California lawmakers have taken significant steps to address the state’s severe housing shortage by scaling back the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), a law that has long been a cornerstone of environmental protection but is also seen as a major hurdle in housing development.
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A Historic Change to CEQA
On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills that will ease environmental restrictions on development projects, marking a pivotal shift in California’s approach to balancing environmental concerns with the growing need for housing. CEQA, enacted in 1970, had previously allowed environmentalists and local communities to block projects, especially in suburban areas.
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A Bipartisan Effort to Tackle Housing
While CEQA has been a bedrock of environmental policy for over 50 years, the law has increasingly been blamed for contributing to California’s housing crisis. With bipartisan support, the new bills will allow many projects to bypass extensive environmental reviews, thus reducing delays and costs that have discouraged developers from building much-needed housing…