SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and Assemblymember Mike Gipson today unveiled AB 1795, the Smoke Damage Recovery Act, establishing the nation’s first enforceable public health and insurance standards for homes damaged by wildfire smoke. The legislation responds to the unprecedented contamination following the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, which officials have described as the largest urban wildfire disaster in California’s history.
The bill addresses a critical gap in regulation, as no state or national standards currently exist for testing, cleaning, or restoring homes contaminated by wildfire smoke. This lack of guidance has led to disputes between homeowners and insurers, conflicting assessments from experts, and concerns about the safety of returning to smoke-damaged properties, according to a press release from the Commissioner’s office.
“Wildfire survivors are being told to return to homes coated in toxic residue and that is unacceptable,” said Commissioner Lara. “Here’s not just an insurance dispute; It’s a public health emergency. Families cannot wait for long processes or conflicting opinions. They need clear standards and real protection now.”
A key feature of AB 1795 is an “early action provision” designed to expedite claims for those affected by the Los Angeles wildfires. This provision allows survivors to utilize existing state or local health and environmental standards for smoke testing, screening levels, and restoration to support their insurance claims, even before statewide standards are finalized. This empowers local agencies to issue interim guidance that insurers are then required to follow.
Assemblymember Gipson emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating, “Smoke contamination has left families uncertain about whether it’s safe to return home, parents worried about their children’s health, older residents displaced from their homes, and entire communities caught in limbo. AB 1795 gives survivors what they have been pleading for: real standards, real protections, and real urgency.”
The Department of Insurance has been investigating hundreds of consumer complaints related to smoke damage claims and has already taken enforcement action against the California FAIR Plan Association for allegedly denying or limiting smoke damage claims from wildfire survivors, according to the legislation’s supporting materials. Commissioner Lara formed a Smoke Claims & Remediation Task Force within the California Department of Insurance to develop consistent statewide standards for investigating and paying smoke damage claims.
AB 1795 outlines several key provisions, including the establishment of science-based, health-driven standards for inspecting, testing, and restoring smoke-damaged homes. It also aims to create uniform insurance claims-handling practices and required restoration protocols, as well as develop health-based guidelines to determine when a home is safe for families to return. The bill designates appropriate state and local agencies to implement and enforce these standards.
The Smoke Claims & Remediation Task Force, which includes representatives from CAL FIRE, public health experts, restoration specialists, and survivor groups, is expected to finalize its recommendations in March. These findings, along with public input, will inform potential amendments to AB 1795 as it progresses through the California Legislature.
Commissioner Lara’s office highlighted that this legislation builds on broader efforts to modernize insurance regulation and wildfire recovery practices in California. The Department has also been a national leader in areas such as climate disclosure, wildfire catastrophe modeling, and the Sustainable Insurance Strategy.
