(The Center Square) – In a rare instance of bipartisan cooperation, California legislators unanimously voted across both the State Assembly and Senate to approve a new exemption to the controversial California Environmental Quality Act, a measure that since 1970 has both protected the environment while making new construction and development much more difficult. This new exemption would allow new housing built using public funding to only need to go through CEQA review once through the lead agency involved in the project, and not additional CEQA review for every other agency helping with financial assistance or insurance for the project.
To spur the production of income-restricted housing units that require public funding, local and state agencies typically provide low-interest loans, with multiple sources of public funding eventually helping sponsor many of these projects. Under current regulations, whenever another agency helps fund one of these income-restricted housing projects, a new CEQA review must be undertaken in addition to the separate CEQA review conducted on the project on its own. These repeated CEQA reviews cause long delays in construction and create significant new costs through accrued interest, additional staffing, and other resources required for these additional reviews. A typical CEQA review must be prepared to certify the complication of an environmental impact report explaining how a project will or will not have a “significant” effect on the environment.
With this new bill, SB 406, these additional reviews would no longer be necessary so long as a CEQA review is being conducted by at least one public agency. Sponsored by State Senator Dave Cortese (D—San Jose), the bill is currently heading to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk for consideration.
“SB 406 cuts red tape without compromising on environmental protection. This bill will streamline permitting and speed up affordable housing production for people with the greatest need,” Cortese said in a press release celebrating the bill’s approval in the legislature.
Currently, California laws, including CEQA, severely limit the construction of new housing, and leave the state with some of the longest housing development timelines in the country. According to an analysis from the San Francisco Chronicle, it typically takes 626 days from a home builder to receive a construction permit.
