SB 131 Public Resources Trailer Bill Outstanding Concerns

August 26, 2025

Senate President Pro Tempore McGuire
Senator Wiener
Speaker of the Assembly Rivas
Assemblymember Gabriel

RE: SB 131 Public Resources Trailer Bill Outstanding Concerns

Dear President Pro Tempore McGuire and Senator Wiener, and Speaker of the Assembly Rivas and Assemblymember Gabriel, 

We urge you to expeditiously pursue legislation to address outstanding concerns on the public resources budget trailer bill, SB 131.

Despite the significant policy addressed in the bill, SB 131 was heard on an extremely shortened timeline, and was voted and signed into law just three days after it went into print. This provided little opportunity for evaluation and engagement, and as a result, there are significant outstanding policy concerns. At the time of the bill’s passage, commitments were made on the Senate floor to cleanup these outstanding issues, including:

Protecting “habitat for protected species” Currently, SB 131 does not include “habitat for protected species” in the list of “natural and protected lands,” which are excluded from the new CEQA streamlining measures in SB 131. The Legislature has recognized the importance of retaining environmental review for these special habitats in previous legislation, including foundationally in SB 35 (Wiener, Chapter 366, Statutes of 2017.), updated in SB 423 (Wiener, Chapter 778, Statutes of 2023), and in more recent legislation including AB 1449 (Alvarez, Chapter 761, Statutes of 2023), AB 2085 (Chapter 820, Statutes of 2024), and AB 609 (Wicks, 2025). Allowing projects sited on lands critical to protected species to move forward without environmental review, means impacts will not be mitigated, leading to an overall loss of habitat in California, and potentially pushing declining species closer to extinction.

Reconsidering the CEQA exemption for “advanced manufacturing” SB 131 creates a CEQA exemption for ‘advanced manufacturing’ using an extremely broad definition of ‘advanced manufacturing’ from an existing tax credit program (Public Resources Code Section 26003(a)). By this definition, any manufacturing with even incremental advances from current industry standards, including additions of “smart” or “intelligent” manufacturing systems, would count as “advanced manufacturing.” In practice, projects as wide ranging as lithium mining, hydrogen production, water bottle manufacturing, and carpet recycling have been deemed eligible for “advanced manufacturing” tax credits under this definition. Under this definition, any manufacturing that uses AI or other computation advancements, regardless of what is produced or of any environmental impacts, could be eligible for a CEQA exemption.

We believe that this definition was adopted without full consideration of its implications, and that it is not in the best interest of Californians to create a CEQA exemption for manufacturing across the board. We must either narrow and clarify this definition or remove this exemption entirely.

In addition to these two outstanding concerns, other issues may also need to be addressed in follow up legislation, including SB 131’s impacts to tribal resources and implications for the Delta Conveyance Project.

The policy changes in SB 131 went into effect immediately on June 30, 2025, adding urgency for action to resolve these issues. Doing so swiftly will maintain benefits central to CEQA’s primary intent, including transparent, community-informed decision-making processes, and greater protections for public health and the environment.

If you have questions, please contact Senator Blakespear’s Chief of Staff, Jack Christensen (916) 651-4038, or Senator Allen’s Chief of Staff, Tina Andolina, at (916) 651-4024.

Sincerely,

BEN ALLEN
Senator, 24th District

CATHERINE BLAKESPEAR
Senator, 38th District 

CHRISTOPHER CABALDON
Senator, 3rd District
JESSE ARREGUIN
Senator, 7th District

DAVE CORTESE
Senator, 15th District
STEPHEN PADILLA
Senator, 18th District
JOHN LAIRD
Senator, 17th District
CAROLINE MENJIVAR
Senator, 20th District
SASHA RENEE PEREZ
Senator, 25th District
HENRY STERN
Senator, 27th District

LOLA SMALLWOOD-CUEVAS
Senator, 28th District
ELOISE GOMEZ REYES
Senator, 29th District
RICK ZBUR
Assemblymember, 51st District
NICK SCHULTZ
Assemblymember, 44th District
CHRIS ROGERS
Assemblymember, 2nd District
GAIL PELLERIN
Assemblymember, 28th District
LIZ ORTEGA
Assemblymember, 20th District
Al MURATSUCHI
Assemblymember, 66th District
MAGGY KRELL
Assemblymember, 6th District
ASH KALRA
Assemblymember, 25th District
JACQUI IRWIN
Assemblymember, 42nd District
GREGG HART
Assemblymember, 37th District
ROBERT GARCIA
Assemblymember, 50th District
SADE ELHAWARY
Assemblymember, 57th District
DAMON CONNOLLY
Assemblymember, 12th District
MIA BONTA
Assemblymember, 18th District
TASHA BOERNER
Assemblymember, 77th District
STEVE BENNETT
Assemblymember, 38th District
DAWN ADDIS
Assemblymember, 30th District
PILAR SCHIAVO
Assemblymember, 40th District
JESSICA M. CALOZA
Assemblymember, 52nd District