Newsom kills bill requiring polluting factories near schools to undergo environmental review

In defense of looser regulations intended to quicken development, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill on Sept. 18 that would have required “more polluting facilities built near homes and schools to undergo environmental review,” Alejandra Reyes-Velarde writes for Cal Matters.

“[The bill] would have narrowed an exemption of the California Environmental Quality Act that covers a broad swath of advanced manufacturing sites. Only facilities handling the final stages of production would have kept the exemption,” Reyes-Velarde writes.

In his veto letter, Newsom said the proposed bill would have practically nullified the manufacturing exception, writing, “Protecting communities and strengthening California’s advanced manufacturing economy are not mutually exclusive goals.”