California reopens CEQA fixes
Lawmakers in California are moving to fix consequences from last year’s CEQA exemptions after officials admitted the changes created a hole in environmental planning law. The reporting frames entitlement and environmental review as unsettled terrain, with clarification efforts now underway. (timesofsandiego.com)
California lawmakers are trying to rewrite a California Environmental Quality Act exemption they passed last year after discovering it reached far beyond what many thought it covered. (timesofsandiego.com) The problem traces to Senate Bill 131, one of two budget trailer bills Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on June 30, 2025, alongside Assembly Bill 130 as part of a larger housing and infrastructure package. The laws took effect immediately and created new California Environmental Quality Act carveouts for housing, child care, clinics, parks, broadband and “advanced manufacturing” projects. (gov.ca.gov) The California Environmental Quality Act, usually shortened to CEQA, requires state and local agencies to study and disclose a project’s environmental effects before approving it. Senate Bill 131 added a statutory exemption for advanced manufacturing facilities on industrially zoned land, which means qualifying projects can bypass that review altogether. (gtlaw.com) That “advanced manufacturing” label turned out to be much broader than many lawmakers and local officials realized during the 2025 budget rush. CalMatters reported in March that the exemption was so expansive that environmental groups argued it could cover projects far removed from the clean-tech image sold during negotiations. (calmatters.org) State law defines advanced manufacturing as processes that improve or create materials or products using science, engineering or information technology, and it lists fields including semiconductors, additive manufacturing, advanced materials and industrial biotechnology. Critics say that wording can sweep in facilities handling hazardous chemicals or intermediate industrial processing, not just final-stage chip or battery plants. (law.justia.com; timesofsandiego.com) Sen. Catherine Blakespear, an Encinitas Democrat, responded with Senate Bill 954, introduced in late March 2026. Her office said the bill would add guardrails for advanced manufacturing projects and narrow the exemption after complaints from environmental justice groups, labor unions and some lawmakers. (sd38.senate.ca.gov; timesofsandiego.com) As introduced, Senate Bill 954 would require at least one public hearing before a local agency declares an advanced manufacturing project exempt, and it would tie the exemption to a community benefits agreement and labor rules. The bill also states the Legislature’s intent to further narrow which manufacturing projects qualify at all. (legiscan.com; timesofsandiego.com) Business and pro-building groups are pushing the other way. Supporters of the 2025 changes said CEQA reviews often take years and add litigation risk, and Newsom’s office cast the June 2025 package as a way to build housing and infrastructure faster and cheaper. (gov.ca.gov; sd11.senate.ca.gov) The fight has turned a budget deal into an ongoing argument over what California wants CEQA to do in 2026: speed permits, police pollution, or both. Lawmakers are now back in the position they tried to avoid last June, defining line by line which projects still have to face environmental review. (timesofsandiego.com; calmatters.org)
