This bill would establish the Regional Early Action Planning Fund in the State Treasury for the purpose of providing councils of governments, regional entities, and jurisdictions with one-time funding, including grants for planning activities, to enable those entities to meet the 7th and subsequent cycles of the regional housing need assessment. The bill would require the department to allocate funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, from the Regional Early Action Planning Fund to each council of governments or regional entity responsible for allocating regional housing need that applies and qualifies for those moneys, as specified. The bill would authorize a council of governments or regional entity to expend funds awarded for certain purposes, including for activities that support the development, improvement, or implementation of the methodology for the 7th and subsequent regional housing needs assessment cycles, and for providing jurisdictions with technical assistance, planning, temporary staffing, or consultant needs associated with updating local planning and zoning documents, as provided. The bill would require a jurisdiction that receives a suballocation of funds to only use that suballocation for housing-related planning activities, as provided. The bill would authorize the department to monitor expenditures and activities of an applicant, as the department deems necessary, to ensure compliance with program requirements.

The bill would require each recipient of funds under the program to expend those funds no later than 3 years from the date of award of those funds, subject to an extension by the department.Existing law, the Administrative Procedure Act, sets forth the requirements for the adoption, publication, review, and implementation of regulations, including emergency regulations, by state agencies.This bill would require the department, in collaboration with stakeholders, to issue guidelines adopt emergency regulations to implement the above-described provisions and would exempt those guidelines from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. provisions. The bill would also make those emergency regulations effective until nonemergency regulations implementing the above-described provisions become effective.