The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, is a 50-year-old law responsible for holding up many projects in the state due to its labyrinthian process and its vulnerability to lawsuits. Across the state, housing developments, schools, hospitals, even bike paths and wildfire mitigation efforts have been stymied by CEQA. Chris Carr, one of the state’s top environmental and land use attorneys, and co-author of PRI’s new study “The CEQA Gauntlet” discusses the problems with CEQA and reforms that will enable the state to safeguard its environment and at the same time grow the economy.
