SB 344

California Environmental Quality Act: City of San Diego: mixed-use development project.Ch. 786, Stats. 2026 · chaptered 2026-09-29 · Current law

Key provisions · Claude summary of the digest, not bill text

Added § 21080.77, deeming the City of San Diego's Midway Rising Specific Plan Subsequent Final EIR sufficient for full CEQA compliance for the Midway Rising mixed-use project; took effect immediately as an urgency statute, operative on the later of the bill's effective date or the City Council's certification of the EIR.

Project described. The Legislature described Midway Rising as about 4,254 homes, including 2,000 deed-restricted at or below 80 percent of AMI, up to 130,000 square feet of commercial space, about 14.5 acres of parks, and a 16,000-seat entertainment center.
EIR deemed conclusive. The EIR (SCH No. 2023120451) as considered by the Planning Commission, including technical corrections at certification that do not affect its mitigation, is deemed adequate, and any project approval may rely on it conclusively.
Mitigation enforceable. All adopted mitigation measures, including the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program, become conditions of approval that the city must monitor and enforce for the life of each obligation.
Annual reporting. The applicant must submit an annual status report to the city on implementing the mitigation measures.

Paraphrased from the Legislative Counsel’s Digest. Check the bill text before relying on it.

ClaudeGreen text is a summary heading written by Claude to help navigate. It is not statute text; the statute text is in black.

SEC. 1In the navigator:§ 21080.77 changes

Section 21080.77 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

§ 21080.77Enacted by this bill: all text is new

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) The City of San Diego has approved, or may approve, a mixed-use development project known as the Midway Rising project, consisting of approximately 4,254 new homes, of which 2,000 are deed-restricted affordable homes at or below 80 percent of area median income, up to 130,000 square feet of commercial uses, approximately 14.5 acres of public parks and open space, and a new 16,000-seat multipurpose entertainment center.

(2) The scale of the Midway Rising project makes the project one of the largest mixed-income housing communities on the west coast and the single largest affordable housing development in California’s history.

(3) The Midway Rising project developer intends to have the construction work performed pursuant to a project labor agreement that would provide for the payment of prevailing wages and use of apprentices registered in state-approved programs.

(4) In connection with the approval of the Midway Rising project, the City of San Diego has certified, or may certify, the Midway Rising Specific Plan Subsequent Final Environmental Impact Report (SCH No. 2023120451) pursuant to this division. The City of San Diego’s Midway Rising Specific Plan Subsequent Final Environmental Impact Report (SCH No. 2023120451) imposes comprehensive mitigation measures to address potential environmental impacts associated with the development of the Midway Rising project. The City of San Diego Planning Commission reviewed and considered the Midway Rising Specific Plan Subsequent Final Environmental Impact Report (SCH No. 2023120451) pursuant to this division on September 25, 2025, and voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council of the City of San Diego certify the report and adopt the associated findings pursuant to this division.

(b) The City of San Diego’s Midway Rising Specific Plan Subsequent Final Environmental Impact Report (SCH No. 2023120451) considered by the City of San Diego Planning Commission, including technical corrections or clarifications made by the City Council of the City of San Diego in connection with the report’s certification that do not affect the comprehensive mitigation measures recommended by the City of San Diego Planning Commission, is deemed sufficient, adequate, and complete for full compliance with this division and shall be final and conclusive for purposes of reliance on that report. Any approval of the project reviewed in the Midway Rising Specific Plan Subsequent Final Environmental Impact Report may rely conclusively on that report for compliance with this division.

(c) All mitigation measures required pursuant to this division adopted by the City of San Diego as the lead agency, and incorporated into the Midway Rising Specific Plan Subsequent Final Environmental Impact Report (SCH No. 2023120451), including the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program, shall be conditions of approval of the project. Those conditions shall be fully enforceable by the lead agency or another agency designated by the lead agency and shall be monitored and enforced by the lead agency for the life of each applicable obligation. The project applicant shall submit to the lead agency an annual status report on the implementation of those mitigation measures.

(d) This section shall become operative upon the effective date of this section or on the date the City Council of the City of San Diego certifies the Midway Rising Specific Plan Subsequent Final Environmental Impact Report (SCH No. 2023120451), whichever occurs later.

SEC. 4

This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to promote the swift and deliberate development of affordable housing in the City of San Diego, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.

