State agencies outline wildfire recovery and housing actions; HCD highlights rebuilding flexibilities and targeted funding for fire‑impacted multifamily sites

State officials used the joint meeting to summarize continuing coordination on wildfire recovery, emergency evacuations and housing‑focused rebuilding measures introduced after the January wildfires in Los Angeles County.

Gustavo Velasquez, Director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development, described the state's recovery efforts and funding actions. He said the administration had stood up an interagency housing task force and secured federal assistance to accelerate wildfire recovery work. "I'm inspired by the resiliency of this community's rallying together and the partnership that we have built with the county of LA, the city of LA," Velasquez said, praising interagency and local coordination during evacuations and recovery.

Velasquez and HCD staff described several programmatic priorities: the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program is in round 9 and is "open for nearly $800,000,000" to support connected, affordable communities, HCD said; the department also said about $4 billion in cap‑and‑trade dollars have been awarded under AHSC since the program's inception. HCD said it has nearly $400,000,000 available in a multifamily “super competition” designed to accelerate multifamily rental production.

HCD staff described Executive Order provisions that give local agencies discretion to determine whether rebuilds qualify for suspension of certain permitting requirements and allow jurisdictions to share existing building plans in limited circumstances to speed reconstruction. HCD said it is consulting with fire‑impacted communities and other stakeholders to design a $96,000,000 notice of funding availability (NOFA) directed to multifamily housing development sites in fire‑impacted areas.

Caltrans and CARB staff described operational assistance during the fires: Caltrans provided traffic control and debris‑flow route planning and helped local governments with debris removal corridors; CARB conducted air monitoring and public outreach and eased requirements where necessary to support recovery. The meeting included a video and remarks highlighting Pasadena Transit bus drivers who evacuated seniors during the Eaton fire.

Officials said administrative actions have been taken to streamline application and reporting deadlines for existing grants to facilitate recovery, and they noted the interagency task force on mitigation banks, created by executive order, is working on a statewide mitigation bank framework intended to support infill housing and sustainable transportation goals.

Speakers emphasized that rebuilding must be coordinated with climate and transportation objectives: Velasquez said "housing, transportation, climate challenges, and solutions are too way too interconnected to work in silos," and HCD asked agencies to continue close staff‑level collaboration on permitting, funding timelines and program design to balance speed of recovery with long‑term sustainability.

Commissioners asked staff to return with updates on the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) and the housing accountability processes, and HCD agreed to provide follow‑up briefings and continue consultation with local jurisdictions and community groups on design of the NOFA and program flexibilities.