Our Priority Environmental Policies for California (2026)
California’s legislators must take bold action on climate policy, clean energy, and environmental justice to protect communities across the state. Advancing strong environmental legislation in California requires partnership, leadership, and a shared vision to achieve lasting climate solutions—especially as we confront federal opposition and the influence of Big Oil tied to the Trump Administration.
EnviroVoters' Top Bills in the California Legislature
Affordable Insurance and Recovery Act (SB 982 - Wiener)
Failed to pass the Senate Insurance Committee in the 2026 legislative session.
The California Clean Skies Act (AB 1777 - Garcia)
Cuts harmful air pollution to better protect frontline communities.
On the Governor's Desk
California Climate Bills By Issue Area
Affordable, Reliable, and Accountable Energy for California
Californians are paying increasingly unaffordable electricity bills while the state faces growing energy demands, climate pressures, and aging grid infrastructure. Families need an energy system that is clean, reliable, and affordable, and accountable to the public.
These bills modernize California’s energy system by strengthening utility accountability, controlling rising electricity costs, and making smarter use of existing clean energy resources. Together they help ensure the clean energy transition works for ratepayers.
SB 905 (Becker) Electricity
This bill follows up on SB 254 (Becker, 2025), a 2025 EnviroVoters priority bill, with several additional affordability and utility accountability provisions. Notably, SB 905 would direct the CPUC to assess public financing and other options as a method to address the high borrowing costs associated with capital investments to save on costs covered by ratepayers. The CPUC would also be required to assess lower ROE on investments that increase safety or reduce shareholder risk. SB 905 would additionally link 20% of executive pay packages to an investor-owned utility’s performance in keeping electricity rates under the rate of inflation as a means of encouraging fiscal discipline.
Investor-owned utilities should be accountable to the people paying the bills. SB 905 helps put affordability, transparency, and fiscal responsibility at the center of California’s energy system.
SB 1282 (Becker) Bidirectional Charging; Grid Reliability
This bill would have required the CEC to assess the state’s need for grid-integrated vehicles, or vehicles with bidirectional charging capacity to support our grid during demand fluctuations. The bill would have authorized the CEC to set standards based on the 2028 assessment for manufacturers to build a minimum level of grid-integrated vehicle capacity, ensuring that grid operators have the option to utilize this resource.
California’s electric vehicles can do more than move people — they can help power a cleaner, more reliable energy system.
AB 2338 (Ransom) FAIR Utility Rate Act
The Fighting for Affordable Informed Rates (FAIR) Act would rein in rising utility costs by requiring companies to justify rate increases that outpace inflation. IOUs would be required to submit an affordability budget to ensure that rate increase decisions better reflect the realities that Californians face, bringing about greater transparency and accountability in the utility rate-setting process. The bill comes as new data from the Public Advocates Office shows residential electricity rates have climbed as much as 101 percent since 2014 — more than 2.5 times the rate of inflation — leaving more than 2.3 million households behind on their energy bills.
California’s electric vehicles can do more than move people — they can help power a cleaner, more reliable energy system.
Stable, Fair, and Affordable Insurance for California Families
As climate-driven extreme weather events like fires and floods increase across California, homeowners are facing a growing insurance crisis: sudden policy nonrenewals, rising costs, delayed claims, and uncertainty about whether they can recover after disaster strikes.
SB 1301 and SB 878 strengthen basic consumer protections to help stabilize California’s insurance system and ensure homeowners are treated fairly before and after disasters. Together, these bills improve transparency, accountability, and timely access to coverage and claims — helping families stay protected and recover faster.
SB 878 (Pérez) Wildfire Insurance Claims
This bill would strengthen enforcement of wildfire insurance claims by requiring insurers to follow clear, enforceable timelines for processing residential fire damage claims. SB 878 would require insurers to pay all undisputed amounts on time, even when other portions of a claim remain unresolved, and strengthen transparency and accountability to curb prolonged, unresolved claims. Persistent delays and inconsistencies in wildfire insurance payouts have left many Californians struggling to rebuild after disasters. SB 878 will strengthen California’s insurance system, so families can start recovering sooner.
SB 1301 (Allen) Nonrenewal Guardrails to Preserve Coverage Act
This bill would require homeowners’ insurance companies to provide significantly earlier notice and clearer explanations when they plan to nonrenew, cancel, or reduce coverage on residential properties, particularly in high-risk wildfire areas. It extends advance notice requirements, mandates plain-language disclosures of the specific reasons for coverage changes and gives policyholders time and opportunity to address identified risks or mitigate property conditions to maintain coverage. The bill also restricts certain practices insurers can use as grounds for nonrenewal and requires the state to publish more detailed data on nonrenewals by region. Rising wildfire risk across the state has led to widespread policy cancellations and reduced coverage availability, leaving many homeowners with less time, less information, and fewer options to secure or maintain insurance in high-risk areas.
Protecting Access to Clean, Affordable Water
Every Californian deserves access to safe, clean, and affordable water. These bills help to address California’s water crisis: ensuring families can afford the water services they depend on every day and preventing dangerous pollution before it contaminates drinking water sources.
SB 1125 (Menjivar) Low-Income Water Rate Assistance Program
This bill would establish a first-in-the-nation Low-Income Water Rate Assistance Program and Fund to bring down utility costs and ensure that all Californians can access both drinking water and wastewater services regardless of income. Only around half of California households are served by public water systems that offer low-income rate assistance; meanwhile, water bills have risen by 24% in the past five years alone. By taking action to alleviate the economic and structural barriers that prevent vulnerable communities from having access to affordable drinking water, California will provide long-term, sustainably funded solutions for its residents.
