The California Environmental Quality Act, commonly referred to as CEQA for short, has been influencing planning and development in California for 50 years, creating a constant source of controversy and criticisms from both sides of the debate.
William Fulton writes to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the California Environmental Quality Act, one of the most influential and controversial laws in the history of U.S. planning. Fulton, who has been writing about the law for 40 years of the 50 years the law has been in existence, sums up CEQA's influence and troubles thusly:
CEQA is not technically a land-use law, but it has probably had as much impact on California land use as any statute on the books. It’s confounding in many ways – confoundingly complicated, confoundingly resistant to reform, and indeed confoundingly resistant to any rational assessment of whether it has “worked,” whatever “worked” means. Business leaders and developers blame it for every economic downturn in California whether CEQA deserves the rap or not, and environmentalists and labor unions cling to it as the only to extract what they want from developers.
Given the big round number hanging around CEQA's neck (the law was signed into law by then-Governor of California Ronald Reagan), Fulton to calculate CEQA's legacy in California.
FULL STORY: CEQA At 50
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
Alaska Village Becomes Test Case for Climate Change Relocation
The Yup’ik village of Newtok is the first Alaska community to begin a full-scale relocation necessitated by the impacts of climate change. Another 31 Alaska communities remain vulnerable.
Amtrak Takes Lead on Texas Central Rail
The high-speed rail project isn’t a done deal, but if it moves forward, trains could begin operating in 2030.
Maine Approves Rent Relief Program
Legislators hope the assistance program will help struggling low-income households avoid eviction.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.