Weiner and Newsom gutted #CEQA instead of solving the problem of private unaffordable housing: luxury units with amenities that students say they don’t need and increasing pressure on the cost of other #student #housing in the #private #rental market. In many cases #studentdebt load is as much about housing costs as it is about #tuition.
#regulatorycapture #SocialHousingNow #RightToHousing

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/aug/30/student-accommodation-university-housing-crisis

#CEQA seeks to both (1) #inform the #public and governmental #decisionmakers about #tradeoffs in approving a #project with environmental effects, and (2) prevent #significant and #avoidable damage to the #environment. Vulnerable critters like the Temblor legless #lizard depend on CEQA to require agencies to fully consider and (where #feasible) #mitigate harmful environmental impacts.

https://legal-planet.org/2023/07/14/ucla-clinic-submits-amicus-brief-in-kern-oil-ordinance-case/

#ArrestedDevelopment: Democratic legislator backs people against the Governor trying to steal water for lawns and cattle at the expense of salmon.

https://calmatters.org/commentary/2023/06/budget-setback-delta-water-tunnel/

#Bypass #DeltaTunnel #CEQA #Waivers

#DoNoHarm: Our coalition which includes the Sierra Club and the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band prevailed in court! Valleywater violated the California Environmental Quality Act (#CEQA) by trying to bypass a review of how a #geological study would impact the #environment. Time for the District to work on better #waterprojects like #stormwater & #wastewater recycling and #waterefficiency (#MWENDO) that we proposed.

https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/05/22/huge-dam-proposed-for-santa-clara-county-hit-with-new-setback/

#Newsom unveils plan to speed up #infrastructure in California - Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-19/newsom-infrastructure-california-bridges-highways-water-projects-environment-development-ceqa #CAPol #Infrastructure #environment #CEQA

#CEQA: Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff sided with the #treeadvocates, ruling that #EnvironmentalReport was no longer valid. “The court finds the city failed to proceed as required by law when it omitted sufficient analysis of the project’s #impacts on non-sensitive status species (in a) “deficient” #EIR of the project’s “cumulative effects.”

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-14/trees-saved-sidewalk-revamp-los-angeles

Between staff and developers, as you can guess, #CreekSetbacks are compromised, using #CEQA as a done deal. But they should be expanded to safely accommodate #AtmosphericRivers. Beaver dams on the creek will #SlowWater and reduce the destructiveness of #floods. https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/beavers-make-bay-area-comeback-17683258.php

The #CACourtofAppeal gave us a huge turd of a Christmas present in the form of a tentative ruling that expands the courts’ already insanely expansive view of #CEQA. Under the guise of environmental review, it would allow lawsuits to shut down projects based on pure speculation that new housing might cause gentrification or lead to unsavory demographics moving in (!)
@CSElmendorf@twitter.com breaks it down: https://twitter.com/cselmendorf/status/1606827857078292480?s=46&t=G1g1qyz5gkrZzRAUAfhvkg

High @Mastodon, my name is Eric, I am a #Geologist. My world is #Rocks #Earthprocesses #Food and #Cocktails. I have practiced #Geology for 30 years in the #Environmental #SiteCleanUp and #Groundwater world. Currently I am a #Hazmat specialist at a #CEQA #NEPA firm. I am here for continuing education.