California Gov. Gavin Newsom on June 30 signed two bills into law that overhaul the state’s landmark California Environmental Quality Act as part of an effort to ease the housing crisis and reduce homelessness.
Newsom gave his stamp of approval to Assembly Bill 130 and SB 131, in a move his office described as “the most significant overhaul of California’s housing and environmental review laws in decades.”
The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, passed in 1970, requires a thorough review of proposed developments for their environmental impacts and the adoption of measures to reduce or eliminate those impacts.
Specifically, the act established a state policy of sustainability to “create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony to fulfill the social and economic requirements of present and future generations,” according to California attorney general’s office….