AB 1603 (Schultz) PFAS (Forever Chemicals)
This bill would (a) ban all per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) pesticides by 2035, (b) ban PFAS pesticides disallowed in the EU by 2030, (c) place a moratorium upon enactment on the approval of new PFAS pesticides by the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), (d) require PFAS manufacturers to add labels to PFAS pesticide products detailing PFAS-related human health and environmental effects, and (e) while they are still in use, designate PFAS pesticides as restricted use materials subject to disclosure in all digital media, including the Spray Days Notification system.
AB 2447 (Bauer-Kahan) Nitrogen Pollution Reduction Act
The Nitrogen Pollution Reduction Act would have strengthened existing regulatory programs with strong monitoring and reporting to curb nitrogen pollution from fertilizers, which pose huge public health issues, as well as environmental concerns. As the largest agricultural state in the country, excessive nitrogen fertilizer use poses huge public health and biodiversity concerns; nitrates from this fertilizer are linked to blue baby syndrome and increased risk of cancer, as well as contributing to harmful algae blooms that decimate ecosystems. This bill would have set a clear goal to phase out nitrogen pollution from croplands, added deadlines to the existing nitrogen management program, and directed the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) to coordinate with regional water boards to update their programs with science-backed guidelines. Additionally, this bill would have created a goal to incentivize research and investment in the development of safer and more efficient fertilizer technology to encourage farmers to use healthy soil practices, achieve sustainable groundwater targets, and protect drinking water for communities.
Reducing Pollution and Toxic Waste
California is currently facing federal rollbacks and threats to our strong clean air and environmental protection standards. The state legislation we are supporting ensures that we protect public health and our clean air standards.
AB 1777 (Garcia) California Clean Skies Act
The California Clean Skies Act would clarify that the state has the authority to limit air pollution from “indirect sources” — facilities like ports, warehouses, and freight hubs that attract heavy truck traffic and other polluting equipment, often creating pollution hotspots in nearby communities. The bill reaffirms the authority of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to regulate these sources and reduce their public health impacts. Many of the most polluted communities in the country are in California, with diesel trucks and equipment serving freight hubs among the leading contributors. This bill provides a clear pathway to cut harmful emissions and better protect frontline communities.
Environmental Protection and Conservation
EnviroVoters is committed to protecting California’s natural landscapes by advancing policies that safeguard biodiversity, access to nature, and climate resilience. As part of the 30×30 initiative to conserve 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030, EnviroVoters is also fighting back against Trump’s plans to sacrifice our state’s natural resources.
AB 2494 (Rogers) State Forests; Forest Management
This bill would update the management principles of CA State Demonstration Forests to prioritize ecological restoration, carbon sequestration, tribal stewardship, education, recreation, and research, instead of wood harvesting. California’s State Demonstration Forests span around 85,000 acres and currently prioritize logging and mining – an outdated policy that is incongruent with our 30×30 conservation goals and tribal co-governance. Additionally, this bill would direct the state to seek opportunities for co-management of these forests with Indigenous tribes and the use of traditional ecological knowledge, with financial footing from the Timber Regulation and Forest Restoration Fund. This bill would put California back on track towards ecological restoration and improving long-term community benefits.
SB 954 (Blakespear) CEQA SB 131 Clean-Up
SB 954 revisits provisions in SB 131 (2025), a trailer bill opposed and scored by EnviroVoters, that created broad exemptions from standard environmental review for certain industrial developments, including loosely defined “advanced manufacturing” projects. Those exemptions allowed qualifying projects to bypass key safeguards, including mitigation measures protecting public health, safety, and endangered species’ habitat. SB 954 would restore and strengthen those protections by reinstating safeguards for endangered species, adding necessary labor standards, and narrowing the scope of projects eligible for exemption to better protect frontline communities.
Advancing Corporate Accountability and Democracy
A healthy, fair democracy and climate justice go hand in hand. Climate progress in California relies on more than elected officials and grassroots advocates—it also requires reliable commitments and accountability from corporate leadership.
AB 1790 (Connolly) Repeal the "Water's Edge" Tax Loophole
This bill would close an outdated corporate tax loophole from the “Water’s Edge” election, which currently allows multinational corporations to exempt themselves from paying taxes on earnings made outside of the state. California loses around $4 billion in California taxes annually due to this loophole – money that should be directed towards vital programs Californians urgently need. Approximately $75 to $150 million is estimated to be avoided by the fossil fuel industry. By prohibiting the use of a Water’s Edge election, this bill would hold corporations and corporate polluters accountable for paying their fair share, returning revenue back to California. This bill requires a 2/3 vote on the Floor.
Opposition Bills
EnviroVoters opposes bills that undermine critical climate policies and priorities, directly threatening our mission to protect public health, advance environmental justice, and hold polluters accountable.
Undermining Advanced Clean Fleets (SB 496 - Hurtado)
Failed to move through Senate Appropriations
This bill would have created a burdensome review process for exemptions to the Advanced Clean Fleets program, which already allows for flexibility where needed. Adding more carve-outs is unnecessary and would weaken the program’s clean air and public health benefits.
Two-Year Bills
These bills carry over to the second year of the session to give lawmakers more time to refine and build support—providing an important window for EnviroVoters to influence policy and advance climate justice.
