Newsom Waives CEQA to Speed Rebuild in SoCal Wildfire Areas
Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order that aims to speed the rebuilding of homes and businesses that have been damaged or destroyed by the catastrophic wildfires in Greater Los Angeles.
The order, which covers all of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, waives permitting requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the California State Coastal Act, including costly and lengthy environmental impact reviews that can add years to project timelines.
Newsom’s order directs the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to coordinate with local governments to remove or expedite permitting and approval processes during rebuilding, with “the ultimate goal of issuing all necessary permits and approvals within 30 days.”
The permitting requirements under CEQA and the Coastal Act have been suspended in the past after natural disasters to facilitate faster rebuilding, but those suspensions typically required rebuilding property owners to show that they tried to comply with the law even if they weren’t subjected to it.
The order issued by Newsom on Sunday is a full waiver, effectively removing CEQA from the rebuilding process, with one caveat: the waiver shall apply only to properties and facilities that are “in substantially the same location as, and do not exceed 110% of the footprint and height of, properties and facilities that were legally established and existed immediately before this emergency.”
“When the fires are extinguished, victims who have lost their homes and businesses must be able to rebuild quickly and without roadblocks,” Newsom said, in a statement. “I’ve also ordered our state agencies to identify additional ways to streamline the rebuilding and recovery process.”
The governor’s order directs state agencies to identify other permitting requirements, including provisions of the Building Code, “that can be safely suspended or streamlined to accelerate rebuilding and make it more affordable.”
Newsom’s January 7 proclamation of a state of emergency triggered a California law that restricts price gouging for building materials, housing and storage services, emergency supplies, and repair, reconstruction and emergency clean-up services for a period of up to 180 days.
The executive order signed by the governor on Sunday extends the price-gouging penalties until January 7, 2026.
The governor’s executive action is likely to be the first of several measures issued by state, county and city agencies to speed the recovery from the fires, which have burned more than 39,000 acres and damaged or destroyed more than 12,000 structures in the past week.
Newsom said in his order that he would work with the Legislature “to incentivize the incorporation of additional fire hardening measures into rebuilding efforts and enhancements of fire mitigation and fire response capacity within rebuilt areas.”
Source: GlobeSt/ALM