CEQA

A patchwork of bills are giving housing developers and local governments more options to reduce red tape for housing projects.

Two different state courts have ruled recently that the human noise created by future tenants in housing projects are a form of pollution that cities must address. Lawmakers and the governor are working to reverse that novel interpretation of environmental law.

The governor's building plan would adjust an environmental law known for stalling housing, dams and other projects. One environmental group said, "we have never been more disappointed in a California governor than we are with Gov. Newsom."

Challengers in the Newsom recall election are making CEQA a villain. But experts say that the landmark environmental law is only one of many tools used to block housing.

Inside the Capitol’s corridors and pro-development quarters around the state, the California Environmental Quality Act is increasingly disparaged as a villain in the state’s housing crisis. But the act’s environmentalist defenders are pushing back, saying many projects slip too easily through—leading to overdrawn groundwater tables and disappearing forests. And whatever the urgency to build more housing, environmentalists say there’s nothing to preempt a rigorous review of commercial proposals—even ones as visually appealing as vineyards in the Napa Valley.