permitting reform
NEPA and Remedies
Trying to solve the difficult challenge of reforming remedies for NEPA violations
Earlier this year, the Institute for Progress (a pro-permitting reform organization) published a series of proposals for changing remedies for agency violations of NEPA. There are good reasons to think about the problem. If any NEPA violation can stop an entire project, that can incentivize efforts to fly-speck environmental review documents to strategically stop projects …
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CONTINUE READINGWhither Permitting Reform for NEPA?
Engaging with the key questions for NEPA in any permitting reform bill
This interview by Heatmap News with a leading actor (Daniel Palken at the Arnold Foundation) in the permitting reform debates is informative and productive – both on the status of those talks right now, and on their history and why they are important. Here I just want to focus on one aspect of the interview …
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CONTINUE READINGStrategies for the 2030s
We lost the Battle of 2025. But we haven’t last the fight for sustainability.
Two recent models have some welcome news: Trump’s rollbacks and assault on the Inflation Reduction Act have not been as cataclysmic as feared. At least not yet. The models come from different sources — an MIT researcher and the Rhodium firm — using different methodologies. The models also have implications about the next steps in climate policy. Both models highlight the critical need to rip down barriers to clean energy and transmission build out.
CONTINUE READINGTrying to Create Permit Certainty
A new permitting reform bill does a good job of managing tradeoffs for a difficult problem
Last month two Senators proposed another permitting reform bill, the FREEDOM Act. This is a revised version of a bill that was introduced in the House earlier this year, which I wrote about before. (And yes, if you are having trouble keeping up with all the permitting reform bills floating around, you are not alone.) …
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CONTINUE READINGBACA and unions
The complicated dynamics of unions and CEQA may impact this fall’s CEQA ballot initiative
In this post I will assess the labor provisions of the California Chamber of Commerce’s ballot initiative to drastically overhaul CEQA, which will be on the ballot in November. The quick summary is that those provisions turn out to generally codify current practice or law – and importantly, may not be locked-in against subsequent state …
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CONTINUE READINGBACA and Data Centers, Part II
The inclusion of data centers within this fall’s CEQA ballot initiative may make it much harder to regulate their construction
This is the second of two posts exploring whether the California Chamber of Commerce’s ballot initiative to drastically reform CEQA might facilitate the construction of data centers in California. In the first post, I examined whether data centers fall within the scope of the initiative (and concluded they likely do so). What are the implications …
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CONTINUE READINGBACA and Data Centers, Part I
Ballot initiative may facilitate construction of data centers in California
As I noted in my initial analysis of the California Chamber of Commerce’s ballot initiative to rollback most of CEQA, one important point about the initiative is how many different projects are covered by it – despite the framing that it only covers “essential projects.” One kind of development project that is particularly controversial right …
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CONTINUE READINGReforming CEQA Part 6
Providing for quicker, more expert dispute resolution
This is the sixth in a series of blog posts on reforming the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The first post, discussing different paradigms for CEQA, is here. The second post, discussing the conceptual framework for reform, is here. The third post, discussing designating a state agency to set binding, clear standards for CEQA implementation, …
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CONTINUE READINGReforming CEQA Part 5
Creating greater clarity for thresholds of signficance, and default methodologies and mitigation measures
This is the fifth in a series of blog posts on reforming the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The first post, discussing different paradigms for CEQA, is here. The second post, discussing the conceptual framework for reform, is here. The third post, discussing designating a state agency to set binding, clear standards for CEQA implementation, …
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CONTINUE READINGReforming CEQA Part 4
Providing greater clarity on the types of impacts covered by CEQA
This is the fourth in a series of blog posts on reforming the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The first post, discussing different paradigms for CEQA, is here. The second post, discussing the conceptual framework for reform, is here. The third post, discussing designating a state agency to set binding, clear standards for CEQA implementation, …
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