The San Francisco Standard
@sfstandardOpinion: Newsom's reform of state housing law was a renegade move that will help make California affordable again. 📝: Leora Tanjuatco Ross
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Newsom Overhauls California Environmental Law to Speed Housing Construction
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California overhauled its 55-year-old environmental review law after Governor Gavin Newsom signed two budget trailer bills—Assembly Bill 130 and Senate Bill 131—moments after they cleared the Legislature late on 30 June. Passage of the measures was a prerequisite for the $321.1 billion state budget to take effect, making the reforms operative immediately.
The legislation removes most urban infill housing projects of up to 20 acres from CEQA review and extends similar exemptions to child-care centres, rural health clinics, wildfire-prevention works, water and broadband upgrades, advanced-manufacturing plants and certain high-speed-rail facilities. It narrows the evidence courts may weigh in CEQA lawsuits, imposes firm permitting deadlines and freezes some building-code changes, while expressly excluding projects that incorporate oil or gas infrastructure.
Newsom framed the package as “the most consequential housing and infrastructure reform in recent state history,” arguing faster approvals are essential to ease the state’s chronic housing shortage and homelessness crisis. Housing advocates and construction unions hailed the streamlined process, saying it will reduce delays and legal costs that often derail projects.
Environmental groups led by Sierra Club California condemned the rollback as a threat to public health and biodiversity and pledged to seek follow-up legislation. Economists note the ultimate impact on homebuilding will also depend on financing, labour and local zoning, but the state’s decision signals a willingness to relax landmark regulations to spur construction—a move other high-cost states are likely to watch closely.
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