SB 963 California Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

California Coastal Act of 1976: coastal development permits: appeal: de novo review.

Summary

Existing law establishes in the Natural Resources Agency the California Coastal Commission. Existing law requires the commission to have the primary responsibility for the implementation of the California Coastal Act of 1976 and designates it as the state coastal zone planning and management agency, as provided. Existing law, among other things, requires anyone wishing to perform or undertake any development in the coastal zone, in addition to obtaining any other permit required by law from any local government or from any state, regional, or local agency, to obtain a coastal development permit from the commission or a local government, as provided. Existing law authorizes an appeal to the commission for any action taken by a local government on coastal development permit applications, requires the commission to hear the appeal, and establishes specified appeal procedures, as provided. Existing law requires the commission to provide for a de novo public hearing on an application for a coastal development permit and an appeal brought pursuant to the act, as provided. This bill would require an appeal of an action by a local government on a coastal development permit application to be considered properly submitted if the appealing party or parties submit to the executive director a completed, signed copy of the appeal form provided by the commission within the applicable timeline, as provided. The bill would require, for purposes of an appeal of an action on a coastal development permit application by a local government or a port governing body, the commission to provide for de novo review and a public hearing on the coastal development permit application, as provided, if the commission determines that a substantial issue exists with respect to the grounds on which the appeal has been filed.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Jul 2026

Senate Passage

Apr 2026

Assembly Passage

Jul 2026

Signed into Law

Jul 2026

Introduced Feb 3, 2026 Signed Jul 16, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

07/16/26 - Chaptered → SB963 · 1 edit

MINOR

No substantive policy changes occurred between these two versions. The diff reflects a difference in presentation format only: the 'from' version is the official chaptered document (with page numbers and formal legislative layout), while the 'to' version is a web page rendering from the California legislature's bill tracking website, complete with navigation menus, search tools, and version history links. The actual statutory text of Sections 30628 and 30629 is identical in both versions.

TECHNICAL

The document was reformatted from an official chaptered legislative document (with page numbers, centered headers, and formal layout) into a web page rendering that includes site navigation, search functionality, bill metadata links, and version history. No changes to the substantive legal text were made.

02/03/26 - Introduced → 03/09/26 - Amended Senate · 6 edits · Mar 9, 2026

MODERATE

The amended version dramatically expands the scope of SB 963 from a minor parks code cleanup to a significant new coastal development permit appeal framework. Two entirely new sections (30628 and 30629) are added to the Public Resources Code, establishing strict requirements for submitting appeals of local government decisions on coastal development permits and mandating de novo review with specific timelines when a substantial issue is found. The original parks provision is retained but renumbered as Section 1.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded significantly from a narrow amendment to a single parks code section (5019.5) to a broad measure that also creates an entirely new regulatory framework for appealing coastal development permit decisions, adding two new sections to the Public Resources Code with detailed procedural requirements and deadlines for the California Coastal Commission.

SCOPE

Two new sections (30628 and 30629) added to the Public Resources Code, expanding the bill from a parks-only measure to one that also governs coastal development permit appeals under the California Coastal Act of 1976.

REQUIREMENT

New Section 30628 requires appealing parties to submit a completed, signed appeal form to the executive director within the applicable timeline, state specific grounds clearly on the form, and identify how proposed development features fail to conform to the certified local coastal program or public access policies. Grounds not based on those provisions are deemed invalid, and the executive director may reject nonconforming submissions.

New Section 30629 requires the commission to provide de novo review and a public hearing when it determines a substantial issue exists with respect to appeal grounds. It sets specific deadlines: 30 days to tell the applicant what information is needed, 30 days to determine if submittals are complete, and 180 calendar days from a complete submittal to hold the hearing and act on the permit application.

TIMELINE

The 180-day deadline for de novo review and action can be extended once by mutual written agreement of the applicant and executive director for up to 90 additional calendar days. The commission may also conduct the de novo review on the same day it finds a substantial issue if it already has sufficient information.

TECHNICAL

Section 5019.5 (parks) language changed from 'shall cause to be made prepare' to 'shall prepare,' a nonsubstantive grammatical cleanup of the existing provision.

FISCAL

Fiscal committee review changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now requires fiscal analysis, likely due to the new operational requirements imposed on the Coastal Commission.

Floor votes · Senate Apr 30, 2026 · Assembly Jul 2, 2026

How they voted

36–0

Passed · 4 other

Total votes 40

Apr 30, 2026

D Democratic30

27 Yea 3

90% Yea

R Republican10

9 Yea 1

90% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Jul 16, 2026

Signed into law

Approved by the Governor.

legislature

Jul 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.

upper

Jul 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 70. Noes 0. Page 5985.) Ordered to the Senate.

lower

Jun 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (June 24).

lower

Jun 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (June 8). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

May 18, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on NAT. RES.

lower

Apr 30, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 4114.) Ordered to the Assembly.

upper

Apr 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to consent calendar.

upper

Apr 14, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 3869.) (April 14). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Mar 18, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on N.R. & W.

upper

Mar 9, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Feb 11, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Feb 3, 2026

Introduced

Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors