California Executive Order N-20-25 — State Permitting And Housing Laws

Cal. Exec. Order No. N-20-25

California Governor Orders

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT STATE OF CALIFORNIA EXECUTIVE ORDER N-20-25

WHEREAS on January 7, 2025, I proclaimed a State of Emergency to exist in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties due to fire and windstorm conditions that caused multiple fires, including the Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, Lidia, Sunset, Woodley, and Hughes Fires; and

WHEREAS these fires devastated communities across the Greater Los Angeles Area and collectively burned over 47,900 acres, destroying or damaging more than 16,250 structures, including homes, small businesses, and places of worship, with initial estimates placing this disaster among the most destructive in California history; and

WHEREAS since the fires began, I have issued several Executive Orders to provide relief to impacted communities, protect survivors and to expedite and aid recovery efforts, including orders streamlining permitting requirements to enable Los Angeles to build back quickly, and safer and more resilient than before; and

WHEREAS on January 12, 2025, I issued Executive Order N-4-25, which suspended the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and permitting requirements under the California Coastal Act for projects to rebuild properties destroyed or substantially damaged by these fires, subject to certain conditions, in order to avoid procedural delay and costs for such rebuilding efforts; and

WHEREAS on January 16, 2025, I issued Executive Order N-9-25, which extended those suspensions to new accessory dwelling units on impacted properties and accelerated the occupancy of those units, and also suspended regulatory requirements to expedite the establishment of mobilehomes, manufactured homes, and recreational vehicles as temporary housing while rebuilding efforts on impacted properties proceed; and

WHEREAS Executive Order N-4-25 also directed various state agencies and departments to report back to me within 30 days on recommendations for further suspensions of state laws that may delay rebuilding efforts, and to engage affected local governments around recommended practices for expedited permitting and other approvals to support rapid rebuilding, to streamline and align review and approvals for rebuilding efforts as much as possible; and

WHEREAS state agencies and departments have completed their review under this directive and identified additional suspensions of state law related to construction and environmental permits that will facilitate rapid rebuilding efforts, and these suspensions, together with the suspensions in my prior orders, will facilitate implementation of the one-stop, streamlined permitting processes that local governments are launching for impacted property owners; and

WHEREAS additional clarity that local governmental approvals in the permitting process are determinative of eligibility for the Coastal Act and CEQA suspensions under my prior orders, along with further guidance to local governments around those approvals, will provide additional certainty to property owners that will further accelerate rebuilding efforts; and

WHEREAS the suspensions of the Coasta l Act and CEQA in my prior orders, and as further clarified in this Order, provide the full scope of flexibility requested by the affected local governments to support rapid rebuilding efforts; and

WHEREAS although the regulatory suspensions regarding mobilehomes, manufactured homes, recreational vehicles, and mobilehome and special occupancy parks in Executive Order N-9-25 will significantly reduce barriers, the requirement to obtain a coastal development permit may interfere with expedited rehousing objectives; and

WHEREAS state law limitations on the duration of coasta l development and building permits may impede local agency efforts to create a one-stop, streamlined permitting processes developed by agencies, and add time and expense to the rebuilding process; and

WHEREAS rebuilding can be further expedited by allowing homes that were recently approved for development under modern building safety standards, including fire protection standards, to rebuild to the approved specifications; and

WHEREAS state laws that impose affordability requirements when rebuilding on the site of a demolished structure, or constructing a new residence in the coastal zone, serve important goals to increase the supply of affordable housing, but may, in some circumstances, delay rebuilding if applied to homes that were substantially damaged or destroyed due to the emergency; and

WHEREAS property owners seeking to expedite rebuilding by using previously approved building plans may be unreasonably delayed in accessing those plans by regulation requiring local building departments to seek the consent of the professional who signed the original plans, particularly when those plans were submitted years before this emergency; and

WHEREAS state law requires local jurisdictions to periodica lly update their zoning ordinances to implement their housing element, including minimum density and development standards, but an extension of these deadlines will allow local staff in a jurisdiction affected by the emergency to focus fully on developing and implementing rebuilding efforts; and

WHEREAS under the provisions of Government Code sections 8571, I find that strict compliance with various statutes and regulations specified in this Order would prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of these fires and windstorm conditions .

