"If the Chamber and its supporters collect 546,000 valid signatures by next spring, as expected, the "Building an Affordable California Act" would impose a 365-day limit on environmental reviews for a wide range of projects, including new reservoirs, desalination plants, forest thinning to reduce wildfire risk, apartments, housing subdivisions, senior housing, student housing, roads, bridges, public transit, hospitals, medical centers, broadband internet, solar farms, wind farms and battery storage facilities."
"It would also require courts to rule within 270 days when CEQA lawsuits are filed challenging those projects. "For decades, oversight has too often been co-opted by obstruction, threatening the common good," said Jennifer Barrera, president and CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce, in a statement. "Modernizing that law won't just ease California's affordability crisis and boost our economy," she said. "It will prove the naysayers wrong about our state.""
The California Chamber of Commerce filed paperwork for a proposed "Building an Affordable California Act" ballot measure to change the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The measure would impose a 365-day limit on environmental reviews for a broad set of projects and require courts to rule within 270 days on CEQA lawsuits. Covered projects include reservoirs, desalination, forest thinning, multiple housing types, transportation, hospitals, broadband, solar and wind farms, and battery storage. The Chamber frames the measure as cutting red tape, lowering housing and energy costs, and easing construction. The proposal is expected to reach signature thresholds and is likely to trigger a multimillion-dollar political fight among business groups, local governments, labor and environmental organizations.
Read at The Mercury News
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