**CEQA Reform Was a Long Time Coming**
Signed into law by then-Governor Ronald Reagan in 1970, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has long required state and local governments to assess and publicly disclose the environmental impact of their decisions. While the law was originally implemented to increase transparency and environmental protection, it has often been cited as a barrier to development, particularly for residential and commercial projects. In many instances, CEQA has been blamed for delaying or even blocking projects outright.
One of the key criticisms has been the law’s allowance for lawsuits from individuals or groups claiming that environmental reviews are insufficient. Andrew Fogg, a partner at the law firm Cox, Castle & Nicholson, explained, “The state has recognized for several years that California is facing a significant housing crisis. CEQA has been identified as a major contributor to that issue—both in terms of the time it takes to process project approvals and the threat of what some deem as frivolous litigation.”
State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) recently cited lawsuits filed against a food bank in Alameda and a housing development in San Francisco—both of which were stalled due to CEQA claims focused on preserving parking lots. Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle, Wiener stated that the bills signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom—aimed in part at rolling back CEQA—will help make it “easier and faster to build new housing.”
Efforts to reform CEQA have been underway for more than a decade but met resistance from various interest groups. “Enacting public policy is always an exercise in balancing competing interests,” Fogg said. “There was a lot of pressure from environmental organizations and organized labor to significantly limit reform or impose conditions that made using existing streamlining provisions challenging.”
According to Fogg, the breakthrough came when the legislature crafted an exemption with built-in protections for sensitive sites—such as those with tribal, historic, or ecological significance, and areas classified as coastal zones, prime farmland, wetlands, high fire severity zones, earthquake zones, flood hazard areas, and conservation areas.
“For sites within urbanized areas that are consistent with planning laws and are smaller than 20 acres, the legislature has allowed them to proceed without project-specific CEQA review,” Fogg explained. “The law also takes into account regulatory clean-up standards for any prior hazardous materials on the site, offering protections for both current and future users.”
Importantly, Fogg noted, “The local agency will have already undertaken CEQA review for the adoption of the General Plan and Zoning. So as long as the project aligns with those plans and avoids sensitive resources, it can proceed without additional CEQA review.”
Fogg described the bill signed by Newsom as “the first meaningful CEQA exemption that will give local agencies authority to approve those projects on a streamlined basis without the need for costly redundant environmental review or the threat of CEQA litigation. I anticipate that this will be used widely in urban areas across the state.”
However, the reform alone is unlikely to jumpstart a rapid increase in residential construction. Bill Fulton, a planning expert and former mayor of Ventura who has long supported CEQA reform, told the Chronicle that the changes are meaningful but not a cure-all.
“I don’t think this alone is going to create a housing boom,” Fulton said. “I think this, together with other things, will gradually increase the amount of housing approved.”
