Gutting California Environmental Quality Act Would be Wrong for California

Kathryn Phillips & Joel Reynolds: Gutting CEQA would be wrong for California

By Kathryn Phillips and Joel Reynolds
Special to the Mercury News

 A last-minute legislative attempt to gut California’s landmark environmental disclosure law was squelched earlier this year, but some in Sacramento are talking about reviving the worst of it.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is critical to protecting the public’s right to know about the impact proposed development would have on everything from public health to traffic congestion to climate change. Capital insiders and business representatives attacking CEQA are drawing a misguided distinction between a strong economy and the public’s right to know about risks to their health and the environment. In truth, we can have both.

The core of the proposal they offer as reform is a so-called “standards-based” approach that would exempt a project from environmental review if it meets standards applicable under certain other laws. Those include outmoded planning and zoning laws and outdated local air pollution control regulations that don’t reflect the latest science. This would replace the comprehensive environmental disclosure and project review that CEQA requires.

The effective result of this “reform,” which Michael Rubio, the incoming chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee, has been advocating on a state-wide tour, would be to nullify CEQA. It would strip away the protection from local agencies’ foot-dragging on health and environmental protections that CEQA has provided Californians for 40 years.

This will not improve our state’s economy or make funding for new construction magically appear. What will draw more dollars to our state is a robust economy supported by good, clean jobs. A healthy quality of life including clean air, clean water and recreational opportunities is a powerful magnet for both business and tourism.

Californians have long valued the right that CEQA guarantees to weigh in on local land use decisions. We have also made it clear that we want to be informed about how pollutants might affect our health. CEQA requires developers to publicly disclose how their project would impact the environment and to show what they can do to minimize those impacts.

Environmental organizations like ours are open to discussing adjustments that would reduce unnecessary delays in the CEQA process and make it work better. But we will not agree to cut out the heart of CEQA at the expense of our children’s health and our quality of life.

Occasionally — and only very occasionally according to all the data on court filings — Californians file lawsuits to force compliance with CEQA. This is how the law was designed. Because there is no state agency charged with enforcing the statute, it is up to citizens to enforce it in the courts.

CEQA is an essential check on government decision-making on a wide range of development decisions, from oil drilling along our coast to industrial development to allocation of natural resources like clean water, clean air and open space. Californians should remain wary of giving up their say in decisions about how and where property is developed.

With the election behind us, it is time for the legislature to turn its attention to the issues that really matter. Promote good, clean jobs. Find a sustainable path forward with the state budget. Revive our struggling schools and universities. And set a course for a California that is both green and golden.

Gutting environmental safeguards won’t get us there.