Regional housing needs: regional transportation plan.

Assembly Member Elhawary's housing legislation modifies California's regional housing needs assessment process by extending planning timelines and strengthening the connection between housing allocations and transportation planning. The bill requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to determine regional housing needs three years before scheduled revisions for areas with councils of governments, while maintaining the two-year timeline for areas without councils.

The legislation revises how councils of governments develop housing allocation methodologies, requiring them to incorporate transportation and employment projections from sustainable communities strategies. If the Department determines a draft methodology does not meet statutory objectives, councils must revise it in consultation with the Department and may adjust how heavily they weight development patterns from sustainable communities strategies. The final allocation plan must demonstrate its alignment with transportation and employment projections while maintaining overall regional housing targets across income categories.

The bill maintains existing requirements for public participation and stakeholder input during methodology development. Councils of governments must survey member jurisdictions about fair housing issues, development constraints, and other factors that inform allocation decisions. The Department retains its 60-day window to review draft methodologies and require revisions if objectives are not met.

For areas with councils of governments, these changes take effect January 1, 2025. The Commission on State Mandates will determine whether the new requirements constitute reimbursable state-mandated costs for local agencies. The legislation exempts housing need determinations from California Environmental Quality Act review to streamline the planning process.