The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has for decades prevented all sorts of development in the Golden State, by enabling protracted lawsuits to delay, and therefore stop, many projects.
But recently signed bills have rolled back some of the provisions, and may signal that the state, currently suffering from expensive housing and a declining population, could turn around. The bipartisan legislation, requested by Governor Gavin Newsom, exempts high-density housing projects that are not on hazardous or environmentally sensitive sites, accelerates legal review overall, and exempts other specific types of projects, including farmworker housing and child care centers.
Two examples (out of many) that give a sense of how CEQA has been used to prevent development in California:
