In response to concerns that environmental protection efforts might delay reconstruction in the coastal area, environmental laws that could have posed obstacles to rebuilding structures destroyed by the Southern California wildfires will be temporarily suspended.
Houses along the scenic Pacific Coast Highway in California burned down in a monstrous fire that destroyed more than 10,000 homes and structures beginning on Jan. 7.
"We're afraid they won't let us rebuild," said Teddy Leonard, owner of Reel Inn, a seafood restaurant serving on the Malibu coast since the 1980s that burned down in January. "It's very scary."
California law currently requires that people looking to build undergo a lengthy environmental review process before receiving approval, but state officials say the process will not apply to victims of the recent fire seeking to rebuild their lost structures.
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The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires that a review be conducted to weigh any potential environmental effects before a building permit is approved. Another state law, the California Coastal Act, focuses on development as it relates to "the preservation of sensitive coastal and marine habitat and biodiversity."
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Both laws were halted on Sunday for those who tragically lost their homes after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to suspend the environmental review process.
"When the fires are extinguished, victims who have lost their homes and businesses must be able to rebuild quickly and without roadblocks," Newsom said in a statement.
"The executive order I signed today will help cut permitting delays, an important first step in allowing our communities to recover faster and stronger. I've also ordered our state agencies to identify additional ways to streamline the rebuilding and recovery process," he added.
CEQA has received pushback over the years from critics, including environmentalists, who say it is restrictive and expensive.
"I don't think that anybody really thinks that CEQA works exactly how it's supposed to," Eric Buescher, an attorney with San Francisco Baykeeper, an environmental nonprofit working to "hold polluters accountable," said in 2022 about the state law, according to local outlet Bay Nature.
"Developers say it is way too restrictive. Cities say it's expensive and impossible to comply with," Buescher said. "Environmental groups say you can't even get a project that is going to be built for sea level rise reviewed in time for sea level rise."
Many of the Malibu homes that were destroyed by the fires were located on the beach along the Pacific Coast Highway, and their reconstruction could be subject to local land regulations designed to preserve the natural coastline.
President Biden announced on Thursday the federal government would cover all costs of debris removal and California's fire management for 180 days.
