West Coast Land Use and Environment attorneys Daniel Golub and Ryan Leaderman recently discussed with Bisnow the ongoing reform of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) within the state legislature. These legislative proposals could bring significant changes to CEQA, including alterations to project eligibility and exemptions for infill multifamily developments. While the outcome of these bills is not yet determined, their progress reflects changing perspectives on this critical aspect of California’s development politics.
Mr. Golub noted that growing concern over housing affordability in California has influenced this shift. “I think that the game has really changed in a lot of ways when you have people within the Democratic coalition looking at themselves and saying, ‘To govern, we need to be able to show that we can govern effectively and we can move projects forward and that we can not elevate process over substance,'” he said.
According to Mr. Leaderman, approval of these reforms would provide a positive signal to developers who are hesitant due to CEQA-related uncertainties. He explained, “I’ve got clients and former clients who’ve basically told me that they just won’t develop in the city of Los Angeles because of the uncertainty, and a large part of that uncertainty has to do with CEQA.” He further stated, “If these bills do get passed, especially [AB 609], it really takes away a lot of the risk for these projects and a lot of that uncertainty.”