An urgency statute, AB 208, enacted in July 2011, automatically provides a two-year extension for approved tentative maps that had not expired as of July 15, 2011, but were set to expire prior to January 1, 2014. As in past economic downturns, the California legislature enacted the extension in recognition of the current economic climate and the need for maintaining valuable land use entitlements. Generally, land in California, which is entitled and ready for development, is more valuable than land that requires additional approvals such as general plan or zoning amendments, subdivision, or other project approvals.

The automatic extension provided by AB 208 is embodied in California Government Code Section 66452.23 and is in addition to other extensions already provided under the Subdivision Map Act, including the automatic two-year extension provided by AB 333 in 2009 and another automatic one-year extension provided by SB 1185 in 2008.