Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed into law a bill that will remake California's landmark environmental protection rules, an overhaul that he says is essential to address the state’s housing shortage and resulting homelessness crisis.
Newsom had threatened to reject the state budget passed last Friday unless lawmakers overhauled the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, a 1970s law that requires strict examination of any new development for its impact on the environment.
The governor and housing advocates maintain that CEQA, while well-intentioned at the time, put up bureaucratic roadblocks that have made it increasingly difficult to build housing in the most populous state in the country.
