Modifies Environmental Review for Certain Projects.
Amends California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to expedite environmental review for specified project categories (including most housing, transportation, water, health, wildfire mitigation, educational facility, internet access, and clean energy projects). For these types of projects, this measure: Sets deadlines for public agencies to complete environmental review and take required actions. Allows expedited review of environmental impacts, limiting public agencies’ current obligation to consider a range of feasible project alternatives to reduce environmental impacts. Establishes deadlines for filing and resolving lawsuits challenging project approvals; limits evidence courts may consider and relief courts can order.
A YES vote on this measure means: Certain public and private projects would be eligible for new project review and court challenge procedures. For example, new procedures would tighten time limits for environmental review and reduce the scope of what courts can consider when reviewing legal challenges.
A NO vote on this measure means: Public and private projects would continue to use existing project review and court challenge procedures.
Not published by the state
Initial costs for state and local governments, likely in the high tens of millions of dollars annually—potentially exceeding $100 million annually—to implement new project review and court challenge procedures for eligible projects. Fees paid by project applicants and people filing lawsuits would partly cover these costs. In the longer term, uncertain, but potentially more significant positive or negative fiscal effects for state and local governments. The overall effect depends, in part, on how the new procedures change the number of eligible projects that get built and whether those projects have different environmental impacts.
LENGTHY DELAYS AND RED TAPE ARE BLOCKING ESSENTIAL PROJECTS & DRIVING UP OUR COST OF LIVING. Families cannot afford to live in California because we are failing to deliver the basics. California’s outdated system for approving essential housing, water, clean energy, roads, schools, hospitals, and wildfire prevention projects is too slow, too bureaucratic, and too costly—driving up the cost of living for everyone. Endless delays, red tape, and frivolous lawsuits make life more expensive and block the projects Californians need—driving up costs for housing, electricity, and water; wasting taxpayer dollars; worsening wildfire risk; increasing traffic; overcrowding schools; and delaying hospital and infrastructure upgrades. PROP. 45 LOWERS OUR HIGH COST OF LIVING BY MAKING IT FASTER & LESS EXPENSIVE TO BUILD ESSENTIAL PROJECTS. Prop. 45 streamlines approvals by setting enforceable timelines for project approvals; requires courts and government agencies to base decisions on the laws and regulations in place when the project application is submitted; and creates a faster, more predictable process for legal challenges while reducing frivolous lawsuits. PROP. 45 STREAMLINES CALIFORNIA’S MOST-PRESSING ESSENTIAL PROJECTS, INCLUDING: • Water quality and supply projects • Hospitals and healthcare facilities • Housing, including homes and apartments • Wildfire prevention • Schools and classrooms • Roads, bridges and transit • Clean energy and electric grid reliability infrastructure PROP. 45 WILL: REDUCE THE COST OF HOUSING. Permitting delays add more than $75,000 to the cost of a new home. Prop. 45 will help lower rents and mortgages and save families tens of thousands of dollars on a home purchase. LOWER ELECTRICITY COSTS. Delays in building clean energy and electric grid infrastructure drive up electricity costs for working families. Prop. 45 helps lower electricity costs. PROTECT TAXPAYERS. Lengthy delays drive massive cost overruns on public projects—roads, schools, hospitals, water systems, and wildfire prevention—costing taxpayers billions more. Prop. 45 cuts costly delays, reduces costs, and helps keep projects on time and on budget. CREATE GOOD-PAYING JOBS AND STRENGTHEN OUR ECONOMY. Prop. 45 will create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs and billions in economic activity. PROP. 45 MAINTAINS CALIFORNIA’S STRONGEST-IN-THE-NATION ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS. California should not have to choose between protecting the environment and building the essential projects we need. Under Prop. 45, projects must comply with all of California strong environmental laws protecting our air, water, wildlife, and health. Prop. 45 does not exempt a single project from environmental review. PROP. 45 PROTECTS COMMUNITY INPUT AND LOCAL DECISION MAKING. Under Prop. 45, cities and counties retain full authority to approve or deny projects, and residents keep a meaningful voice in decisions affecting their communities. AFFORDABLE HOUSING