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the State Constitution and statutes, including the California Emergency Services Act, and in particular, Government Code

section 8567, 8571, and 8627, do hereby issue the following Order to become effective immediately. IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT: 1. Paragraph 2 of Executive Order N-9-25 is terminated. 2. Paragraph 2 of Executive Order N-4-25 is terminated and replaced with the following : Paragraph 1 of Executive Order N-4-25, which suspends the California Environmenta l Quality Act (Division 13 of the Public Resources Code,

commencing with

section 21000}, and regulations adopted pursuant to that division, and any requirement to obtain a permit under the California Coastal Act (Division 20 of the Public Resources Code, commencing with

section 30000), for projects to repair, restore, demolish, or rep lace property or facilities substantially damaged or destroyed as a result of this emergency, shall apply only to: a. Primary structures and facilities that are in substantially the same location as, and do not exceed 110% of the footprint and height of, the primary structures and facilities that existed immediately before this emergency. b.

Accessory structures that do not exceed 110% of the footprint and height of the accessory structures that existed immediately before this emergency, and that are in substantially the same location relative to the primary structure as the accessory structures that existed immediately before the emergency.

For properties subject to Coastal Commission Categorical Exclusion Order E-79-8, accessory structures covered by this subparagraph incliude accessory structures that are in substantially the same location relative to a primary residence as the accessory structures that existed immediately before the emergency, regardless of the size or location of the primary residence. c.

New accessory dwelling units on a residentia l property on which a primary residence was substantially damaged or destroyed as a result of this emergency, but only to the extent that such accessory dwelling units are built at least 10 feet from a canyon bluff or 25 feet from a coastal bluff. d. Supportive infrastructure, including, but not limited to, foundation systems, utilities, and driveways, that is necessary to construct, install, or use the structures and facilities described in subparagraphs (a) (c). 3. Structures and facilities described in subparagraphs (a}-(

d) of Paragraph 2 are subject to the suspensions in Paragraph 1 of Executive Order N-4-25 only to the extent that they do not encroach on a public access easement or public access deed restriction, excluding any such easements or deed restrictions on the seaward side of structu res or facilities on the beach, and only to the extent they do not expand farther into a previously approved public view corridor, farther into an open space deed restriction, or farther seaward on the beach than the structure or facility that existed immediately before this emergency . 4.

Local agencies that issue development and building permits for development projects shall be the sole agencies that may determine whether a property or facility is eligible for the suspensions in Paragraph 1 of Executive Order N-4-25 and meets the requirements of Paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Order, and local agency planning or permit approval shall be determinative of eligibility.

Such determination shall not be appealable to the California Coastal Commission or to any other state executive agency or department, and contrary provisions of the California Coastal Act (Division 20 of the Public Resources Code, commencing with

section 30000) are suspended. Local agencies may develop guidance and procedures for implementing this Paragraph. In making the determinations described by this Paragraph, local agencies may consider, but are not limited to using, prior building permits, certificates of

occupancy, county accessor data, Coasta l Commission records, photographic sources, such as Google Maps and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), and any other reasonably available sources of information accessible to the local agency. 5.

The provisions of the California Coastal Act requiring coasta l development permits are suspended in Los Angeles County with regard to establishment, repair, or operation of a mobilehome park or special occupancy park, as well as replacement, installation, or repair of one or more mobilehomes, manufactured homes, or recreational vehicles located on privately-owned property when the lots are held out for rent or lease, or owner-occupied, or one or more mobilehomes, manufactured homes, or recreational vehicles located on privately-owned property when the lots are held out for rent or lease, or owner-occupied, as described in paragraph 5 of Executive Order N-9-25, for those persons displaced by this emergency and owners or operators of mobilehome or special occupancy parks providing housing for such displaced persons.

This Paragraph shall apply only to the extent that any such development is not located within a public access easement or public access deed restriction, a previously approved public view corridor, or open space deed restriction. The suspensions in this Paragraph shall terminate three years from the date of this Order, after which time a local government agency may require the owner or operator of a mobilehome park or special occupancy park, or of a mobilehome, manufactured home, or recreational vehicle subject to the suspensions in this Paragraph, to obtain a coastal development permit, as applicable. 6.

