Public Law Update – AB 1007: Amended Timing Requirements in the Permit Streamlining Act

AB 1007 (2025) amends California’s Permit Streamlining Act to significantly accelerate the timeline by which a public agency, acting as a responsible agency, must approve or disapprove certain residential and qualifying mixed-use development projects.  A responsible agency is any public agency other than the lead agency that has discretionary approval power over all or a portion of a project.  A responsible agency could be, for example, the regional water district that must issue service and connection approvals for a residential project after a city, as lead agency has approved the project.

The bill applies to projects that are either entirely residential, or mixed-use projects with at least 49% of units affordable to very low- or low-income households and in which nonresidential uses are less than 50% of the total square footage.

The bill reduces the statutory deadline for responsible agencies from 90 days to 45 days to take final action on a qualifying permit application after the lead agency has approved a residential or eligible mixed-use project, or after the responsible agency receives a complete application, whichever is later. In the example above, once the city as lead agency has approved the project, the developer of the project submits to the water district an application for connection/capacity or main-extension permit and once the water district deems that application complete, AB 1007 shortens the district’s deadline to approve or deny that permit to 45 days.

The goal of AB 1007 is to streamline housing approvals, limit procedural delays, and ensure that secondary (responsible) agencies act quickly once environmental review and lead agency approval are obtained. The California Coastal Commission and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission still have 90 days from the date on which the lead agency has approved the project or 90 days from the date on which the completed application for the development project has been received and accepted as complete by that responsible agency, whichever is longer.

In summary: AB 1007 compels responsible agencies to approve or deny certain affordable housing and mixed-use developments within 45 days, down from the previous 90-day deadline under the Permit Streamlining Act, expediting overall project delivery.

Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP regularly advises clients on legal matters relating to land use and planning issues.

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