Sometimes, in the midst of disaster and tragedy, miracles occur. Yesterday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Executive Order N-4-25 that may help assist with the rebuilding after the devastating fires. No, really.
So far, the California fires have killed 24 people, burned 40,000 acres, and destroyed more than 12,300 structures in and around Los Angeles County. To help with rebuilding the latter, Newsom announced he is suspending two environmental laws that would otherwise keep rebuilding from happening.
From the Newsom press release,
- Suspend CEQA review and California Coastal Act permitting for reconstruction of properties substantially damaged or destroyed in recent Southern California wildfires.
- Direct state agencies to identify additional permitting requirements, including provisions of the Building Code, that can safely be suspended or streamlined to accelerate rebuilding and make it more affordable.
CEQA stands for the California Environmental Quality Act. Of course, Newsom’s actions raise the question: if suspending these laws in an emergency is a good idea, why do we have them at all?
In the absence of any streamlining, the joke has been that the California permitting process is not measured in weeks, or years, but in lifetimes.
For example, San Diego County (not impacted by the fires) officially quotes a permitting time frame of six months to a year for an average single-family home. Imagine a county, even one as massive as Los Angeles, being inundated with tens of thousands of applications all at once.
Expect the good homeowners of Los Angeles to be victimized first by the wildfire and then by the bureaucrats.