Newsom waives environmental permitting for burnt homes?

What about the Snail Darter, the Smelt, the rare endangered species? Our furry friends, fish and wildlife don't matter now! What's next, Critical Race Theory?

At this rate dogs are going to be marrying cats in Calif!

Newsom Has a Permitting Epiphany

The Governor waives environmental rules to assist rebuilding from the wildfires. Why not for everyone?

By The Editorial Board, WSJ

Updated Jan. 14, 2025 5:41 pm ET

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sunday waived the state’s environmental laws in areas affected by the fires to expedite rebuilding. Wonderful, but that raises a question: Why not ease regulations for all projects if the rules are such a barrier to development?

More than 12,000 structures in the Los Angeles region have been destroyed by the past week’s fires. At California’s glacial pace of permitting, it could take years for new homes and businesses to rise from the ashes. Rebuilding will cost multiples more than original construction owing to more stringent building codes, high permitting fees and inflation.

That explains Mr. Newsom’s executive order on Sunday waiving the state’s Environmental Quality Act and Coastal Act. He directed his administration to identify other burdensome permitting and building code requirements that can be eased. This is an admission that state regulations increase costs and delay projects, if they don’t stop them entirely.

Green groups and unions exploit the state’s environmental laws to tie up projects for years in court. Developers often settle lawsuits by making concessions—for example, setting aside land for conservation or using union labor—that increase project costs.

Local governments impose excessive permitting fees and other requirements to mitigate a project’s impact. The Supreme Court’s landmark County of El Dorado ruling last year requires such fees to be commensurate to a project’s impact, though local governments can still tie developers up in red tape to force them to make costly concessions.

A 2021 University of Southern California survey of California developers found that it typically took 18 to 45 months—yes, months—for a project to be approved. Half said they had abandoned projects owing to government fees, and 45% said they were required to substantially reduce a project’s density. More than half reported that lawsuits had scuttled projects, and 37% said legal settlements equaled at least half a project’s worth.

Unnecessarily burdensome building codes also balloon costs. New homes in California must comply with efficiency standards that add tens of thousands of dollars to the price. California also mandates solar panels on new homes. Onerous licensing requirements restrict the supply of general contractors and increase labor costs.

All of this explains why “affordable” housing units can cost $1 million to build and the state has a severe housing shortage. The Los Angeles metro area’s population is larger than that of Dallas and Houston combined, but the latter together permitted more than five times as many new homes last year. This is why the median home in Los Angeles County costs $1 million.

California’s environmental laws also delay and inflate costs of needed public works, when they don’t kill them. A new large reservoir hasn’t been built in the state for 50 years. The California Coastal Commission in 2022 nixed a proposed desalination plant in Huntington Beach. Even Mr. Newsom’s Delta water tunnel project and bullet train have been snagged by green tape.

Ditto fire prevention since permits and habitat mitigation are required to clear brush, widen fire access roads and create fire breaks on public lands, especially along the coast, such as where the Palisades fire is burning. If Mr. Newsom agrees that the state’s environmental laws are a problem, why doesn’t he at least try to reform them?

The reason is Democrats in Sacramento are beholden to the green lobby, which opposes most development and uses the laws to extort businesses. It’s nice of Mr. Newsom to ease permitting so L.A.’s affluent can rebuild. Perhaps he’s worried they might leave if it takes too long or costs too much to rebuild. Moonscape neighborhoods wouldn’t look good if he runs for President in 2028, or when the Olympics comes to town the same year.

But what about all the others who are leaving the state because they can’t afford its astronomical housing prices?