Summary
Although it may increase profits for some industries, the impact of California’s landmark environment law could prove costly to communities.
Imagine if a new development in your city would cause the sewer system to overflow after it rains.
Imagine a warehouse coming into your community to occupy 3,800 acres. It will bring truck exhaust and 24/7 lighting to your neighborhood.
Now, imagine that you have no control over it.
If California’s public agencies were not required by law to mitigate the environmental effects of a project, this is what might happen. Concerned neighbors from low-income and disadvantaged areas would not be able participate in local land-use decisions and speak out.
Since 1970, the California Environmental Quality ActHas been working towards environmental justice protecting vulnerable communitiesEnsure that government officials are held accountable for the welfare and health of residents they represent.
The state’s premier environmental law requires that environmental harms be considered and minimized before housing, warehouses, or oil refineries can be built. CEQA is an important tool to promote environmental justice. The review process requires that communities, even those with fewer resources, be notified when polluting and toxic projects are coming to their neighborhood.
However, the more CEQA assists communities, the more those critics are outraged. These critics are often associated with powerful and polluting industry and blame CEQA for a multitude of state ills including the housing crisis and the affordability crisis as well as a stagnated economy.
These allegations don’t stand up to scrutiny.
For example, October is the month of Halloween The Housing WorkshopPublished on ReportThe study found that the state’s housing crisis is not due to CEQA but local zoning laws, rising development costs, and rising development costs. Despite population growth, the study found that both the number and rate of lawsuits are still low. CEQA lawsuits have decreased to an average of fewer than 200 per year since 2002.
CEQA allows many projects to be improved, reducing pollution, and other harms to local communities, all without the need for a judge.
Take the Mission Bay Project. Environmentalists raised concerns about the University of California campus construction, which was predicted to increase San Francisco’s sewage overflows. Developers agreed to mitigation measures without going before a court.
Developers agreed that stormwater would be separated from the city’s stormwater system and that other measures would be taken to reduce stormwater pollutants. It’s difficult to imagine what might have happened had those concerns not been raised by CEQA during the environmental review process.
A variety of restaurants can be found in southeast Los Angeles. Judge ruled last monthCudahy had acted in violation of state law by approving a school located on a hazardous waste site. CEQA provided this low-income, predominantly Latinx community with an avenue to challenge a project that could have caused children to be exposed to arsenic and lead.
So why is there so much hatred for an effective environmental justice law?
Time is money when it’s about bringing a development plan to fruition. Developers don’t want land to be left undeveloped. However, it is important to consider the environmental impact of a project and address concerns from neighbors.
One community in Riverside County received a host of air pollution and greenhouse gas reduction measures by closely inspecting a huge warehouse project.
Developers of the project have won a long legal battle. World Logistics CenterThe agreement included a $47 million electric vehicle fleet, rooftop solar, and other mitigation measures. CEQA would not have allowed the project on Moreno Valley’s 3,800 acres to bring 14,000 daily truck trips for a working-class community already overwhelmed by pollution.
There are many more examples that support CEQA’s need to be strengthened. We must resist any attempts to weaken CEQA through streamlining. Some high-priority infrastructure and development projects have already been expedited by the law. If lawmakers continue weakening CEQA, those communities will be most affected by poverty and polluting.
The potential for profit increases for some industries by weakening California’s landmark environment law could be a good thing. It would be a disaster for communities that would have to bear the consequences for many years.