The Overview

If your utility, broadband, or water project needs to cross California's high-speed rail corridor, there is now a defined permit process to do it. California's High-Speed Rail Authority: property: operating right-of-way bill, SB 1425, became law when Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed it Sept. 27. Streetsblog California reported that the bill would give the rail authority new power over construction and other activity on property it owns. ​

What the Law Does

Voters approved Proposition 1A at the November 4, 2008, general election, authorizing $9.95 billion for high-speed train capital projects and other associated purposes, according to the record for AB 615. In 2011, the Legislature enacted AB 615, which added a $4 million appropriation from the High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Fund for the Los Angeles to San Diego segment.

Other bills aimed at the rail authority have stalled: AB 952 (2011) was vetoed by the governor, and AB 3213 (2020) was not enacted after its first committee hearing was canceled. The law created a permit program, administered by the California High-Speed Rail Authority, for encroachments on the authority's operating right-of-way.

Installing or performing an encroachment without a permit is a misdemeanor, as is willfully damaging any feature of the rail system or its right-of-way. Managing water flows in ways that affect the rail system is also barred unless authorized by law or permit.

Civil penalties can be recovered by either the authority or the Attorney General, and permit fees and penalties go into the High-Speed Rail Property Fund, except for reasonable attorney's fees and costs awarded to the recovering agency for litigation. Once the Legislature appropriates the money, penalties support development and maintenance of the rail system, and fees make the permit program possible to administer.

Legislative Status

SB 1425 was introduced on Feb. 20, 2026, was amended six times across both houses, and was chaptered on Sept. 27 as Chapter 713, Statutes of 2026. Sen. Dave Cortese (D-CA-15) sponsored the bill as its sole lead author. The Senate passed it 28-8 on May 19. The Assembly passed it 53-16 on Aug. 25, and the Senate concurred in Assembly amendments 29-9 on Aug. 26.

In a statement announcing the signing, Cortese said the law "clarifies legal ambiguity and removes roadblocks by establishing clear rules for encroachments," according to the Office of Sen. Dave Cortese. The U.S. High Speed Rail Association backed the bill, calling it a way to let the authority issue right-of-way work permits and remove what it described as unnecessary red tape.

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