AB 35CALIFORNIASession 20252026

High Impact

California AB 35 exempts climate and water bond programs from standard rulemaking requirements

Original title: Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024: Administrative Procedure Act: exemption: program guidelines and selection criteria.

July 16, 2026

Administrative Procedure Act Environmental Policy State Bonds Grant Programs Government Transparency AdministrativeProcedureAct SafeDrinkingWater,WildfirePrevention,DroughtPreparedness,andCleanAirBondActof2024 exemption programguidelinesandselectioncriteria

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The Frame

What this does

This bill changes how state agencies distribute $10 billion in bond funding for wildfire, water, and climate projects by bypassing traditional regulatory review in favor of a streamlined, agency-led guideline process.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

State agencies

They are granted an exemption from standard regulatory procedures when developing program guidelines.

Natural Resources Agency

They are required to maintain an online repository of all guidelines and verifications submitted under this new process.

Legislative fiscal and policy committees

They must receive copies of draft project solicitation and evaluation guidelines for review.

What changed

Last recorded activity July 16, 2026.

What's next

Introduced.

Summary

AB 35 exempts state agencies from standard requirements when developing guidelines and selection criteria for programs funded by the $10 billion 2024 climate and water bond. Instead, agencies must follow a new process involving public meetings, legislative notification, and online posting of final guidelines.

Key Facts

You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.

Why It Matters

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this bill change how the $10 billion bond money is spent?

It changes the process for creating the rules (guidelines) that determine how that money is awarded to projects, but it does not change the underlying purpose of the bond.

How can the public participate in the new guideline process?

Agencies are required to hold a noticed public meeting on the draft guidelines before they are finalized.

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Streamlining Bond Implementation

The bill represents a shift toward bypassing standard regulatory review for bond-funded programs to accelerate the implementation of the 2024 Climate and Water Bond.

Natural Resources Agency

Connected Entities

organizationNatural Resources Agency“The agency responsible for posting final guidelines online.”Map →

organizationOffice of Administrative Law“The office where emergency regulations are typically filed.”Map →

otherSafe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024“The bond act authorized by Proposition 4 in 2024.”Map →

otherAdministrative Procedure Act“The existing law governing how state agencies adopt regulations.”Map →

Sources

Open source document

openstates.org

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance80
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy40
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment5
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz20
Current news / social attention level

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