Tehama County, CA Solar Energy: Expedited Solar Permitting (2026)

Adopted to comply with Government Code § 65850.5, Tehama County Code § 15.60.040 required the building department to create a nondiscretionary, checklist-based expedited permitting process for small residential rooftop solar systems (10 kW AC or less, or 30 kW thermal, on a single- or duplex-family dwelling) by September 30, 2015. Applications may be submitted electronically and are deemed complete once they satisfy the checklist; a complete application must be administratively approved with only one required inspection, plus a separate fire inspection if needed. A system flagged for a specific, adverse public-health-or-safety impact is instead routed to a discretionary use permit reviewed by the planning director. This governs building permits for unincorporated Tehama County; Red Bluff, Corning, and the City of Tehama issue solar permits through their own building departments.