Council-Sponsored Bill to Accelerate Housing Development, Toxic Site Remediation Advances

The Bay Area Council continued its successes on housing legislation this week as a critical bill to remediate toxic soil and build more housing passed a key committee in the Assembly. Sponsored by the Bay Area Council, SB 328 (Grayson) would give housing projects relief from high state fees typically charged by the Department of Toxic Substances Control to remediate soil. These fees can discourage the actual remediation of toxic soil, which is both good for the environment and often critical for developing housing in the Bay Area.

SB 328 also establishes deadlines for reviewing plans to remediate soil and provide comments, helping these projects move forward with more certainty. The bill passed the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee unanimously, and it now heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The Council thanks Sen. Grayson for championing this important bill, and we want to express our appreciation to the experts at the Housing Action Coalition for inviting us to partner with them on this bill. To learn more about the Council’s housing work, please contact Senior Vice President of Public Policy Louis Mirante.