Newsom suspends CA environmental law to remove ‘barriers’ to wildfire victims rebuilding homes
In response to concerns that environmental protection efforts could delay reconstruction in the coastal area, environmental laws that could have posed barriers to rebuilding destroyed structures Wildfires in Southern California will be temporarily suspended.
Homes along California’s scenic Pacific Coast Highway burned in a monstrous wildfire that destroyed more than 10,000 homes and structures starting on January 7th.
“We’re afraid they won’t let us rebuild,” said Teddy Leonard, owner of the Reel Inn, a seafood restaurant that has served food on the Malibu waterfront since the 1980s, and which burned down in January. – It’s very scary.
California law currently requires people who want to build to pass a lengthy background check environmental assessment procedure before getting approval, but state officials say the process won’t apply to victims of the recent fire who want to rebuild their lost structures.
Homes along the Pacific Coast Highway are seen burned in the Palisades fire Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, in Malibu, California. (Mark J. Terrill)
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires that a review be conducted to weigh all potential environmental impacts before a building permit is granted. Another state law, the California Coastal Act, focuses on development as it relates to the “conservation of sensitive coastal and marine habitats and biodiversity.”
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Both bills were halted Sunday for those who tragically lost their homes after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order suspending the environmental assessment process.
“Once the fires are out, victims who have lost their homes and businesses must be able to rebuild quickly and without roadblocks,” Newsom said in a statement.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, right, tours the Pacific Palisades downtown business district as the Palisades Fire continues to burn on January 8, 2025 in Los Angeles. (Eric Thayer)
“The executive order I signed today will help reduce permitting delays, which is an important first step in allowing our communities to recover faster and stronger. I also directed our state agencies to identify additional ways to streamline the rebuilding and recovery process,” he added. . .
CEQA has been slammed for years by critics, including environmentalists, who say it is restrictive and costly.
“I don’t think anyone really thinks CEQA is working exactly as it should,” Eric Buescher, an attorney with San Francisco Baykeeper, an environmental nonprofit that works to “hold polluters accountable,” said 2022 of the state law, according to of the local Bay Nature outlet.
Aerial footage of wildfires in California. (X/Charles V Payne)
“Developers say it’s too restrictive. Cities say it’s expensive and impossible to comply with,” Buescher said. “Environmental groups say you can’t even get a project that’s going to be built for sea level rise reviewed in time.”
Many of the Malibu homes destroyed by the fires were located on the beach along the Pacific Coast Highway, and their rebuilding could be subject to local land regulations designed to preserve the natural shoreline.
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President Biden announced on Thursday, the federal government will cover all costs of debris removal and fire management in California for 180 days.
