Residential projects: fees and charges.

Water and sewer/wastewater service fees for designated residential development projects must now be consistent with Section 66013, which prohibits local agencies from imposing connection fees that exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing the service.

The January 1, 2031 sunset date that limited the use of a local hazard mitigation plan in lieu of a safety element for identifying parkland and recreational facilities for emergency purposes was removed. Local hazard mitigation plans can now be used without a stated expiration.

The school facilities planning requirement was changed from referencing a five-year plan under subdivision (c) of Section 17017.5 of the Education Code to a five-year school facilities master plan approved by the school district governing board under subdivision (a) of Section 17070.54, with new language clarifying that districts not participating in the state school facilities program are not required to submit the plan to the Department of General Services.

In the designated residential development project section, 'utility service fees' was expanded to 'utility service fees and charges' for connection-related collections at the time an application for service is received.

Replaced enrolled-version headers (Senate/Assembly passage dates, Governor receipt line) with the standard chaptered format: 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL,' chapter number 543, and approval/filing date of October 10, 2025.

Reformatted line breaks, indentation, and page headers throughout the bill text (changed from 'SB 499' page headers to 'Ch. 543' page headers). No statutory language was added, removed, or altered.

The document was reformatted from an official chaptered legislative document (with 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA / AUTHENTICATED / ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL' header and page numbers) into a website display format with navigation elements, search functionality, version history list, and publication date metadata. No statutory language was changed.

Changed the qualifying document from 'hazard mitigation plan or related general plan element' to 'safety element or local hazard mitigation plan,' making the safety element the primary reference and the hazard mitigation plan the fallback option.

Added a new condition that parkland and recreational facilities must be identified for 'an emergency purpose beyond general recreational or aesthetic use.' This excludes parks or recreation areas designated only for general leisure or visual appeal, narrowing which facilities qualify for early fee collection.

Added an entirely new section (Section 1) amending Government Code Section 66007, expanding the bill from a single fire prevention data provision to also cover residential development fee and charge collection rules under the Mitigation Fee Act.

Established that local agencies generally cannot require payment of fees or charges on residential developments until final inspection or certificate of occupancy (whichever occurs first), with limited exceptions for utility connection fees.

Required that if fees are not fully paid before building permit issuance, the local agency may require execution of a recorded contract creating a lien on the property, enforceable against successors in interest.

Changed Section 4291.5(d) from 'The director may use' to 'The director shall use' defensible space and home hardening assessment data, and changed 'do any of the following' to 'do the following,' making data usage mandatory rather than permissive.

Created a new category called 'designated residential development projects' that includes: 100% lower-income housing, Section 65662 projects, streamlining-approved projects (Article 2 or 3 of Chapter 4.1), Section 65913.4(a) projects, Section 65913.16(c) criteria projects, density bonus projects under Section 65915(b), and projects with 10 or fewer units.

For designated residential development projects, local agencies may require earlier fee payment only for specific public improvements: water service, sewer/wastewater, fire/public safety/emergency services (now including parkland and recreational facilities identified in a hazard mitigation plan), roads/sidewalks/transportation, and school facilities with a five-year plan.

Added an exception for lower-income housing: the early payment requirement does not apply to developments where at least 49 percent of units are reserved for lower-income households at affordable rent. Projects dedicating 100 percent of units to lower-income households with a recorded regulatory agreement are fully exempt from the tax-like collection procedure.

Added a mechanism allowing local agencies to collect unpaid fees on lower-income housing projects (where no performance bond is posted) in the same manner as county ad valorem taxes, including lien priority and delinquency sale procedures.

Changed the fiscal committee note from 'yes' to 'no,' indicating the amended bill no longer triggers a fiscal committee review (likely because the new fee provisions do not directly appropriate state funds).

Parkland and recreational facilities now must be identified specifically 'for use in fire, public safety, and emergency services' rather than the prior broader language 'for those uses,' narrowing which facilities qualify for early fee collection.

A new requirement that parkland and recreational facilities must be identified for an emergency purpose beyond general recreational or aesthetic use, adding a substantive limitation on what qualifies.

A local hazard mitigation plan may be used in lieu of a safety element for this purpose until January 1, 2031, providing a transition period for jurisdictions that have not yet adopted a dedicated safety element.

The entire provision amending Section 4291.5 of the Public Resources Code was deleted. This removed: definitions for home hardening, qualified entities, and wildfire safety improvements; the requirement for the director to establish a statewide program allowing qualified entities to conduct defensible space assessments; the common reporting platform requirement; the mandate that the director use assessment data to direct enforcement and educational resources; annual reporting requirements to the Legislature; and the January 1, 2026 sunset date.

The bill title changed from 'relating to fire prevention' to 'relating to land use,' reflecting that the fire prevention component was removed and only the Mitigation Fee Act amendments remain.

The fiscal committee designation changed from 'yes' to 'no,' indicating the remaining bill no longer has a state fiscal impact requiring fiscal committee review, consistent with the removal of the state-administered wildfire data program.

In the remaining fee collection section, the description of what qualifies as fire, public safety, and emergency services improvements was clarified. The phrase 'including parkland and recreational facilities when identified in its hazard mitigation plan or related general plan element for those uses' was revised to specify they must be identified for 'use in fire, public safety, and emergency services,' tightening the connection between parkland inclusion and fire-related purposes.