ADVOCATES, HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS, EDUCATORS, WATER PROVIDERS, CLEAN ENERGY LEADERS AND CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS SUPPORT PROP. 45. Prop. 45 is supported by a broad coalition of organizations, including: • American Clean Power—California • California League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) • NAACP California/Hawaii State Conference • California Taxpayers Association • Environmental Policy Innovation Center YES ON PROP. 45 TO BUILD A MORE AFFORDABLE CALIFORNIA. Every year of delay means Californians wait longer and pay more for the essential projects we need. It’s time to cut red tape, protect our environment and build the projects California needs to make life more affordable. VOTE YES ON PROP. 45. YESonProp45.com
Ann-Louise Kuhns, President; California Children’s Hospital Association; Jennifer Capitolo, Executive Director; California Water Association; Jenna Abbott, Executive Director; California Council on Affordable Housing
Chris Tarver, R.N., President; American Nurses Association, CA; Vanessa Forsythe, RN; California Nurses for Environmental Health and Justice; Martha Arguello, Executive Director; Physicians for Social Responsibility, LA
PROPOSITION 45 LIMITS ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC REVIEW OF PROJECTS BUILT IN YOUR COMMUNITY. VOTE NO ON PROP. 45 TO PROTECT WATER, AIR QUALITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH. Proposition 45 limits both the environmental review of major new development projects and the public’s right to be heard. Prop. 45 lets projects move forward with far less scrutiny of their harms to air, water and public health. PROP. 45 WEAKENS CRITICAL PROTECTIONS FOR AIR AND WATER QUALITY BY GUTTING THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA). CEQA is California’s most important air and water quality protection law. It requires public agencies to identify, publicly disclose, and consider reducing harm to air, water, and wildlife before approving projects. Prop. 45 eliminates many of CEQA’s existing protections— letting developers fast-track the polluting projects you don’t want next door, with fewer protections for the water you drink and air you breathe. PROP. 45 CUTS THE PUBLIC OUT OF DECISIONS THAT AFFECT YOUR FAMILY. Today, you have a voice in what’s built near you and your family. Prop. 45 reduces public agency requirements to consider public comments on proposed projects—comments that often expose potential contamination of air and water, and damage to our coast, rivers, and wildlife. If Prop. 45 passes, decisions about what gets built near your home, your children’s school, and your water supply would be made with less information and less public input. Prop. 45 reduces your ability to protect your family and community from harm. We need CEQA’s protections more than ever since federal protections have been weakened. THEY POLLUTE. YOU PAY. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office warns Prop. 45 could approve projects that result in “unintended negative environmental impacts.” When corporations aren’t required to reduce their pollution, taxpayers get stuck paying to clean up cancer-causing chemicals from our drinking water and contaminated lands. PROP. 45 WON’T LOWER YOUR COSTS. Prop. 45 doesn’t include any requirement to lower your housing costs or your utility bills. The corporations paying for Prop. 45 will profit while you keep paying. WHO’S BEHIND PROP. 45? Prop. 45 was written by the California Chamber of Commerce and financed by gas and electric utilities and corporate PACs. It gives the polluters and corporations funding Prop. 45 greater freedom to put whatever they want next to your home. Your family’s health and environmental quality are more important than corporate profits. JOIN A BROAD COALITION OF PUBLIC HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND COMMUNITY GROUPS OPPOSING PROP. 45, INCLUDING: • National Wildlife Federation • California Communities Against Toxics • California Environmental Voters • California Environmental Justice Alliance • California Nurses for Environmental Health & Justice • Clean Water Action • Coalition for Clean Air • Physicians for Social Responsibility—Los Angeles Whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican, or an independent, vote NO on Prop. 45 to protect your air and water, your tax dollars, and your right to be heard. VOTE NO on Prop. 45. www.NoProp45CA.com.
Joe Lyou, President; Coalition for Clean Air; Jennifer Clary, California Director; Clean Water Action; Matt Abularach-Macias, Political Director; California Environmental Voters
Ann-Louise Kuhns, President; California Children’s Hospital Association; Ruben Grijalva, Former California State Fire Marshal; CAL FIRE; Robert Rivinius, President; Family Business Association of California
Both columns use the same layout. Text is quoted from the official state guide. Views expressed belong to the argument authors.