Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a law rolling back the state’s groundbreaking environmental law for urban housing developments in California.
In a news release, Newsom’s Office said the change will “help housing production and infrastructure across the state and increase affordability for everyone.”
The California Environmental Quality Act, enacted in 1970, requires that public California agencies assess the potential environmental impacts of proposed projects and avoid those impacts where possible.
However, many argue that the law is weaponized to block new housing projects and developments.
“CEQA can be an expensive and long process, especially on large or complex projects. This is true without litigation. Preparing an environmental impact report under CEQA can take more than a year and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, or in some cases more than a million dollars.”
New laws, AB 130 and SB 131, create 10 new CEQA exemptions to streamline housing approvals.
Before signing the law, Newsom expressed his support for reforms to CEQA.
Resolving California’s housing crisis has been a newspaper’s priority since taking office.
In 2018, Newsom wrote in a medium post: “As governor, our solutions must be as bold as the problems, so we will lead our efforts to develop the 3.5 million new housing units needed by 2025.”
Newsom revised its targets and set a new benchmark for the city to plan 2.5 million homes by 2030.
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