The expiration of any coastal development permit issued under the California Coastal Act is extended, and such permit shall continue to be valid without the need to apply for an extension, for an additional 3 years from the expiration date of such permit, with respect to projects involving properties or facilities that were substantially damaged or destroyed as a result of this emergency in Los Angeles County. To the extent any provision of the California Coastal Act, or any local ordinance authorized by the California Coastal Act, provides otherwise, it is suspended. 7.

Any building permit issued for a project to repair, restore, demolish, or replace a structure or facility in Los Angeles County that was substantia lly damaged or destroyed as a result of this emergency shall be valid for three years from the date of issuance. To the extent it provides otherwise, Health and Safety Code

section 18938.6 is suspended. 8. The reconstruction of residential dwellings that were originally designed and constructed to the 2019 California Building Standards Code and were subsequently destroyed as a result of this emergency in Los Angeles County may be permitted for reconstruction using the same design of the original dwelling that met the 2019 Codes without additional plan review at the discretion of the local enforcing agency. Any contrary provision of state law is suspended.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, any applicable minimum elevation standards established in the 2022 California Building Standards Code and any subsequent updates (consistent with federal guidance on the implementation of the National Flood Insurance Program), and any applicable requirement to produce a required elevation certificate, shall continue to apply to dwellings subject to this Paragraph.

9. With respect to projects to repair, restore, demolish, or replace any residential dwelling units substantia lly damaged or destroyed as a result of this emergency: a. Government Code

section 659 15, subdivision (c)(3)(B), and

section 66300.5, subdivision (h) (2), are suspended in the City of Los Angeles to the extent those provisions would otherwise require a project to replace residential units subject to any form of rent or price control with units affordable to income-qualified households, provided that all of the rent- or price-controlled units are replaced in compliance with the jurisdiction's rent or price control ordinance consistent with

section 65915, subdivision (c)(3)(C)(ii). b. Government Code

section 66300.5, subdivision (h) (3), is suspended in the City of Los Angeles to the extent it would othervvise require a project to replace residential dwelling units that are or were rented by lower or very low income households within the past five years, provided that any lower or very low income tenant residing in the units immediately before they were substantially damaged or destroyed is provided a right of first refusal consistent with the requirements in

section 66300.6, subdivision (b) (4) (B). 10. For purposes of Government Code

section 65590, projects to repair, restore, demolish, or replace any residential structure which contains less than three dwelling units substantially damaged or destroyed as a result of this emergency in any jurisdiction in Los Angeles County shall not be deemed "conversion or demolition of existing residential dwelling units" or construction of a "new housing development" if the repaired, restored, or replacement structure contains three or fewer dwelling units. To the extent any provision of

section 65590 provides otherwise, it is suspended. 11. Health and Safety Code

section 19851 is suspended in Los Angeles County for projects to rebuild, restore, demolish, or replace a structure substantially damaged or destroyed as result of this emergency, except that a County, or any city in the County, that duplicates a building plan maintained by the building department for a project subject to this paragraph shall require a person requesting the duplication of the plans to sign an affidavit containing the information in Health and Safety Code

section 19851, subdivision ( c) (2)-(3). 12. For the County of Los Angeles, the deadline to complete any rezonings required by Government Code

section 65583, subdivision ( c) ( 1) (A),

section 65583.2, subdivision (c), and

section 65583.4, subdivision (a), as pertaining to the County's sixth cycle housing element, shall be extended by 90 days. 13. With respect to efforts to repair, restore, demolish, or replace any properties or facilities substantially damaged or destroyed as a result of this emergency,

Chapter 6 (commencing with

section 1600) of Division 2 of the Fish and Game Code, and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, and

Article 3 (commencing with

section 2080) of

Chapter 1.5 of Division 3 of the Fish and Game Code, and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, are suspended.

I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this Order be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given of this Order. This Order is not intended to, and does not, create any rights or benefits, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the State of California , its agencies, departments, entities, officers, employees, or any other person.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 13th day of February 2025. GAVIN NEWSOM Governor of California ATTEST:

Document details

Collection	California Governor Orders
Citation	Cal. Exec. Order No. N-20-25
Type	executive_order
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	CA_EO
Identifier	3d406316d8f6832cf82b9f01c96f5d6bfeb84616

Source file is stored in the law ingest library (pdf).