Zoning: Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley.

Senator Ashby sponsors a measure that shifts the timeline for urban-level flood protection in select parts of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley and adds a state responsibility for flood-damage liability tied to development decisions. The proposal centers on extending the deadline to achieve urban-level flood protection for designated urban and urbanizing areas to 2030, rather than 2025, and establishing a framework for potential state-recovery contributions when development approvals contribute to flood risk.

At the core, the bill requires that, after the relevant amendments take effect, a city or county within the valley may not approve certain development actions in flood hazard zones unless one of four conditions is met: (1) flood-control facilities protect the project to urban or FEMA standards; (2) the project is subject to conditions that will protect it to those standards; (3) the local flood-management agency has made adequate progress on a flood-protection system that will provide urban-level protection for the area; or (4) the project is in an undetermined risk area and has met urban-level protection based on substantial record evidence. The same four-pathway framework applies to discretionary permits that would otherwise increase occupancy or to ministerial permits for new residences, and to tentative or parcel maps for subdivisions, with the extended 2030 deadline applying to the specified areas.

The bill adds a newly defined set of locations that must meet urban-level flood protection by 2030, including subareas within the City of Sacramento and the County of Sacramento, as well as the City of Marysville and portions of the County of Yuba and adjacent areas. It authorizes the Department of Water Resources to require those jurisdictions to contribute their fair and reasonable share of property damage resulting from floods if the state’s exposure to liability increases due to unreasonably approving new development, until the area attains urban-level protection. Definitions accompany these provisions to clarify terms such as the named subareas, “undveloped area,” and the meaning of “unreasonably approving” and “feasible.”

A companion liability framework is incorporated through amendments to the Water Code, establishing conditions under which a city or county may be required to contribute and outlining exceptions when contributions are not required after certain settlements or legal timelines. The legislation also includes legislative findings that a special statute is necessary for the affected counties and cities due to their unique flood-prone circumstances and maintains alignment with local floodplain management obligations and the state flood-control framework. The changes are targeted, with implementation triggered by specific legal thresholds and documentation, and they do not provide appropriations.