The California Legislature and state agencies approved over 1,000 new laws and regulations which will go into effect in 2025, including a State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) regulation requiring water conservation planning and reporting, amendments to the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act), significant penalties for violation of certain housing laws, and employment legislation pertaining to the use of paid leave, worker protections, and job postings.

Water Conservation

The State Board’s regulation, Making Conservation a California Way of Life (Regulation), was adopted in summer 2024 and takes effect in 2025, implementing two laws enacted in 2018 that directed the State Board to develop a regulatory framework advancing long-term water use efficiency. The Regulation applies to urban retail water suppliers, defined to include suppliers that own and operate at least one public water system that either (1) provided an average annual total of at least 3,000 acre-feet of water for the last two years, or (2) have served an annual average of at least 3,000 municipal service connections for the last two years.

Beginning on January 1, 2025, the Regulation requires urban retail water suppliers to annually calculate a unique urban water use objective (Objective) for the prior year. Each supplier’s Objective will comprise a water budget based on the sum of water use efficiency standards for residential indoor and outdoor water use; commercial, industrial, and institutional (CII) landscapes with dedicated irrigation meters; and real water losses. It must also account for specific unique water uses, potable reuse, population, climate, and landscape area. Beginning on January 1, 2027, suppliers must demonstrate compliance with their Objectives.

The Regulation also imposes performance measures for CII uses (i.e., services and programs that suppliers can use to increase water use efficiency). This may include classification of tiers of CII water accounts, conversion of large CII landscapes to add dedicated irrigation meters or in-lieu technologies to improve metering, and implementation of best management practices for the largest CII water users.

Finally, beginning January 1, 2024, suppliers must submit annual reports including their Objective, actual urban water use, documented implementation of their CII performance measure, and a description of progress towards meeting their Objective.

Brown Act

The Legislature approved four amendments to the Brown Act through Assembly Bills 2715, 2302, 1855, and 2350. The first three are related to technology, respectively permitting the use of closed sessions to discuss cybersecurity threats involving critical infrastructure or controls (AB 2715), limiting the number of times a board member may participate remotely in meetings based on “just cause” and “emergency circumstances” (AB 2302), and allowing student-led groups to use alternative teleconferencing options in their meetings under certain circumstances, which would qualify remote members to count towards the establishment of a quorum (AB 1855). The fourth bill, AB 2350, allows school boards to waive the 24-hour notice requirement for special meetings in certain emergency situations, provided that specified media entities receive one hour’s notice by telephone or email.

Housing

Senate Bill (SB) 1037 directs the California Attorney General and Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to impose civil penalties in actions against cities, counties, or local agencies based on their failure to review housing elements on the schedule established by section 65588 of the Government Code, or their duty to ministerially approve planning or permitting applications related to specific housing development projects. The latter includes, but is not limited to, applications to build accessory dwelling units, by-right multifamily housing units, reduced time for affordable housing applications, streamlined housing approvals during housing shortages, streamlined agricultural employee housing development approvals, and small infill starter home subdivisions.

The law sets a minimum penalty of $10,000 per month, per violation, from the date the violation accrues until the date it is cured. The maximum penalty is $50,000 per month, per violation, for the same period.

Employment

The Legislature also passed a number of bills regarding employment, several of which pertain to paid time off. Under AB 2123, employers are no longer permitted to require employees to use accrued vacation before obtaining benefits under the California Paid Family Leave Program, which guarantees paid time off to care for sick family members or to bond with a new child. SB 1105 authorizes agricultural workers to use paid sick leave to avoid outdoor work during dangerous conditions (i.e., smoke or extreme heat), while AB 2499 allows the use of paid sick leave when an employee’s family member is a victim of violence or threatened violence.

Additionally, the Legislature adopted three bills increasing worker protections. SB 988 requires independent contractors to be paid on or before the date specified by their contract, or within 30 days of completion of services if the contract does not specify a date. The California Worker Freedom from Employer Intimidation Act, or AB 399, prohibits employers from discharging, discriminating, retaliating against, or threatening the foregoing actions, when an employee refuses to attend employer-sponsored meetings related to religious, political, or union-related matters. Relatedly, SB 1137 prohibits discrimination of the basis of the combination of two or more protected characteristics such as race, sex, age, or disability.

SB 1100 pertains to job requirements, prohibiting employers from stating in job postings that a driver’s license is required unless the employer reasonably believes that the job’s functions will include driving and that alternative transportation (i.e., ride-hailing services, taxis, carpooling, bicycling, or walking) would not be comparably efficient.

Finally, the minimum wage will increase January 1, 2025, from $16.00 to $16.50 per hour based on the consumer price index.

For inquiries or additional information, please contact:

• Ellen M. Moskal, emoskal@somachlaw.com
• Alexis K. Stevens, astevens@somachlaw.com

Somach Simmons & Dunn provides the information in its Environmental Law & Policy Alerts and on its website for informational purposes only. This general information is not a substitute for legal advice, and users should consult with legal counsel for specific advice. In addition, using this information or sending electronic mail to Somach Simmons & Dunn or its attorneys does not create an attorney-client relationship with Somach Simmons & Dunn.