California 2017-2018 Regular Session Status: Enacted

AB 634 — Real property: solar energy systems.

Last action — Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 818, Statutes of 2017.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Assembly
  4. ✓
    Passed Senate
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 14, 2017. Enacted.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 70% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

High

How often bills like it became law.

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 3 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

(1) Existing property law prohibits any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed, contract, security instrument, or other instrument affecting the transfer or sale of, or any interest in, and any provision of a governing document from effectively prohibiting or restricting the installation or use of a solar energy system. Existing law also exempts from that prohibition provisions that impose reasonable restrictions on solar energy systems that do not significantly increase the cost of the system or significantly decrease its efficiency or specified performance. Existing law specifies that whenever approval is required for the installation or use of a solar energy system, the application for approval must be processed and approved by the appropriate approving entity in the same manner as an application for approval of an architectural modification to the property. Existing property law permits an association to impose reasonable provisions that restrict the installation of solar energy systems installed in common areas, as defined, to those systems approved by the association. This bill would prohibit an association from establishing a general policy prohibiting the installation or use of a rooftop solar energy system for household purposes on the roof of the building in which the owner resides, or a garage or carport adjacent to the building that has been assigned to the owner for exclusive use. The bill also would prohibit an association from requiring approval by a vote of members owning separate interests in the common interest development in those circumstances. Any action by an association that contravenes these provisions would be void and unenforceable. The bill would also make nonsubstantive and clarifying changes. (2) The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act defines and regulates common interest developments. The act requires an affirmative vote of members owning at least 67% of the separate interests in the common interest development before the board may grant exclusive use of a portion of the common interest development to a member, unless the governing documents specify a different percentage. Existing law exempts from this requirement certain actions, including, among others, a grant of exclusive use to eliminate or correct engineering errors in recorded documents, to accommodate a disability, and to install and use an electric vehicle charging station through a license granted by the association. This bill also would exempt from that vote requirement an action to install and use a solar energy system on the common roof of a residence that meets specified requirements. The bill would require an association, when reviewing a request to install a solar energy system on a multifamily common area roof shared by more than one homeowner, to require an applicant to notify each owner of a unit in the building on which the installation will be located of the application and to require each owner to maintain a homeowner liability coverage policy, as specified. The bill would permit an association, when reviewing this request, to impose additional reasonable requirements, including a requirement to submit a solar site survey showing the placement of the solar energy system, in accordance with specific criteria.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 818, Statutes of 2017.

  2. Approved by the Governor.

  3. Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.

  4. Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 73. Noes 4. Page 3018.).

  5. In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after September 7 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.

  6. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 34. Noes 6. Page 2458.).

  7. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  8. Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

  9. Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading.

  10. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (July 18).

  11. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

  12. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (June 27).

  13. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on T. & H.

  14. Referred to Coms. on T. & H. and JUD.

  15. In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

  16. Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 1528.)

  17. Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  18. Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

  19. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (May 2).

  20. Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

  21. From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on JUD. Read second time and amended.

  22. Referred to Com. on JUD.

  23. From printer. May be heard in committee March 17.

  24. Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

  • Eggman · Primary

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 121 not signed on · 1 voted No

Sponsors (1)

  • Eggman

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (121)

121 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 121 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

