Wildfire resiliency: financial assistance.

Section 26091(b)(1)(C) corrected a drafting error: 'Other risk reduction measures. measures that improve the survivability of a structure' was changed to 'Other measures that improve the survivability of a structure,' removing a duplicated and inconsistent phrase.

Standard enrolled bill formatting applied: amendment history dates removed, author and coauthor lines removed, line-number annotations removed, passage dates added (Senate August 27, 2026; Assembly August 26, 2026), Secretary of the Senate and Chief Clerk of the Assembly signature lines added, Governor's receipt and approval block added at the end.

The program now covers 'eligible activities and wildfire resilience improvements' rather than only 'improvements,' broadening what can be funded under the loan program.

A new eligible category (D) allows inspections and administrative fees associated with wildfire improvement inspections, but only when incurred in conjunction with other eligible activities. Inspections cannot be a standalone eligible activity.

The catch-all category for 'other risk reduction measures' was narrowed to require that the measures improve structural survivability in the event of a wildfire, as determined by the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

A new provision authorizes Cal Fire to provide technical assistance and public leadership for the program, including public outreach, education, and recommendations on best practices from existing home hardening financial assistance programs.

Cal Fire may use wildfire risk modeling, decision-support tools, and other relevant data to prioritize outreach and implementation in areas expected to yield the greatest reduction in community structure loss.

Three new coauthors were added: Senator Richardson, Senator Rubio, and Assembly Member Calderon, indicating broader legislative support for the bill.

Added the phrase 'excluding any moneys collected from ratepayers of electrical corporations or gas corporations' in five separate locations throughout the bill (Sections 26090, 26091(a), 26091(d), 26091(e), and 26091(f)), prohibiting the use of utility ratepayer funds for the wildfire resilience loan program.

Removed the phrase 'Subject to the availability of funding' from Section 26091(a), replacing it with a more specific appropriation-based trigger that includes the new ratepayer exclusion.

Fixed typographical errors: 'authority authority' corrected to 'authority' and 'administered administered' corrected to 'administered.' Page numbers updated from 95 to 94 throughout.

Section 26090 now requires the program to be developed and administered 'upon appropriation by the Legislature, including the appropriation of any federal or private funds from any source given for purposes of this chapter,' rather than simply being established without that condition.

Section 26091(a) changed from 'Subject to the availability of funding' to 'Upon appropriation by the Legislature, including the appropriation of any federal or private funds from any source given for purposes of this chapter,' making loan loss reserves and credit enhancements explicitly contingent on legislative action.

Section 26091(d) now requires legislative appropriation before the authority may establish partnerships or referral arrangements with state agencies, local governments, insurers, lenders, contractors, or other entities.

Section 26091(e) now requires legislative appropriation before the authority may establish procedures for preassessments or postcompletion verifications of financed improvements.

Section 26091(f) updated to require 'Upon appropriation by the Legislature, including the appropriation of any federal or private funds given from any source, for purposes of this chapter' before the authority may enter into agreements to operate a public-facing website.

Section 26091(c) clarified language from 'eligible properties individual property owners' to 'eligible individual property owners,' removing ambiguity about whether assistance goes to properties or to owners.

Bill summary updated to state the authority would administer the program 'upon appropriation by the Legislature.' Minor grammatical fixes applied throughout (e.g., 'but not be is not limited to' corrected to 'but is not limited to').

Financial assistance under the program shall not be in the form of a lien against the property. This is a major restriction on how the program can deliver funds, effectively ruling out shared equity or PACE-style structures that place liens on real property.

Section 26091(a) changed from 'may include, but not be limited to' to 'is not limited to,' and Section 26091(b)(1) changed from 'shall include, but not be limited to' to 'are not limited to.' These shifts make the list of program tools and eligible improvements explicitly non-exhaustive rather than permissive.

The guidance source for eligible improvements was narrowed from 'the Office of the State Fire Marshal Department of Forestry and Fire Protection' to just 'the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection,' removing the Office of the State Fire Marshal as a co-guidance body.

Removed reference to Section 2644.4.5 of Title 10 CCR from the list of risk mitigation standards, keeping only Section 2644.9. Also removed the Chapter 7A (Section 701A.1) reference from Title 24 CCR and the Article 3 / Subchapter 3 / Division 1.5 of Title 14 CCR reference for defensible space, simplifying the regulatory cross-references.

Fixed several typos: 'increases to in air pollution' corrected to 'increases in air pollution,' duplicate word 'emission emissions' corrected to 'emissions,' and stray periods within citation text were removed.

A final section stating it was the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation establishing the California Wildfire Resilience Program was deleted. The bill now directly establishes the program rather than serving as a placeholder for future action.

Section 26001 now includes 'government and other public and private partners' alongside the federal government as entities the state should cooperate with to promote energy development.

The agency providing guidance on eligible wildfire resilience improvements changed from the Office of the State Fire Marshal to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (still in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services and the Department of Insurance).

Regulatory citations for eligible improvements were made more specific: Title 24 citation now includes Part 7 (commencing with Section 1.1); defensible space activities now also reference Section 4291 of the Public Resources Code and Section 51182 of the Government Code; 'or in successor regulations' was added to two citations for future-proofing.

Multiple draftsmanship errors were corrected, including removal of duplicated words ('both all,' 'utilizing using,' 'high quality high-quality') and cleanup of relative pronoun usage in Section 26001.

The fiscal committee vote changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating a fiscal impact was identified or acknowledged in the revised version.

Establishes the California Wildfire Resilience Loan Program (new Chapter 5, Sections 26090-26091) in Division 16 of the Public Resources Code, moving from a statement of future legislative intent to an actual program authorization.

Amends Section 26001 to add a finding that it is essential to promote investments reducing wildfire-related risk and losses, and amends Section 26002 to add wildfire resilience improvements as a stated purpose of the division alongside renewable energy and advanced transportation goals.

Declares legislative intent to authorize participation by public and private partners including utilities, insurers, nonprofit organizations, philanthropic entities, and the federal government where their participation advances public safety, market stability, and resilience objectives.

Authorizes the CAFT Authority to provide financial assistance including loan loss reserves, interest rate buy-downs, and other credit enhancements to reduce upfront and overall costs for property owners seeking private financing for wildfire resilience improvements.

Fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the amendment introduced a fiscal impact that requires fiscal committee review.

Defines eligible improvements as home hardening (ignition-resistant features, vegetation management, defensible space treatments), smoke mitigation retrofits, and other risk reduction measures. Eligible properties include residential, multifamily, mixed-use, nonprofit, and small business property statewide, with no limitation by land classification, jurisdiction, or hazard severity zone.

Requires guidance from the Office of the State Fire Marshal in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services and the Department of Insurance to define eligible improvements. Authorizes preassessments or postcompletion verifications for program integrity.

Allows the authority to establish partnerships with state agencies, local governments, community-based organizations, insurers, lenders, contractors, and other entities for identifying applicants, aggregating demand, and facilitating bulk purchasing or group contracting.