California's landmark environmental laws will be suspended for wildfire victims who want to rebuild their homes and businesses, according to an executive order signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Requirements for building permits and inspections in California Environmental Quality Act and the California Coastal Law — often viewed by developers as onerous — is intended to provide relief for victims of the fires in Pacific Palisades, Altadena and other communities, the order says.
“California is a national leader in environmental protection. “I’m not going to give that up,” Newsom told Jacob Soboroff on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “But one thing I won’t give in to is the delay. For people, delay means denial: lives, traditions, places are torn apart, torn apart.”
Conservatives, particularly President-elect Trump, have criticized Newsom and other Democratic leaders in California for pursuing environmental policies that they say have laid the foundation for the historic destruction caused by this month's wildfires. Trump called Newsom “incompetent,” said he should resign and made false statements about diverting water to protect small fish and about Federal Emergency Management Agency policies.
“The fires are still raging in LA. The incompetent police officers have no idea how to put them out.” Trump wrote on Truth Socialhis social media platform, Saturday evening. “Thousands of magnificent homes have disappeared and many more will soon be lost. There is death everywhere. This is one of the worst disasters in our country's history. They just can't put out the fires. What’s wrong with them?”
Trump's transition team did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.
Newsom said during the NBC interview that he had asked the new president to view the devastation in person, as Republican Kathryn Barger, chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, did earlier Saturday.
“We want to do it in the spirit of an open hand, not a closed fist. He is the president-elect,” Newsom said. “I respect the office.”
Although Newsom noted that many of the buildings that survived the fires were built to more modern building codes, he said he was concerned about the time it would take to rebuild. His executive order therefore eliminates some CEQA requirements, amends Coastal Law provisions, and ensures that property tax assessments are not increased for those remodeling.
The suspensions apply only to properties and facilities that are “substantially at the same location” as before the fires and whose height and footprint do not exceed 110% of their original size, the order states.
CEQA was signed into law by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1970 amid the burgeoning environmental movement, and the Coastal Act was passed by the state's voters in 1972 after a devastating oil spill off Santa Barbara.
Both have faced challenges for decades, and governors from both parties have argued that CEQA has needed reform for more than 40 years. Several of the law's requirements were temporarily suspended by an executive order issued by Newsom during the pandemic. He argues that now is the time again.
Asked on the newscast whether this month's wildfires were the worst natural disaster in the country's history, Newsom responded that recent fires had resulted in more deaths, but said, “I think it's just going to be on those associated with it.” Costs arrive.” in terms of size and scope.”
He called for a California version of the Marshall Plan, the American effort to rebuild Western Europe after World War II.
“We already have a team dedicated to reimagining LA 2.0,” he said, “and we're making sure everyone is on board, not just the people on the coast, but the people here affected by this disaster were devastated.”