CEQA Reform? With Antonio Villaraigosa and Micah Weinberg

CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: In May, Governor Newsom offered a series of proposals to revise the California Environmental Quality Act ( CEQA). The 1970 law was intended to limit unintended consequences of development, but has increasingly been used to slow or derail environmentally-positive projects ranging from infill development to solar installations. Reforming CEQA has long been a priority in Sacramento, and Newsom’s proposals were hailed by many in both the business and environmental communities.

Legislative leaders were less impressed – especially with the lightning fast timeline –  and a Senate budget committee sidelined the proposals a week later. However, we all know that nothing ever dies in Sacramento, so the Governor’s plan is more likely than not to be revisited – the question is when.

Many of the ideas in these reform proposals were contained in a California Forward report that detailed a set of actions that would accelerate infrastructure projects, and “promote equity, environmental sustainability and economic growth in the state.” The report was the culmination of a partnership between Governor Newsom’s office, former Los Angeles Mayor and and State Infrastructure Advisor Antonio Villaraigosa, CA FWD and the Boston Consulting Group, a strategic advisor on delivering new infrastructure ecosystems.

On this episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast we are joined by Mayor Villaraigosa and CA FWD CEO Micah Weinberg, who detail the results of the report and discuss why CEQA reform is – in their view – sorely needed.

And, as always we tell you who had the worst week in California Politics.

Notes:

2:21 The report, and the governor’s take on it

7:11 1000 stakeholders

7:55 What about CEQA’s defenders

11:01 The Green Bank financing system

12:51 Workforce?

16:50 Where are the disparate labor groups on this?

17:44 “A once in a generation opportunity”

20:35 What next?

24:26 “No state would be so stupid as to have environmental exceptions for sports stadiums but not for climate adaptive infrastructure”

31:05 WWCA