Huge changes to CA’s landmark environmental law, CEQA

Last week Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a state budget deal with the caveat that the Legislature would also advance trailer bills intended to speed up housing development in California. The governor signed those measures Monday (more on that later), signaling a major change in the state’s 54-year-old environmental law. 

The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, requires government agencies to review and disclose the environmental impact of any public project, including new housing developments. The new changes to the landmark law would affect the state in two key ways:

• Urban housing: For years pro-development advocates and the building industry argued that neighborhood groups and environmentalists wielded CEQA to delay or halt new development. Now, a large portion of urban “infill” housing developments — housing built in and around existing development — will no longer be subject to the law. That means developers won’t have to research or mitigate the ways new construction could impact local traffic, pollution, noise levels and other environmental factors. Though some housing experts say removing delays that would have previously existed under CEQA is significant, it’s too soon to guarantee that development in California will accelerate. Other factors, such as rising labor costs, tariffs and permitting processes can also slow down construction. Read more from CalMatters’ Ben Christopher.

• High-tech facilities: Critics of the CEQA changes are also slamming exemptions for high-tech manufacturing sites, which they say would make it easier for companies to build industrial projects in low-income communities already struggling with pollution. Democratic Sen. María Elena Durazo of Los Angeles, for example, cited the extensive cleanup efforts of lead-contaminated soil stemming from a battery recycling facility in Vernon. But Sen. Scott Wiener, a proponent of the CEQA changes, said the exemptions would help attract more companies, such as computer chip makers. Said the San Francisco Democrat: “These are jobs of the future … and I want them to be in California.” Read more from CalMatters’ Alejandro Lazo and Rachel Becker.

From CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff:

Newsom, ‘Yes In My Backyard’ lawmakers and the carpenters union took a victory lap Monday evening as Newsom signed a pair of bills that will streamline environmental reviews for many housing and infrastructure projects in California. The governor demanded that the state’s entire $321 billion budget — which he signed on Friday — could not take effect without the proposals.

They received his approval just hours before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, at a signing conference where Newsom touted the changes as necessary to get California building again or risk losing the trust of the public: “We needed to go bold and big on this Holy Grail reform,” he said.

More budget news: As part of labor deal negotiations with some public employee unions this year, Newsom’s office is pausing state spending toward health care benefits these workers receive in retirement, reports CalMatters’ Adam Ashton.

With the price tag of $85 billion, retirement health care benefits serve as one of the state’s largest long-term debts. By pausing pre-funding payments for two years for current workers, the state would save more than $700 million in the new budget year, according to Newsom’s office.

Since workers in these unions also won’t have to contribute toward their retirement health care for that time period, the move would also boost their take home pay by as much as 4.5%.

Read more here.

Some changes could be on the way for California sports:

• Youth football helmets: A year after Newsom vetoed a bill that would have banned kids younger than 12 from playing tackle football, the Legislature is considering a bill to prohibit youth tackle football leagues from banning “soft-shelled add-ons on football helmets” that are intended to prevent concussions. According to the bill’s author, Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, an Anaheim Democrat and former college football player, the proposal tries “to make the game as safe as possible, while also providing the opportunity for parents and young people to play this game if they so choose.” Read more from CalMatters’ Ryan Sabalow.

• Paying college athletes: As part of a class-action lawsuit that takes effect today, California’s top universities can begin paying their athletes directly. Previously, student athletes were paid by third parties, such as a company, for their “name, image and likeness.” But in an unprecedented shift that further blurs the line between amateur and professional players, a school would be able to pay a total of $20.5 million this year to any or all of its athletes. Some student athletes at UC Berkeley, for example, could make more than $200,000 a year. Read more from CalMatters’ Adam Echelman.

California regulators have launched an investigation into State Farm’s handling of wildfire claims from the L.A. County fires. CalMatters’ Levi Sumagaysay and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video about the probe, which stems from survivors’ reports of delays and poor service as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

And check out another video from CalMatters’ Ben Christopher and Robert about the displacement of public transit riders in gentrifying neighborhoods. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.