or a delegate subregion to additionally consider including and would authorize the department, as applicable, to additionally consider among these factors emergency evacuation route capacity, wildfire risk, sea level rise, and other impacts caused by climate change, as provided. By adding to the duties of local officials in allocating regional housing need, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.