Regional housing: public postsecondary education: changes in enrollment levels: California Environmental Quality Act.

Senator Cabaldon's legislation integrates public university enrollment changes into California's regional housing and transportation planning framework, requiring metropolitan planning organizations to consider student population growth when developing sustainable communities strategies. The bill mandates that the University of California and California State University systems provide enrollment forecasts to regional planning bodies, enabling coordination between campus growth and local housing development.

The legislation modifies how councils of governments determine regional housing needs by incorporating university enrollment data alongside existing factors like job growth and transportation access. Planning organizations must specifically evaluate the distribution of students across jurisdictions and optimize transit efficiency for campus access when allocating housing requirements. These changes aim to better align housing availability with areas experiencing increased student populations.

To streamline development processes, the bill exempts public universities from conducting "no project" alternative analyses under the California Environmental Quality Act when certain conditions are met, including consistency with sustainable communities strategies and proper enrollment forecasting. This provision reduces procedural requirements while maintaining environmental oversight through other CEQA mechanisms.

The measure preserves local land use authority while establishing new coordination requirements between educational institutions and regional planners. It requires regular reporting on implementation progress and mandates public participation in developing housing allocation methodologies. While imposing additional planning duties on local agencies, the bill allows them to fund compliance through existing fee mechanisms rather than requiring new state appropriations.