California has fine-tuned its new logistics siting law. After Assembly Bill 98's 2024 rollout revealed definitional gaps and uneven application, the legislature returned with targeted amendments. Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 415 on October 3, 2025, refining AB 98 to better reflect how warehouses and goods movement facilities are planned, entitled, and operated.
For developers, SB 415 narrows what qualifies as a "covered project," clarifies proximity‑based requirements, and establishes a coherent framework for multi‑building sites. For cities and counties, it introduces more flexible truck‑routing pathways, extends timelines for smaller jurisdictions, and adds guardrails around enforcement and preemption. The result is a clearer compliance roadmap and a more workable interface between project‑level standards and local transportation planning.
Key Changes for Developers
SB 415 replaces AB 98's patchwork terminology with a single operative category of "logistics use development" and trims the definition to avoid capturing unrelated industrial activities. For example, a factory that ships product as an incidental function is not a "logistics use development," and buildings primarily devoted to seasonal agricultural operations that occur for a single 90‑day window or less each year are likewise excluded.
The statute also narrows the universe of "sensitive receptors." Two exclusions now apply: (1) sites reserved to maintain public access under coastal or bay conservation programs, and (2) property at or abutting airports or seaports that is intentionally developed as a buffer between those facilities and nearby sensitive uses.
Multi‑building programs receive special treatment through a new "logistics park" concept. Performance standards may be applied at the individual‑building level, avoiding distortions that arise when a diversified park is measured as a single monolith. At the same time, the requirement for a separate truck entrance near sensitive receptors can be met either on a per‑building basis or once for the overall site, enabling rational circulation design when multiple facilities share common access.
Importantly, operational standards are updated and clarified. As of January 1, 2026, covered developments must take access from specified classes of roadways. SB 415 broadens eligible local corridors beyond routes dominated strictly by commercial traffic to include roads that predominantly serve agricultural or industrial uses, reflecting how freight networks function outside urban cores. For sites 250,000 square feet and larger near sensitive receptors or projects requiring a zone change, the separate truck‑entrance obligation can be satisfied with a driveway that provides a dedicated heavy‑truck lane. In a "logistics park," a single compliant entrance may serve the entire project.
Loading dock placement is made more workable as well. Rather than requiring docks on the "opposite side" of a sensitive use, the statute now directs placement "away from" the closest sensitive receptor where feasible, resolving situations where sensitive uses exist on multiple sides. Landscaping, internal drive aisles, hardscape, and passenger vehicle parking may now occupy the buffer, and landscaped segments in public rights‑of‑way or pedestrian paths can count toward the required width.
Idling limits continue to apply within 900 feet of sensitive receptors, but SB 415 recognizes practical constraints. Where electrical infrastructure cannot support plug‑in capability at docks, an exception applies, avoiding impossible standards pending utility upgrades. Finally, energy efficiency compliance is expressly tied to the building permit stage, aligning CalGreen obligations with the point when construction documents are finalized rather than at land use entitlement.
Practical Takeaways
SB 415 makes AB 98 markedly more usable. The revised framework provides developers with a clearer, more predictable path to entitlements and compliance.