The 2026-27 Budget: Permitting Support at the State Water Resources Control Board

Mar 2, 2026 - SWRCB estimates an individual state-only dredge/fill permit requires up to 140 more staff hours than a dredge/fill certification. The water boards also have had to take on certain responsibilities formerly conducted by federal agencies, such as verifying delineations (identification and mapping) for waters that are no longer under federal jurisdiction and conducting certain e nforcement-related inspections and complaint response.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5144

New Infrastructure Legislation: Summary and Issues for Legislative Oversight

Aug 8, 2023 - For example, Chapter  58 requires annual reports with information on active and expired job order contracts, as well as a one-time report on Caltrans ’ and DWR ’s use of progressive design-build authority.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4785

The 2025-26 California Spending Plan: Natural Resources and Environmental Protection

Oct 16, 2025 - This program supports coordinators in 47 of 58 counties who work with local organizations and residents to improve community wildfire preparedness through education, events, and grant funding. Home Hardening Program.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5080

The 2024-25 Budget: Insolvency Risks for Environmental and Transportation Special Funds

Feb 27, 2024 - Specifically, the administration projects expenditures will exceed available resources by roughly $140 million in 2025‑26. If left unaddressed, expenditures would continue to outpace revenues, resulting in a negative fund balance of $1.4 billion in 2028‑29.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4858

The 2022-23 Budget: Clean Energy Package

Feb 22, 2022 - The Governor proposes a total of $240 million General Fund ($100 million in 2022‑23 and $140 million in 2023‑24) to modify the Oroville Dam complex so it can use its existing pump back operations to provide long‑duration energy storage without adverse impacts on spawning salmon in the Feather River.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4554

The 2023-24 Budget: Cap-and-Trade Expenditure Plan and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Revenue Estimates

Mar 2, 2023 - The February auction revenues provide about $210  million more for continuously appropriated expenditures, with about $140  million potentially available for additional discretionary expenditures. Future Auction Revenue Continues to Be Subject to Uncertainty.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4730

The 2022-23 California Spending Plan: Resources and Environmental Protection

Oct 10, 2022 - This increase primarily is due to $58  million provided for the department in the Wildfire and Forest Resilience and Nature-Based Solutions packages (discussed in the “Crosscutting Issues ” section of this post), as well as the augmentations discussed below.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4633

The 2024-25 Budget: Crafting Climate, Resources, and Environmental Budget Solutions

Feb 14, 2024 - Estimates of the magnitude of this shortfall differ based on how “baseline” spending is defined—the administration estimates a $38 billion problem whereas in January our office estimated that the Governor’s budget addresses a $58 billion problem—as well as somewhat different revenue projections.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4841

The 2021-22 Spending Plan: Natural Resources and Environmental Protection

Oct 18, 2021 - The state previously provided a combined $58  million for this project in 2018 ‑19 and 2019 ‑20. Long Beach Tidelands Oil Revenues. Budget trailer legislation includes language governing revenues generated from oil and gas production in the tidelands off the coast of Long Beach.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4463

Frequently Asked Questions About Wildfires in California

Jan 28, 2025 - As shown in the Figure, CalFire ’s budget for resource management and fire prevention —which generally is intended to improve the state ’s resilience to wildfires by reducing the likelihood that wildfires will occur and lessening associated damage when they do —has increased from about $140  million in 2016-17 to an estimated roughly $440  million in 2024-25.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4952