BAKERSFIELD, Calif. --- (KBAK/FOX58) The scale of the wildfires raging across Los Angeles County is unprecedented, with the blazes nearing 40,000 acres from Eaton to the east and Palisades to the west. Thousands of structures have been destroyed, prompting California Governor Gavin Newsom to issue an executive order aimed at expediting rebuilding efforts by waiving California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements.
"We want to fast track by eliminating any CEQA requirements," said Governor Newsom to 'Meet the Press' Sunday morning.
CEQA, enacted in 1970 under then-Governor Ronald Reagan, mandates the assessment of environmental impacts for infrastructure and housing projects. However, the statute has faced calls for reform from both sides of the political aisle, with critics arguing it has been misused.
"There has been discussion, seemingly every legislative session, about reform to the California Environmental Quality Act," said Tim Rosales, a political strategist with the Rosales Agency.
Tal Eslick, a public affairs strategist with Vista Consulting, criticized the application of CEQA, stating, "CEQA, specifically, has been completely perverted and is used as a bludgeon for anyone trying to do anything in California."
Eslick pointed out that while SoFi Stadium in Inglewood bypassed CEQA through a legislative loophole, previous wildfires, such as the Camp Fire in Northern California, did not receive similar exemptions.
"It appears that these neighborhoods, that these communities in Southern California, are above that line," Eslick said. "But other communities that have faced similar challenges in other fires remained below that line because they did not get a CEQA exemption."
Rosales expressed hope for permanent CEQA reform and emergency aid as California braces for future fire seasons. "The fact that he is making some of these gestures in this instance that he has not necessarily made before is part of that political calculation, unfortunately," Rosales said. "These are the types of decisions that should have been made regardless of where you have disaster and where you have these instances occur throughout the state of California."