SB 1153 California 20252026 session
Disaster preparedness: urban retail water suppliers and public water systems: wildfire.
Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, requires all public water systems, as defined, with 10,000 or more service connections to review and revise their disaster preparedness plans in conjunction with related agencies, including, but not limited to, local fire departments and the Office of Emergency Services, to ensure that the plans are sufficient to address possible disaster scenarios. A person, as defined, who violates the provisions of this act is guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill, beginning January 1, 2028, would require all urban retail water suppliers, as defined, serving 3,300 or more persons and serving a high or very high fire hazard severity zone to include incident-specific response procedures for wildfires as part of their disaster preparedness plans, including any applicable emergency response plan as required by federal law. The bill would require these plans to include, among other things, mitigation actions, including actions, procedures, and equipment, that can obviate or significantly lessen the impact of a wildfire on the water system and the supply of drinking water provided by the water supplier. Because violation of these requirements by certain urban retail water suppliers would constitute a misdemeanor, the bill would expand the scope of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. This bill would prohibit anything, including any other law, from imposing a duty on public water systems, including wholesale water systems, to design, construct, or maintain a water system for wildfire defense or suppression. The bill would further prohibit the failure of an urban retail water supplier to implement or comply with any of the incident-specific response procedures developed pursuant to the above requirements or the inability of any public water system to maintain water supply or water pressure during a wildfire from being considered a substantial cause of the damages resulting from a wildfire. 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. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
Status
- Introduced
- Committee
- Floor vote
- Passed
- Enacted
Passed both chambers — last recorded action August 30, 2026
Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 40. Noes 0.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
Recorded votes
Unfinished Business SB1153 Caballero et al. Concurrence
40 yes · 0 no · pass August 30, 2026
SB 1153 Caballero Senate Third Reading By Calderon
77 yes · 0 no · pass August 27, 2026
Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations]
6 yes · 0 no · pass June 30, 2026
Do pass as amended and be re-referred to the Committee on [Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials]
6 yes · 0 no · pass June 15, 2026
Passage likelihood
95% Higher than most bills at this stage
This is an estimate, not a guarantee. It is computed from the signals listed below and nothing else. It does not account for leadership priorities, floor scheduling, or negotiations that are not in the public record.
What the estimate is based on
- Historical base rate About 20% of introduced state bills are enacted.
- Current stage Passed both chambers.
- Cosponsors 2 cosponsors.
State-level impact
State-level impact data is not available for this bill. The source text does not contain a per-state funding formula or scored breakdown, so no figures are shown.
Official actions
- Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 40. Noes 0.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
- Ordered to special consent calendar.
- In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
- Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate.
- Ordered to third reading.
- Read third time and amended.
- Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
- From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (August 5).
- From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (June 30). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
- From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E.S & T.M.
- Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on E.S & T.M.
- From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on E.S & T.M. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (June 15).
- Referred to Coms. on E.M, E.S & T.M., and JUD.
- In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
- Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 33. Noes 0. Page 4413.) Ordered to the Assembly.
- Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
- From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 4266.) (May 14).
- Set for hearing May 14.
- May 11 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.
- Set for hearing May 11.
- Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
- From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0. Page 3981.) (April 21).
- Set for hearing April 21.
- April 14 hearing postponed by committee.
- From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on N.R. & W.
- Set for hearing April 14.
- Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on N.R. & W.
- From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on N.R. & W. (Ayes 8. Noes 0. Page 3657.) (March 24).
- Set for hearing March 24.
- Referred to Coms. on E.M. and N.R. & W.
- From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 21.
- Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.