SCAG Celebrates Governor’s Signing of SB 1087

SCAG applauds Governor Newsom’s Sept. 30 signing of Senate Bill (SB) 1087 (Cabaldon), which will update SB 375, the landmark 2008 law that established California’s sustainable communities strategies (SCS) program. 

SB 375 created planning requirements to align transportation, housing, and environmental goals, resulting in the SCS portion of SCAG’s Connect SoCal regional plan. SB 1087 updates the SCS program to better balance current housing and climate goals, increase transparency in the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) target-setting and review processes, and optimize regional resources to advance local projects.   

“SB 1087 refocuses the sustainable communities strategy on its core purpose to align housing, transportation, and climate. We believe these reforms will give regional agencies and local governments more certainty, flexibility, and tools to turn planning into real action,” said Kome Ajise, Executive Director of SCAG. “I thank the many partners who were part of the process to conceive and refine this bill, the legislature, and Governor Newsom for supporting these reforms to strengthen the sustainable communities program.” 

A Collaborative Development Process 

SB 1087 reflects hundreds of hours of technical analysis, negotiations, stakeholder discussions, and policy development. 

SCAG partnered with California’s other largest metropolitan planning organizations—the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Sacramento Area Council of Governments, and San Diego Association of Governments—to lead development of SB 1087. These agencies collaborated to propose reforms based on learnings from implementing SCS over the past 15 years and extensively engaged with a broad group of stakeholders, including labor and construction interests, climate and environmental organizations, and transportation agencies, among others. 

Ongoing discussions and guidance from the SCAG Legislative/Communications and Membership Committee, Executive/Administration Committee, and the Regional Council also shaped the legislation’s development. 

Prior to yesterday’s signing, SB 1087 was presented at seven public legislative meetings before passing the Assembly on Aug. 30 and the Senate on Aug. 31. The legislation will take effect Jan. 1, 2027. 

Supporting Local Governments and Regional Planning 

In its final signed form, SB 1087 aligns with the goals and principles adopted by the SCAG Regional Council at the onset of the collective effort to pursue SB 375 reform. The bill includes provisions intended to: 

• Improve transparency and accountability in the CARB process for creating SCS guidelines and setting greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
• Reaffirm existing laws that protect local control over land-use decisions and housing elements.
• More closely align SCS development with state housing law.
• Streamline planning processes so regional agencies can dedicate more resources to local priorities. 

Among the changes, SB 1087 will shift the SCS update cycle from every four years to every eight years. This change will be effective for SCAG’s 2032 planning cycle. This update will free up significant planning resources that can be redirected to implementation efforts, including supporting local projects. For reference, SCAG’s most recent SCS planning effort in 2024 cost approximately $20 million to develop. 

SB 1087 also sets timelines for CARB’s SCS review process to help keep local projects moving forward. The review of SCAG’s Connect SoCal 2024 plan took 309 days and resulted in no changes to projects, strategies, or planned investments. 

“California's future depends on our ability to grow, build, and meet our climate goals together. SB1087 provides a stronger framework to do exactly that,” said Newsom’s letter to the California Legislature accompanying his signature on the bill.