How do the Emergency and Disaster Declarations for LA County Help in Rebuilding Fire-Damaged Structures?

Los Angeles recently experienced one of the most destructive fires in California history. The fires damaged or destroyed more than 15,000 buildings, including homes and businesses and burned more than 57,000 acres. Governor Gavin Newsom declared a State of Emergency on January 7, 2025, and has since issued Executive Orders N-4-25 and N-14-25.

The purpose of these orders is to help expedite the rebuilding of homes and businesses in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties affected by the recent fires.

How do these help homeowners and contractors in the rebuilding process?

State-Level Measures:

For properties and facilities that are in substantially the same location as, and do not exceed 110% of the footprint and height of, properties and facilities that were legally established and existed immediately before this emergency:

1. The order suspended the California Environmental Quality Act and regulations adopted pursuant to that division and suspended any requirement to obtain a permit under the California Coastal Act.
2. All statutory exemption criteria, appeal or review periods, procedures for seeking an exemption, and all other requirements to make any submission under the California Coastal Act have also been suspended.

In an effort to prevent people from taking advantage of those affected by the fires the Executive Orders have extended the time limitations in Penal Code section 396, subdivisions (b) and (c), which protect price gouging during an emergency, until January 7, 2026, as well.

Local-Level Measures:

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order on January 13, 2025, to expedite the rebuilding process. Here are some provisions that are important for both contractors and homeowners:

• Easier Permitting: Dedicated “permitting centers” have been established in the affected areas, run by city departments’ staff to streamline the approval process.
• Expedited Reviews: the mayor’s order directed all relevant city departments to complete initial permitting reviews for reconstruction within 30 days of receiving a completed application. In addition, the order requires that building inspections for covered projects should be conducted within two business days of a submitted request.
• Waiver of Discretionary Reviews: Discretionary reviews have been waived for eligible projects, so the approval process can be faster and more straightforward.

These measures are designed to remove bureaucratic obstacles and accelerate the rebuilding efforts in the wake of the devastating wildfires.