California Rolls Back Environmental Restrictions on Urban Housing

California legislators took a rare step in the right direction on Monday when they passed a law rolling back the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) restrictions on building housing in urban “infill” areas.

Calmatters.org explained:

With the passage of a state budget-related housing bill, the California Environmental Quality Act will be a non-issue for a decisive swath of urban residential development in California.

In practice, that means most new apartment buildings will no longer face the open threat of environmental litigation.

Supporters of the rollback noted the acute housing shortage in California, due partly to CEQA regulations and other bureaucratic obstacles that discourage building and that keep many young buyers out of the market.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the rollback as part of his overall $322 billion budget package, which aims to reduce a $12 billion deficit through a series of cuts, including blocking new illegal migrants from enrolling in Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid.

In a statement, Newsom hailed his budget and CEQA rollback bills as part of “[a]dvancing an abundance agenda,” picking up on the new buzzword introduced by liberal wonk Ezra Klein, who argued in a book earlier this year that Democrats should focus on economic growth.

Klein — and Newsom — did not advocate abandoning the Democrats’ central focus on government as the driving force in society, and Newsom’s reforms remained marginal. While signing his budget, for example, he did not stop the rise in gas taxes and fuel standards on July 1 that critics say are about to send gas prices soaring.