Concerns Over Sidelining CEQA

17 March 2009 - 9:00am

The California Environmental Quality Act is being set aside for a handful of stimulus projects, but even when the project is to the benefit of the community many see the sidelining as silencing much-needed input.

"If you’re in a big hurry to build a road project, environmental review can get in the way. As Bill Fulton reports in this month’s Insight column, the state budget pact exempted eight Caltrans projects from the California Environmental Quality Act so that they get built quicker. But some folks in Tehama County are saying, 'Hey, wait a second.'

One of the exempt projects is on Highway 99 in Los Molinos, a small, unincorporated Tehama County community in the almond and pecan orchards between Red Bluff and Chico. Highway 99 is a two-lane highway in these parts."

Source: California Planning & Development Report, March 16, 2009
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Rarely does eminent domain get credit for the positive things that have been accomplished through its use. Without it, our urban areas would be places without the great virtues of conformity and sensible land use.