AB 634 EGGMAN Concurrence in Senate Amendments

Passed 73 Yea · 4 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 53401
Democratic 15000
Republican 5001
Total 73402
% of votes cast 92%5%0%3%
How each member voted (79)
Member Party Vote
Acosta — Yea
Bigelow — Yea
Bloom — Yea
Brough — Nay
Jones-Sawyer — Yea
Low — Yea
Maienschein — Yea
Mathis — Yea
Mayes — Not Voting
Obernolte — Nay
Rendon — Yea
Rodriguez — Yea
Thurmond — Yea
Waldron — Yea
Eggman — Yea
Chau — Yea
Gonzalez Fletcher — Yea
Burke — Yea
Fong — Yea
Salas — Yea
Frazier — Yea
Gray — Yea
Bocanegra — Yea
Gloria — Yea
Holden — Yea
Rubio — Yea
Kiley — Yea
Levine — Yea
McCarty — Yea
Medina — Yea
Baker — Yea
Chiu — Yea
Chu — Yea
Chávez — Yea
Cooley — Yea
Cooper — Yea
Melendez — Yea
Mullin — Yea
Nazarian — Yea
O'Donnell — Yea
Quirk — Yea
Ridley-Thomas — Yea
Santiago — Yea
Steinorth — Yea
Ting — Yea
Voepel — Yea
Weber — Yea
Wood — Yea
Harper — Nay
Cunningham — Yea
Dababneh — Yea
Daly — Yea
Friedman — Yea
Cristina Garcia — Yea
Eduardo Garcia — Yea
Jim Patterson — Yea
Mark Stone — Yea
Travis Allen — Nay
Aguiar-Curry, Cecilia M. Democratic Yea
Arambula, Joaquin Democratic Yea
Berman, Marc Democratic Yea
Bonta, Mia Democratic Yea
Caballero, Anna M. Democratic Yea
Calderon, Lisa Democratic Yea
Cervantes, Sabrina Democratic Yea
Gipson, Mike A. Democratic Yea
Grayson, Timothy S. Democratic Yea
Irwin, Jacqui Democratic Yea
Kalra, Ash Democratic Yea
Limón, Monique Democratic Yea
Muratsuchi, Al Democratic Yea
Quirk-Silva, Sharon Democratic Yea
Reyes, Eloise Gómez Democratic Yea
Chen, Phillip Republican Yea
Choi, Steven S. Republican Not Voting
Dahle, Megan Republican Yea
Flora, Heath Republican Yea
Gallagher, James Republican Yea
Lackey, Tom Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass as amended

Passed 6 Yea · 0 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 4001
Democratic 2000
Total 6001
% of votes cast 86%0%0%14%
How each member voted (7)
Member Party Vote
Anderson — Yea
Hertzberg — Yea
Moorlach — Not Voting
Monning — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Jackson, Corey A. Democratic Yea
Stern, Henry I. Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Judiciary]

Passed 13 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 2000
Unaffiliated 11000
Total 13000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (13)
Member Party Vote
Mendoza — Yea
Morrell — Yea
Roth — Yea
Cannella — Yea
Allen — Yea
Atkins — Yea
Bates — Yea
Beall — Yea
Skinner — Yea
Wieckowski — Yea
Beth Gaines — Yea
McGuire, Mike Democratic Yea
Wiener, Scott D. Democratic Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

environment energy
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does AB 634 do?
(1) Existing property law prohibits any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed, contract, security instrument, or other instrument affecting the transfer or sale of, or any interest in, and any provision of a governing document from effectively prohibiting or restricting the installation or use of a solar energy system. Existing law also exempts from that prohibition provisions that impose reasonable restrictions on solar energy systems that do not significantly increase the cost of the system or significantly decrease its efficiency or specified performance. Existing law specifies that whenever approval is required for the installation or use of a solar energy system, the application for approval must be processed and approved by the appropriate approving entity in the same manner as an application for approval of an architectural modification to the property. Existing property law permits an association to impose reasonable provisions that restrict the installation of solar energy systems installed in common areas, as defined, to those systems approved by the association. This bill would prohibit an association from establishing a general policy prohibiting the installation or use of a rooftop solar energy system for household purposes on the roof of the building in which the owner resides, or a garage or carport adjacent to the building that has been assigned to the owner for exclusive use. The bill also would prohibit an association from requiring approval by a vote of members owning separate interests in the common interest development in those circumstances. Any action by an association that contravenes these provisions would be void and unenforceable. The bill would also make nonsubstantive and clarifying changes. (2) The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act defines and regulates common interest developments. The act requires an affirmative vote of members owning at least 67% of the separate interests in the common interest development before the board may grant exclusive use of a portion of the common interest development to a member, unless the governing documents specify a different percentage. Existing law exempts from this requirement certain actions, including, among others, a grant of exclusive use to eliminate or correct engineering errors in recorded documents, to accommodate a disability, and to install and use an electric vehicle charging station through a license granted by the association. This bill also would exempt from that vote requirement an action to install and use a solar energy system on the common roof of a residence that meets specified requirements. The bill would require an association, when reviewing a request to install a solar energy system on a multifamily common area roof shared by more than one homeowner, to require an applicant to notify each owner of a unit in the building on which the installation will be located of the application and to require each owner to maintain a homeowner liability coverage policy, as specified. The bill would permit an association, when reviewing this request, to impose additional reasonable requirements, including a requirement to submit a solar site survey showing the placement of the solar energy system, in accordance with specific criteria.
Who sponsors AB 634?
AB 634 is sponsored by Eggman.
What is the current status of AB 634?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced February 14, 2017. Enacted.
Where can I track AB 634?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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