ABAG stands for the Association of Bay Area Governments. Our mission is to strengthen cooperation and collaboration across local governments to build healthier, stronger communities.
ABAG is part regional planning agency and part local government service provider. We accomplish our goals by providing planning services and cost-effective ABAG member services to local governments struggling with rising costs and diminishing incomes.
ABAG offers many resources to members to support comprehensive regional planning. Read about ABAG membership.
The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA)’s work to preserve existing housing that lower- and middle-income residents can afford got an important boost last week when the state Legislature passed Assembly Bill 670, which allows local governments throughout California to count investments in preserving unsubsidized affordable housing toward the annual progress reports used to assess the housing elements of cities’ and counties’ adopted general plans.
San Francisco Bay stands out as an exception to the worldwide trend toward wetland destruction. In a rare bit of positive environmental news, a new report from the Wetlands Regional Monitoring Program (WRMP) indicates that restored tidal wetlands in the Bay almost quadrupled from 2000 to 2020, bringing the total to 53,000 acres and growing.
The Palo Alto Horizontal Levee Pilot Project construction is underway, a nature-based approach providing protection against sea level rise and enhancing habitat in the San Francisco Bay.
BayREN’s Efficiency and Sustainable Energy (EASE) Program launched in June 2025, bringing long-awaited energy efficiency upgrades to middle-income families across the Bay Area.
More than 30 years ago state legislation was passed directing ABAG to develop a plan for a regional trail system.
That trail now has 355 spectacular miles of walking and bicycling paths encircling the Bay for everyone who lives here, and everyone who visits.
BayREN helps single family residents, property owners and businesses get technical assistance and access financial resources to reduce energy costs.
BayREN also assists local governments in evaluating and complying with energy codes and standards.
The Estuary’s waters and wetlands are a biological resource of tremendous importance for more than a million migratory birds and a vast diversity of marine wildlife.
The partnership is a collaboration of local, state and federal agencies and other organzations that protect and restore the Bay and Delta.
