An act to add Section 14053 to the Government Code, relating to transportation.
SB 695 adds Government Code Section 14053 to require the California Department of Transportation, in consultation with the California Transportation Commission and the Transportation Agency, to create and update an annual prioritized list of “projects of statewide and regional significance” that would help the state prepare for extreme weather-related events. The bill defines those projects as high-priority state highway projects that benefit at least two counties and that improve safety or economic performance while also advancing climate resilience or addressing vulnerabilities to natural disasters such as earthquakes, mudslides, wildfires, and other extreme climate events.
The list must be created by July 1, 2026, and updated annually thereafter. It must include only projects that are already in the project approval and environmental documentation stage, or in planning, environmental, and design, or further along. The department must also submit an annual report to the Legislature beginning January 1, 2027, identifying the prioritized projects and their status. The bill emphasizes cobenefits, giving higher priority to projects that combine safety, goods movement, climate resiliency, and electric transmission reliability improvements.
The bill does not create a new funding program, but it does add a new planning and reporting requirement to state transportation law. It expands Caltrans’ responsibilities under the Government Code by requiring a recurring statewide prioritization process for major highway resilience projects and by mandating annual legislative reporting. The measure is aimed at projects that affect multiple counties and that support mobility, commerce, disaster resilience, and infrastructure reliability, including flood mitigation, safe drinking water access, water storage, and electric grid-related improvements.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. Its vote history shows unanimous or near-unanimous approval at multiple stages, including committee votes and floor passage, with no recorded opposition in the provided history. The legislative findings frame the measure as a proactive response to aging infrastructure and increasing climate-related disasters, suggesting a strong policy consensus around resilience and preparedness.
No major points of contention are reflected in the provided materials. The main policy choices embedded in the bill are definitional and procedural: which projects qualify as statewide and regional significance, how much weight to give cobenefits such as safety, goods movement, climate resiliency, and electric reliability, and limiting the list to projects already beyond the earliest planning stage. Because the bill is focused on prioritization and reporting rather than direct appropriations or project delivery, any disagreement would likely center on implementation details, project selection, or how Caltrans balances competing regional needs rather than on the bill’s overall purpose.