Governor signs wildfire-recovery package: smoke-contamination testing standards, insurer duties and mortgage forbearance

Legal effect

What this establishes

• AB 1642 (Harabedian) and AB 1795 (Gipson) direct the Department of Toxic Substances Control and the California Air Resources Board to develop standards for testing, remediation and restoration of lead and asbestos contamination from wildfire smoke for homes within a fire’s ZIP codes, and require DTSC guidance for schools.
• The same measures, as the Governor describes them, require insurers to pay for lead and asbestos testing and remediation in smoke-damaged homes within a wildfire zone, to cover cleanup and restoration to pre-loss condition, and not to end Additional Living Expense coverage until the home is remediated and safe to occupy.
• AB 1842 (Harabedian) makes post-disaster mortgage forbearance protections permanent; AB 1847 (Harabedian) extends the forbearance window for Los Angeles fire survivors from 12 to 24 months and requires servicers to offer deferral of missed payments to the end of the loan, subject to investor or servicing-guideline limits.
• The Governor’s release attributes to the Department of Insurance an estimate that more than 13,000 of roughly 40,000 claims after the January 2025 fires involved smoke damage to homes that did not burn.

What this does not establish

• That testing and remediation standards are in force; agencies must develop them.
• Any change in insurance premiums or market availability.
• Chapter numbers or operative dates.

Why it matters

Smoke exposure is an environmental-health question as much as an insurance one. The statute makes science-based clearance the test for whether a home is safe to return to.

Primary source

• Governor of California — signing announcement, 15 September 2026

Related on this site

• FAIR Plan dwelling increase — Everyday
• Air quality and respiratory health in Fresno

Register: the record store · record id ca-wildfire-recovery-package-2026-09-15.