Gov. Newsom Signs Bills to Create Affordable Housing Faster by Weakening Environmental Review Law

On June 30, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law two bills that affect the 2025 to 2026 state budget, increasing affordable housing by bypassing environmental review. Newsom signed the state budget bill on June 27, but signed two trailer bills on June 30, including Assembly Bill 130 (Committee on Budget) and Senate Bill 131 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review). The bills alter the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, which requires a review of construction projects to see what environmental impact they will have. 

The new bills allow for affordable housing projects to bypass CEQA, and allow for more exemptions to the review process. These include new farmworker housing projects, as well as wildfire risk reduction projects, and community water system projects, as long as they don’t actively harm the environment. It also provides CEQA exemptions to the creation of public parks and trails, and daycare centers, health centers and food banks, and the creation of passenger rail systems.

Many environmental groups opposed the weakening of CEQA, arguing that this will make is easier to build other projects that are harmful to the environment. In a letter endorsed by multiple unions, including the California Federation of Labor Unions, they argued that exempting “advanced manufacturing” industries from CEQA would expose union members and their families to dangers in their workplaces and communities.

In addition, the bills require annual inspections of homeless shelters by cities and counties, whether or not complaints are received.