California lawmakers approved two bills on Monday that would force insurers to handle smoke damage claims more consistently and set new standards for cleaning homes contaminated by wildfire smoke. The measures now go to Gavin Newsom, and they would take effect only if he signs both.
The vote lands in the middle of the 2026 legislative session, after the 2025 Los Angeles-area fires left more than 16,000 structures destroyed and 31 people dead. It also comes as thousands of homes from the 2025 Eaton fire were left contaminated with lead, in some cases at levels hundreds of times what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers safe, turning houses that still stood into a different kind of disaster.
Assembly Bill 1642 would direct the Department of Toxic Substances Control to create scientific standards for what counts as a safe home and to give guidance on how to properly remediate those homes. AB 1795 would require insurers to follow those standards in the claims process and to do so in a timely manner. Together, the bills are meant to close the gap between cleanup science and insurance practice, so homeowners are not asked to move back before testing shows a house is safe.
The push came after residents said insurers refused or delayed claims and used cleaning methods that did not match the scale of the contamination. Some homeowners were told to return before testing cleared their properties, even as lawmakers moved to require timely compliance with the new standards. Dawn Fanning said the fight took months of work and long nights, describing the period after the Eaton fire as “the Wild West, trying to scramble to find answers.”
The two bills were not always aligned. AB 1795 grew out of a Department of Insurance task force, while AB 1642 focuses on the science of what a safe home should mean after smoke damage. Advocates said they won additional protections for fire survivors before the bills were brought into line, and the result is a pair of measures that could finally give insurers and homeowners the same rulebook.
Newsom now holds the last word. If he signs both bills, California will move from a system that left families arguing over cleanup and coverage into one with standards for when a home is safe to live in again and rules for how insurers must respond.