Source: LegiScan API, chaptered text of SB 344 (2025-2026 Regular Session).

Bill text is the chaptered version from LegiScan (California Legislature); spacing is normalized. Code section text in a bill is the text that bill chaptered, not necessarily the law in effect today. Not legal advice.

Legislative Counsel’s Digest, from the chaptered bill.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment.

This bill would provide that a specified City of San Diego environmental impact report for a mixed-use development project, known as the Midway Rising project, is deemed sufficient, adequate, and complete for full compliance with CEQA and that any approval of the project may rely conclusively on that report for compliance with CEQA. The bill would require that all mitigation measures adopted by the City of San Diego as the lead agency be conditions of approval of the project. The bill would require the lead agency to monitor and enforce those conditions for the life of each applicable obligation. To the extent this requirement would impose new duties on a local agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the project applicant to submit to the lead agency an annual status report on the implementation of those conditions. The bill would make its provisions operative upon the effective date of the bill or on the date the City Council of the City of San Diego certifies the report, whichever occurs later.

This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of San Diego.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.

Authors: Akilah Weber Pierson (D), Steve Padilla (D) · coauthor, Chris Ward (D)

Bill on leginfo ↗ LegiScan ↗

Votes 7

Date	House	Motion	Yes	No	NV	Result
2026-08-30	Assembly	SB 344 Weber Pierson Third Reading Urgency By Ward	72	2	0	Passed
2026-08-30	Senate	Unfinished Business SB344 Weber Pierson et al. Urgency Clause Concurrence	40	0	0	Passed
2026-08-27	Assembly	Do pass	12	0	0	Passed
2025-07-16	Assembly	Do pass. To Consent Calendar	13	0	0	Passed
2025-07-01	Assembly	Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar	17	0	0	Passed
2025-05-15	Senate	Consent Calendar 2nd SB344 Weber Pierson	34	0	0	Passed
2025-04-28	Senate	Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar	11	0	0	Passed

Status history 34

Date	House	Action
2026-09-29		Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 786, Statutes of 2026.
2026-09-29		Approved by the Governor.
2026-09-08		Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
2026-08-30	Senate	Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 39. Noes 0.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
2026-08-30	Senate	In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
2026-08-30	Assembly	Read third time. Urgency clause adopted. Passed. (Ayes 72. Noes 2. Page 6860.) Ordered to the Senate.
2026-08-28	Assembly	Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
2026-08-27	Assembly	From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (August 27).
2026-08-27	Assembly	From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES.
2026-08-26	Assembly	Joint Rule 62(a) suspended. (Ayes 61. Noes 0. Page 6562.)
2026-08-26	Assembly	Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES. pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.2.
2026-08-26	Assembly	Ordered to third reading.
2026-08-26	Assembly	Read third time and amended.
2026-08-26	Assembly	Joint Rule 61(b)(16) suspended. (Ayes 61. Noes 0. Page 6562.)
2026-08-13	Assembly	Ordered to third reading.
2026-08-13	Assembly	From inactive file.
2026-08-12	Assembly	Notice of intention to remove from inactive file given by Assembly Member Ward.
2025-07-17	Assembly	Ordered to inactive file on request of Assembly Member Garcia.
2025-07-17	Assembly	Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar.
2025-07-16	Assembly	From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (July 16).
2025-07-01	Assembly	From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 17. Noes 0.) (July 1). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
2025-05-29	Assembly	Referred to Com. on B. & P.
2025-05-15	Assembly	In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
2025-05-15	Senate	Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 34. Noes 0. Page 1090.) Ordered to the Assembly.
2025-05-13	Senate	Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar.
2025-05-12	Senate	From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to consent calendar.
2025-05-02	Senate	Set for hearing May 12.
2025-04-28	Senate	From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 11. Noes 0. Page 916.) (April 28). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
2025-04-03	Senate	Set for hearing April 28.
2025-04-02	Senate	Re-referred to Com. on B. P. & E.D.
2025-03-20	Senate	From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.
2025-02-19	Senate	Referred to Com. on RLS.
2025-02-13	Senate	From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 15.
2025-02-12	Senate	Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

Versions

Introduced 2025-02-12 · Amended 2025-03-20 · Amended 2026-08-26 · Amended 2026-08-27 · Enrolled 2026-09-01 · Chaptered 2026-09-29